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GLENMONT, N.Y., July 22 (UPI) -- The New York father of a teenager who was tackled during a "ding dong ditch" prank apologized for his son's behavior and said he is being punished.
Rob Mateo, of Glenmont, whose son's name was not released due to his age, said the teenager is being punished and the family is pressing charges against the man who tackled him, Daniel Van Plew, the Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union reported Thursday.
Police said the teenager and three friends rang Van Plew's doorbell and pounded on his back door at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday in a "ding dong ditch" prank. The teens ran when the homeowner yelled at them and Van Plew followed and tackled Mateo.
Investigators said the boy suffered a cut on his elbow, bruise over his eye and a bloody lip. Van Plew is facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child and harassment.
So..because these 3 teen aged kids decided to harass some guy at his home late at night HE is being charged????? That is insane. He followed them and tackled one. Personally I think the kid got what he deserved. He shouldn't have been there. Of course now everyone will defend the poooooor child. He was "ABUSED by this terrible ADULT." He shouldn't have been playing PRANKS. Pranks are dangerous and get out of hand easily. You notice it is DAD who is apologizing..but still pressing charges.
So the kid learns from this episode in his life:
Dad will defend me no matter what kind of stupid crap I pull.
The Law will make an adult pay for whatever stupid crap I do.
I can play pranks and someone else is at fault.
Good Job Dad.
While I don't in any way condone the behavior of the teens who "rang Van Plew's doorbell and pounded on his back door at about 10:30 p.m.", I do think the homeowner overreacted when he "yelled at them and Van Plew followed and tackled Mateo". Apparently he aggressively attacked the teen, giving him a "a cut on his elbow, bruise over his eye and a bloody lip". Both the homeowner and teens were out of line, both should be punished.
Pounded on the BACK door to his house? He should count himself lucky. The homeowner could've thought it was a burglar trying to break in, and shot him in self-defense. Castle laws apply in many states - it could've been a whole lot more tragic than just a bloody lip. The kid should put a steak over his black eye and be grateful as hell he's not dead as a result of his "prank."
Wow. People over react much? Both teen and adult should be charged. But I expect a helluva lot more from the adult in the situation than the teens. The kid should be glad he's not dead?? Yes, because we should all pull guns on people who pound on our doors at night. Jeezus....
We called the police about 2am when there were prowlers outside after they threw rocks at our bedroom window. It turned out it was a couple of our daughter's friends thinking it was her window. The officer told the boys that they were lucky they didn't get shot. We have the castle law in our state and would have been within our rights to fire at them.
In this day and age, it would scare me to have someone ringing my doorbell AND pounding on the back door late at night, BUT, I don't really see the need to tackle this kid. I'm sure everyone here played "ding dong ditch" at some point as a kid.....except back then, we had a different name for it that was more "politically incorrect."
Teenage boys can look like grown men in the dark, and the homeowner may have reacted out of fear without thinking. I'm sure the kids weren't thinking either. They aren't the first teens to do something stupid. Hopefully, everybody learns a lesson. It is the family of the teen, not the police, who are pressing charges against the homeowner. I wonder why the police didn't charge him. This is one of those cases where I'd have to have more details before I could form an opinion about how it's being handled.
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