David Siller and Giles Charle, hardened vegetable thieves
Store Owner Calls the Sentence “Ridiculous”
One of the owners of a fresh produce store said Saturday that it is absurd that two men are in jail for taking spoiled fruit and vegetables from the store’s trash area.
On Wednesday, Giles Charlé, 24, of Somersworth, N.H., and David Siller, 27, of Wayne, Pa., pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespass and were sentenced to spend six months in Routt County Jail and pay $15 in restitution to Sweet Pea Produce. The men were on their way to the Rainbow Family of Living Light Gathering in North Routt County when they were arrested June 26.
The men admitted that they jumped a fence and took fruits and vegetables from the garbage area at Sweet Pea. They originally were charged with felony second-degree burglary and misdemeanor theft. They accepted the plea agreement offered by Assistant District Attorney Kerry St. James, they said, because they did not want to risk being convicted of a felony.
“Once I found out what these guys were being charged with, I contacted (St. James),” said Jonathon Hieb, who owns Sweet Pea with Katherine Zambrana. “I told him, ‘We’re not behind this prosecution. We don’t want anything to do with it.’”
“These guys jumped over the fence and got some over-ripe produce. What they did, at most, was a temporary slip of judgment,” Hieb said. “These guys are not criminals. For them to be in jail is ridiculous.”
Equal justice under the law. Uh-huh.
So… what punishment will the judge hand down to these guys? Eating rotten fruit for two weeks, just to teach them a lesson?
Strange.. when police need to get evidence from the trash, it’s considered as no longer being ‘in posession’ by the person/business throwing it out.
J/P=?
Lets see, it costs about $32K to house someone in prison so this punishment will cost the government $32K, but hey, they had to pay $15 restitution.
No wonder the government is broke.
Not surpringsingly, in this country similar stuff happens.
People who steal chickens rot in jail for years and those who make a bank go broke are free…
St. James also asked Judge James Garrecht to fine the men $42 for each day they serve in jail, the standard cost of care for inmates. Garrecht refused.
I wish the judge had refused to sentence them to any jail time at all. Instead they got six months. And the DA is an idiot for prosecuting even when the “injured” party – the store owner – told him he did not want to press charges.
Yeah! That’s weird. I personaly think that it’s important that everyone understands that we are responcible for our actions.
But in this case it’s really funny that they were emprisond. That was trash anyway and people who owned it should have thrown it if those two haven’t eaten the products.
In fact it’s a shared posession 😉
It’s a disgrace. I’m sure the judge that sentanced these guys has done far worse in his life, not to mention his family and friend. Yet these poor guys get nailed because they have no mate in high places.
There is a two-tiered law in the US – and it’s plain for everyone to see. What would your founding fathers think of what’s become of it?
We have been seeing a lot of weirdness in New Hampshire. What is going on there? It’s very peculiar.
We have been seeing a lot of weirdness in New Hampshire. What is going on there?
Infiltration from Québec?
Sounds like the beginings of an American version of Les Miserables, imprisoned for stealing bread. Yea this country has come a long way.
After thinking this was from a novel by Philip K. Dick, or by Cyril Kornbluth, the only way this makes sense in 2006 is if the judge is showing great compassion, the way of the Buddha. His charges will have three square meals a day, they won’t have to eat rotting vegetables, and they’ll be released at the end of February. A state of BRRR in NH then, but the worst of winter will be behind them. NH will soon mean Newl Hasa.
Would never happen in NJ, if it was a first offense, $250 fine, and out the door. People we have locked up numerous times for disorderly conduct don’t even get jail. Some states are more backward then others. PA is one of them.
I’m thinking this might begin a trend. Looking for a meal? Get six months worth of three squares a day by getting caught dumpster diving. Wear bright clothes and attract the police to your favorite dumpster’s location!
What can you say about “stupid”. This belays what is reasonable. When the sentence doesn’t fit the crime, then the sentence itself becomes criminal. In this case, I would use the phrase, “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”. Too bad they pleaded guilty.
As pointed out above, this will end up costing the good citizens of Routt County $30,000 for the next six months. I do understand that the District Attorney is up for re-election.
Some say, “The only crime in America is being poor.”
Interesting that MANY large cities, that Force you to seperate your recylicables, ALSO, have laws against the Poor scrounging them and makeing money enough to survive.
even tho we Pay to recycle…
un effin believable. why has this not been apealed
Survival ISNT considered a necessity??
I watched a documentary some years ago. It was a documentary on the homeless. One of the people they had in the film was a man who became homeless after losing everything to his alcoholism. He was an executive at an oil company and was quite wealthy until the wheels fell of the cart. People in the upscale neighbourhood in which he had lived intentionally left bottles for him to collect bagged up neatly. Employees at one Safeway put out food that was not good enough to sell but still edible for him to eat. Even with this help he still died, but they tried to help him and that still counts.
I know that there are times when people refuse to press charges and it handcuffs the police in what they can do. Things were changed in some area so that Police could press charges when the people affected refused to do so. In particular when many women refused to press assault charges for various reasons including fear. Having said that this is not one of those cases. It is rediculous that the Police went out of their way to arrest and press charges against these people. The other shoe dropped when the Judge gave a sentence harsher than many have seen for crimes including driving drunk, sexual assault, and a multitude of what has been called white collar crime. I hope there is more to this story than the obvious. If not this truly is a black mark on the justice system.
John
The whole thing reminds me of “Alice’s Restaurant”. Complete with the 4 part harmony and the 27 8×10 color glossy photos with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one…
a favor no matter how small is ever wasted. except when the law tries to make statement against homelessness. thats what its all about!
This is nothing new, however, the Rainbow people should have known the “dumpster diving rules”. First they should have asked the store owner if the could liberate some of the trash. They didn’t. But, seriously, it wasn’t “trash” free for the taking, because the trash was behind a locked gate. This made it theft. Even trash is theft if it’s locked up or behind a secured fence.
If it’s behind a locked gate you must ask permission to rummage through it. PERIOD. That has always been the law in every state. In fact, if someone takes something of yours and it’s out front in the open, your insurance policy won’t cover it. However, if it’s 3 feet back, behind a gate…then it will be covered. It’s all about where something is, and how it’s secured that makes the difference between theft and not.
If the fruit/veg store didn’t want to press charges, they shouldn’t have locked the gate, or had one! The places that lock up their garbage (big stores started the trend) make it “breaking and entering” to go into their trash area. The store owner — wanting to press charges or not — should have left his old and rotten vegetables out in the open, and unlocked if he didn’t mind people taking the old stuff. For those that do frequent dumpster shopping…the signs are obvious on what’s okay, and what’s not. These guys should have KNOWN they were breaking the law.
These are the basics of “free”: Leave it in the open, unlocked with easy access. Failing that, put a sign on it announcing “free”.
This gives permission — the difference between theft and free.
So, say you want the local poor to help themselves to your recycling…don’t put it in the recycling bin and put it somewhere else, with a sign “recycling, not for city pickup”. That way the trash company cannot say it was theirs, or you intended to give it to them (implied ownership for the trash company is using their marked bins). If you want to get rid of household usable stuff put it on the edge of your property marked FREE. If you have a business and want to dispose of old merchandise (foodstuffs) either leave it in a location that is out in the open, and unsecured, and/or create a place marked as “take it if you want it”. Some of the more civic minded food stores put a sign over the dumpster that says “you may rummage if you don’t make a mess”. This makes it clear that whatever they put in it, is given to whom ever wants it.
I see that the store owner didn’t really want the stuff rummaged through, but also didn’t want the bad publicity. Obviously the guy isn’t too sensitive to homeless in the first place. The cops were just doing their job here, and the prosecutor was a bit over zealous, as was the judge. However, the laws favor them. The big box stores prosecute anyone taking anything, no matter how small, from their dumpsters. Home Depot will prosecute and claim the full cost of the undamaged item. So, just because it’s in the trash, doesn’t mean it’s free for the taking.
The two dudes…just didn’t know the etiquette or the laws, which seems odd as most Rainbow people have a really good understanding of it, as do most homeless/poor people. I think they were knowingly, arrogantly, breaking the laws. And, although it was just trash, by not being mindful of the rules, they made it bad for all the others who routinely find food in dumpsters. Even if you are poor, there are rules.
Do you know, that shoe stores are TOLD to destroy the shoes, and documnet it, so they can get paid a return price…
INSTEd of giving them to a Salvation army, or other location for the poor.
eca,
a LOT of big chain stores are told to destroy merchandise for the same reason. Seems bean counters have decided that to take a total loss has more tax impact than a donation…thank you IRS tax code. So, yeah, a lot of stuff that could go to help others is destroyed. Just like restaurants, stores, bakeries, etc., find it difficult, if not impossible, to get rid of old, just at or beyond the stale date food, leftovers, and overruns. Many, many homeless shelters do not accept donations such as these, and few wil pick them up. And, of course, there is nothing really in place (in most communities) to provide some sort of conduit for these items. And, very few places will take homegrown fruit and vegetables because as one homeless shelter put it “we don’t use fresh” “anyway, what if someone gets sick on it, then it’s on us.”
And, another reason that stores lock their dumpsters “we might get sued if someone injures themselves reaching into it”.
Uhhh…the joys of policies made by morons.
>After thinking this was from a novel by Philip K. Dick, or by Cyril
>Kornbluth, the only way this makes sense in 2006 is if the judge is
>showing great compassion, the way of the Buddha. His charges will
>have three square meals a day, they won’t have to eat rotting
>vegetables, and they’ll be released at the end of February. A state
>of BRRR in NH then, but the worst of winter will be behind them. NH
>will soon mean Newl Hasa.
>
>Comment by jbellies — 9/4/2006 @ 5:41 pm
This is the only sensate explenation. Beside the one in wich Assistant District Moron Kerry St. James comes directly out of John Carpenter’s “They Live”. Mmm… or maybe he is training to become a RIAA/MPAA Legal Moron…
It seems too, way too convenient the Store owner(s) suddenly disowns the results, results the store could have prevented. The store owner said he did not want to press charges; some how, for the case to have proceed I think it was after the fact. I say the locals should BOYCOTT this RESTAURANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why should the citizens of Routt County subsidize this restaurant to the tune of $30,000 to protect it’s garbage.
BOYCOTT this RESTAURANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BOYCOTT this RESTAURANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BOYCOTT this RESTAURANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BOYCOTT this RESTAURANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BOYCOTT this RESTAURANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!