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Read comments (12)Minh Nguyen, 17, and Timothy Nawanna, 18, both of Sioux City, were recently charged with criminal mischief in the second degree, a felony, in regards to Le Mars graffiti.
These charges are for spray paint vandalism created the night of Nov. 27 around Le Mars. Sites hit include Franklin Elementary School, the Le Mars Family YMCA, four garages and two vehicles.
Nguyen and Nawanna were charged after the Le Mars and Sioux City police departments collaborated on their investigation.
"We have a video of them purchasing spray paint at a local business," said Mary Jo Sitzmann, a spokeswoman for the Le Mars Police Department.
"Our local businesses have been cooperating in not selling spray paint to juveniles, but the 18-year-old could buy it," she said.
The Sioux City Police used still shots from that video when they were interviewing suspects in a case of graffiti in Sioux City, according to the Sioux City Police's youth investigator Jay Hoogendyk.
"Law enforcement agency's have a network for sharing information, and using information Le Mars had sent out, we talked to these individuals about the Le Mars incidents," Hoogendyk said.
The graffiti is gang-related, but the two suspects are not formally members of gangs, he said.
"They are trying to get interest or influence from a gang for their activities," Hoogendyk explained. "I never got from them why they were in Le Mars."
Sioux City Police have made a number of arrests regarding spray paint vandalism throughout the city.
"When individuals are promoting gangs and commit criminal activity, we go after them with strong prosecution. If we don't handle it, it's going to get worse," Hoogendyk said. "One area we've been working on is graffiti."
In the Nov. 27 incidents in Le Mars, the four garages hit include one in the 800 block of Third Avenue Southeast, one in the 800 block of Second Avenue Southeast, one in the 1500 block of Second Avenue Southeast and one in the 400 block of Sunset Drive.
Nguyen and Nawanna were both charged with criminal mischief in the second degree, a Class D felony, which means damage done ranged from $1,000 to $10,000. A Class D felony is punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
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Swimorsink,
Feel free to check the Iowa School Counselor website. I did before I posted. I did not personally counsel them in that setting but I did know the students. Their names were posted in the paper, not identified as juveniles. It would have been inappropriate to comment on them if they were anonymous.
Memo, I do believe that people are responsible for their own actions after age 5 or 6 (ever hear a 5 year old talk? they know right and wrong but are easily influenced). The punishment should differ as they get older and more responsible, and what is that magic age? Shall it be a parental thing where it is always the parent's fault? I don't like to blame parents for everything, but they do need to set expectations.
Attention deficit is a problem af today, society hasn't time for attention. Nor time for the ones they love. And the yearning for attention can come out in so many ways. Anger, frustration, crimes, doing the wrong thing, doing the right thing, helping others, depression, sadness, creativity, and many more. It is the response of the individual and their attitude to make a choice. They should be rewarded for their actions, whatever actions they take. Bad upbringing doesn't necessarily mean the individual will be bad. Great upbringing doesn't mean they will be great. It is an individual choice.
I say this to simply express: put the blame where it belongs, upon the individual.
counselor:
whoa. i really don't think your comments in this forum regarding these children is ethical. especially if you were, as your name describes, assisting them as a guidance counselor.
seriously, i find that incredibly immature, not professional, and strikingly inappropriate.
Bad parenting is big reason that kids are so out of control. People should have to fill out a form to have kids. These poor kids get no childhood b/c there parents are to caught up in there own life and drama. No wonder kids rebel and thrive for attention! They never had attention from there own parents. So they look for it anywhere, even if its bad attention.
It is obvious parenting is a major cause of the problem, therefore it is the parents that should be held to account for the actions of their charges.
An employer is liable for the actions of their staff in the workplace. A dog owner is accountable for the actions of a dog on public or private land. Individuals can be held responsible for aiding and abetting, conspiracy to commit crimes etc.etc..
By alot younger than 18, youths know the difference between right and wrong, if they are free to roam the streets by parents who don't know what they are up to, then they should face the same liability as other members of the community in varying circumstances.
I'm no judge and believe in the constitutional rights. These individuals have only been accused of these crimes at this point. If they are found guilty as the evidence against them is presented; I would like to see a few things completed for reward of their deeds:
1. Clean up and restore areas affected back to original form or better.
2. appologize to the owners for their actions.
3. Pay for any costs associated with their crime including cleaning supplies and re-imburse those who had to take their time to work with the problem.
4. community service, including going to the schools and letting others know what could happen if they decided to do these acts.
5. serve the required sentence time.
Please, let's not get into their names. I think it's important to emphasize they have gone through the educational system most if not all of their lives. Schools can only do so much. If schools are not backed by parents and vice-versa, little can be accomplished. Schools have been pushed into the realm of parenting more, educating less, which is a shame.
Actually, I liked both Minh and Tim. They had lots of chances to do well and seemed like they were trying. They not only have trouble here, but in Sioux City. I don't want to sound cliche, but maybe this will scare them straight. Knowing them, it just might.
Counselor......AMEN!
I work in the SC School District and coincidentally knew and had both of these students in my classroom. Both students know right from wrong and have had several chances to do well. Both of them were chronically truant and had parents who were underinvolved/underinformed. Attempts were made by many people to help and steer these young men to do well in their lives and they have made a conscious choice to avoid that. I reiterate other comments. Knowing these young men, they have been slapped on the wrist several times at school. I think they should be treated as adults with a maximum penalty including restitution. As an educator, this makes me very sad and frustrated.
Make them do the max. Think anyone caught should do the max.
Let them pay restitution...THEN throw the book at them!
Yay! Throw the book at them!