{"id":1515,"date":"2019-11-11T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T09:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/?p=1515"},"modified":"2019-10-31T13:02:28","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T13:02:28","slug":"vandalism-what-are-the-fines-and-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/vandalism-what-are-the-fines-and-penalties\/","title":{"rendered":"Vandalism\u2014What Are the Fines and Penalties?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">According to the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncjrs.gov\/pdffiles\/94600.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">US Department of Justice,<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0destroying someone\u2019s property\u2014whether public or private\u2014intentionally is a serious crime. Willful destruction of property\u2014in the form of vandalism\u2014costs property owners a grand total of $15 billion every year! Other than that, it also affects the appearance of your community and keeps people from visiting public places.\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Let\u2019s look at what will happen if you get caught in such an act:<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What does vandalism entail?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The term \u2018vandalism\u2019 covers a number of actions, the penalties for which differ.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Let\u2019s take a look at some of the common forms that vandalism takes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong><u><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Physical damage:\u00a0<\/span><\/u><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Any permanent physical damage caused to someone\u2019s property comes under this category of vandalism. Breaking someone\u2019s window, windshield, or vehicle side mirrors are common examples. Other than that, even painting graffiti or posting stickers and signs on someone\u2019s vehicle without prior consent is a punishable offense.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong><u><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong><u><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Intentions:<\/span><\/u><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Although vandalism is mostly intentional, the law does take intentions into account. Let\u2019s look at it this way. If you\u2019re painting the exterior wall of your house and accidentally spill some paint in your neighbour\u2019s garden\u2014you\u2019ll be asked to pay for damages! But since you didn\u2019t vandalize the property purposefully, the nature of the penalties and fines will be far less severe.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">an act to qualify as vandalism, it\u2019s also important that the property belongs to someone else. You can\u2019t paint graffiti on your own fence or do it for someone with your consent and call it vandalism.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1517\" src=\"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/spray.jpg\" alt=\"spray\" width=\"478\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/spray.jpg 478w, https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/spray-300x209.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 478px) 100vw, 478px\" \/><\/h2>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What are the penalties?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The exact penalty for vandalism differs in every state. Here\u2019s what the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/codes.findlaw.com\/in\/title-35-criminal-law-and-procedure\/in-code-sect-35-43-1-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Indiana law title 35-43-1-2<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0suggests:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The misdemeanor is widely categorized as Class A or Class B. Class A refers to a case of vandalism where the damages account for less than $750. Class B offences are those where damages exceed $750. If the defendant has been found guilty of Class A vandalism, they will have to spend at least 180 days in jail. For Class B, that may go up to$5,000 is charged.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If the pecuniary losses exceed $50,000, the fine is up to $10,000 with 2.5 years of jail time. This is known as a level-6 felony.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On the other hand, if the defendant has recklessly caused damage to a place of worship, school or community centre, or a government institution, the act is again categorized as a felony. Other than fines and penalties, their driver\u2019s license can also be suspended for at least a year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A good citizen never destroys public property! If you feel like it wasn\u2019t your fault and you deserve a second chance, get in touch with\u00a0<\/span><\/em><a class=\"_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">DeLaughter Bail Bonds<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for our expedited bail bond services in Indiana. Give us a call at 260-578-0505 to learn more.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to the\u00a0US Department of Justice,\u00a0destroying someone\u2019s property\u2014whether public or private\u2014intentionally is a serious crime. Willful destruction of property\u2014in the form of vandalism\u2014costs property owners a grand total of $15 billion every year! Other than that, it also affects the appearance of your community and keeps people from visiting public places.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1518,"href":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515\/revisions\/1518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/delaughterbailbonds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}