What's the statute of limitations on swiping cranberries in NJ?
- Thread starter Pan
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I had a 1970 VW bug.....yellow. I owned it in 1979-1983. I went everywhere in the pines in that thing. Very fun to drive.
On a straight case of theft/larceny of Cranberries there is a statute of limitations of 5 years in NJ. This assumes that the theft did not involve Blueberries or pine cones or some other types which may have limitations a few years more or less depending on the specific nature (and also which may lead to Federal charges, with differing statutes of limitations).
The only thing to remember is that the 5 years runs from any subsequent covering activities as well. For example, if you stole something 7 years ago, but provided paperwork 3 years ago to cover up that theft, then you can still be charged. The 5 year statute of limitations did not run out on the theft before you continued the crime with the attempt to cover it up. Since 5 years have also not yet passed since that continuing act, you could still be on the hook for 2 more years, assuming no more continuing acts.
If you are really concerned, you should sit down and talk to The Jersey Devil. Just about everywhere in the pines there are Pineys that you could sit down with for $50 to $100 just for a consultation to see exactly what your liability is. Remember, just because criminal prosecution may not be possible, it doesn't mean that you would be clear from some forms of civil prosecution.
The only thing to remember is that the 5 years runs from any subsequent covering activities as well. For example, if you stole something 7 years ago, but provided paperwork 3 years ago to cover up that theft, then you can still be charged. The 5 year statute of limitations did not run out on the theft before you continued the crime with the attempt to cover it up. Since 5 years have also not yet passed since that continuing act, you could still be on the hook for 2 more years, assuming no more continuing acts.
If you are really concerned, you should sit down and talk to The Jersey Devil. Just about everywhere in the pines there are Pineys that you could sit down with for $50 to $100 just for a consultation to see exactly what your liability is. Remember, just because criminal prosecution may not be possible, it doesn't mean that you would be clear from some forms of civil prosecution.
Somehow I think you know who that is
Is that vehicle in the second photo your's or was it from the bog?
Guy
I think that was the getaway car.
Yeah, me too, in my '69 Super beetle which made it to 300,000 miles, much of that being city - and also Pine Barrens - driving. The engine and transmission were still great, but rust was destroying it. The Beetle was much better in the Barrens, being light weight and narrow and having excellent traction, than many 4 wheel drive vehicles, like a Hummer which is too wide to fit in the narrower PB roads.
Somehow I think you know who that is
...
Nah, I don't know nuthin about nuthin. I never saw that mug before, see.
Attachments
My old VW, hidden in the PB woods while I went out hiking and camping or canoeing.
Attachments
Reminds me of one of my slightly stranger PB misadventures. I came across a feller deep in the woods whose VW fastback had bogged down in the sand and I tried to help him try to dig it out, but it was in too deep, and maybe he didn't really want it out. Anyway, it was still there a few months later.
Getting towed.
When my low slung rented car got bogged down in that remote part of the Barrens for two days 6 or 8 years ago (appropriately enough near Lost Lane), and I finally hiked out 8 miles through the Air Force bombing range ("All persons are forbidden to enter!!!") in the rain, and a cop finally pulled in by me and told me they had picked up someone trying to call out on their cell phone (me) but couldn't make anything out because cell phone service was virtually nonexistent in there, except for very intermittent one second bursts when I climbed a hill. He called a tow truck which finally arrived where I was sitting wet and cold and hungry by the closed gas station I had hiked to.
I was afraid that the tow truck guy would balk at entering the woods where I came out because it was the bombing range and had more of those big Entry Forbidden! signs on it, but he barreled right in, and in fact went so fast that I totally lost track of the neat little arrows I had scraped in the sand at every turn on my exit route, so now we were totally lost, or rather my rented car was totally lost, except for one thing, I had saved the coordinates on my Garmin II GPS. But more problems - the double A batteries in my GPS were almost dead. I had hoped to buy some more at the store I hiked to after I left the woods whose sign I saw in the distance, but it turned out to be out of business,only a big sign, and the tow truck driver had no batteries. I did have a cigarette lighter adapter but the cig. lighter in the tow truck was broken.
Meanwhile the tow truck dude was barreling through the woods, trying to follow the arrow on my GPS - an earlier version with no roads or maps - and we kept running into dead ends and roads that narrowed out so bad that tree limbs were crashing into the truck, knocking the mirrors and wiper blades around, so hard that I was afraid they would break his windshield. And I was afraid that any minute he would say, OK, enough of this, the hell with this, I'm outa here!
The tree cover in there was so thick that the car wouldn't even have been visible from the air - and the rental car agreement does have some fine print about not being allowed to drive off paved roads...
Anyway, with my GPS batteries on their last leg we finally came upon the car, buried so deep in the sand,over its axles, so that I had been unable to dig it out at all or get it to move more than a few inches after digging for two days and one cold night with the only digging tool I had with me, a big seashell. I was also afraid that with my arm extended way under the car trying to dig, the car might settle down and trap my arm, and then what? I didn't see any sign that anyone had even been on that stretch of road for many many years.
Anyway, all's well that ends well. The tow truck dude followed me out to make sure I didn't get bogged down again. How much do I owe you, asked I. Ah, $50 should cover it, said he. He was a good guy. Only thing is a week or two later I got a call from his boss who said, Look, he spent hours in there and beat up the truck besides. He didn't charge you enough. He asked for another 50, and I thought he was right, so that made it $100.
Here's where I was stuck:
N 39 45.317
W 74 26.544
When my low slung rented car got bogged down in that remote part of the Barrens for two days 6 or 8 years ago (appropriately enough near Lost Lane), and I finally hiked out 8 miles through the Air Force bombing range ("All persons are forbidden to enter!!!") in the rain, and a cop finally pulled in by me and told me they had picked up someone trying to call out on their cell phone (me) but couldn't make anything out because cell phone service was virtually nonexistent in there, except for very intermittent one second bursts when I climbed a hill. He called a tow truck which finally arrived where I was sitting wet and cold and hungry by the closed gas station I had hiked to.
I was afraid that the tow truck guy would balk at entering the woods where I came out because it was the bombing range and had more of those big Entry Forbidden! signs on it, but he barreled right in, and in fact went so fast that I totally lost track of the neat little arrows I had scraped in the sand at every turn on my exit route, so now we were totally lost, or rather my rented car was totally lost, except for one thing, I had saved the coordinates on my Garmin II GPS. But more problems - the double A batteries in my GPS were almost dead. I had hoped to buy some more at the store I hiked to after I left the woods whose sign I saw in the distance, but it turned out to be out of business,only a big sign, and the tow truck driver had no batteries. I did have a cigarette lighter adapter but the cig. lighter in the tow truck was broken.
Meanwhile the tow truck dude was barreling through the woods, trying to follow the arrow on my GPS - an earlier version with no roads or maps - and we kept running into dead ends and roads that narrowed out so bad that tree limbs were crashing into the truck, knocking the mirrors and wiper blades around, so hard that I was afraid they would break his windshield. And I was afraid that any minute he would say, OK, enough of this, the hell with this, I'm outa here!
The tree cover in there was so thick that the car wouldn't even have been visible from the air - and the rental car agreement does have some fine print about not being allowed to drive off paved roads...
Anyway, with my GPS batteries on their last leg we finally came upon the car, buried so deep in the sand,over its axles, so that I had been unable to dig it out at all or get it to move more than a few inches after digging for two days and one cold night with the only digging tool I had with me, a big seashell. I was also afraid that with my arm extended way under the car trying to dig, the car might settle down and trap my arm, and then what? I didn't see any sign that anyone had even been on that stretch of road for many many years.
Anyway, all's well that ends well. The tow truck dude followed me out to make sure I didn't get bogged down again. How much do I owe you, asked I. Ah, $50 should cover it, said he. He was a good guy. Only thing is a week or two later I got a call from his boss who said, Look, he spent hours in there and beat up the truck besides. He didn't charge you enough. He asked for another 50, and I thought he was right, so that made it $100.
Here's where I was stuck:
N 39 45.317
W 74 26.544
I was there this past winter or maybe slightly before that with Manumuskin. That is Penn State Forest property and adjacent is Haines property, and Al and I were looking for property stones. I may even have a photo near there. I will have to look.
This should make it easier for everyone.
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.755397349132934&lng=-74.44244742393494&z=17&type=h&gpx=
Guy
This should make it easier for everyone.
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.755397349132934&lng=-74.44244742393494&z=17&type=h&gpx=
Guy
How did it feel spending what the car was worth to get it towed?
Yeah, that's not far off man. Not long after that my brother piled it into a telephone pole during a wild college weekend, so that was the end of the shove-vette... but fortunately not the end of my brother.
I got my 100.00 Maverick buried once and thought of kicking some sand on the roof and leaving it, but a good samaritan pulled me out for free. He said "no charge, you may have to help me some day", or something to that affect. I've tried to help people out ever since. See, there are still some good people out there!
Greg
Greg
It's probably still seldom visited there. I didn't see any evidence that anyone had been on or around the road I was stuck on for a very long time, no tire tracks, no footprints, no garbage, nothing. That thought was in my mind as I was up to my shoulder squeezed under the car trying to dig it out with my seashell. If I got stuck I'd just slowly die of thirst and get nibbled away by animals. Actually I think that happened in 2000, the year after I wrote that McPhee review on Amazon, eleven years ago.
In retrospect I think that's what that feller I mentioned above may have been doing, and then an overly good good samaritan, me, came along out of nowhere . Good thing you said Maverick or I'd think that might have been you!
I took my jeep back there one time. I had planned a route I thought looked manageable from the maps. I turn down one of the roads and it was a little tight. After that it got really tight. I had branches scraping paint and some even scratched my windows. The whole time I was out there I was thinking no one has been out here in years. The trail was so overgrown I was thinking if something happened to the Jeep it would not be a good day. I had come out right behind the range that you were speaking of and boy was that a relief to see. I had to make some many changes in the route due to being too tight to go down some of the trails. Your story really made me remember that trip. Luckily I did not have any issues while out there.
I love that area of the pines I always try to frequent that area when I go out there.