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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    2

    Default Penalty for Breaking Somebody's Windshield

    My windshield was broken by a man after his friends chased me and my friends down for no good reason, the man was caught after one of my passengers had a description of the guy who did it and the suspects friends pinned it on him. The Deputy called me two nights ago and had me go down to the station to make my Affidavit, and he told me right after we were done with that he would go make an arrest and i'd receive papers in the mail in a few weeks regarding court.

    • The Windshield replacement will cost $340
    • I live in the state of New York

    My questions are:
    • What are the possible charges this man faces?
    • Will I be able to take him to court to have my windshield repair paid for? (I'm getting it fixed tomorrow for a cost of ~$340)
    • Do I need to get my own lawyer for a criminal and or civil case?
    • Will my parents need to go to court with me since I'm 17 years old?


    Entire Story:
    On Saturday, I was with 3 passengers in my car following another car to a house party out in the country. We ended up at the wrong house and while all the members of my car peacefully and respectfully left, the two kids in the car we were following shared some words which I did not hear but as we left the entire party on that property ended up out front staring us down as we left.

    We continued down the road for about of mile and then parked on the side of the street to talk, the passenger of the car we followed needed to pick up his girlfriend from the house party (at the time we did not know we ended up at the wrong place, the correct place was 3 houses away), so we waited there deciding what to do. Then people from the house party we mistakenly went to came around a corner; taking a wide, erratic turn which prompted me to put my car in drive and get the hell out of there. About 10 seconds after I left there was a truck tailing me, I ended up turning into a dead end where the truck had floored it into reverse for some odd reason and ended up turning back the way it came. I then turned around and tried to find my way out of the neighborhood when two more trucks pulled out in front of my car, at least 7-8 individuals jumped out and started to scream at us to get the f*ck out of the car, hitting the windows, and surrounding the car. As I was trying to say I didn't want any trouble a big man with a beard punched my windshield twice with a lot of force, the second hit effectively smashing the entire driver side view. All the individuals fled in their trucks thereafter. Called 911 and a deputy arrived shortly after and we spent about an hour and a half giving the story.


    Thanks for any tips of advice, this is my first encounter with the legal/justice system so I'm not very knowledgeable on these topics.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    19,901

    Default Re: What Things Do I Need to Know Prior to Court

    Vandalism falls under the category of Criminal Mischief in NY. He might also be charged with assault for threatening you with bodily harm.
    An order of restitution is quite possible. If he doesn't get that, you'll have to sue him. At $340, small claims is a possibility. Unfortunately, you're not an adult, so you can't go it without a lawyer. Alternatively, if you were covered by your insurance, you can let them deal with all that.

    You do not need a lawyer to be a witness in a criminal case. You are permitted to bring a competent adult, but at 17 it's unlikely the court is going to require it. The details will be in your summons.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: What Things Do I Need to Know Prior to Court

    Thank you so much with the information, the damage was not covered by insurance so I had to pay out of pocket. When I filed the Affidavit the Deputy took the printed overview of the windshield replacement that Safelite will be completing tomorrow, which may influence the charges because in NY if the damage is over $250 the degree could be in the 3rd, which is a class E felony but i'm sure he'd get that reduced.

    The damage from my point of view:


    After this occurred, the officer let me drive home. Note this was at around midnight, in the rain; was very difficult to make it home. Furthermore the deputy never checked my license once, he would have noticed that I had a class DJ license (and shouldn't have been out after 9pm); however on that same day of this incident I turned 17 (terrible bday I know) and I took Drivers Ed so I got my senior license. I believe that in the system it wouldn't have been updated to the next business day, but i'm not upset at anything the deputy did however, he did his job very well and I now have a good amount of respect for sheriffs and the justice system.

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