Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: I spent a lot of money to start a rose garden, and spend a lot of time and money fertilizing and caring for the plants. Some people help themselves to the blossoms and sometimes damage the plants. I consider this stealing. An adult should know better, and children should be taught not to pick other people's flowers. Is there a law against picking flowers, even on public property? This is very upsetting. Picking flowers from a
yard could be viewed as a theftAnswer: Apparently, many people do believe that flowers and fruits, no matter that they're growing in someone's yard, are free for the picking.
But in the eyes of the Honolulu Police Department, a person is guilty of petty theft if they either enter your property or reach over and "break the property line" to help themselves to your roses, said HPD Capt. George McKeague.
However, if your flowers were overhanging onto public property or even your neighbor's yard, they would be "fair game," he said.
After conferring with attorneys from both the city prosecutor and corporation counsel's offices, McKeague cited English Common Law as the basis of the petty-theft charge.
Common law is defined as "the law of a country or state based on custom, usage and the decisions and opinions of law courts." (Webster's New World Dictionary)
Put another way, "Common law has been referred to as the 'common sense of the community, crystallized and formulated by our ancestors,'" according to Duhaime's Law Dictionary.
Whether property owners would want to go through the process of filing a report and following through with prosecution is another matter, probably dependent on the extent and purpose of the theft. Like any other theft case, there would have to be a suspect and some evidence that a theft did occur, such as an eyewitness, McKeague noted.
Perhaps, more important, people should simply be aware that such an action does constitute theft, he said.
"People may think, 'Oh, it's just a flower growing by the side of the road.' But if you don't know where the property line is, you could be committing theft for which you could be arrested," McKeague said.
Meanwhile, people also shouldn't be picking flowers in public parks. In Chapter 10 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, one provision states: "Except as authorized by permits, and subject to the terms and conditions imposed by the Department of Parks & Recreation, it is unlawful for any person, within the limits of any public park, to ... cut or remove any wood, plant, grass, soil, rock, sand or gravel."
Q: One of my neighbors recently painted his own marked parking stalls and posted a reserved parking sign on the street in front of his house where he parks his own cars. Is this legal? There are no other marked stalls on the street and no other parking than on the street.
A: It's not legal if it's a public street.
Call police at 911 with the address.
In a previous "Kokua Line," a police official said someone marking the roadway also could be cited for criminal property damage.
Mahalo
To Aloha Cargo, Unitech and McCabe Hamilton & Renny for donating their time and equipment to tearing down the old playground and hauling away the debris at Kailua Elementary School. Without their help, it would have cost more than $30,000 just to raze the equipment. -- Rosie Zglinski, Parent Teacher Student Association, Kailua Elementary
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