California woman who stole $4,000 bottle of cognac from bar won’t be charged

Originally published at: California woman who stole $4,000 bottle of cognac from bar won't be charged | Boing Boing

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Compassionate call by the owner. Sounds like that woman is likely doing a pretty thorough job ruining her own life without getting the incarceration-for-profit-based justice system involved in it.

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Cognac, fancy liquore.

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Yes. The moron probably soiled herself when she figured out what she stole. I have no doubt that she’ll promptly waste this second chance within the next six months and end up in trouble for something else.

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ten years ago i got a bottle of louix xiii from a liquor store owner who had bought out another liquor store in a “fire sale”. i offered him $700, he countered with $800, and we settled on $750. it was above average but honestly i preferred remy martin extra to the louis xiii.

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Good on them. Plus he did get the bottle back. They were made whole, so I think the no harm no foul rule applies.

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Sometimes, old time values stand for something decent.

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why wasn’t the dude she was with also charged?

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What I don’t understand is why folks aren’t up in arms about a brazen theft occurring only about 50-60 miles away from all those “shoplifting sprees” in San Francisco? :man_shrugging:

Betty White GIF by TV Land Classic

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Well-dressed white woman commits crime, doesn’t get charged. News at 11.

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Gee, uh, AITAH? I would press charges, then ask judge for leniency (which he’s going to give anyway).

Is it “woke” to find it absurd that for the same impulsive act, the older white lady gets no charges pressed and black teen gets his life ruined?

Plus: people who casually steal like that are not one-timers. She’s done this before. I don’t need to check her thoughtcrime file to know she has history of shoplifting and dine-and-dashes in her past.

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Cognac is the crap stuff for the tourists. The good stuff is actually Armagnac. :slight_smile:

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What I don’t understand is the thief didn’t have her arms up reaching for something on the ‘top shelf’ where the fancy booze should be… kinda thinking about the value of the other bottles of grog that this bar has just sitting there getting no attention…

Gotta find me a bar like this

Niles: What wine would most enhance the experience?
Frasier: No, Niles. Wine might dull our faculties. Perhaps instead a slow sipping cordial would be the proper garnish.
Niles: Sherry?
Frasier: Armagnac.
Niles: Oh, well see? That’s why you’re the older brother.

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Can someone who knows something about alcohol tell me what could possibly make a bottle of cognac worth $4000? Unless it was actually owned by Louis XIII I don’t get it (I should note that I don’t drink).

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Maybe it’s like that civet coffee?

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What? Because she made one stupid mistake? You’ve never made one of those in your life? Where’s the evidence that she’s made more, let alone the kind that ruin a person’s life?

Why? Because she made one stupid mistake? Have you really never made any of those in your life?

And doesn’t the bottle’s return, unopened, suggest that she regretted this mistake?

And might not being given a second chance inspire her to do better by not making such a stupid mistake again?

Same here. No matter how much some of us would like to condemn a woman we know next to nothing about, last I heard, it IS up to the injured party whether charges are worth pressing or not.

And you know this how?

Doesn’t the bottle’s return, unopened no less, suggest she regretted her actions? And if she’s such an expert, wouldn’t she have realized that most businesses have cameras, especially with how cheap they’ve become?

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I’ve made many stupid mistakes in my life, including one incident of shoplifting as a child. Casually stealing a random bottle of booze as a grown adult (and as a parent with six dependant kids at home) indicates that one might not have the judgment or maturity or impulse control to prevent one from repeating the act.

It suggests that someone (or perhaps an app) apprised her to the fact that her act of petty theft suddenly became one of grand theft. Which is why she asked someone else to return the item on her behalf.

One would hope so.The bar’s owner laudably does. My point is that she’s not providing much of a foundation for such hope.

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Huh. Today, my faith in humanity is partially restored–

Headline: Russians shoot people waiting for bread

–and there it went.

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I always tend to think stuff like this has cachet simply because it is rare. Not because it is extra magical.

Love to see some double blind tastings as have been done with wine that show even experts rarely can tell plonk from $500/bottle stuff.