Monroe County, FL. The tradition of college students celebrating spring break in Florida can be traced in part to the 1960 hit, Where the Boys Are, a film starring Connie Francis, in which boy meets girl during a carefree spring vacation. During the 1980's the city of Fort Lauderdale began to crack down on the out-of-control spring break activities with increased arrests. Since then, spring breakers have taken on additional destinations of Daytona Beach, Panama City Beach, Key West, Orlando, Tampa and Miami's South Beach.
In any of these popular spring break destinations, exuberant college students engage in what seems like an unending stream of contests including, beer-chugging, bikini, wet T-shirt, and wet he-shirt contests. This year the 2009 Spring Break season stretched from February 16 through April 10. While most students came here to enjoy their freedom during a break in the school year, some found themselves in trouble with the law with a Spring Break Arrest. The spring break partying brings about numerous arrests for disorderly conduct, intoxication, marijuana possession, petit theft, public urination, DUI, and other infractions.
Attorneys at Musca Law are experienced in dealing with Spring Break Arrests and have helped many college students who have found themselves in trouble with the Florida Courts. Our client, a college student vacationing in Florida on spring break, was shopping at a Publix Supermarket with friends. A loss prevention officer accused him of putting food items into a brown plastic bag and leaving the store without paying for the items. Police placed our client under arrest and charged him with Petit Theft, under Fla. Statute 812.014.
In the State of Florida, any theft charge, from misdemeanor shoplifting to grand theft, is a serious offense. Theft is considered "a crime of dishonesty" that can be used against a person when they apply for a job, during a background employment check, or if you ever testify in a court of law. As a first time theft offender, where the value of the item is less than $100.00, our client faced up to 60 days in jail and a fine of up to $500, not to mention the serious consequences of having a conviction on his record. Our attorney successfully negotiated with the State Prosecutor to dismiss the charge against our client and he is eligible to have his records sealed.
