Two teens are in custody after they allegedly injured one person with a BB gun and doing damage around Emporia with a stolen BB gun over the weekend.
According to Lt. John Koelsch, Emporia Police officers arrested Marqus Moya, 15, and Devin Walburn, 16, for suspicion of aggravated battery, theft, removal of an anti-theft device and criminal damage to property.
“These arrests are in connection with 22 criminal damage reports to windows from BB gun BBs,” Koelsch said in a press release. “The aggravated battery occurred when a person was stuck with BB gun projectiles.”
The BB guns were allegedly stolen from Walmart by the teens after they removed the anti-theft devices. The two were turned over to the Lyon County Community Corrections and transported to the juvenile detention facility in Lawrence.
“Reports have been forwarded to the Lyon County Attorney’s Office for filing of formal charges through juvenile court in Lyon County District Court,” the press release stated.
Anybody who has further information about these incidents or any other incident is asked to call the Emporia Police Department at 343-4200 or Lyon County Crime Stoppers at 342-2273.
sportsmama (anonymous) says...
Oh Devin you are such a good kid :( I hope you learn from this.
March 2, 2010 at 3:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
HenryVIII (anonymous) says...
What a couple of idiots! Oooo...you stole a BB gun and damaged property! That must make you feel like a real man, huh? I bet your family is real proud of you too.
Wow, there are some stupid people out there... Sorry, I forgot. They are only "allegedly" morons at this point. Once convicted, I hope these worthless pukes rot in a jail cell for the rest of their days.
'enry
March 2, 2010 at 3:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Landa (anonymous) says...
'enry, who's stupid? You want 2 kids who shot out some windows and stole some BB guns to rot in jail for the rest of their days? You're an idiot. I bet your family is NOT proud of you.
March 2, 2010 at 3:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
okjayhawk (anonymous) says...
chill, henry. you're the old man in the neighborhood nobody likes so they put poop packages on your front porch. you are a sad, strange little man and you have my pity.
March 2, 2010 at 3:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
giggles (anonymous) says...
Landa and okjayhawk,
Spoken like two people who did not have their windows damaged, or weren't assulted by these two. Henry's view may be a bit extreme, but these two don't need to be defended. It was thoughtless, and arrogant and they need to learn something from it.
March 2, 2010 at 4:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
booker5m (anonymous) says...
Think a summer of working off the damages would be good!
Henry I dont need to read a joke to make me laugh. I just come here and read what you have written
March 2, 2010 at 5:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tossedcat (anonymous) says...
They need to do something to them. I mean in the last five years. Someone (I suspect they were kids) shot out my car windows and stole four sony cd players.(Hey guys next time look in the center console their are 4 remote controllers you forgotten.) So after replacing about a thousand dollars worth of glass and no more cd players. Not to mention getting a police report, talking to your insurance agent (cross your fingers your rates don't go up.) Cleaning out the mess.Taking your car to the shop. picking it up, And don't forget to pay your deductable. YEAP!!! THEY WILL PROBABLEY WALK?
March 2, 2010 at 6:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
orlando (anonymous) says...
How did they get the guns out of walmart? in some of those low rider huge pants? BB guns are a little large to hide in a pocket...
March 2, 2010 at 6:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
I'm just wondering if these two might have been the cowardly punks that shot Biscuit with a B-B gun as he lay sleeping in the front yard a couple of months ago.
Biscuit wasn't seriously injured in the incident but I would love to get my hands on the bast@#@$ that did it anyway.
March 2, 2010 at 8 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
madpoet (anonymous) says...
Kids need to be taught respect for others and the property of others. I think nasty community service would be a good punishment. They should have to repay the damages to all those people. I was taught to leave other peoples stuff alone and not to go on someone's property without permission. Darn right I'm teaching my kid that, too. I had and ADULT climb a fence with his little sister and fish on our pond without permission one time. I heard a bunch of shrieking and go down to look and find two total strangers messing around on our property. He had no shame, either. He had the gall to ask my husband if he could come back later! If they'd been hurt it would have been on our insurance, too. We plastered the propery with no trespassing signs that night since the one we had up was apparently not enough.
March 3, 2010 at 9:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bug05 (anonymous) says...
I think we all need to remember that they are still just kids. Maybe they are trying to reach out. We all want to think of the negative, yes what they did was wrong to have them rot in jail thats just ignorance. We have all done things we aren't proud of and probably didn't get caught, think of those things. Or maybe we did get caught, as kids we are just wanting exceptance and its hard to come by. These kids havent always been bad kids. No kid is always a bad kid, so maybe we can give these kids a little break, and some of the comments made kept to ourselves.
March 3, 2010 at 10:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
inaweoftheblindness (anonymous) says...
A friend of mine had her window shot out in her vehicle by these two "Children". Thankfully my friends own children were not injured when this happened, as her own children were in the front yard as it took place in broad daylight. The suspects came down the street slowly and came almost to a stop and shot out the back window of her vehicle in front of her children and then came back around the block laughing and carrying on about what they had just done and sped off. Thankfully her children were able to give the police a very good description of the vehicle.
Hopefully these two subjects involved are not just given a slap on the hands. I agree, they both should be given community work for the whole summer to pay for the damages they have caused. They also should be receiving some therapy to help them with their obvious emotional problem.
As far as stealing the BB guns from Walmart....Shame on Walmart to leave these items sitting on a shelf where anyone can pick them up and steal them. Some of the BB guns that Walmart has sitting out on shelves can cause some serious damage if someone was to shoot another person with it. I mean seriously, some of those BB guns that use the air powered tanks have a lot of force behind it, some people use them to kill rabbits and squirrels with , so imagine being shot at close range the damage it could possibly cause a person. As far as how they walked out of walmart with these guns, I would assume it was the smaller handgun type BB gun they are selling there, and yes these would fit in your pocket or easily under your coat. Walmart....Please put these items in a enclosed glass case where an attendant must open to show them to potential buying customers.
No, I am not blaming walmart for the actions of these two individuals, we all know where the blame lies, but it would be nice to know that other under aged children do not have such easy access to such items.
March 3, 2010 at 11:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
"I think we all need to remember that they are still just kids. Maybe they are trying to reach out...
Tell you what bug05, why don't you volunteer for a child advocate program and let them reach out to you. You can then see to it that they get to court, get to any counseling that is handed down, and then you can keep them comfortable and remind them that they're just kids and should be forgiven.
What a bunchofcrap.
March 3, 2010 at 11:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
thrashed (anonymous) says...
15 and 16 is old enough to know right and wrong. Wal-Mart has some of the worst loss prevention known to man, you can tell who they are and its not hard to notice a creepy looking guy in sections of the store he shouldn't be all the time.
March 3, 2010 at 12:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
booker5m (anonymous) says...
lol You must be talking bout old Columbo
March 3, 2010 at 12:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
yev_kassem (anonymous) says...
First of all, they are just kids and kids sometimes do stupid things. I know Devin personally and he is not a bad kid, he just made a very stupid choice. Luckily for him, the damage was minor. No one was hurt or killed and he/they can recover from this. Punishment needs to fit the crime though, and rotting in a cell is a little over the top. I agree with others that they should have to repay for the damages and I think they should also have to repay Wal-Mart for the stolen guns. But lets be serious about this for a minute, these kids are 15 and 16. They made a mistake, albeit a big one, and if was a major lapse of judgement, but it is not the end of the world for these kids. With proper discipline they will end up just fine.
March 3, 2010 at 12:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
yev_kassem (anonymous) says...
And, it is completely moronic to blame Wal-Mart for 2 kids stealing stuff from them. The kids are to blame. That's like trying to blame the car manufacturer when you get a DUI.
March 3, 2010 at 12:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
I don't know enough of the details of all this to respond with any certainty. But as I understand it, at least one person was shot during this incident. If that person was shot on purpose.....or accidentally due to complete indifference......it shows a level of aggression that rises above a childhood prank.
If so, that type of behavior could be considered quite disturbing.
March 3, 2010 at 12:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
giggles (anonymous) says...
22 criminal damage reports and an aggravated battery charge isn't just a lapse in judgement. They did hit someone and possibly hurt them. Often times BB guns can cause extensive damage. I am wondering how much it actually adds up to? Are they going to be able to really work off the total cost?
March 3, 2010 at 12:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
madpoet (anonymous) says...
We all did stupid things as kids but how many of us went to this level? We used eggs and tp not bb guns. And it was usually just once or twice not 22 times. The worst thing I recall doing is letting air out of someone's tires. Not by slashing them, either, but by pushing down the valve core. I would never dream of smashing someone's car window with a rock much less shooting a bb gun at cars. To do it in front of kids makes it even worse. I just hope this scares them straight.
March 3, 2010 at 2:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
HenryVIII (anonymous) says...
When I was their age I had a job, a car, numerous "lady friends", and all the responsibilities that come along with those. These punks might be considered "minors" by the law, but their actions shouldn't be written-off as mere child's play. Please stop saying these are "good kids" because their actions speak much louder than your words. These two "kids" aren't fit for society; lock 'em up for good! I'll gladly the pay taxes to keep the likes of them behind bars. It's better than paying to have my windows fixed or pay emergency room bills every time they have a "lapse of judgment" in the future!
'enry
March 3, 2010 at 2:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
okjayhawk (anonymous) says...
You know what? I admit it...in second grade I shot my bb gun out of the 2nd floor garage of my friend's at 9th and Market. It ricocheted off of a the license tag I was shooting at and busted out the back window of another car. We hid and watched as the owner came out, called the police, and made the report. We also spray painted the underpass on Lincoln once. And, call us crazy, but we stole a budweiser sign from in front of the Lakeview 66. We were young and stupid and had we got caught, a summer of work for the great City of Emporia would have worked. I don't have a record, I live a productive life and contribute to my community. I guess, lucky for you all, I don't live in Emporia anymore!! These boys should be punished just to make an impression and some good work out in the hot sun for restitiution would probably be perfect. They can learn from this.
And Henry, if you had "lady friends", chances are you weren't doing anything legal, either.
March 3, 2010 at 4:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
I don't know Devin very well, but I do know that he was a nice, respectful kid at one point. What he didn't have, was a great parental structure. I know he has good male role models, but I don't think he has had as much of it as he needed to offset the bad role modeling he was getting. This is not an excuse for his actions, as he knew better if he knows how to be the kid I've met. What I'm saying is that he is human living in humanity, trying to sort it out and obviously not doing very well. I hope that this is a wake up call for his family to surround him with better structure and expectations.
I am married to a man who was a juvenile delinquent in his teen years....the only difference is that he didn't get caught. If he had, he would have faced almost the same things that these two are facing. He did come to recognize that he was lacking in some essential self-discipline and sought out a disciplinary structure to learn from. During his years in that organization, he became a productive citizen and responsible adult. If I told you what he did, you would be just as upset as you are with these two, but I will leave it at this: it didn't define him. Hopefully this will not define these two either. Justice and forgiveness is the best we can give them.
March 3, 2010 at 4:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
koalemos (anonymous) says...
They probably were really good so Santa would give them a BB Gun for Christmas. Since Santa didn't give them one they decided that being good was for suckers. I'm against burglary....and shoplifting.
March 3, 2010 at 6:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Our prisons are full of people who were once " Just kids, 15 or 16 years old " and grew up to be an adult criminal, who started out doing what some call a harmless bit of childish misbehavior and who grew up to rob, kill, etc. and have a criminal record that will be with them the rest of their life.
And in some cases, no amount of discipline will change them.
A lot of these so called " Kids " are mollycoddled way to much . And therein lies much of the problem.
March 3, 2010 at 7:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
whisky28 (anonymous) says...
These kids need to spend the week in jail not kiddie jail just to teach them what jail is about when.I was 13 i was shot with a bb gun the bb lodged in the top virdabra in my neck went in the corner ove my nose and the kid that did it got a slap on his hands that was in 1989
March 4, 2010 at 10:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Instead of public service, ( if found guilty ), sentence them to work the entire farm season baling hay, with 80% of their pay going to restitution. I'm sure there is a farmer out there looking for a couple of hard working kids. Any farmers out there willing to help?
March 4, 2010 at 10:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
ooohps showing my age there
March 4, 2010 at 11:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bug05 (anonymous) says...
How about we all act like adults in this situation, stop bad mouthing these kids, and do something as a community to insure this doesn't happen again. I'm not talking just about these kids, but there are a whole lot more like them out there. They could even be your kids you just don't know it. As for parenting, yes it is some of the parents fault, our kids give off warning signs and if we choose to ignore them than things like this will happen. Kids aren't born bad, they learn it, they see it, but what sticks out in there minds the most is that person didn't get caught.
March 4, 2010 at 4 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
What do you suggest, bug05? Can you be more specific about what this community needs to do to insure this doesn't happen again? Please don't just pay this lip service.
I suggested child advocacy to you in another post. I was being specific, and very serious because that group is always needing help.
What else do you suggest?
March 4, 2010 at 4:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reality (anonymous) says...
Steve, you have the best solution. We lived in the city, though my father grew up on a farm. If I got in trouble, come Saturday morning at 5:30 there was work to do. Even if there really wasn't anything that needed done, Dad could find something. It was always a long, dirty and sweaty day. Not saying that these kids parents haven't done everything right, I have no idea about that. All I am saying is that I agree youth today have it way to easy. I can't wait to see how whiney and soft the next generation is.
March 4, 2010 at 4:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
frebrd_93 (anonymous) says...
OMG...BUG05..These boys you call "Kids" are young adults. Old enough to know better and certainly old enough to know what they were doing and the damage done. I have NO sympathy for these two. I think there has been enough "sympathy" for "kids" that know what they are doing is totally wrong, breaking the law. I think a summer of working off the damage they've done is way too short. No I didn't get my windows shot out but I have gotten my car broken into a couple of times and am very tired of all these "kids" getting away with just a slap on the wrist. I have no solution but something has to be done.
March 4, 2010 at 5:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Free4all (anonymous) says...
Yes I am thinking along the same lines and have talked to my wife about it. Our back window to our mini van was shot out about a week ago. Oh boy do I have some yard work that needs to be done before spring. It isnt going to cost much to replace the window and would be the easy way out for these way ward boys. I would love to have them come over, put on some work gloves, I'll work right with them and we can get this yard in shape for spring. I have called the PD and will have to call back Saturday or Sunday to talk to the right person. It will teach them a good work ethic but also with me out there with them they will see that they did this to a nice person that will not yell at them, I will feed them BBQ, give them some good honest work, they will feel worse doing this to me this way than to have mom and dad write check for the damage and get grounded. Work starts at 7am and we will finish when the sun goes down.
March 4, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
Free4all
Sounds like a great plan. Good hard work to repair the damage caused by their foolishness. Not slave labor...but hard sweaty work that starts early and ends late. Either do that every weekend until the damage is paid for....or the alternative....about a year in juvie.
March 4, 2010 at 6:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
frebrd_93 (anonymous) says...
Free4all, I agree with you. That's how I was raised with hard work and respect for others. Grounding kids these days doesn't seem to do any good. When I was grounded in my younger days, we knew it. Now you ground a kid to their room-where they have no doubt a TV, Computor, cell phone, xbox/gameboy. Yeah, ground them but take everything out. My parents did. Juvie...how bout boot camp?
March 4, 2010 at 8:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
Free4all:
I love it! Justice with forgiveness! I think if they got to spend 22 similar Saturdays doing spring yard work and washing all the house windows inside and out, washing and waxing the cars(s) and maybe even hosing down siding or help do some painting......one long Saturday with each of their victims. It is definitely worth a try to give these young men a chance to rise above this kind of mistake (not read: "accident").
On a side note, I truly hope that these were not the culprits in shooting Biscuit...........deliberately harming animals is a whole different set of problems. I am very glad that he was okay.
March 4, 2010 at 10:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
I can still remember, when I did something wrong and my mother found out about it, I knew what would happen. Mom would grab the big butcher knife, walk calmly out the back door, go to the big weeping willow tree in the back yard, study the branches, for what seemed to me to be an eternity, make her selection, cut a nice long plyable one, walk calmly back to the house, and then switch the " Devil " out of me, on my bare legs and " Buttocks " , as " Forrest Gump " would say. Boy did I learn real quick, not to get into trouble . And the thing is I never thought any less of my Mother or Father for disciplining me and " Hard " teaching me, what was right and respectful and what was wrong and dis-respectful . Though they have been gone these many years, I still love them very much, with all my heart.
March 4, 2010 at 10:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
Thank You oh4theluvof. So am I.
March 5, 2010 at 2:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
I like the yard work solutions best of all because it teaches them that victims are not faceless. Just be prepared for parents to oppose it.
Years ago, when a neighbor's 6th grader broke into my empty apartment just to hang out, I wanted to do the same thing -- take up several of his Saturdays with yard work. Sadly, his parents refused saying he was just a kid. So I pressed charges and then they had to deal with the law which was much more difficult. Were those people fully expecting me to forget it? They didn't even offer to replace the doorknob he broke. Just a kid indeed.
I raised girls and they both worked in the yard, tended a big garden, and helped in the house when they were that age. Kids have to be taught responsibility with real chores not video games and TV.
March 5, 2010 at 8:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
giggles (anonymous) says...
As children, you are taught how to be a responsible adult. How is that to happen without consequences to inappropriate behavior? For parents to just say, "they're just kids" is no excuse not to teach them about responsibilty and consequences. Before long those kids will be adults, what will be the excuse then?
If you don't expect it from them now, then you certainly can't expect anything better from them as adults. Who wants society looking down on their kids because their parents weren't disiplined enough to teach them? I guess the answer would be those parents whose course of action is to excuse their child from consequences and punishments.
March 5, 2010 at 10:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
There really needs to be a hard yard work video game.
March 5, 2010 at 10:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
solong (anonymous) says...
The chaos these two idots brought on is inexcusable, they wreaked havoc in the lives of many individuals causing them huge amounts of grief, inconvenience, financial distress, and probably anger. A little discipline and they will be just fine, that is so weak, they need to repay everything, including spiked insurance rates, and be hammered big time. It is obvious they have no respect for anyone and care only about having a good time, I hope they had fun. I hope they get some serious jail time and alot of public service, they need maximum punishment. I am just glad they caught them before they had some more fun, and I hope the people that knew these 'good kids' wake up and see this for what it is, a wanton disrespect of the law and people in general. There is a great opportunity to send a strong message here, I just hope it is delivered and these criminals pay for their crimes.
March 5, 2010 at 10:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barefootin (anonymous) says...
The furniture shop on sixth ave has a portable sign that says "Make your tax dollars go further here." Now either I saw things wrong, or today the words were rearranged to say"Make your tax dollars fart here." Do you suppose an underage criminal worked on that sign?
March 5, 2010 at 8:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
Where did they get the extra "a"?
March 5, 2010 at 9:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barefootin (anonymous) says...
Further was spelled farther, they must have split the word in two.
March 6, 2010 at 12:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
At least some students are learning to spell in Emporia Schools.
March 6, 2010 at 4:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
See....not knowing how to spell properly can have negative consequences.
March 7, 2010 at 3:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
My Sims Hard Yard Work for the Wii. Available soon. (rated E for Everyone)
March 7, 2010 at 8:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
myapologiesforlivin (anonymous) says...
We had 2 vehicles shot by these youths. I would like the money we lost to be paid back to us, not just community service given- this has been a very rough year for us financially and physically. Also, a reminder; forgiveness involves, actually being sorry for what you have done, asking for forgiveness, being willing to make restitution, and not doing it again.
From the number of comments seen here, a lot more than theft and vandalism has occurred...
March 8, 2010 at 1:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ratri (anonymous) says...
Personally, feel that a weekend of working for each victim is not really fair compensation for the damages caused. I was one of the 22 victims of these two, and while I don't feel any animosity toward the teens in question, I do believe they should have to repay the owners of the vehicles for their inconvenience as well as the cost of the windows. In my case ~ $775.00. Thankfully my insurance covered most of it but even so there are people who's insurance do not cover window replacement.
March 8, 2010 at 10:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
Yes ratri...and don't anybody fool themselves by thinking because it was paid by your insurance company that somehow makes it free to the rest of us. Every dollar paid out by an insurance company is a dollar they seek to recover in the rate structure that affects all of us. Even those of us who did not receive damage from these "good children".
March 9, 2010 at 6:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
It was never clear here whether these were B-B guns or the gas powered pellet guns. If they were pellet guns...and from the damage done, that would be my guess....they are capable of causing a lot of damage to animals and humans. In fact, I believe it is illegal just to discharge them in the city limits just like with a real gun.
March 9, 2010 at 6:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )