Today 25 year old Bruce Rodriquez pleaded guilty to theft for stealing $5 from a 12 year old boy – and it will cost him twenty times what he stole. It happened at 3:00 pm in November of 2008 when the 12 year old went down Supal Street with a $10 bill to buy $5 in phone credits for his 74 year old grandfather.
He was returning home when grown man Bruce Rodriquez accosted him and first grabbed the phone card and then the $5 bill. The phone top up fell and the boy picked that up. He then begged for the money back but that’s when Rodriquez threatened to beat him. The boy took the threat seriously and ran home to his grandfather who then went to police.
When the police showed up, Bruce Rodriquez was found hiding under his girlfriend’s bed and she was found in possession of the $5 bill. Magistrate Tracy Sosa fined Rodriquez $1,000 which he has to pay by June 7th or spend a year in jail.
