bobbyw24
09-20-2011, 06:29 PM
A Maryland lawmaker is considering legislation in next year’s General Assembly to strengthen penalties related to flash-mob robberies.
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRjtx8Xr36IZ0PSyh573f_lYKKemMgmB b-M4iku__uPYPfKr0Yn
Delegate Jeffrey D. Waldstreicher, Montgomery Democrat, said he might sponsor a bill that would hold each flash-mob participant responsible for the total amount of merchandise stolen by the group, rather than just for their own actions.
Montgomery officials first encountered the problem last month when roughly 30 young people returning from the county fair entered a 7-Eleven in Germantown en masse and stole merchandise.
If the bill becomes law, anybody who steals $10 in merchandise as part of a $1,000 mass robbery could be charged with stealing all $1,000 worth of items.
Montgomery officials have worried that flash mobs could become more frequent without intervention and intensify into violent crimes.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/18/harsher-flash-mob-penalties-weighed-in-maryland/
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRjtx8Xr36IZ0PSyh573f_lYKKemMgmB b-M4iku__uPYPfKr0Yn
Delegate Jeffrey D. Waldstreicher, Montgomery Democrat, said he might sponsor a bill that would hold each flash-mob participant responsible for the total amount of merchandise stolen by the group, rather than just for their own actions.
Montgomery officials first encountered the problem last month when roughly 30 young people returning from the county fair entered a 7-Eleven in Germantown en masse and stole merchandise.
If the bill becomes law, anybody who steals $10 in merchandise as part of a $1,000 mass robbery could be charged with stealing all $1,000 worth of items.
Montgomery officials have worried that flash mobs could become more frequent without intervention and intensify into violent crimes.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/18/harsher-flash-mob-penalties-weighed-in-maryland/