Another Episode of 'What Were They Thinking?'

You're a burglar; you've got your black mask, clothes and gloves on. You're carrying a flashlight, screwdriver and a wrench.

Your target? A jewelry store, inside of which riches await you. You park your car on a suburban side street and walk to the store's back door. You pry away at the door but, try as you might, it won't budge. Frustrated and in a state of despair, you trek back to you vehicle while deciding what to do next.

Just as you're about to enter your car, you notice something alarming: you parked in front of a house that has exterior security cameras! The jewelry store owner will most certainly see the damage you caused to his door, and now a homeowner has your car on camera! What if the police obtain the security video? They'll identify your car as having been in the area! So, you do the only (il)logical thing....

Eric Michael Stevens of North Charleston, SC, who has a history of burglary arrests and convictions, was taken into custody by NCPD early yesterday, marched out to police by the armed homeowner whose house Stevens had broken into. It seems Stevens, in an effort to enter the home and destroy the security video recorder, had pried open a bedroom window and climbed inside...falling onto the bed where the homeowner had been sleeping. However, hearing the noises at his window, the homeowner pulled his gun out of a drawer and was waiting for Stevens.

After firing a shot at Stevens and then holding him at gunpoint, the citizen called police, who arrived to find Stevens being marched out of the house by its armed occupant.

Stevens was charged with first-degree burglary of the home, attempted burglary of the jewelry store and possession of burglary tools, all of which are felonies.

It is unknown if the security cameras caught footage of Stevens or his car.

Eric Stevens

Social Justice or Stupidity?

Oberlin.

Ever been through it? If you haven't, Oberlin is a sleepy little town of just over eight thousand residents and a hair under 5 square miles in size, located in Lorain County southwest of Cleveland.

It is also home to Oberlin College.

On the ninth of November a student from the college was in a small 'Mom and Pop' store close to campus, Gibson's Market. It's a family-owned business which has been in existence for decades, due mainly to the college's student/customers. The student, 19-year-old Jonathan Aladin, decided to buy a bottle of wine, which in itself would have been illegal since he's not twenty-one; an additional problem was, Aladin had concealed two other bottles of wine under his shirt in an attempt to steal them. The clerk told Aladin that he knew there were concealed wine bottles under his shirt and, as the clerk attempted to take Aladin's picture with his cell phone, the suspect slapped it away, causing it to strike the clerk in the face.

The clerk came around the counter and attempted to stop Aladin from leaving with the shoplifted  wine; Aladin threw the bottles to the floor, began struggling with and striking clerk Allyn Gibson, the owner's son, managed to break away and flee across the street, where two female Oberlin students were waiting. Gibson chased Aladin and was then assaulted by all three students. As Oberlin police arrived, they observed Aladin on top of Gibson, punching and kicking him; the two females were also still engaged in assaulting the victim.

Jonathan Aladin was arrested for robbery, which was a result of using physical force while committing a theft offense. Robbery is a felony. The two female students were also charged with assaulting Allyn Gibson, a misdemeanor offense.

A simple case, right?

Not so, according to the Oberlin Student Union. Several other students were apparently in the area outside the store and witnessed Allyn Gibson chase Jonathan Aladin across the street. It was Gibson, they say, who was the aggressor, never mind the beatdown Aladin and the two women were administering or what had occurred inside the store. They claim Aladin was just a victim of racial profiling because he is a black man, that Gibson had no right to stop Aladin for the theft from his family's store.

Since the afternoon of November ninth, the Oberlin College Black Student Union and their sympathizers have been protesting outside Gibson's Bakery and Market, holding signs and chanting slogans denouncing Gibson's as being racist.

Gibson's cashier Trey James had this to say about the incident: "The guy got caught stealing and got arrested for it. It was a pretty clear-cut case. If you shoplift, you get prosecuted, regardless of your orientation, race, background, political viewpoint or anything else."

Trey James is himself a black man. He gets it.

The Oberlin students protesting still today do not, choosing rather to play the 'race card' without knowing the facts or the law. According to a source out of Oberlin...and this is mind-blowing to me...the protesting students are getting class credit for missing class to protest.

Unbelievable.

I am seriously considering making a trip to Gibson's Bakery and Market this coming week, just to buy something from them as a show of support. Included in that purchase will be, of course,...

...a donut.