How in the world is there nothing he can be charged with?

Conspiracy to commit theft?

What the hell is an Aluminum Falcon?
Anyways, it seems to me the most obvious answer is to give away their neighbors house.

Yeah- let's say the people who took the item (lets say a motorcycle this time) were splittin' the profits?

At least they could sue in small claims court.

Is this not fraud?

@solareclipse2: Well, its technically not stealing since he just posted an ad stating there were free items at that location.

Illegal, no. Immoral, yes.

This has happened before on a larger scale. To get back at someone, a Craigslist post was put up saying their house was abandoned and whatever possessions were there were free to whomever wanted them.

This poor guy got completely cleaned out.

What's even worse is even after he explained to them the craigslist posting was fake, they got still got pissed at him for trying to take back their "free stuff"

here's a link

[www.foxnews.com]

@solareclipse2: Simple..

It had been listed on the "free" section of Craigslist by their neighbor...a police officer in a neighboring town.

I hope the department the neighbor works for fires him! This is very unbecoming conduct for a police officer. How much do you want to bet this guy is corrupt anyway?

If you look at the definition for fraud in Texas there is probably some element of the crime that couldn't be shown. This is a good example of laws not keeping up with technology.

I suppose no one in Mansfield has ever heard of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act? Seems like a pretty cut and dried case of fraud and abuse commited using a computer.

[en.wikipedia.org]

The cop is probably going to lose his job, or at least get suspended. That's ridiculous. How can a dispute over a tetherball pole and basketball pole lead to this?

I like that the article explains how it may be a civil issue rather than a criminal one. But still, you would think something could happen to this guy. Although losing his job would probably be worse than a fine.

God Bless Texas police officers....

@solareclipse2: On the upside, if Huwitt decides to put the cop's property up on craigslist, there's nothing she can be charged with either.

@SkokieGuy: Conspiracy would require that the cop actually collaborated with the people who took it. Incitement would be suitable if it exists under US law.

@Megan Squier: I find your faith in the police department amusing.

The incident boiled down to a dispute between neighbors, and in the end there's no crime that the neighbor/cop/Craigslist poster can be charged with.

-1 Misleading Summary.

Here's what the article *really* said:

Meanwhile, Mansfield police and the Tarrant County district attorney's office are trying to determine whether a crime has been committed.

"The reporting officer originally wrote the offense for forgery," said Sgt. Stan Davis of the Mansfield Police Department. "We don't really know what the offense is yet. There are several different offenses that might fit. That's why the district attorney is reviewing it, to find out if there is a criminal offense and, if so, to find out which offense fits the best."

I'll bet the cop gets a visit from the lawyers over this. And so will his superiors.

Just in case anyone is in the middle of a feud with a neighbor, Craigslist does offer rss feeds based on search terms.

So if you want to be warned of such an incident happening to you, you could always set up an rss feed under search terms for your street address.

Is it strange that I think it's strange this woman has never heard of Craig's List? My mom knows about Craig's List, and she still can't figure out text messaging.

@solareclipse2: Yeah...shouldn't it at least be fraud or something? Entrapment, maybe, if there's a potential for the people taking the hoop to have been arrested?

Or is it just legal to take stuff from people's front yards/driveways?

So have the people stealing the basketball net charged with theft and also file a small claims suit against them. Summons the officer to court to testify.

Explain to the officer that he might be able to make the charges disappear, but the small claims case can't be made to disappear by him and that you'll be airing all the dirty laundry to the judge.

I'm betting he'll back off once he realizes he'll have an entirely new set of enemies (the would-be thieves) to deal with. He'll also have to explain why he needs time to go to a summons for an offense that he's not involved in.

Sometimes a bit of collateral damage is in order to solve certain problems. And no, I'm not a lovely neighbour. Now, OFF MY LAWN!

@solareclipse2:

Eh. I was all ready to support her but then I read the article and ran across this:

"He put my life in danger, and my daughters," she said. "I just ran out there. Those guys could have killed me.

That ridiculous bit of hyperbole makes me think she probably deserved it. Seriously, WTF?

@pecan 3.14159265:

She's obviously a bit daft. Look at her quotes in the article. I wouldn't be surprised if she wears a tinfoil hat.

@David Mays:

Shhh. You're ruining it. If you continue on like this, the mob will stop its *rabblerabblerabble*'ing.

@shepd: But I just saw an ad on Craigslist saying I could cut sod out of your lawn...

@Ben Miner: It's probably more a sign of Texas not keeping up with reality.

Samuel L. Jackson has gone TOO FAR this time!

Honestly when I was delivering pizza's I contemplated doing this to people that stiffed me. Not quite so extreme, just saying "Free computer, call me anytime at 9999999999", and post it in the middle of the night. Never did it, but always fantasized about it :P

@Sockatume

I've known good cops and I've known bad cops. My parents live across the street from a retired Delaware State Trooper and he's always been pretty cool. I live in Madison County, AL now and the county sheriffs deputies don't really bother you no matter how fast you're driving as long as you're keeping up with the speed of traffic. The Huntsville city cops are the same way. They don't bother with speeders most of the time because its considered a waste of police resources.

I get why this woman is upset, but leaping from "this guy is a jerk" to "he was endangering my life, he was endangering other people's lives because I could have come out with a shotgun" to "he's a racist, he did this because I was black" is ridiculous if only because it won't help her case at all. I'm not saying what the guy did was right, but the justice system isn't perfect and you have to help yourself get the best advantage, especially if it seems as if you aren't going to win this battle.

I had a dream the other night that this happened to me.... There were old Spanish-speaking people trying to steal my socks! I kept saying "lo siento" and eventually let the old lady have one pair. Got disapproving looks and scolded from on-lookers. In real life I don't think I'd be so nice.

I would think it could be called stealing because it was depriving someone of their property?

@Ben Miner: The guys who went to pick up the stuff from her house could potentially file a complaint for fraud, but since the agreement (such as it was, with a CL ad) was between the neighbor and the guys, and not her, she has no standing.

Her best bet would be going for identity theft (since that's what it really was), but I have no idea what the status of that sort of legislation is in Texas (they're a little behind the country on a lot of legal issues...).

@David Mays: Oh yeah, that's FAR different to the original posting. Heh.

@henwy: Really? You think a person deserves for a cop to do things to her that are totally wrong, but that he will never get in trouble for? Really? ... Really??

@pecan 3.14159265: She did say some pretty hyperbolic things.

Still, it's "a community of 'good-ole' friendly neighbors." That...appeal to southern heritage suggests a little friendly neighborhood racism is not out of the question.

People get irrationally angry when they think they're getting free stuff and find out otherwise. Add the fact that she had to sit there seething and watch people backing their trucks up all day (can't just take the hoop inside) and violence, although unlikely, also wasn't out of the question.

Cop,enough said. They wont go after their own. There is a reason why they are called PIGS you know

@so_gracefully: Henwy is saying that she's probably a bitch and the "crazy neighbor" we all fear may someday be our neighbor. The act is wrong, but he doesn't feel bad because he believes that there is a possibility that the cop neighbor was driven to this act due to this lady's lack of perspective and lack of anchor in reality.

@JGKojak: A motorcycle? Good luck with the title transfer.

@ThinkerTDM: What the hell is a basketball "goal"? Is there a basketball "goalie" by extension?

@theodicey: Yay, it's time to blame everyone in the South for racism again! Because it's never lupus but always racism.

Fraud, public mischief, harassment, conspiracy to commit fraud ...

please. Can't be charged with anything. Cops can charge you for squealing your tires, I'm confident this 'police officer' could be charged.

@henwy: She's overreacting, yeah, but having your property stolen seems like a pretty harsh punishment for being dramatic.

You know who else probably advocated overly draconian punishment for the crime of hyperbole?

Hitler. That's who.

It wouldn't have been so funny if the woman pulled out a shotgun and killed the people trespassing ON HER PROPERTY and trying to rob her. I'm pretty sure she'd walk away scott free being that she's in Texas.

If this is not illegal then we need to do something and change the law to make it illegal. Yes she's exaggerating but still that was downright malicious and done on purpose. There are a lot of jerks out there and if this is not illegal I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of this. Besides this is putting innocent people in real danger. Some people meet strangers with a shotgun...

Meh, I thought about doing this to a neighbor who for some reason decided to leave a futon on their front lawn for a month. I certainly would NOT HAVE USED MY OWN FREAKING EMAIL ADDRESS OR MY OWN COMPUTER you dumbass cop. Public library + Hotmail = computer fraud win!

The criminal charge of larceny by conversion seems appropriate. If they didn't get away with the property than attempted larceny by conversion. The civil tort of conversion is appropriate to recoup losses.

@lalaland13: In most other jobs, this might be an offense that gets a fine or maybe just a slap on the wrist. But police officers must be held to a higher standard. This is not the kind of PERSONALITY for a police officer.

So post a statewide ad about a big protest against police abuses at (name the Mansfield police department headquarters address). NOW see how much they like it.