On January 12, 2019, at around 1:30 pm in South Euclid, Ohio, a 16-year-old girl found herself robbed of her own personal property: her cellphone. Distraught, she reached for her landline to report the theft. When police arrived at the scene, much to the caller’s chagrin, they did not make an arrest or attempt to retrieve the phone because the “thief” was the girl’s own father.
Anthony Robertson took his daughter’s phone because, “she’s a juvenile and I don’t want her to have it,” which he explained to officers from the South Euclid Police Department. He added, “I can’t inspect it, because the phone is locked, so I took it away.”
His daughter clapped back, claiming that she paid for the $800 phone herself. She added that since her current residence is her grandmother’s house, she believed that she had rights to the phone.
“But guess what?” one of the officers interjected, deciding to use this altercation to give the entitled teen a lesson. “Everything that you own belongs to your mother and your father. Having a phone is not a right.”
To which Robertson added, “It’s a privilege.”
Watch the full video of the incident, caught on video by body cam, below.
Robertson believes that the incident, which was a viral sensation that sparked much debate over a minor’s property rights, has an educational advantage for parents as well as teens.
“To all the parents, you know? Stay on them,” he told WKYC, concerning how to govern their children about cellphone usage. “There’s so many hidden apps and little ways that they can hide and cover up what they’re doing on those phones. It’s ridiculous.”
Well, what do you think? Does Robertson’s daughter have rights to her phone despite being a minor, or if she thinks she is so entitled to the property, should the cops have taken action and arrested her? Let us know in the comments below!