wo teens in suburban Philadelphia were cited for doodling on the street with chalk, police said.
The Doylestown Intelligencer reported Friday (http://bit.ly/P9IvKa ) that 18-year-old Connor Logan and a 17-year-old friend drew a whale and sea turtles in a parking lot.
Doylestown Police Chief James Donnelly said that although chalk washes off, the drawings are “an attempt at vandalism.”
The doodles might link the teens to chalk graffiti on buildings and businesses in town, Donnelly said.
Seriously? My Neighbor’s daughter LOVES sidewalk chalk, and frequently covers huge swaths of her driveway with doodles, and game boards like hopscotch. All it takes is a light rain and the drawings vanish. I guess I could see some minor charges if the kids were drawing obscenities on public or private property, but sea life? There is no way this is “Vandalism” as 30 seconds with a hose erases all traces, and on a public street, is this really a worry? If they’re obstructing traffic, fine, or if they’re loitering in a private or public parking lot, tell them to get lost. This is just jackbooted thuggery!
The story on this I saw this morning said the teens did it in the middle of a public street at midnight. Which is a great way to get hit by a car if nothing else. Vandalism seems a bit much though.
I can see that as a valid reason for rousting them…or even arresting them, still it seems the charges don’t fit the crime.
Unfortunetly becoming more common, I’ve seen several articles lately where parents got in trouble for allowing kids to use sidewalk chalk on sidewalks and rocks and what not.
I hear stories like this and think, that can’t be true. But it is. Do these control freaks know that they’re playing with fire? There comes a point (I hope) beyond which people won’t tolerate any more.