The burglar who apologized. Very interesting story and letter.

Someone stole an Xbox and camera from a home in Guelph, Ontario, Canada and later returned the stolen objects with $50 to cover the broken screen of the backyard door. Along with it came a letter.

What do you make of this situation? Have you ever seen something like this?

Source

Only in Canada.

That's pretty neat.

Just because he apologized doesn't mean he wasn't a douchebag for breaking-in in the first place. A person is a criminal if they commit a crime, regardless if they're sorry about it after.

Just because he apologized doesn't mean he wasn't a douchebag for breaking-in in the first place. A person is a criminal if they commit a crime, regardless if they're sorry about it after.

Very interesting...he's obviously educated and the theft seemed an act of desperation. Hopefully for his sake he wiped the xbox for prints..

@stryker1121 said:

Very interesting...he's obviously educated and the theft seemed an act of desperation. Hopefully for his sake he wiped the xbox for prints..

If it's his "first crime" then it wouldn't matter unless he committed a second one in which he was caught.

I'd be glad to have my stuff back and hope he learns something from it.
If not, hope he dies painfully.

@Ravenlight said:

Just because he apologized doesn't mean he wasn't a douchebag for breaking-in in the first place. A person is a criminal if they commit a crime, regardless if they're sorry about it after.

@stryker1121 said:

Very interesting...he's obviously educated and the theft seemed an act of desperation. Hopefully for his sake he wiped the xbox for prints..

I seriously doubt forensics would take the time to dust the Xbox for prints in a $200 small-claims case.

Although he is still a criminal for what he has done, I have enough wisdom in my heart to understand and forgive when someone has done wrong and will atone for it. It's kind of funny reading the comments from users who obviously feel the need to show off their chest hairs and 'tough' guy attitude.

@stryker1121 said:

Very interesting...he's obviously educated and the theft seemed an act of desperation. Hopefully for his sake he wiped the xbox for prints..

I seriously doubt forensics would take the time to dust the Xbox for prints in a $200 small-claims case.

Although he is still a criminal for what he has done, I have enough wisdom in my heart to understand and forgive when someone has done wrong and will atone for it. It's kind of funny reading the comments from users who obviously feel the need to show off their chest hairs and 'tough' guy attitude.

@ZeForgotten: I love falling into my own pit of irony:P Also, I don't like to point fingers, but I guess it is possible that my view is subjective on the matter.

Well, good for them. Unless the X-Box is booby trapped now. Or unless it's got a camera and the thief some voyeur creeper. Or unless it's put on by the 'victims' for attention. Or uness it's all an elaborate ruse to detract from some other crime.

<_<

>_>

O_O

Trust no one, maaaaan.

rip

@TaliciaDragonsong: Wishing painful death on a petty thief seems a bit harsh. Provided his crimes don't escalate to something more serious I'd only wish him a particularly uncomfortable death. Maybe with a bit of shame involved.

Wow. It's good of him to return the stuff, apologize and pay for the repairs. I hope he meant what he said about never doing it again. Such a weird situation to judge because he shouldn't have done it and that was wrong but then he did the right thing! I wonder what pushed him to steal and then again to return the stuff.

Cool. Karma returned to neutral. 
 
Well, maybe not, but close.

I'm guessing the Xbox Red-Ringed on the thief so thats why he returned it.

No, it does sound sincere. There was a guy here in the U.S. last year I believe, that had a daughter, a house, and he had lost his job and couldn't any longer pay his way 'cause he had a hard time finding another. He walked into a store, like a 7-11 and held a gun to the cashier and was crying as he said he didn't want to do what he was doing, and how he's sorry, but he needs the money to support his family. It is kind of like this situation in a way, it's wasn't right to begin with, but I do believe these aren't just your regular burglars and what have you. It's people that crack at some point but still have their morality intact for the most part. I could be wrong though.

@pyromagnestir: Its a line that never should be crossed. I'm very resolute in these things, break any boundary and I lose all respect for your being and wish upon you the most dire of deaths :P

D'aaw, he typewrote it. Get a detective on that to analyze the kerning and repeat faults in the type to identify the typewriter model Heavy Rain style and hunt this fucker down.

@ZeForgotten said:

@Ravenlight said:

Just because he apologized doesn't mean he wasn't a douchebag for breaking-in in the first place. A person is a criminal if they commit a crime, regardless if they're sorry about it after.

True, once a thief always a thief. But it was still nice of him to write a letter.

You're both bad people

@Ramone said:

@Ravenlight said:

Just because he apologized doesn't mean he wasn't a douchebag for breaking-in in the first place. A person is a criminal if they commit a crime, regardless if they're sorry about it after.

You're both bad people

So you feel it's okay to break into someone's house and fuck with their stuff as long you bring it back after and leave a sorry note? If the dude is down on his luck, there are other, legal ways for him to get the help he needs.

The thing I'm worried about is this story setting a precedent in which other, less well-meaning people will think it's okay to follow this guy's same path.

@pyromagnestir: Its a line that never should be crossed. I'm very resolute in these things, break any boundary and I lose all respect for your being and wish upon you the most dire of deaths :P

@ZeForgotten said:

@Ravenlight said:

Just because he apologized doesn't mean he wasn't a douchebag for breaking-in in the first place. A person is a criminal if they commit a crime, regardless if they're sorry about it after.

True, once a thief always a thief. But it was still nice of him to write a letter.

You're both bad people

@Blackout62 said:

D'aaw, he typewrote it. Get a detective on that to analyze the kerning and repeat faults in the type to identify the typewriter model Heavy Rain style and hunt this fucker down.

Damn right.

Sgt. Pflug

@Ravenlight said:

@Ramone said:

@Ravenlight said:

Just because he apologized doesn't mean he wasn't a douchebag for breaking-in in the first place. A person is a criminal if they commit a crime, regardless if they're sorry about it after.

You're both bad people

So you feel it's okay to break into someone's house and fuck with their stuff as long you bring it back after and leave a sorry note? If the dude is down on his luck, there are other, legal ways for him to get the help he needs.

The thing I'm worried about is this story setting a precedent in which other, less well-meaning people will think it's okay to follow this guy's same path.

Its not okay for him to do that. But he returned the items and payed for damages. He's having a rough time. That doesn't mean he's a douchbag.

@Ravenlight said:

Just because he apologized doesn't mean he wasn't a douchebag for breaking-in in the first place. A person is a criminal if they commit a crime, regardless if they're sorry about it after.

He acknowledges that, and makes up for it the best he can. It took bravery, empathy, and generosity to write that letter, whereas most people would try to forget they did it at all because of the shame and guilt. Not saying that makes the stealing okay, but is there no scenario where you think it's okay to forgive him?

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@pyromagnestir: Its a line that never should be crossed. I'm very resolute in these things, break any boundary and I lose all respect for your being and wish upon you the most dire of deaths :P

Well alright then. *backs away slowly*

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@pyromagnestir: Its a line that never should be crossed. I'm very resolute in these things, break any boundary and I lose all respect for your being and wish upon you the most dire of deaths :P

Well when you cross one of those lines, I wish the same upon you.  I'm just a human...and I have no right to judge someone for some crimes, because we all make mistakes. The magnitude of those mistakes may vary (and your perspective on the magnitudes may also be different) but in the end we all make mistakes. But it takes those who are truly strong to see their mistakes and make some sort of  attempt to correct them.

He fucked up and I feel the apology should be enough considering he also returned all the shit he stole. Besides, forgiveness and compassion is something this world seems to be lacking a lot of these days.

While I don't 100% agree he should be found and charged for his crimes, I completely understand how other people could feel that way.

@Ravenlight said:

@Ramone said:

@Ravenlight said:

Just because he apologized doesn't mean he wasn't a douchebag for breaking-in in the first place. A person is a criminal if they commit a crime, regardless if they're sorry about it after.

You're both bad people

So you feel it's okay to break into someone's house and fuck with their stuff as long you bring it back after and leave a sorry note? If the dude is down on his luck, there are other, legal ways for him to get the help he needs.

The thing I'm worried about is this story setting a precedent in which other, less well-meaning people will think it's okay to follow this guy's same path.

Not it's not okay, but it's not okay to judge someone on one fucking incident especially when they may be going through some fucked up stuff. I don't know how honest he's being in that letter but if you take it at face value it seems like he immediately regretted what he did and apologised, he was also nice enough to give them compensation and go on on to do community service. The way you put it makes it sound like you haven't done a single bad thing in your whole life because otherwise you'd be a 'douchebag'

It's funny, I would forgive the thief who apologised like this after the fact, and yet if I'd caught him breaking into my house and he had tried to make the same excuses, I probably would have beat the shit out of him regardless.

How about, don't fucking break in my house. Also, pledging community service? How nice of you, anonymous criminal. If you want true punishment, report yourself and have it on record. A right doesn't cancel out a wrong.

@pyromagnestir said:

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@pyromagnestir: Its a line that never should be crossed. I'm very resolute in these things, break any boundary and I lose all respect for your being and wish upon you the most dire of deaths :P

Well alright then. *backs away slowly*

Healthy, experienced human beings UNITE!

@Tim_the_Corsair said:

It's funny, I would forgive the thief who apologised like this after the fact, and yet if I'd caught him breaking into my house and he had tried to make the same excuses, I probably would have beat the shit out of him regardless.

We all would, brother, we all would.

EDIT:Managed to fuck up the word "would" twice.

@Trav said:

@pyromagnestir said:

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@pyromagnestir: Its a line that never should be crossed. I'm very resolute in these things, break any boundary and I lose all respect for your being and wish upon you the most dire of deaths :P

Well alright then. *backs away slowly*

Healthy, experienced human beings UNITE!

Talicia has a codette apparently.

@Ramone said:

Not it's not okay, but it's not okay to judge someone on one fucking incident especially when they may be going through some fucked up stuff. I don't know how honest he's being in that letter but if you take it at face value it seems like he immediately regretted what he did and apologised, he was also nice enough to give them compensation and go on on to do community service. The way you put it makes it sound like you haven't done a single bad thing in your whole life because otherwise you'd be a 'douchebag'

Does the word "douchebag" carry some gravitas that I was heretofore unaware of? I used it interchangeably with the word "jerk" in that sentence. That a minor point here, though.

I'm certainly guilty of being a douchebag at times and there's times I've regretted it, too (not always :P). I do believe that the letter and return of stolen property go a long way to making the perpetrator seem like an actually decent human being but the fact remains that he invaded somebody's property, destroyed their screen door/window, and took their stuff. His actions after that went a long way toward restoring karmic balance but he's still in the hole the way I see it.

I'd be in favor of letting this guy get away with the lightest of punishments (self-imposed community service is not the same as mandated community service) but I still feel like there should be consequences in this case.

I've never had to replace a screen door. Is $50 enough?

I think the fact that this guy took the time to write a letter and return the stuff, and more, after stealing it, is good. Should he have not stolen in the first place? Sure, but bottom line, if that robber truly meant what he said and he truly means he is going to change, I would definitely forgive him. I would rather he say it to me man to man (or woman to man), but good on him or her for at least returning it and apologizing for it.

A couple of people in this thread didn't read it or don't really care (and are dicks).

I get just saying sorry isn't enough, but he gave the stuff back, and paid for damages.

That's pretty cool and he'd be forgiven if it was me. "Just don't do it again" as they say.

Also this:

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

Only in Canada.

Even the thieves apologize. What nice people =)

Doesn't matter if he's sorry. He's still going to burn, and serve a mandatory sentence of several years in a gulag.

Thanks Harper.

it's more likely that the family faked everything for publicity

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

I'd be glad to have my stuff back and hope he learns something from it. If not, hope he dies painfully.

Kill him with kindness? I'm sure the guilt-tripping him will overwhelm him somehow too.

@CornBREDX said:

A couple of people in this thread didn't read it or don't really care (and are dicks).

I get just saying sorry isn't enough, but he gave the stuff back, and paid for damages.

That's pretty cool and he'd be forgiven if it was me. "Just don't do it again" as they say.

Also this:

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

Only in Canada.

Even the thieves apologize. What nice people =)

That they are.

@Egg0 said:

I've never had to replace a screen door. Is $50 enough?

That seems about right. To replace a single screen door window glass that is retrofitted is about $75-150 so i'm sure the netting is only around $25-55.