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They Sued Their Ex's Husband Over A Stolen Lego Set
From Redditor u/Direct-Caterpillar77 [not the OP]: My ex and I divorced three years ago. She was cheating, but at this point I don’t care about the relationship anymore. The pending lawsuit has nothing to do with her or him, but rather their actions. My ex and I have a son (13M) that we split time with 50/50. He’s a great kid [whose] interests have changed a lot… as I imagine more kids/teenagers tend to do through the years. One thing my son was heavily into at some point was Legos. He use to play with them all the time, and personally I think they’re a great toy for different reasons. I use to love playing them with him, and to this day I still collect boxes that I leave unopened as a collection. Well, my ex and I divorced; she got with someone who loved Legos more, I guess? From what I know he loves making creations and building the sets... I don’t care… seems cool. He does one thing I think is very, very weird.. He uses crazy glue so the sets can’t break or pieces can’t be lost. It seems so weird to me. The issue is, I was out of town for all of three days last week for medical reasons, and my son wanted to get his PS4 so he could play it at his mom's. This isn’t out of the ordinary at all and he has a key, so he let me know he would be stopping over for it. I told him to have fun when I saw him on the entry camera. My wife’s husband was with him, which was a no-no. I told him via speaker to not go in and to wait on the porch. He flinched but walked in anyway. I sent my ex a text telling her to call him and tell him he’s one minute away from a cop call. He left my home with a bag in hand, which I didn’t think much of because my son had his games too. Well, my son texted me later that evening and said he didn’t know it at the time but he’s pretty sure [his stepdad] took some of my sets. These are all old sets and two are worth big money. When I got home I confirmed the missing sets and called my ex. She had no idea, but he admitted he took them, but it was so [our] son could have the sets to complete his collection... My son doesn’t even like Legos anymore and told his mom he wouldn’t steal from me. My wife asked how much it would cost to replace them and unfortunately it’s more than their savings. Actually, it would take their house down payment plus more. I told them if they didn’t pay in two weeks I was suing and pressing charges. The price in the sets makes it a felony. My ex and her husband are saving for a house, which would give my son more space when he’s there, but those sets were going [to] help pay for his education someday or a home of his own. I filed the police report and have talked to a lawyer and we’re moving forward with the suit.
Everyone is calling me a joke because they are just toys, but I don’t get it. They are worth real money. I’m not rich, guys. I needed those to help with my son's future... but again taking this money does deny my son things at his moms house.
AITA here??
Edit: … The sets have been opened, which more than [halved] their worth, and one was glued together. The damage was done already.
[Some of the] stolen items are:
King's Castle milk truck… And the glued one was a Star Wars snow speeder.
Some of these are one piece of a larger set. So if you lose one of five, you lose the value of one produc[t] plus the value of the set as a whole…
I know I haven’t been here much but I have read many of your comments and taken them to heart… Calling me names in my private message was not called for, and I am not a scalper. I enjoy buying these sets and do not intend to sell all of them, but I want my son to go to college and not worry about debt, so I want to sell the ones that I can to help. I never had the smarts for higher education but my son is not me, and I love him and want him to do better.
Around 4:00 PM I called the local state police and met at their facility. I gave them all I had and gave my statement.
My son is with me starting tonight, so when I picked him up I sent him into GameStop and called his mom. I told her I had filed charges and I asked the cop to call me when everything was done so I could give him the opportunity to turn himself in. I wanted to be better than he treated me…
I told my son when we got home what I did and why. My son said that I did the right thing because he didn’t want his stepdad to think it was okay to do it again, and if he didn’t go to jail he’d rather be her[e] away from him so it isn’t weird.
Update:
…I have received a few requests regarding posting an update and I did promise to update the situation once it was resolved, and as far as I have any say the headache is over for the most part. I can't say that I feel whole, but I'm not angry about it as I think the consequences are something to respect.
I read through most of the comments and really appreciate the time most of you took out of your day to offer advice and well wishes. I know I didn't respond to all of them, but your time and care were noticed. I accept all your judgments, but I must say your kindness blew me away, while some took time out of their day just to be mean, which is on you, I guess. I understand Legos are toys, but I enjoy the hunt and it's worth it to me.
As I said, I decided to go to the police with the video, my statement, texts from my ex, and emails. I told the police I wanted this pursued as he had entered my house after being told not to and stole valuables. They took everything I had to offer and as of yesterday, my ex's [husband] was arrested for a few different violations/laws. He was charged with grand larceny and breaking and entering, among a few other charges. My ex is really upset at me and him; however, she bailed him out so l'm guessing she isn't to[o] upset with him.
Ex's [husband] has called a few times and showed up once. He left the used sets on my porch, and I'm not sure what he thinks that does at this stage. They aren't worthless, but their value is less than half. I told my lawyer he did this and she was blown away. I sent an email to my ex telling her and him to stay away from me and my home, and I only wanted to hear from her if it was concerning our child. This was his first offense to my knowledge, so I don't expect him to do jail time; however, my lawyer said it was possible due to the amount of crimes and when/how they took place. Apparently doing that during the day is worse and he did it in front of my child, which doesn't help him…
I spoke to the lawyer on Tuesday this week regarding the loss, and unfortunately l'm looking at a tough road ahead of me. The pieces stolen are valued at what they sell at auction… the local DA will decide which auctions are reputable. So, that could go different ways; moreover, the fact the [guy] broke up my sets [was] irrelevant. The lawyer said it would be like stealing one baseball card out of an entire set and burning it. You are only owed the value of that one card EVEN IF YOU CAN'T GET THAT ONE CARD AGAIN! The fact he returned them is a[n] admission of guilt, she said, and… we could definitely reclaim the amount of money an unopened set for each would be worth, but it doesn't make the matter better in my opinion.
I know a lot of you thought $10K-$20K wasn't nearly enough for a house down payment, but in my neck of the woods it's plenty, and my lawyer recommended we go forward with a civil suit and I agreed. With that and the legal charges I feel that is well enough. I will have enough in savings and "Lego stock" lol to fund his four years at a good state school. I wish I could do more, but you can't win them all.
My son has been staying with me full time as he feels its awkward at his mom's, and he's pretty upset at his mom about the whole thing, but l'm trying to smooth that over best I can considering the circ*mstances. He's asked to stay here full time, which I support, and told his mom as much. I told her we could do it through the courts or keep it simple, and I think she wants to keep it simple.I haven't thought much about child support, but I don't think asking for a small amount would be bad. I don't want to break my ex, but our kid should come first.
Thank you to everyone for their well wishes and thoughts. Best of luck to everyone out there. Again, if you have any questions l'll try my best to answer them…
