14 July 2009

Rock Throwing

Happy Bastille Day.

I don't have a long time to formulate thoughts about the recent rock throwing incident, so I'll keep it brief.

Below is a police photo of a rock thrown at a car on Columbia Parkway:
 


1. My dad had his windshield smashed with a rock while driving on Columbia Parkway over 5 years ago. It did not make the news and the police did not find the rock thrower.
2. I threw snowballs at cars as a teen. I could have caused an accident and killed someone. I was stupid, but at the time it seemed like a lot of fun.
3. I do not understand the extreme hatred shown towards the rock throwers in the comments section of the Enquirer. What they did was bad, real bad, but calling for long prison terms or physical punishment is crazy.
4. The police had to let one of the kids go because they did not have enough evidence to indite him. Did the police really hold a press conference in front of the kids house? That doesn't sound right.

4 comments:

scott d said...

didn't a girl in the car suffer some sort of debilitating injury because of the thrown rock?

"it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt".

Anonymous said...

I agree it is a bad situation all around. It was stupid, careless, and someone was hurt. There should be punishment. At the same time, should these kids be in jail a third of their adult life? That doesn't seem right either.

Back in rural PA, a lot of the kids I grew up with (never me, of course) would throw pumpkins at cars near Halloween. Maybe they were lucky, but none of them ever ended up in jail. Almost all of them are now fully functioning adults and have made contributions to society-- teachers, doctors, etc.

DP said...

"Burdine and the 16-year-old were arrested on felonious assault charges after Baresel suffered hed (sic) injuries when a baseball-sized rock came through the window of the taxi she was riding in about 1 a.m."

I too am guilty of having thrown snowballs at cars as a kid (granted it was on a 25 mph residential street - not a highway), but I think baseball-sized rocks are in an entirely different category. Still not "throw them in jail for 20 years" category. Maybe more like the "hundreds of hours of community service" category.

Anonymous said...

not only did the girl suffer debiliting injuries 11 weeks and several surgeries later she is still faced with many more surgeries over the next year or more. the nerve damage is not repairable along with the brain injury. how would you have like it if it was your child. as for the kid serving 1/3 of their adult life in jail that is getting off easy this girl will have to live with all the injuries/pain and suffering the rest of her adult not just 1/3 of it. you tell me is that right????