Mother arrested for taking away her daughter's phone.
A mom in Hudsonville, MI was arrested for misdemeanor theft for taking her daughter's cell phone away after she got in trouble at school. Her ex-husband made a theft report, and for some reason she was arrested instead of being issued a ticket. She was released on a $200 bond. She said the phone belonged to her daughter, as the ex-husband gave it to her for a Christmas present.
A few minutes into the trial the prosector agreed that the phone belonged to the girl and not the father, and all charges were dropped.
I can't help but think there must be some back story here that is not being reported. Even if the father "retained" ownership of the phone and just let his daughter use it, I don't see how that would justify an arrest. The officer obviously didn't do any investigation before arresting the mother or he would have known the phone was a gift.
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Taking stuff that is not yours is a crime
Need more details. If mom wanted to restrict use of phone, that is one thing. Did kid get the phone back? Was mom using it herself? BTW, even if the kid's, still not OK for mom to TAKE. I see in the future dad documenting that he is GIVING kid nothing, just allowing the use of.
This.
This.
DH pays for OSS's cell phone. If OSS got in trouble, DH would be fine (and encourage) BM to take it away as punishment.
BUT, if BM took it and never gave it back to OSS, or if she "traded" phones with him so she could have a better one, DH (and I) would probably lose it. Phones are expensive, and he didn't buy it for BM to use.
Now, would DH file a theft report? Likely not. But he'd have the phone shut off and reported as missing. She'd have to go get it turned back on and deal with whatever issues there are when you try to turn on a stolen phone. Then OSS would be stuck with a flip phone and "take it up with your mother; we can't trust a smart phone going to your house and wasting several hundred dollars".
My question is, if this was a ticketable offense versus a prosecuting one, WHY was she arrested and charged? Who does Dad know on the police force to get that to happen? Phones are stolen everyday, and I can't imagine that there is enough room in jail for every petty theft that takes place. Or, what kind of criminal background does Mom have that made her pass go and not collect $200?
Meh, I read several of the
Meh, I read several of the reports of this. Sounds like small town (pop. 7000) Barney Fife stuff to me.
Why a prosecutor even tried taking this as a case for charges is beyond me. I'm thinking daddy pulled some 'I know somebody' favors to get it as far as it did.
When you give a child a Christmas gift, the gift now belongs to the child, not the gift giver. Once it was clarified that the phone belonged to the minor child and removed from her possession for disciplinary reasons, nothing else to see here.
If you want to try and have your ex wife arrested and charged with theft for not allowing your little snowflake and you to call the shots over a iphone in the other parent's home you best just keep the d*mn phone in your own home.
There was never any 'theft' and if it had not been a gift, the father should have kept the phone in his own home if his goal was to control the phone. People, no matter how much you think you get to control another person's home and rules , you don't get to.
And this little stunt, I'm sure, just ramped up the conflict level between homes. *sigh*
Taking phone away?
No idea if phone was taken away for disciplinary reasons, but if so, mom should have returned to dad. We don't know the facts to determine if mom brought this on herself. As to whether the phone was a gift, or just use of a phone, could be hard to say.
So you didn't bother to read
So you didn't bother to read the news reports? *shrugs* Besides the one provided by link there are many more.
It was a gift to kid for Christmas. Kid got in do-do at school. Mom took phone. Phone was taken in April. Police arrived to arrest a breast feeding mother (she was sitting in rocker feeding her baby) on Mother's Day.
I will assume if Dad was so worried Mom had stolen ;his; phone, he could have tried to come get it. Nope let's wait a few weeks and on Mother's Day send the police on a theft call.
MOM is giving her side of it
MOM is giving her side of it. I have a lot of questions. Why not return phone to dad? Was mom using it? If student was in trouble at school, did mom tell dad.
Prosecutor dismissed all
Prosecutor dismissed all charges when learned phone belonged to the child and had been a gift.
Seriously, are you saying Mom speak for the prosecutor now?
You really come across as a reincarnated member of a lady from NYC.
It's not dad's phone, so no
It's not dad's phone, so no need to return it to him. Why would mom use it? Dad could find out himself what his daughter is up to in school. Mom isn't his secretary.
Why would mom have to tell
Why would mom have to tell dad?
I'm sure the kid told dad mom took the phone and why. If dad wanted to know all of the details, he could have called the school. Mom should not have to play middle man between dad and school.
Having her arrested on Mother's Day was a bitch ass move.
The arresting officer is a
The arresting officer is a moron and I hope this mom sues the crap out of his department.
We had the police at our door when DH took SD's cell phone away because she was being inappropriate online. Yep, bm paid for it, but she failed to parent It, so bye-bye phone. The officer who came to our door told sd that her father could take her phone any time he wished. SD tried shouting and screaming at the officer, who offered to arrest her for disorderly conduct.
I'm so glad our officers aren't idiots like this one.
Phone
Why did he not give phone back to his ex? Unless this is a situation where one parent is paying for phone, the other for contract (never a good idea), the phone should be returned to parent who paid for it.
Nope. It doesn't matter who
Nope. It doesn't matter who paid for it as it belongs to the child. It's OK to be confused. That's why we have lawyers and judges and laws to clarify things.
If your husband buys you a purse for Christmas, does it belong to you or him?
The phone was a GIFT. Mom took the phone away from the OWNER not the purchaser.
What about when teachers take
What about when teachers take away students cell phones; do they get arrested too? What a ridiculous abuse of power and taking away the right to discipline her own child. No wonder parents are afraid to parent!
If the judge ruled it was snowflakes phone then snowflake should also be ordered to pay her own bill.
I think decision was mom was entiled to phone
So she should pay contract. I dont think a minor can bw orderd to pay
When SO and BM were still
When SO and BM were still going through the divorce BM tried to force us to allow the oldest to have a phone in our home. I wrote about it I do believe. She threatened to use her lawyer to force us to allow it and since SO was still actively meeting with his he brought it up.
What he was told is that we do not have to allow the children to use the phone in our home. If it is sent to us we are within our rights to take the phone away and place it somewhere safe as long as it is given back when the child returned to their mother OR given straight to the mother if she requested it.
If in this case BM took the phone completely and refused to return it then I could see the theft charges. I do think the ruling that the phone belonged to a girl is a slippery slope though. I see that opening doors because then the parent can NEVER take the phone from the child since it is their property but then again a minor’s ownership and control of possession are always a fuzzy zone and we see arguments about it here all the time.
Besides just parents I know schools threaten to take items for the full year if they become a repeated issue. Our school would take a phone for one day, then take it and give it to the parent, if it was a problem a 3rd time they took it for the full semester but yes that does raise the question of theft.