Kid arrested for stealing Xmas present from under tree

by James Ransom-Wiley { Dec 5th 2006 at 8:55PM }

What ever happened to the ol' lump of coal punishment? A South Carolina woman decided her son was so out of line when he stole the Game Boy Advance she had purchased as his Christmas present that she had the 12 year-old arrested. He was charged, as a juvenile, with petty larceny.

The GBA theft follows an alleged string of offenses carried out by the boy, including shoplifting, stealing from mom's wallet, and punching a cop. At his court appearance, the mother will seek to turn her son over to the state Department of Juvenile Justice.

Tags: Game Boy Advance, GameBoyAdvance, GBA

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

DustBoogie @ Dec 5th 2006 8:59PM

Hold the phone. Here's the real issue. If this kid has such a problem with behaving correctly..

..why the HELL is he getting a GBA SP for Christmas?

carlos @ Dec 5th 2006 9:00PM

1st post

Master_Debater @ Dec 5th 2006 9:02PM

I think I can speak for all of us when I say....

What a bitch.

ZENegade @ Dec 5th 2006 9:02PM

DustBoogie-

He could've gotten a DS Lite...

JT @ Dec 5th 2006 9:02PM

GTA MADE HIM DO IT. you can rob stores in grand theft auto, he robbed the base of a christmas tree, this is no different. look forward to a 600 million dollar lawsuit against sony, rockstar, nintendo, the store that sold his mother the gameboy, and santa, and upcoming anti-game legislation in south carolina.

shoryureppa@gmail.com @ Dec 5th 2006 9:02PM

I thought the mothers actions were out of line untill I read the kid's past offenses. The little brat deserves to be in juvie.
Even after all the trouble he's gotten himself into, his mom still gets him a GBA and he screws it up.

oki @ Dec 5th 2006 9:04PM

ha i think thats halarious

Todd @ Dec 5th 2006 9:06PM

Is 12 years old too late to abort?

Shogan @ Dec 5th 2006 9:09PM

Well at least they didn't shoot him and his dog...

...this time...

Chris Lawton @ Dec 5th 2006 9:12PM

"3. I think I can speak for all of us when I say....

What a bitch.

Posted at 9:01PM on Dec 5th 2006 by Master_Debater 0 stars"

You don't speak for me. I applaud the mother. Judging by his past offenses, it's long overdue.

Considering that all I hear about when I read Joystiq, Kotaku and every other video game site, is how parents need to step up and actually raise their kids. It's nice to see a parent who realizes that, perhaps, their kid does need to be taught a lesson.

And before anyone says that she went too far, do you honestly think this was a spur of the moment decision. I'm sure this hurt his mom even more than it did him.

Let the kid go to juvey. Maybe he'll grow some brains.

JRM @ Dec 5th 2006 9:14PM

good for the mother. obviously the kid doesn't learn. Let the authorities take care of him, since, at this rate, he'd probably get arrested in a couple years anyway.

frodo @ Dec 5th 2006 9:19PM

"playstation gameboy"

The sad thing is that this kid is probably just going to learn skills in jail that he will need for future jail experiences. He is going to cost taxpayers a lot of money, I predict.

Chuggernaut @ Dec 5th 2006 9:20PM

http://wonka.ytmnd.com/

Major Shake @ Dec 5th 2006 9:20PM

What a little asshole.

bo0 @ Dec 5th 2006 9:20PM

Personality is a function of the person in the situation.
The child needs behavior health management.

Kanadwen @ Dec 5th 2006 9:24PM

When I first read this I thought of the little kid as James from James and the Giant Peach! You know, evil parents, always trying to screw over the kid, but you know, I don't think its the case with this one. The article said he punched a cop...
.>
Punched a cop? Wow. I could let that slip by...you know, it could be possible that the boy was so emotionally hurt that he just had to hit someone at the time, but then I see that he shoplifts. Eh...MAYBE he could still fall under the whole James thing, maybe he was just trying to get some entertainment? No. After reading that he stole from his mother's wallet, now THAT is bad. I hate these kind of kids. Burn 'em! I really hope he changes.

Matt @ Dec 5th 2006 9:31PM

""I'm trying to get him some kind of help," the 27-year-old mother told the paper."

Here's some help for the kid: don't tell him his mother was 15 when she had him, or that she was probably 14 when she was getting knocked up to have him. That can't help any, I am guessing. ;)

todzillla @ Dec 5th 2006 9:32PM

Todd that was funny s*** man. seriously if my kid ever did that she'd be in juvie to. my ex told me a few weeks ago that my 4 year old daughter stole a pack of gum and i gave her the whooping of a lifetime.

Morder @ Dec 5th 2006 9:36PM

sounds to me like having a child when you're 15 can only lead to problems

blaine @ Dec 5th 2006 9:46PM

27 year old girl with a 12 year old chil and no dad. Supplies!

MaX PL @ Dec 5th 2006 9:46PM

this reminds me of a friend of mine.

he got sent to some detention camp for 2 years. i hear he's a good kid now.

Sub @ Dec 5th 2006 9:51PM

The girl obviously fails as a parent, but it's good to see she's finally stepping up to the plate and taking some responsibility. There's still some hope he can turn out to be a good guy...

reguy @ Dec 5th 2006 9:52PM

this is total misuse of the 911 service

2bit gamer @ Dec 5th 2006 9:56PM

The mother was only 15 when she gave birth to him. I don't think that she is a terrible person but I do doubt that she was a very good mother at such a young age because really would you have been a good parent at that age?

I know that the US, especially in "red states" there are profound issues with teaching safe sex in school. I cannot know if either A) She was a bad parent or B) she didn't recieve adaquate family planning education but I can say that unplanned pregnacies tend to happen moreso in places where safe sex education is taboo and also that really young parents tend to be worse parents (they still have to grow up themselves, get an eduaction, career etc. all the while raising a child).

For further reading on the correlation between juvenile delinquency and birth control check out the recent book called freakonomics.

-Be good to yourselves and each other.

Killa Jam @ Dec 5th 2006 10:04PM

27 year old mom...she must be a milf.

Anonymous @ Dec 5th 2006 10:13PM

Sub: "but it's good to see she's finally stepping up to the plate and taking some responsibility"

How the hell is calling the cops and having SOMEONE ELSE deal with HER child "taking some responsibility"? That's not taking responsibility.

Max @ Dec 5th 2006 10:19PM

I think it's a little too late for tough love after 12 years. She apparently failed as a parent and unless the kid has a mental order there's no way he could have gotten in that much trouble by the age of 12 without some sort of neglect on her part. Even with a mental disorder it would have been all the more reason she would have kept a closer watch on him.

When I was in the military the Drill Instructors would talk about Mothers of America. You know the ones that blame society for their kids mistakes, and in this case the woman had probably blamed everyone but herself and her kid for every failed grade or criminal mischeif carried out by this boy up tho this point. As a said, 12 years later is a little too late for tough love or trying to come out as the hero. Chalk up another child that will be lost to the prison system by Mothers of America.

eight @ Dec 5th 2006 10:22PM

and not even for a DS Lite...

GamerJunk.net @ Dec 5th 2006 10:24PM

What a bitch. This isn't going to teach this kid a lesson. It only causes more problems for you. Yea you. I'm talking to you. The mother of this child. This type of shit really pisses me off. Cops are being called for stupid fucking things and it's because of mothers like you who can't discipline their children correctly. Answer me this one question.

HOW THE FUCK DO YOU STEAL A GIFT THAT IS MEANT FOR YOU?

She confronted him about it and threatened to call the cops if he didn't give her the info of what happened to the Game Boy. He gave it back and what happens? She still calls the cops! That will teach him not to tell the truth because his own mother is a fucking LIAR.

Not only this but she is going to give the child to the Department of Juvenile Justice because she says she doesn't know what to do with him. This coming from his 27 year old mother. Wait let's do the math. If she is 27 and he is 12...that means that someone stuffed a present under her tree when she was 15.

Max @ Dec 5th 2006 10:28PM

"Wait let's do the math. If she is 27 and he is 12...that means that someone stuffed a present under her tree when she was 15."

Which means the real failure here was the grandmother who let her daughter go out and get knocked up at close to 14 years old.

stev @ Dec 5th 2006 10:28PM

well that kid was probably a failed abortion

but hey thats a good way to get rid of him if he is that bad
and when he gets back after being arrested he will probably be a perfect angel
or his mom will call the cops again

David Carty @ Dec 5th 2006 10:31PM

Pwned, you should put that on the picture. And on a serious note the kid deserved to be in trouble for his past actions but the stealing from the tree is a stretch.

ttr @ Dec 5th 2006 10:32PM

Irresponsible girl gets pregnant, has irresponsible child, and becomes irresponsible mother. Is that big news?

Firegirl @ Dec 5th 2006 10:38PM

I say good for her. She may have been a bad mother in the past, but she's stepping up now. I never got anything as cool as that for xmas, and then the kid has to steal it? Somebody needs to kick that kid's butt...

David Carty @ Dec 5th 2006 10:42PM

Hey 2bit, Im from a red state, and trust me we get taught all about safe sex, all too often actually and unfortunately. And I know there are plenty of young pregnancies in the blue. Thats a prejeduice comment,dont think just because a state is red, the people are retarted because I travel to the blues a lot and honestly I see more idiots there than in the red. You punk!

tdr @ Dec 5th 2006 10:44PM

#33.

The apple never falls far from the tree eh?

Matt @ Dec 5th 2006 10:45PM

"My 4 year old daughter stole a pack of gum and i gave her the whooping of a lifetime."

Hmm, I wonder why you don't have custody?

Back to the topic, taking your christmas present early should not send you to juvenile hall. Stealing and punching a cop should. If this wasn't a last straw there wouldn't have been an issue.

Styki @ Dec 5th 2006 10:48PM

HOW THE FUCK DO YOU STEAL A GIFT THAT IS MEANT FOR YOU?

pretty easy. a gift is not yours until its GIVEN to you. That GBA belonged to his mother. It did not belong to him yet.

That incident in and of itself doesn't warrant the mother's response, but given the stuff he'd done in the past(and its likely the kid had others issues beyond the ones listed)I can see why his mom is turning him over to the state legal system. Hopefully the kid gets staightened out a little and maybe even gets an online GED one day.

Joe @ Dec 5th 2006 10:49PM

I would be pissed too if I got a GBA and not a DS.

algernon @ Dec 5th 2006 10:53PM

Chris Lawson,

failed parenting and neglecting responsibility = messed up kids

12 year old kids only do what they are taught

mountain_rage @ Dec 5th 2006 10:59PM

Because he probably really wanted a ds or psp and this is to show that life is a bitch.

Loque @ Dec 5th 2006 11:02PM

"12 year old kids only do what they are taught"

Riight. Because you need to be 16+, or even 14+ to have a mind of your own.

People don't give kids enough credit. I know 12 year olds far more mature and smarter than most of the posters here at joystiq...

biltmore @ Dec 5th 2006 11:16PM

Wow, GamerJunk.net ... you sure are an idiot, way to make an ass out of yourself with such silly comments.

algernon @ Dec 5th 2006 11:19PM

"Riight. Because you need to be 16+, or even 14+ to have a mind of your own.

People don't give kids enough credit. I know 12 year olds far more mature and smarter than most of the posters here at joystiq..."

and if you smart enough you would know theres something wrong with the kids parenting, because your right everyone has a mind of their own regardless of age, but not everyone has had parents that will encourage the good and teach disipline. Not every kid can explain to me why taking a present from under the Christmas tree is wrong when hes been doing it every year