Patrick Cudahy fire an “accident”
Authorities have identified the two men responsible for the fire that caused 50 million dollars in damage to the Patrick Cudahy facility, and at a press conference yesterday, authorities noted the fire did not appear to be intentionally set. According to the mother of the two men, they were having fun at a barbecue and “they were just being idiots” when they fired a military-grade flare into the air. In addition to the military flare, the two brothers were also alleged to have been lighting firecrackers and bottle rockets most of the nights. While the intent of these two individuals may not have been to cause 50 million dollars in damage to the Patrick Cudahy plant, they had to know what they were doing was illegal. Standard, non-military fireworks are illegal throughout Milwaukee County, and I’m willing to bet the younger of the two brothers – who happens to be a Marine – knew he wasn’t supposed to take and use military equipment in a non-military setting.
These two brothers may not be guilty of arson, but they’re certainly guilty of something, and they deserve to be held accountable to the fullest extent the law will allow for the tremendous amount of damage they’ve caused.
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16 Responses to Patrick Cudahy fire an “accident”
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Oh, I am not so sure that this needs to be criminal and the men punished by the law. The civil courts can handle this without sending the men to jail. IMO.
Their actions were criminal, PB. Why shouldn’t they be punished criminally?
Well, I think crimes are offenses committed against property and people in which an intent can be discerned. Accidents that result in harm to people or property are not crimes in my opinion unless you can show that some negligence had been occurring. Two guys mucking around with fireworks is not a crime unless they were deliberately shooting at the factory committing a property crime. My vision of this is that they shot a flare up in the air and it came down on the factory. They were ignorant and thought that it would burn itself out on the way down. Well, guess what, this military flare did not and then it set the building on fire.
Lawsuit, yes. Jail time? Will jail time rehabilitate these two guys? Not likely. The results of their actions has already done that.
Just because there is a law does not mean that it should be obeyed to the nth degree. There are bad laws out there and discretion in the application of the law is what makes for a just society. I don’t think we should incarcerate people for stupid actions. We have a civil court system to obtain justice for that.
In my opinion, anyway.
Paritally blue, how can you think that this isn’t a crime? A Marine (of all folks) stold goverment property for one, with intentions to use it (2) in a way that he knows very well it wasn’t designed for!!! That was pre meditated intent!!! Okay truth it was an accident but the guy didn’t by any means accidentally plan to steal from us the citzens and have have a spectaculary firewros display!! CMON this guy was a MARINE!!!!! HE DID KNOW BETTER!!! The Marines don’t take the dumb ones!!!! HELLO!!!! Court Marchall for sure Jail time NO PRISON time YES!!!! RESTITUTION YES(if at all possible) Or put the younger one in huber for 5 years cleanig up dog crap at a dog park!!!!!!
would you feel this way if people have died????
But people did not die and, if they did , it would be tragic and not criminal.
Stealing property is a crime and if there is evidence of it then a trial should take place, presuming the owner wishes to press charges.
However, sending people to jail because an accident occurred does not appear to have any value. The men involved are liable for damages caused as a result of their actions; yet, jail time would be inappropriate.
“The Marines don’t take the dumb ones”. I wish this were true in all of the services; however, I know a few do exist.
PB, people may not have died, but the actions of these two brothers were still criminal, and thus they should face some penalty for their actions. They knowingly broke the law.
What would you propose as a penalty for a US Marine who purloins a U.S. military flare and shoots it when celibrating the 4th of July? This would be two criminal trials, I think, one federal and one state.
The robotic application of the law is a dangerous slope to walk upon. Think carefully on this one.
From Article 121 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice:
1) Larceny.
(a) Military property of a value of $500.00 or less. Bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.
If he stole military property, which would seem to be the case with the slap flare that set the fire, then he ought to be punished accordingly.
Fair enough. A military trial instead of a criminal or civil trial. All that is needed now is a military accusation of theft from some place at some time and a value over $500.
I can support this approach.
PartiallyBlue…what is needed are multiple criminal charges and multiple military charges. What these two men did was criminal.
My guess is they will be charged with recklessly endangering safety and probably something like criminal damage to property or maybe even receiving stolen property since the brother who stole the flare from the military gave it his brother.
The military will deal with the brother who is a Marine. I’m sure he will not get off and will probably get a dishonorable discharge from the military.
Apparently, I am in the minority on this issue. One last question from me: Would everyone advocate the same punishment if it had been a tree that burned down instead of the building? Or is it somehow more criminal because it was a $50M building and jobs for many people?
PB, are you arguing that the punishment for the guys whose actions caused the Patrick Cudahy fire should be the same as if their actions had caused a tree to burned down?
Of course the punishment shouldn’t be the same, but we should negate what they did simply because they didn’t intend on starting the fire. The fact is, their criminal and negligent behavior caused $50 million in damage, and they’re damn lucky they didn’t kill someone.
Well, yes. I am. The crimes, as described above, are stealing a military flare and shooting it off as an illegal firework.
The crime is not ‘burning a building down’. That was a result and not the crime to charge them with. You could say they were negligent but then you would have to prove that they had taken some action that was indeed negligent.
Accidents happen and consequences occur. What was the crime?
So…did the brothers “accidentally” set the illegal flare off?? I don’t think so.
They said on the news tonight they brothers will be in court tomorrow and will be formally charged…so I guess all the questions will be cleared up at that point.
I think you are right about that.