Shark Attack at Aquarium of the Pacific

[Bob3]

What's the state penalty for something like this? Community service?

California has one of the nation's strongest anti-cruelty laws. Its law carries a felony penalty provision. Offenses may be punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both. Mandatory psych counseling is also required.
Federal charges might also come into play.
Once they start adding up ALL the laws broken, the perps may wind up going bye bye for a long time.
Heck, here in CA they can get 25 to life for shoplifting under the 3 strikes law.

 

[mossym]

problem is, gotta catch them first..

 

[Nay]

I'm going to be forwarding the story later today to the larger papers and news networks. This isn't something that should disappear after appearing once in a local paper.

I'd personally like to see them tortured and them tossed in with piranha or something. I bet our sharks wouldn't do what we'd like them to with these guys.
I just hope we find them.

 

[sharkdiver00]

What are the chances of 1. the guilty ones being caught, and 2. them being charged with ANY of the charges? The saddest thing around here is that although all the punishments are there, nothing ever sticks. Therefore, there is ZERO deterrent for anybody wanting to do what they want, whenever they want to do it.

 

[caveseeker7]

Just caught the KCAL9 noon news. They had a brief segment on it and announced there would be a news conference in a little while by LBPD. They were mum about arrests or pending arrests, but the juvenile division is supposed to attend the conference. Punk kids out to have a good time ... unlikely the punishment is going to fit the crime if these punks are underage ... they tortured the animals and beat them to death against the ground.

 

[jetfixer]

they tortured the animals and beat them to death against the ground.

That worries me as animal torture is usually the sign of a sick and deranged mind. Most serial killers tortured animals as children. This is very sad on all accounts.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

One thing about California laws. If you are underage it doesn't necessarily mean you'll get easy treatment. In fact minors can be held by authorities without many of the rights that adults have. One of my kids got into trouble as a teen and we lost total control of things. It went pretty hard for him and what he did was rip off a moped. I paid full restitution and he was sentenced to 30 days. He ended up doing 6 years because he had an "attitude". This happened at age 15 so he was locked up until he reached 21.

This little shark killers may have a rough road ahead. You never know.

 

[caveseeker7]

Even if he crashed or torched the moped, there is a bit of a difference here as animals are not objects.

I paid full restitution and he was sentenced to 30 days. He ended up doing 6 years because he had an "attitude".

Out of curiousity, what is "attitude"?
Unless it involved a boot in guards' nuts 6 years seem like nonsense, too.

 

[Nay]

I emailed the LA Times and Register to make sure they were aware of the story, which they were. I'm hoping that there's a good deal of coverage on this so people will maybe help find the guy.
Any news on the pres conference? I can't access news sites from work.

 

[caveseeker7]

Four kids, one age 14, the rest all age 13 have been arrested and are held at juvenile hall.

They were arrested when they came back a second time and cops chased them down.

They'll be charged with trespassing, vandalism and felony cruelty to animals.

Why? Appearantly "because they could".

The nurseshark was found dead in the bushes, the ray on the ground, "poked or stabbed", the (still) surviving shark was thrown on the exit structure (am not sure what that is).