11 Phillips Street, Amherst
By not showing up for his original "show cause hearing" before a Clerk Magistrate, Joshua Reiss, age 20, set himself up for a criminal proceeding in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Friday before a Judge for a possible felony conviction.
He lost his case -- bringing a $1,000 fine for tampering with smoke detectors in his humble abode -- but the complaint was diverted to a civil offense, so he will not be stained for life with a felony conviction.
But considering the acts he was found guilty of, his lesson could have been a lot more costly ... like contributing to the death of a roommate. Or the lesson you can't learn from, because you're dead.
APD report
AFD report
Smoke detector 11 Phillips Street: In the bag
Phillips Street has one of the largest concentrations of problem houses in the town (most of them owned by Stephan Gharabegian), but these days no neighborhoods are safe from "real estate investors" who buy up single family homes and pack them with student renters.
778 North Pleasant Street, Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity
Just up the road from Phillips Street, AFD Fire Prevention Officer Mike Roy recently fined the fraternity at 778 North Pleasant Street $500 for the second offense of tampering with smoke detectors.
Seems like students in Amherst are so desperate for a decent place to stay that they're willing to break into a house and steal a kid's bed!
ReplyDeleteKeithw -- You honestly believe that kid was capable of breaking in? My guess is the door was unlocked and he'd not have been in there otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThat's why -- in the real world -- it's a good idea to lock the damn door at night. Same thing with dormitory doors -- you lock the damn door!
Dr. Ed
ReplyDeleteI believe a drunk person is capable of a lot of things. Fact is he's been charged with B&E. However, can't agree with you more about locking the door.
The wolf is out there. Are you going to build your house out of straw?! Or with bricks.
ReplyDelete