Hamner
As Christmas approaches, Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner is issuing a holiday warning to porch pirates.
Here is his message to holiday gift thieves:
“‘Tis the season: (a) to be jolly; (b) and for an increase in porch piracy and other stealing.
Porch piracy, as you know, is when thieves come up on your porch and steal from you. They steal merchandise, gifts, and deliveries left by Amazon, UPS, FedEx, the United States Postal Service and other courier services.
It’s invasive. It’s infuriating. And it’s a crime.
And it’s also not tolerated in this county. Porch piracy means jail time for the perpetrators.
Here is a fair warning: Anyone caught coming onto another person’s private property and stealing right off their porch in Johnson County will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We might call it our ‘no tolerance for Grinches’ policy.
There is no excuse for thievery, especially brazen thievery. There is nothing that mitigates porch piracy. It’s utter disregard for other people’s property rights. It’s taking from the productive by the lazy, dishonest unproductive. There is nothing to be said in defense of it.
We often hear that term ‘prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law’ bandied about and no one is exactly sure what it means. Let me spell it out.
In this context it means the thief will be jailed and the prosecutor will be seeking maximum jail time.
In other words, the prosecutor’s office will be seeking a sentence of up to a full year in jail even for a first-time offender.
No diversion. No probation. No house arrest. Not even work release. And I’m quite confident our Johnson County criminal court judges will be supportive of this.
Straight time in one of Sheriff (Duane) Burgess’ 12-by-7 jail cells — 24/7.
And if it’s a second offense the law allows us to seek up to 2.5 years in prison. Which we will.
That’s what it means to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
And that’s what we will be doing with porch pirates this season.
Merry Christmas to all … except to the Grinches.”
— Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner
