My ex and I divorced three years ago. She was cheating, but at this point I don’t care about the relationship anymore. The pending lawsuit has nothing to do with her or him, but rather their actions. My ex and I have a son (13M) that we split time with 50/50. He’s a great kid whose interests have changed a lot as I imagine most kids/teenagers tend to do through the years.
One thing my son was heavily into at some point was legos. He use to play with them all the time, and personally I think they’re a great toy for different reasons. I use to love playing them with him, and to this day I still collect boxes that I leave unopened as a collection.
Well when my ex and I divorced she got together with and eventually married someone who loved legos more I guess? From what I know he loves making creations and building the sets. I don’t care.. seems cool. He does one thing I think is very very weird.. He uses crazy glue so the sets can’t break or pieces can’t be lost. It seems so weird to me.
The issue is, I was out of town for all of three days last week for medical reasons, and my son wanted to get his PS4 so he could play it at his moms. This isn’t out of the ordinary at all and he has a key, so he let me know he would be stopping over for it. I told him to have fun when I saw him on the entry camera. My wife’s husband was with him which was a no-no.
I told him via speaker to not go in and to wait on the porch. He flinched but walked in any way. I sent my ex a text telling her to call him and tell him he’s one minute away from a cop call. He left my home with a bag in hand which I didn’t think much of because my son had his games too. Well my son texted me later that evening and said he didn’t know it at the time but he’s pretty sure SD took some of my sets.
These are all old sets and two are worth big money. When I got home I confirmed the missing sets and called my ex. She had no idea but he admired he took them but it was so son could have the sets to complete his collection... my son doesn’t even like legos anymore and told his mom he wouldn’t steal from me.
My wife asked how much it would cost to replace them and unfortunately it’s more than their savings. Actually, it would take their house down payment plus more. I told them if they didn’t pay in two weeks I was suing and pressing charges. The price of the sets makes it a felony.
My ex and her husband are saving for a house which would give my son more space when he’s there, but those sets were going help pay for his education someday or a home of his own. I filed the police report and have talked to a lawyer and we’re moving forward with the suit.
Everyone is calling me a joke because they are just toys, but I don’t get it. They are worth real money.. I’m not rich guys. I needed those to help with my sons future... but again taking this money does deny my son things at his moms house.
AITA here??
EDIT (I’ve been asked to add these facts):
The sets have been opened which more than half their worth, and one was glued together. The damage was done already.
The stolen items are:
Kings Castle
Milk truck Lego land train Carousel And the glued one was a Star Wars snow speeder.
Some of these are one piece of a larger set. So if you lose one of five, you lose the value of one produce plus the value of the set as a whole.
Second/final edit for this post:
I enjoy buying these sets and do not intend to sell all of them, but I want my son to go to college and not worry about debt, so I want to sell the ones that I can to help. I never had the smarts for higher education but my son is not me, and I love him and want him to do better. Around 4:00 PM I called the local state police and met at their facility. I gave them all I had and gave my statement.
My son is with me starting tonight so when I picked him up I sent him into GameStop and called his mom. I told her I had filed charges and I asked the cop to call me when everything was done so I could give him the opportunity to turn himself in. I wanted to be better than he treated me.
I’ll save her reaction for a real update btw—- can someone please tell me how to update because I don’t really understand the steps in the main notes. I told my son when we got home what I did and why. My son said that I did the right thing because he didn’t want his step dad to think it was ok to do it again, and if he didn’t go to jail he’d rather be her away from him so it isn’t weird.