Burglary, Arson, Home Invasion Neighbors broke in and trashed home with drug fueled party

[lilhaus]

I have a home in California that I rent out. My tenant moved. I did the walk thru and saw them off, locking up the house, at 7:30pm. My GOOD neighbor a few houses away drove by at 8:30 and saw nothing. I came the next day to find the place trashed. Alcohol cans/bottles everywhere, water bongs made from various bottles all over, furniture trashed, urine on floor, food mess all over kitchen. Some personal items were left behind.

I called the police. As I was waiting, the neighbor's "kid" (about 20/21 yrs old) comes over and tells us HE NEEDS TO COME IN AND GET THE STUFF HE LEFT LAST NIGHT!!! So now I know who did it!

I tell the officer. She goes over and talks to the older brother who claims (falsely) that the brother isn't home, but then admits that yes, the brother and some friends broke in to party.

A few hours later, the kid and his friends come over and beg us to not press charges; they'll come in and clean up (we already had) or they'll do anything if we'll not report it and press charges. As we have been harassed by these same neighbors for about 13 years, we figured we FINALLY have proof of what their lovely son is up to and we need to go ahead and press charges. We ask the kids to please not come on the property any more.

A few hours later, the oldest brother comes over and asks us to return some items the brother took from him and left. The officer had told us as far as she was concerned, it now belonged to us; we could sell it to go towards the damages. We told the boy we would not at this time until we knew more and had a chance to figure this out. He made 2 calls to police to report the item as stolen by us. He now threatens to go to small claims to obtain said items and/or money.

Meanwhile, we're still waiting to hear back from the DA if they'll even DO anything about the B&E and destruction! They state they may not pursue as it's not a big case. Not sure what we do if that happens! And, this is really a different subject, but, it almost seems these losers can get off scott free!! I mean, If it was ME that broke into someone's home and trashed it, you could be dern sure I'D be arrested and jailed! REALLY???

Back to my original question: What can we do with this left behind personal property that belongs to the B&E Boy's brother??

 

[CdwJava]

Trespassing and vandalism (under $400 in damage) are misdemeanors. Many counties in CA have limited law enforcement and prosecutorial resources and misdemeanor offenses are not a high priority.

Frankly, the officer never should have let you keep the items left in the home after the party. Any items that were not trash should have been seized by them as evidence, that way the police could directly speak to the people involved if they wanted their stuff back. If the neighbor kids want their stuff back, they will still have to admit to unlawful entry into your home so i doubt that anything will come of their complaint to the police.

I would strongly recommend that yu contact the original reporting officer and ask that he take the evidenciary items found in your home. That way the items are out of your hands.

If you can identify the parties involved, yu can sue them for any damages. What kind of damage ae we talking about, and how much will it cost to make you whole?

 

[lilhaus]

I did think it odd that the officer did not want to take any of the items...a smashed laptop (not mine; she took the serial numbers) and the very expensive speaker the kid swiped from his brother... (The brother is desperate to get the speaker back. He is demanding we give it back or he'll go to small claims for it. (How about, gee, sorry my brother is such a loser and did this to you instead of SO WHAT, my brother trashed your house, not my problem, give me back my speaker!). )

The kids have already admitted to US that they broke in unlawfully...how do I get them to do so to the police/authorities? I was thinking maybe I could offer the speaker back if they sign a "receipt" stating that they unlawfully broke in and trashed the place and are aware that it cost us xxx amount of dollars to clean/repair/replace...??

My main objective is to get these boys in the system with this on their record as they have gotten away with so much already...they are now 20/21 and adults and need to be held accountable for all of the mayhem they create around here! Without any repercussions, what's to keep them from learning their lesson and escalate in their bad deeds in this neighborhood?? We're afraid the next step is one of them gets so high, they come in someone's house while people are in it and get themselves shot! Or impaired driving down my street while I'M walking along! Etc...