That Was No Halloween ‘Prank’

* Re “Judge Voids Jury Verdict in Halloween-Prank Shooting” Feb. 24:

Here are two definitions. A prank is something done to provoke laughter or amusement. A theft is an act of stealing.

The first is playful and harmless; the second, a crime. These were not two little boys out having fun. They were both young men out intentionally hurting others for their own amusement.

ROBERT SPENCER

Westminster

* I have felt the fear of being at the mercy of teenagers who hunt in packs and think of themselves above the law. I have no tolerance for any kind of vandalism and would like to see the punishment for graffiti or petty theft handled as I understand it is in Indonesia or Singapore, with public flogging or public humiliation.

I am sorry the teen was shot, but if he did wrong in stealing, he did wrong. I can understand how the man whose property had been vandalized thought a gun would give him a feeling of strength and might help to scare the hoodlums.

CRAIG SCHAEFER

North Hollywood