Person asks if they were wrong to block intruders from escaping until police arrived.

There are actually two questions in this post. This is the first (as in the headline): 'AITA for keep in the house children and teenagers until the police arrive and charge them?' The second is about making them pay her back for the cost of the damage.

I have a house with a pool that I rent on weekends or throw parties. The kitchen and swimming pool are on outside. Friday, I went to the market to buy drinks, meats and various things, because Sunday there would be a party in this house. So the fridge had a lot of things.

On Saturday, my brother called me asking if I had rented the house this Saturday for someone and when I said no, he informed me that he passed by and heard very loud music in it in addition to several voices.

I asked him to meet me there and I went with my husband. There were about 20 people enjoying the pool, drinking and having a barbecue with my stuff. Apparently they used a ladder to jump over the wall.

The wall had a 'broken' fence and will be replaced tomorrow. It's the only wall that faces the street. When they saw us, they started to get even more desperate that my brother had the ladder.

They tried to escape but we kind of protected the wall. The police had already been called, so we didn't want anyone to escape. Nothing happened to anyone to make it clear, they just tried to get past us to go to the lowest wall, but couldn't.

The police arrived. There were 7 children (6-13 yo), 12 adolescents (14-17 yo) and 1 adult (39 yo). Those responsible for the minors were called and this caused a mess, as they started to accuse us gor holding minors in my house when I am not a police authority.

The police gave me the choice to press charges or not, but I said I just wanted the value of the items consumed, pay for a cleaning lady and cleaning the pool. Yes, it would cost a high value, because the outside area was a mess and almost everything used in the fridge.

The adults began to say that just scolding from the police would be enough and that I know how stupid young people can be and begged me not to charge that amount, as most of them were extremely poor.

I stood by my decision, saying that they would have until today (Monday) to pay for my damage, otherwise I would press charges against everyone. Yes, I heard a lot of curses, but today I received the full amount.

My husband said that I was very harsh, because I paid out of my pocket anyway (there was the party anyway) and that for us, there would be no difference that money, but for extremely poor families? Yes.

I really don't think it's fair to have this expense, despite being able to pay without weighing on my pocket. Young people are stupid, but still they broke into a house, used everything in it and left a mess. AITA?

Comments:

wordacadabra says:

NTA. Who the hell is this random 39 yr old partying with kids?!?!! Did anyone look into that?

TACTAca OP responded:

One of the parents. They were playing soccer nearby and had this brilliant idea (that's what he told me).

Master-Manipulation says:

NTA. They broke in, ate your food, and made a mess of the place. Plus if anything happened to a kid there (ie break an arm or drown), you’d be held responsible which isn’t fair. Those parents are lucky you didn’t press charges and just demanded reimbursement.

PrimalSeptimus says:

OP is nicer than me, as I absolutely would have pressed charges at least against the adult and probably the older teens. The kids need to learn that theft shouldn't pay.

EmeraldBlueZen says:

As an attorney, unfortunately this is true, that you could have possibly been liable for any accidents or injuries on your property, which is insane but true. I'd have considered at least pressing charges on the 39 year old.

As an adult, he could be held liable for contributing to delinquency of minors, conspiracy, tresspassing, B&E, theft, damage to property etc etc.

sowhat4 says:

A pool is what is described as an 'attractive nuisance' so the law demands you erect barriers that will be hard to surmount because idiots and children were find the temptation irresistible. And, yes, if the kids had hurt themselves, the owner would be sued.

BingBongHelloSiri says:

It sounds like an investment property that is not occupied full time. OP stated that they sometimes rent it out on weekends. The neighbors might not have any idea who owns the house. Doesn’t excuse their behavior. They rolled the dice and lost.