Mob of kids chase down suspicious stranger

[conjur]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2588192

Wielding baseball bats and sticks, a mob in northwest Houston today chased down a man suspected of preying on neighborhood children in recent weeks.

"We know him. The whole neighborhood knows him," said Carlos Gonzalez.

Residents told police the 44-year-old man tried to lure children into his van last week while it was parked at a nearby elementary school. They also accused him of hugging a 12-year-old boy on Saturday while he was wearing women's clothing.

Sharp-eyed neighborhood children initiated the pursuit of the suspected child predator.

"The little kids spotted him. The little kids started the chase," Gonzalez said. "All the little kids in the neighborhood -- they had sticks an everything."

About 20 children, mostly armed with sticks, began following the man when they spotted him at 12:45 p.m. near Peg and Bolin.

One of the pursuers, Francisco Garcia, 12, said the man -- who doesn't live in the area -- approached him Saturday night.

"He came up to me dressed like a woman and tried to hug me and talk to me," Garcia said. "I saw that he was a guy so I left."

Adults joined in the chase when the man threatened the young pursuers.

"I came out with a baseball bat," Gonzalez said. "When he saw the men coming, he ran."

The mob cornered the man in a fenced-in yard near Granite and Bolin where he waited for police to arrive.

The homeowner called police and pleaded with the crowd to not harm the man. Gonzalez said the man dropped a bundle on the ground which contained a girl's shirt wrapped around several pictures of small children.

"He was sitting there sniffing the shirt, laughing at us," Gonzalez said.

Officers arrested the man when they discovered the van he was driving had been stolen. They found several pairs of socks, a boy's T-shirt and a pair of girl's underwear inside the vehicle.

Though arrested for car theft, detectives were attempting to determine if he had been under investigation on child molestation or related charges.

While nobody was hurt during Sunday's pursuit, officers said citizens shouldn't take the law into their own hands.

"You need to call law enforcement and let us handle that," said Houston police officer S.A. Burk.

Gonzalez confronted the man last week, soon after he said the man attempted to lure children into his van.

"I said, `Hey, if you're in this neighborhood trying to get kids, you're going to get hurt,'" Gonzalez said. "He said you've got the wrong guy."

Police said officers have responded to two calls in the area in the recent past, but none resulted in any arrest. It wasn't known late Sunday whether any of the calls were about sexual assault allegations.

Local resident Alfonso Martinez has a boy, 4, and a girl, 7, and said he hoped Sunday was the last day they would see the man in their neighborhood.

"I hope he doesn't come back," Martinez said. "Something bad is going to happen if he shows up around this neighborhood."

 

[Yaotl]

the kids showed surprising restraint.

 

[Genesys]

hahahaha! imagine whats going to happen to the guy in prison!

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Good - these lowlife scum need to be taken off the street.

CkG

 

[Dissipate]

Collectivists such as conjur have a different version of this story. Instead of the mob being kids, and the man being a child molester. The mob is Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipent, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist. The man they are after is Mr. Productive. You see Mr. Productive has thrown Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipient, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist into a frenzy. His crime: producing wealth. His punishment: a lifetime of endless taxation.

 

[Zephyr106]

Originally posted by: Dissipate
Collectivists such as conjur have a different version of this story. Instead of the mob being kids, and the man being a child molester. The mob is Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipent, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist. The man they are after is Mr. Productive. You see Mr. Productive has thrown Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipient, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist into a frenzy. His crime: producing wealth. His punishment: a lifetime of endless taxation.

WTF get connected back to reality.

Zephyr

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: Dissipate
Collectivists such as conjur have a different version of this story. Instead of the mob being kids, and the man being a child molester. The mob is Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipent, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist. The man they are after is Mr. Productive. You see Mr. Productive has thrown Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipient, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist into a frenzy. His crime: producing wealth. His punishment: a lifetime of endless taxation.

Hilarious post.

 

[DanceMan]

Anybody else find these statements ironic?

"You need to call law enforcement and let us handle that," said Houston police officer S.A. Burk.

Police said officers have responded to two calls in the area in the recent past, but none resulted in any arrest. It wasn't known late Sunday whether any of the calls were about sexual assault allegations.

 

Originally posted by: DanceMan
Anybody else find these statements ironic?

"You need to call law enforcement and let us handle that," said Houston police officer S.A. Burk.

Police said officers have responded to two calls in the area in the recent past, but none resulted in any arrest. It wasn't known late Sunday whether any of the calls were about sexual assault allegations.

Although I am going to school to be a cop, sometimes, citizens can get more done if they do stuff like this. So long as its not taken to extremes, I don't see any harm. Of course, there are situations in which I will be wrong, like if they cornered the wrong guy, but if 20 people say someone did it...

 

[Grakatt]

I can see how people'd get suspicious if some guy in a van was spotted wearing women's clothes..and children take after their parents. It isn't so hard to become the beef-jerky in the doberman-pen in a little neighbourhood..(especially if you live in a van and wear womens' clothing, I'd imagine )
Not saying that guy wasn't some sort of child-molester, I'm just saying every party involved in that story seemed a little daft.

 

[Ldir]

Originally posted by: Dissipate
Collectivists such as conjur have a different version of this story. Instead of the mob being kids, and the man being a child molester. The mob is Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipent, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist. The man they are after is Mr. Productive. You see Mr. Productive has thrown Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipient, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist into a frenzy. His crime: producing wealth. His punishment: a lifetime of endless taxation.

It is better to hold your tongue and be thought an idiot than open your mouth and remove all doubt. Shut up.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Zephyr106

Originally posted by: Dissipate
Collectivists such as conjur have a different version of this story. Instead of the mob being kids, and the man being a child molester. The mob is Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipent, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist. The man they are after is Mr. Productive. You see Mr. Productive has thrown Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipient, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist into a frenzy. His crime: producing wealth. His punishment: a lifetime of endless taxation.

WTF get connected back to reality.

Zephyr

I think his brain just "dissipated".

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: conjur

I think his brain just "dissipated".

Did you just "conjur" up some wit?

CkG

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: CADkindaGUY

Originally posted by: conjur

I think his brain just "dissipated".

Did you just "conjur" up some wit?

CkG

Nah...it comes naturally.

 

[Dissipate]

Originally posted by: Ldir

Originally posted by: Dissipate
Collectivists such as conjur have a different version of this story. Instead of the mob being kids, and the man being a child molester. The mob is Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipent, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist. The man they are after is Mr. Productive. You see Mr. Productive has thrown Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipient, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist into a frenzy. His crime: producing wealth. His punishment: a lifetime of endless taxation.

It is better to hold your tongue and be thought an idiot than open your mouth and remove all doubt. Shut up.

Most murders are crimes of passion. There is no prior criminal history.

Did I hear a noise? I swear I heard something.

 

[Dissipate]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Zephyr106

Originally posted by: Dissipate
Collectivists such as conjur have a different version of this story. Instead of the mob being kids, and the man being a child molester. The mob is Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipent, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist. The man they are after is Mr. Productive. You see Mr. Productive has thrown Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipient, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist into a frenzy. His crime: producing wealth. His punishment: a lifetime of endless taxation.

WTF get connected back to reality.

Zephyr

I think his brain just "dissipated".

This is coming from someone who believes in Keynesianism, an economic theory that has been intellectually discredited for the better part of a century?!

How about focusing on alternative fuels?

Think of how much we could have done with $150billion spent on alternative fuel research!

You have some reading to do, before you can claim anyone else is mindless.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Dissipate

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Zephyr106

Originally posted by: Dissipate
Collectivists such as conjur have a different version of this story. Instead of the mob being kids, and the man being a child molester. The mob is Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipent, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist. The man they are after is Mr. Productive. You see Mr. Productive has thrown Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipient, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist into a frenzy. His crime: producing wealth. His punishment: a lifetime of endless taxation.

WTF get connected back to reality.

Zephyr

I think his brain just "dissipated".

This is coming from someone who believes in Keynesianism, an economic theory that has been intellectually discredited for the better part of a century?!

How about focusing on alternative fuels?

Think of how much we could have done with $150billion spent on alternative fuel research!

You have some reading to do, before you can claim anyone else is mindless.

LOL!

You think I follow the Keynesian theory? Then how does that explain my support of lowered or eliminated Capital Gains taxes? Or my support for graduated welfare benefits (to be phased by either time or the recipients' ability to become self-sufficient)? And that I don't think all of the world's economies are directly related?

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: FallenHero



Although I am going to school to be a cop, sometimes, citizens can get more done if they do stuff like this. So long as its not taken to extremes, I don't see any harm. Of course, there are situations in which I will be wrong, like if they cornered the wrong guy, but if 20 people say someone did it...

citizen's arrest, baby. As long as they don't do anything beyond corner the guy and wait for the cops (no hitting, no threats), it's a GOOD thing.

 

[SmokeRngs]

Originally posted by: FallenHero

Originally posted by: DanceMan
Anybody else find these statements ironic?

"You need to call law enforcement and let us handle that," said Houston police officer S.A. Burk.

Police said officers have responded to two calls in the area in the recent past, but none resulted in any arrest. It wasn't known late Sunday whether any of the calls were about sexual assault allegations.

Although I am going to school to be a cop, sometimes, citizens can get more done if they do stuff like this. So long as its not taken to extremes, I don't see any harm. Of course, there are situations in which I will be wrong, like if they cornered the wrong guy, but if 20 people say someone did it...

I agree with you to a point. I'm sure a group of regular citizens many times can get more done than cops can especially in a situation like this when the guy would have a lot of time to get away while they are waiting for the cops to show up. As long as the group does like this one and doesn't take any extremes it will probably work out decent. One big concern is actually for the group in case the perp actually has a weapon. This can quickly and easily complicate an otherwise simple situation.

 

[Dissipate]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Dissipate

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Zephyr106

Originally posted by: Dissipate
Collectivists such as conjur have a different version of this story. Instead of the mob being kids, and the man being a child molester. The mob is Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipent, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist. The man they are after is Mr. Productive. You see Mr. Productive has thrown Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipient, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist into a frenzy. His crime: producing wealth. His punishment: a lifetime of endless taxation.

WTF get connected back to reality.

Zephyr

I think his brain just "dissipated".

This is coming from someone who believes in Keynesianism, an economic theory that has been intellectually discredited for the better part of a century?!

How about focusing on alternative fuels?

Think of how much we could have done with $150billion spent on alternative fuel research!

You have some reading to do, before you can claim anyone else is mindless.

LOL!

You think I follow the Keynesian theory? Then how does that explain my support of lowered or eliminated Capital Gains taxes? Or my support for graduated welfare benefits (to be phased by either time or the recipients' ability to become self-sufficient)? And that I don't think all of the world's economies are directly related?

Your argument is non-sequitur. You are confusing statism with collectivism. On the surface your statement about the government spending $150 billion on alternative fuel research is statism (which is what you intended to convey, a statist idea).

stat·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sttzm)
n.
The practice or doctrine of giving a centralized government control over economic planning and policy.

In other words, this fuel research is an effort to "iron out" the kinks in the economy to aide in technological progress. This is centralized government control over economic planning. This is a Keynesian idea.

But what you don't understand is that it is actually collectivism as well. For it is a wealth transfer from the taxpayers to the researchers involved. Unintended collectivism if you will.

col·lec·tiv·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (k-lkt-vzm)
n.
The principles or system of ownership and control of the means of production and distribution by the people collectively, usually under the supervision of a government.

This makes you a statist, and a collectivist at the same time, but your statement in that case was intended to be a statement for Keynesianism, but your argument was that you do not belive in welfare and high taxes which is actually collectivism, not statism.

In other words your argument is that you do not believe in collectivism when in fact you were not intentially espousing collectivism in your comment. You were intentially espousing statism.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Dissipate

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Dissipate

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Zephyr106

Originally posted by: Dissipate
Collectivists such as conjur have a different version of this story. Instead of the mob being kids, and the man being a child molester. The mob is Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipent, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist. The man they are after is Mr. Productive. You see Mr. Productive has thrown Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipient, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist into a frenzy. His crime: producing wealth. His punishment: a lifetime of endless taxation.

WTF get connected back to reality.

Zephyr

I think his brain just "dissipated".

This is coming from someone who believes in Keynesianism, an economic theory that has been intellectually discredited for the better part of a century?!

How about focusing on alternative fuels?

Think of how much we could have done with $150billion spent on alternative fuel research!

You have some reading to do, before you can claim anyone else is mindless.

LOL!

You think I follow the Keynesian theory? Then how does that explain my support of lowered or eliminated Capital Gains taxes? Or my support for graduated welfare benefits (to be phased by either time or the recipients' ability to become self-sufficient)? And that I don't think all of the world's economies are directly related?

Your argument is non-sequitur. You are confusing statism with collectivism. On the surface your statement about the government spending $150 billion on alternative fuel research is statism (which is what you intended to convey, a statist idea).

stat·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sttzm)
n.
The practice or doctrine of giving a centralized government control over economic planning and policy.

In other words, this fuel research is an effort to "iron out" the kinks in the economy to aide in technological progress. This is centralized government control over economic planning. This is a Keynesian idea.

But what you don't understand is that it is actually collectivism as well. For it is a wealth transfer from the taxpayers to the researchers involved. Unintended collectivism if you will.

col·lec·tiv·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (k-lkt-vzm)
n.
The principles or system of ownership and control of the means of production and distribution by the people collectively, usually under the supervision of a government.

This makes you a statist, and a collectivist at the same time, but your statement in that case was intended to be a statement for Keynesianism, but your argument was that you do not belive in welfare and high taxes which is actually collectivism, not statism.

In other words your argument is that you do not believe in collectivism when in fact you were not intentially espousing collectivism in your comment. You were intentially espousing statism.

Well, your well-researched response is completely and utterly wrong.

Where in my post did I state that I wanted the government to have control over energy research. All I said was imagine what could have been done had the Iraq war money been spent on researching alternative fuels.

That could have been spent by the government doing research on its own.
That could have been spent by the government providing grants to universities and think tanks.
That could have been spent by the government providing loans to corporations.
That could have been spent by the government to funding NASA research.

You read too much into too little having been said.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Why are you talking about economics in a thread about little kids chasing down a suspicious stranger?

Dissipate, you are hilarious. We need more nut jobs like you here.

 

[Dissipate]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Dissipate

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Dissipate

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Zephyr106

Originally posted by: Dissipate
Collectivists such as conjur have a different version of this story. Instead of the mob being kids, and the man being a child molester. The mob is Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipent, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist. The man they are after is Mr. Productive. You see Mr. Productive has thrown Soccer Mom, Joe Six Pack, Low Wage Earner, Welfare Recipient, Government Employee and Mr. Environmentalist into a frenzy. His crime: producing wealth. His punishment: a lifetime of endless taxation.

WTF get connected back to reality.

Zephyr

I think his brain just "dissipated".

This is coming from someone who believes in Keynesianism, an economic theory that has been intellectually discredited for the better part of a century?!

How about focusing on alternative fuels?

Think of how much we could have done with $150billion spent on alternative fuel research!

You have some reading to do, before you can claim anyone else is mindless.

LOL!

You think I follow the Keynesian theory? Then how does that explain my support of lowered or eliminated Capital Gains taxes? Or my support for graduated welfare benefits (to be phased by either time or the recipients' ability to become self-sufficient)? And that I don't think all of the world's economies are directly related?

Your argument is non-sequitur. You are confusing statism with collectivism. On the surface your statement about the government spending $150 billion on alternative fuel research is statism (which is what you intended to convey, a statist idea).

stat·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sttzm)
n.
The practice or doctrine of giving a centralized government control over economic planning and policy.

In other words, this fuel research is an effort to "iron out" the kinks in the economy to aide in technological progress. This is centralized government control over economic planning. This is a Keynesian idea.

But what you don't understand is that it is actually collectivism as well. For it is a wealth transfer from the taxpayers to the researchers involved. Unintended collectivism if you will.

col·lec·tiv·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (k-lkt-vzm)
n.
The principles or system of ownership and control of the means of production and distribution by the people collectively, usually under the supervision of a government.

This makes you a statist, and a collectivist at the same time, but your statement in that case was intended to be a statement for Keynesianism, but your argument was that you do not belive in welfare and high taxes which is actually collectivism, not statism.

In other words your argument is that you do not believe in collectivism when in fact you were not intentially espousing collectivism in your comment. You were intentially espousing statism.

Well, your well-researched response is completely and utterly wrong.

Where in my post did I state that I wanted the government to have control over energy research. All I said was imagine what could have been done had the Iraq war money been spent on researching alternative fuels.

I replied that it should have gone back to the taxpayers in the form of tax refunds. Not researching alternative fuels, and you disagreed.

That could have been spent by the government doing research on its own.

Statism & collectivism.

That could have been spent by the government providing grants to universities and think tanks.

Statism & collectivism.

That could have been spent by the government providing loans to corporations.

Statism & collectivism.

That could have been spent by the government to funding NASA research.

Statism & collectivism.

You read too much into too little having been said.

What part of economic planning do you not understand? Economic planning is where the government alters the course of the economy from the path it would normally follow to one that it would not. An example of this in a purer sense is the Federal Reserve. It sets interest rates, which are not necessarily the interest rates that the economy would have set. Hence, economic planning & control. Now, in this case of funding research two things are happening, the government is shifting resources from other sectors of the economy to another sector: fuel research(statism/economic planning). The other thing that is happening is the government is transferring wealth to bureaucrats and researchers, this is collectivism(ownership of the means of production and distribution, administered by the government). A purer form of collectivism is welfare, where the sectors of the economy aren't necessarily shifted, but wealth is transferred. Each one of your proposals falls under both categories.

The idea that the government needs to provide funds for fuel research is a Keynesian idea, for it is based on the idea that the economy is not providing enough funds in this sector and things need to be "adjusted", but of course collectivism is an unavoidable result of this shift as well. Then we are back to the fact that Keynesianism has been debunked for a long time now. It is no longer a very viable economic theory.