How Not To Pay a Parking Ticket

cohensh writes "A Purdue engineering student was arrested for terroristic mischief. After receiving a parking ticket and having a boot put on his car he put the ticket, boot and payment in a box and left it at parking services. Someone thought the box was suspicious and the building was evacuated. Eventually it was traced back to the student who was arrested for 'leaving something that a reasonable person may think is a weapon of mass destruction.'"

Comments

Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Dadamh]

See: TFA.

This is insane. What reasonable person would assume that a box left at a parking agency was a weapon of mass destruction? What terrorist bombs a minor college parking station?

Goddamn.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[billcopc]

A meta-terrorist who wants to bring attention to the ridiculousness of the global terror-scare ?

Hell, I'd blow up a Reese's cup with 9000 pounds of C4, if it could potentially knock some sense back into the average bomb-fearing citizen (clue: it won't; people are terminally stupid).

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Anonymous Coward]

You're forgetting that this is rural Illinois. He's brown, so therefore clearly a terrist. (that's how they say it)

He'd better watch out - the teabaggers might get confused and lynch him!

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Profane MuthaFucka]

It's not insane. My father was killed by a shoe box, and my mother was raped by a packing crate.

Boxes are dangerous! The Republicans are absolutely correct when they insist on cowering in fear whenever they see a box.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Anonymous Coward]

-1 Idiotic, Ignorant, Stupid, and Wrong.

First of all, Purdue U. is in INDIANA. You’re an idiot.

Secondly, it’s located in West Lafayette, the most densely populated city in Indiana. You’re ignorant.

Thirdly, “teabagging” is a sexual slang term and is wholly inappropriate to use to refer to any sort of politically-minded group. Calling tea-partiers “teabaggers” because they sound similar is about as journalistically acceptable as calling Barak Hussein Obama a Muslim because his middle name sounds Muslim. You’re stupid.

Fourth, who the fuck thinks, after your track record so far, that you have any sort of credibility when you speak for what the so-called “teabaggers” would do to him? You’re wrong.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Locke2005]

He'd better watch out - the teabaggers might get confused and lynch him! I think they'd be much more likely to simply place certain intimate parts of their anatomy on his face.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Anonymous Coward]

See a case at the University of Florida for another prime example: after a parade, some Jansport people left a bookbag filled with playground sand (so it would look full on the float) in a sublevel parking garage by mistake. Come Monday morning the garage was closed for 7 hours due to the "suspicious package".

The kicker? Despite the panic of the police that blocked off the south side of the building, they never blocked the back of the building or evacuated the businesses directly above the "suspicious package" (at least 1000 people affected)!

In short, panicky people are idiots. But what else is new?

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[HeLLFiRe1151]

Kinda like a Democrat having a gun pulled on him. A good Democrat pleads for his life, a good Republican on the other hand would simply pull out his own.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[H0p313ss]

Kinda like a Democrat having a gun pulled on him. A good Democrat pleads for his life, a good Republican on the other hand would simply pull out his own.

And statistically speaking, who do you think is more likely to survive the encounter?

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Anonymous Coward]

actually a good democrat would lobby his representative body to establish tighter gun control whilst simultaneously being mugged. there is no black and white with this issue. both sides make good points. i choose to compromise. i won't carry a gun, but I carry a pocket full of bullets. now that's progress.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[HeLLFiRe1151]

Whoever has the least to lose.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[JeffSpudrinski]

The real truth:
He embarrassed them and they using an overbroad definition of a vague law to get revenge on him.

This type of crap happens way too much.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[v1]

And statistically speaking, who do you think is more likely to survive the encounter?

A: the Ron Paul'er standing across the street pointing a finger and laughing at the two.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

people are terminally stupid).

Unfortunately stupidity is not terminal often enough. I blame the nanny state, and warning lables on everything.
My favourite example: A hair dryer with the warning "Do not use in bath." If you are stupid enough to use an electrical appliance in the bath, you deserve to die!

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Profane MuthaFucka]

That's why I always have a box with me. Whenever a Republican like yourself gives me lip, I pull my tiny little box out of my pocket.

They immediately run to the corner and start crying like a baby.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[oldspewey]

Whoa, just hold on one second there ... I will tolerate a lot of things but i will not just stand idly by while you impugn the credibility and track record of Anonymous Coward.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm, this is Slashdot, not a newspaper or fine political forum. If you are offended by "teabagger" don't view anything -1, the comments will make your head explode.
          Also lighten up. I'm a libertarian, but I did have a chuckle at this dud'es frivolous post. I don't think it was meant seriously.
      I really have no comment about Indiana (or Illinois), despite driving through them a lot. However here in Iowa City (University of Iowa), the campus is VERY diverse, I would expect Purdue to be too. I think they may have overreacted, but not due to skin color.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Anonymous Coward]

According to actual, recorded statistics?

The Republican. No two ways about it.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Anonymous Coward]

given the fact that a democrat with a gun in essence is a republican with slightly less quirky philosophy you might be right

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey moron profane muthafucka, It was at a college campus where most are run by liberals.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[mu22le]

people are terminally stupid).

Unfortunately stupidity is not terminal often enough. I blame the nanny state, and warning lables on everything.

My favourite example: A hair dryer with the warning "Do not use in bath." If you are stupid enough to use an electrical appliance in the bath, you deserve to die!

We are undermining evolution

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Profane MuthaFucka]

Are you claiming that college campuses are harboring the boxes which are causing you to hide under your bed, crying for your mommy?

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Dragoon235]

Your packing crate incident wouldn't have anything to do with this?
http://www.icanhasmotivation.com/40-lb-box-of-rape-you-know-you-want-to-open-it/

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Profane MuthaFucka]

OMG That was it! It raped my Mom and continues to this day to reduce conservatives to fearful little puddles of jello.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Anonymous Coward]

My mountain bike was once called in to police as suspicious because I locked my backpack to it while I went into a store. A police officer actually came into the store and asked me to remove the bike and threatened that he would have the bomb squad blow it up if I didn't. I had locked the bike up at a cart return in the middle of the parking lot.

If my bike could be a weapon of mass destruction, then obviously a card board box could be...

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Anonymous Coward]

Oooh AC was burned by a rube.

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[PachmanP]

And statistically speaking, who do you think is more likely to survive the encounter?
A: the Ron Paul'er standing across the street pointing a finger and laughing at the two.

But what kind of life would it be?

Re:Moronic Laws and the People that Abuse Them

[Anonymous Coward]

Ummmm...This is one of those cases where there is no second place. The first one to pull the gun wins...the other gun becomes irrelevant. Unless, of course, you are lucky and the first gun jams.

Also, the assumption that the Republican has a gun while the Democrat does not is not always correct. I was a registered Democrat when I bought mine and I still passed the background check ;)

Police Don't Think

[flyneye]

"Due to the fact that police thought the box could have been a weapon of mass destruction,"
            Here's where the story starts sounding suspicious, like its a race thing or whatever the cops are up to lately.
Prospective porkers are tested for i.q., not as you would imagine for high numbers, but for low. The reason being, intelligent people tend to think independently and that is a no-no that can bring about judgment calls which in turn screws up the part about bringin in the bad guys who broke a law. The police force needs those who unquestioningly enforce laws, not choose, not moderate, not decide if it's worth it. I'm totally serious. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventories (MMPI) , the long version, not the one the Scientologists use, are further used to weed out the ham from the bacon. Ever wonder why the general public attitude is "hmmmph, dumb cops"? Well there it is. If there were no 9-11, the same cops would've dove on the box like football players, convinced there were donuts in it. My old uncle did the testing locally for years.

Re:Police Don't Think

[bill_mcgonigle]

So, the moral of the story is that if you're going to emulate this guy, write 'Donuts' on the side of the box and you'll be good?

Re:Police Don't Think

[KibibyteBrain]

In all fairness, police often can't think. Police officers are not mobile judges. If according to their department's policy, a certain report meets grounds for them to charge someone with a crime they have to. And the system is set up to make them usually play on the safe side...of making an arrest. To make matters worse, when it comes to stuff like suspected terrorism, most departments don't want to mess around and so pretty much if they have an accusation of such a crime and there is ANY evidence to back up the claim, to even Monty Python witch trial sketch standards, they feel its safer to let the courts deal with the problem.

Re:Police Don't Think

[Anonymous Coward]

Smarter people also tend to get bored & leave

Re:Police Don't Think

[Pictish Prince]

"Due to the fact that police thought the box could have been a weapon of mass destruction,"
Here's where the story starts sounding suspicious, like its a race thing or whatever the cops are up to lately.
Prospective porkers are tested for i.q., not as you would imagine for high numbers, but for low. The reason being, intelligent people tend to think independently and that is a no-no that can bring about judgment calls which in turn screws up the part about bringin in the bad guys who broke a law. The police force needs those who unquestioningly enforce laws, not choose, not moderate, not decide if it's worth it. I'm totally serious. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventories (MMPI) , the long version, not the one the Scientologists use, are further used to weed out the ham from the bacon. Ever wonder why the general public attitude is "hmmmph, dumb cops"? Well there it is. If there were no 9-11, the same cops would've dove on the box like football players, convinced there were donuts in it. My old uncle did the testing locally for years.

It's actually a bit more complicated. What you say is generally true. However, I had a good friend (deceased now), extremely intelligent and completely amoral, who joined the Chicago police so he could carry a gun and be a scofflaw with impunity. I'd guess it was pretty easy for him to get past the screeners.

Epic Fail

[agentc0re]

Prosecutors will decide next week if there is enough evidence for the charges facing Sun to stick. If they do, he could face serious fines and jail time.
So this poor kid has to stay in jail until they...find a convenient time to accuse him of "terrorism"? They had no trouble rushing to the point of accusing him that it was a "weapon of mass destruction"... and why is anyone calling this box that in the first place? Wouldn't IED be more fitting? This whole story is full of fail. I hope this kid gets some good lawyers and sues the shit out of anyone accusing him of terrorism.

how the hell

[CrAlt]

How the hell did he get the boot off his car? Does he have some super terrorist lock picking skillz or just a set of bolt cutters?

Re:how the hell

[zapakh]

How the hell did he get the boot off his car? Does he have some super [...] lock picking skillz or just a set of bolt cutters?

I'm guessing that's where "possession of stolen property" comes from. They're supposed to come and remove the boot after your payment has gone through the proper channels. It strikes me as pleasantly smart-assy to remove the boot for them and include it with payment. Physical locks usually only serve to keep honest people honest anyway. Arresting someone over this procedural irregularity is downright stupid.

My first thought was, "What is this, Boston ?" With the hyperlinks and everything. But no, the student hails from nearby Andover.

TFA doesn't call it a "hoax bomb" this time (i.e., we thought it was a bomb, and it turned out not to be, so rather than admit the false positive and send you on your way, we're charging you for confusing us, kthx) but "terroristic mischief", especially in the obvious absence of any such intent, is at least as bad. We might as well accuse him of being a witch.

Re:how the hell

[^_^x]

If someone booted my car and I could remove it myself, I'd simply dispose of it and say "what? I thought you already sent someone to remove it while I was out after I paid the ticket!" and leave it to them to audit and trace and sort out. They'd assume I wasn't the one to remove it.

I think the risk of damaging the wheel rims and fender, with the problems of locking a car into a place it shouldn't be in the first place is needlessly punitive, risky, and counterproductive, so I'm glad they don't use them where I live (Alberta).

Re:how the hell

[Anonymous Coward]

My car's pretty much a $0 junker. If I found it booted somewhere, I'd just change the locks on the boot and let them figure out what to do with it.

I don't expect to have this issue, though, because I know how to read no parking signs.

Re:how the hell

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah, I understand. I thought a boot was a robust piece of footwear, typically extending above the ankle to provide some degree of portection to the ankle should the person walk on rough uneven ground. Well I never, you learn something everyday.

Re:how the hell

[jimicus]

It's not that difficult. Depending on the design of clamp, there are a few methods:

1. Some clamps don't have chains, they just surround the tyre. Solution: Let the tyre down, jack up the car, cut the inside circumference from behind, turn it inside out and take the clamp off. Obviously you now need a new tyre but that may be cheaper.

2. I've actually seen clamps so incompetently applied that they weren't locked in place - they could literally just be pulled away.

3. (If the clamp is chained behind the wheel into the suspension) Jack up the car then remove the wheel at the suspension arm. Remove clamp, re-attach wheel, drive away. Certainly in the UK, this is perfectly legal. Though clampers tend to be very large intimidating shaved apes who will make all sorts of threatening noises...

Re:how the hell

[pla]

It's not that difficult. Depending on the design of clamp, there are a few methods:

4) Keep a bolt-cutter in the car... Or an angle-grinder, or a sawzall with a metal cutting blade, or even just a good hacksaw.

Sudden outbreak of common sense

[Anonymous Coward]

>Due to the fact that police thought the box could have been a weapon of mass destruction, Sun could face serious charges, such as terroristic mischief.
>Police say terroristic mischief is when an individual leaves something that a reasonable person may think is a weapon of mass destruction.

In these days and age, a box is reasonable enough to contain weapon of mass destruction.

I need to start suing Walmart for spreading terror.

Shh! We don't want them to understand!

[Anonymous Coward]

As the end result, they are happy because they can have their precious extensions of their manliness. We are happy as they are likely to die when they actually use them. Don't try to sabotage this.

Re:Shh! We don't want them to understand!

[H0p313ss]

As the end result, they are happy because they can have their precious extensions of their manliness. We are happy as they are likely to die when they actually use them. Don't try to sabotage this.

But I LIKE tilting at windmills! Besides, I get this secret inner joy when I can taunt people who have no idea they're being taunted.

I just remembered I got some kid suspended in primary school for hitting me after I called him a homo-sapien... even the teacher had to laugh at that one.

Re:Shh! We don't want them to understand!

[Anonymous Coward]

they are likely to die when they actually use them.

[citation needed]

Do you mean, when used to defend against violent crime? Crime stats don't support your assertion; People who defend themselves using firearms survive more often, even compared to people who offer no resistance.

Do you mean, whenever used for any reason? Something like a billion rounds put downrange at targets every year would seem to disagree with you -- people use guns very, very often, with only the tiniest percentage of those uses resulting even in injury.

What the fuck exactly DO you mean, exactly? I can't figure it out.

Re:Shh! We don't want them to understand!

[WH44]

I presume you're referring to these statistics: "The Defensive Gun Use Statistics"

That doesn't apply to the described scenario: in the described scenario, the attacker already has his gun pointed at the victim, whereas the statistics apply to every type of attack, including with fists. If you try and pull a gun while the attacker has the gun trained on you, your chances of being shot are very high.

Weapon of mass destruciton?

[Anonymous Coward]

Based on their criteria, some Taco Bell Burritos fit into that category!

The moral of the story

[sjames]

If you find your car booted, remove it and sell it to a shady scrap metal dealer. Do not attempt to pay the fine, just deny all knowledge.

As for terroristic mischief, save that charge for the idiot that saw a box and created a major panic.

Quite honestly, it sounds like a bunch of thugs are upset that he failed to respect their authoritah. He handed them their balls and so they want to punish him severely.

Re:The moral of the story

[JonChance]

The real sad part of this is a) the shady scrap dealer would get busted and turn you in on a plea deal b) The idiot that saw the box will get the hero treatment for being a robot and not thinking. c) The cops will slab themselves on the back and raid the nearest drunkin donuts. err dunkin and finally d) the smart ass will get sued for emotional and psychological hardship oh and one more thing. f) he will get a dcma charge for circumventing the boot. especially if he used the internet to do it. g) if they really want to be mean , they will force him use a microsoft product so they can monitor his porn habit. In a society driven by common sense ( aka a Utopian society) a) This engineering student would get a spot on late night TV b) the idiot that screamed bomb would get arrested for inciting a panic. c) the cops that busted him would be sent to handing out tickets. and walking a beat instead of getting fat and screaming bomb. * suddenly wakes up* oh .. sorry got lost in a fantasy land.

Uhh

[ShooterNeo]

Shouldn't the "reasonable person" definition be "device that appears to be a weapon of mass destruction".

I mean, first off, a WMD isn't an explosive device : it is a nuclear bomb or a biological or chemical weapon. A brown box does not look like any of those things.

Now, if it was a silvery cylinder with a bunch of wires coming out to various timers and batteries, and it was the proper size and shape to be an improved nuke (meaning about the size of a small car) or had biohazard warnings on it. THAT would qualify under the law.

But instead the prosecutors are punishing him for his disobedience by leaving him in jail while they "consider" if he broke the law. He obviously didn't.

Ballot Box

[Roger W Moore]

Boxes are dangerous! The Republicans are absolutely correct when they insist on cowering in fear whenever they see a box.

As they should be. All politicians should be afraid of ballot boxes.

Unabomber

[Anonymous Coward]

What terrorist bombs a minor college parking station?

Kaczynski left small, harmless looking boxes in all sorts of unassuming places. Parking lots, in-boxes, just laying around on some desk, etc.

A list may be found here.

Cry wolf

[Anonymous Coward]

You wait, there will be routine and random box examining checkpoints put int policy soon....

FREE KARMA !!

[Anonymous Coward]

Include the words "Nanny State" in your comment. Bing!