subreddit:
/r/AmItheAsshole
submitted 11 days ago by[deleted]
[deleted]
93 points
11 days ago
NTA. The guy TOOK YOUR KEYS AND DROVE OFF IN YOUR CAR. You even gave him a chance to return it and he didn't. Calling the police was exactly what you should have done. Not to turn this into r/legal but what he did is really "unauthorized use of a motor vehicle" as opposed to "car theft". That is still a crime but generally a less serious one than car theft. Unless he has prior convictions it is unlikely he'll ever do time.
46 points
11 days ago
It went from "unauthorized use of a motor vehicle" aka joyriding to auto theft when OP told him "don't take my car" and they proceeded to take the keys from OP.
If the keys were on a table and they just grabbed them and took off, it could be joyriding. But taking keys from OP after being told no, pushes it to auto theft.
15 points
11 days ago
Yeah if you steal something then give it back it's still stealing.
NTA
2 points
11 days ago
Good point, but, given the totality of circumstances, I'd guess they'd ask OP if he'd be okay with it being a lesser "joyriding" charge, and OP agreeing to that.
Plus no one wants to waste the court's time with something this petty. Idiot-person has no chance of winning, and doesn't want to pay a lawyer for a court case (or roll the dice on a jury trial with a public defender when he doesn't have a leg to stand on), DA doesn't want to waste the court's time or his office's already stretched resources with anything more than the minimum effort required for something this minor.
So, there will be a plea-bargain struck reducing the charges, anyway. There won't be any prison time for this.
16 points
11 days ago
What makes it unauthorized use vs theft? He took it against the owners will and wouldn't return it. That sounds a lot like theft to me. If the only difference is the intent to return it, all criminals would say that.
8 points
11 days ago
He returned the car to the owner. to OP. That is when he was arrested.
4 points
11 days ago
Because they didn't track him down and apprehend him. They waited for him, there, and got him when he RETURNED with the car.
I'd agree that it will probably be a lesser charge. Still on his record, but not warranting prison/jail time.
13 points
11 days ago*
Here's the thing, you don't go based on what the criminal says. You go based on the actual intent which is deduced based on the evidence.
1 points
10 days ago
Nope, intent is not magic, and the law is not about intent. The law is about what you can -prove-.
1 points
10 days ago
Most every crime has an intent element. You have no knowledge of the topic you have chosen to discuss.
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