HOUSTON – It’s almost time for Halloween, and with that comes the annual Halloween pranksters.
But these pranks are no laughing matter.
Attorneys want to remind you that some of these “pranks” can land you behind bars.
“Fifteen minutes of fun is not worth $15,000, and it’s not worth going to the ER or morgue,” notes Houston-based attorney, Brian Wice. “Every time Halloween is in the not-so-distant future, as a legal defense attorney, I think of the triple crown: criminal mischief, criminal trespass and DWI. There’s something about Halloween that not only compels otherwise sane people to dress up, but to lose their sense of what’s right and wrong.”
For many people, Halloween is just about dressing up and overloading with candy. But for those Halloween tricksters, they wait all year for this.
“I remember back in my day that was the thing everyone was doing... toilet papering and egging,” explained mom of three, Shelby Mills.
But according to Wice, these so-called “harmless” pranks could cost you jail time.
“Criminal mischief is so ridiculous on so many levels. Why would you want to even take that risk?” asked Wice.
Some of the spooky season pranks include snatching or stealing candy, egging homes or cars, smashing pumpkins or mailboxes, toilet papering and drinking.
Mills’s son Oliver was so excited about their brand new inflatable just in time for Halloween.
“From the first day he blew it up, he thought it was so amazing and he was saying we have the best decorations in the whole neighborhood, " explained Mills. “He was giving it a hug and he thought it was great. Every time we came outside he was so excited to see it.”
That inflatable was snatched by young kids and it was all caught on camera.
“To me, it crosses a line when you’re taking stuff that is of value from other people,” says Mills. “It was a shocker for me. I couldn’t believe he came back multiple times to get this pumpkin,” explained Mills. “I think that’s really sad that a kid thinks that’s okay to go into people’s yards and steal stuff from other people.”
Although she decided not to press charges, others may not be so lucky.
According to Wice, criminal mischief is a misdemeanor, in most cases, and could cost someone thousands in attorney fines and even a night in jail.
“That is inflicting any kind of damage on anyone’s personal property, such as deflating inflatables, waxing windows, toilet papering a tree in the front yard. If you try to walk away with something on somebodies’ front lawn, it’s not just criminal mischief, it’s theft, and that’s the kind of crime that will follow you for the rest of your life -- on a college application, job application, anywhere your credibility and character can become an issue.”
He said he wants to remind people that in Texas, deadly force can be used to protect property so approaching a home at night is something he says should be avoided at all costs.
“It can go south quicker than a Kardashian marriage, make no mistake,” notes Wice.
For one of these crimes to become a felony, he says the cost of the damage has to be substantial, in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Mills says she has looked on the Facebook marketplace to see if the person is reselling the decoration but hasn’t seen anything. So for Oliver, she says he will have to wait until next Halloween to get a new inflatable for their front yard.