My Son Assaulted Someone Who Stole His Bike; What Do We Do?

Question

My son was out with his friend hanging in front of our house when a man walked up to my son's bike and tried to run and ride off with it. The man apparently had difficulty getting on the bike while running with it so my son easily caught up to him. He managed to strike the man in the head and left him bleeding on the ground.

His friend asked what to do and my son said "F him, leave him there." and didn't tell anyone about it. Someone saw the man lying in the street and called the police and when they came the man pointed to our house that the kid in there beat him up.

So now my son and his friend are in holding on an assault charge while my son is explaining his story.

Does he have a chance to get out of this?

Answer 1

If your son only hit the guy once and stopped attacking once he let go of his bike, then I see no crime on his part.

If your son kept on beating him after the guy gave up the bike, then that's excessive force and makes him an aggressor. I think the thief got what he deserved either way, but your son should have taken the initiative by calling the cops and reporting the incident himself, as then they would have likely sympathized with him more.

Answer 2

Although i see your sons frustration he assaulted a man by causing a head injury ..so i can see why they called the police i know how deadly head injury's are my mum nearly died from one, i am NOT saying this man was in anyway innocent and I'm sure the courts won't but they caused injury to a man and this man was stealing ...so the injury would come before stealing in the eye of the court

Answer 3

why would he get an assault charge?? he did nothing wrong at all in my eyes, nothing at all

Answer 4

ur son didn't do nothing wrong and his friends can testify that the dude stole his bike before he beat him the other dude started it and u should sue him for grand theft auto

Answer 5

..."first"... consult with an Attorney.   (Your son, "maybe" was justified in recovering his bike), however, to leave the "thief" just laying on the ground (injured) is the major problem... (now, if this happened in Texas....well, we wouldn't worry about it)...but I suspect your not in Texas...  call the Attorney and get their advise.

Answer 6

your son might be charged because he striked them man wo was stealing his bike so the dirty pig officers are going to say he should of called the police. the man who tried to steal the bike can press charges if he wants.

Answer 7

Wow, I don't now. There's really no hard evidence to even proove that the man was even trying to steal the bike. It's your son and his friend's word against a grown adult.

Your song definitely should have got someone to come out with the man after he assaulted him and told them "This man tried to steal my bike". He definitely would have had a better chance.

Sorry I couldn't help.

Answer 8

Your son let his temper get the better of him and now he is paying the price.  I think anyone would understand why he hit the guy, but once the guy was down, he could have at least called an ambulance.  It's up to the courts now.

Answer 9

h**l yes, the jerk was trying to steal his property

Your son is to be commended for taking action against an idot

Answer 10

not unless there is cctv footage.

its an eyewitness against his own word.

so im sorry.

Answer 11

YA HE CAN GET OUT BUT HE WOULD FACE THE CONSEQUENCES FOR SOME TIME.

Answer 12

well yeaa of corse!

if he didnt start it then well yeaa hes just doing the deffence but i would have called the cops and told them that he started the thing by stelling the bike RIGHT after he hit the man so that the man would have gotten hit and go to jail for stealing

Answer 13

Yes, the man was taking his bike. No judge would ever convict your son. If I was him I would have kicked the man's *** too!!!

Answer 14

lmfao if that were me i would give him a pat on the back and be like niceeeeeee. haahaha.

Answer 15

Maybe.  How old is your son?  The fact that your son left him there to die doesn't bode well though.

Answer 16

Ya he should, he was defending himself and if the injuries werent life threatening than he should be ok.  He could just say he got scared and ran away.

Answer 17

Very much depends on if there were any other witnesses.  Otherwise it can't stand up in court.  The guy should have bought his own bike too rather than thieving someone elses, so then he wouldn't have an angry bike owner chasing after him to re-claim their property.

Answer 18

i say good for the robber, you gotta smart kid!

Answer 19

you got to let you son accept the consequences of his actions...do not try to smooth everything over and make it ok so that your son doesn't learn anything from this.   Let him take what comes to him...it will scare him straight and he won't ever do anything wrong again.  I know this doesn't mean your son is some kind of deliquent...I don't mean to imply that.  It is just good for kids to have to own up to their actions so they can learn from their mistakes.  He made some serious mistakes here and the biggest was leaving the guy there...he may have died if the injury was severe enough and that would be a horrible thing for your son to have to live with.

It isn't self defense if the person was not inflicting any harm on the person.  Your son should know that under no circumstances should he ever try to stop a thief....you never know what weapon they may have or what they may do.  I understand your son wanting to stop the thief but it was dangerous to do so and beeting him over a bike and leaving him there to potentially die was wrong and uncalled for.

Answer 20

of course.....he got revenge....they stole his bike first so he beat they asz...i probaly would have 2!

Answer 21

WAT?

he made him BLEED and then he just LEFT HIM THERE TO BLEED TO DEATH! all this for a BIKE!?!?

of course in my eyes i believe he shouldnt get a chance out of this!

sorry, but i think this is a bit extream for a BIKE.

Answer 22

No. ur son is probably gonna be in there for a while. Your not supposed to fight. especially since there is a no tolerance rule

sucks to be ur son!!!! he shoulda got that guy n not beat him up

Answer 23

He should tell them that the guy stole his bike and the only way he could get him off of the bike was to strike him. He should tell them the man took off running so he obviously had no intention giving his bike back so your son had no choice but to get what was his. Anyone should have that right to defend what is theirs.

Answer 24

I know you may be too over wrought for the obvious, call a lawyer!

Answer 25

yeah.. it was self defence. although in some states like michigan there are laws that shouldnt exist like a robber can sew if they get hurt while robbing or something like that. If your son explains that he was just defending himself i think he can get away with it

Answer 26

What the h**l?

A grown man versus a little boy?

Well if he tells his story straight, he might get out of it.  But nobody is supposed to take the law into their own hands, and that means revenge.  So I think he may get some time.  In Juvie.

Answer 27

Makes me laugh what some are saying here ..It makes your son NO better than the person who tried to steal his bike ...he hurt this guy to the point he was on the floor bleeding ..Pot kettle black comes to mind here

Answer 28

depends on your states laws - I'm in Texas and you are allowed to use deadly force in defense of your life, livestock or property - so here he'd probably get away with it.

But - what a mess - get a good lawyer!!

Answer 29

It depends on where you live but you might have a chance.

Even if your son had killed the guy, many states say that you have the right to defend your life and in some cases your property even when your actions result in the death of the victim.  

Do yourself a favor, don't teach your son to hide and lie, face the system and be honest, even if he did time it's better than raising someone who refuses to take responsibility for their actions based on the fear that they may be held responsible.

Answer 30

woah, and i thought i was in deep doo doo. to be honest, your son will have to face some charges but...this is tuff. im not sure sorry