AITA for refusing to ”see other options” for a girl and pressing charges for what she did to my son’s car?

A father refused to “see other options” after his son’s ex-girlfriend and her brother vandalized the son’s car in a destructive revenge act caught on CCTV. The girl’s parents offered to pay for damages and therapy for their daughter, but the father pressed charges, believing she should face the legal consequences for her actions. The family stands firm despite pressure from the girl’s parents to settle out of court. Read the full story below.

‘ AITA for refusing to ”see other options” for a girl and pressing charges for what she did to my son’s car?’

My (39M) son (17M) Bryce dated our neighbor Lana (17F) for a year, they broke up mid Jan for reasons I don’t know. I won’t sugarcoat this, I never liked Lana, she always seem a little unhinged, controlling and aggressive,

she’s always demanding Bryce’s attention and there were quite a few times when she showed up on our house our of nowhere (whether it was 7am or 11pm) because Bryce wasn’t answering his phone, screaming and calling him a cheater when it wasn’t like that.

The thought of our son getting abused by his gf made us worried so much. My wife and I tried to talk him out of that relationship, we said how that it wasn’t normal nor healthy, we didn’t want to force the break up because we feared Lana would lash out to him so we tried to do it in an sneaky way, we don’t know if it worked but they ended up breaking up.

He said that after he broke up with her Lana didn’t contacted him which was weird because he expected her to go nuts but I told him that if fate didn’t gave him s**t he better not tease it.

Now the problem is that we bought my son a car for Christmas, nothing fancy but enough to get him to school, his job and eventually college, he parks it in our driveway outside our home.

Ever since the month began we had been founding scratches all over the car, we know Lana was doing it but since it was minimal my son decided to not do anything even if we could prove that it was her (we’ve CCTV). Still, something smell bad for me so I decided to switch one of the cameras facing his car directly just in case.

Well, two weeks ago we got up and we found my son’s car covered in a lot of s**t: paint, glue, feathers, confetti, the door handles were wrecked, flat tires, paint all over the windows, you get the picture, Bryce and my wife were so distraught.

We called the police and I handled them the CCTV that showed Lana and her brother (23M) destroying my son’s car. We pressed charges and needles to say, Lana’s brother went straight to jail, but since she’s still a minor her parents want to make a deal but I refused.

I don’t think she should get a way out, before the police was here she was laughing her ass off and she tried to play it cool, if she thought this was funny then she’s old enough to face the consequences. My wife and I want to stand our ground, they said they’ll buy my son a better car and put Lana on therapy but is not enough. AITA?

Check out how the community responded:

gourmetsoups −  NTA. This is the wake up call she needs

Andre-Louis_Moreau −  NTA. If you cave, you’re literally teaching Lana that no matter what criminal or sociopathic acts she does in the future, her parents will buy her way out of trouble. She needs to learn early there are consequences to criminal actions.

Apprehensive-Net2687 −  NTA and tell a lawyer they tried to bribe you. Pretty sure that’s illegal. edit: so apparently its not bribery. Sorry, Honest mistake. Also I’m 19 so obviously I’m not a legal expert. I was just saying what I thought on the situation

Jaded-Artichoke-8398 −  Lana needs therapy. And press charges. Possibly since she is minor with mental health issues she may get steered in the right direction. But if you drop this, she gets a free pass and could go worse next time. Physical violence against an object (car) could escalate to physical violence against your son. I wouldn’t want to take that chance.

C0pper-an0de −  NTA! You need to stay the course. This girl needs to know her actions have serious consequences. And more than that, I’m happy your son has such supportive parents

TrustedTriangle −  NTA. She’s old enough to learn lessons on actions and consequences. In fact, now is a good age before things get a lot more serious and she is actually liable for jail time.

WhichChest4981 −  NTA. Depending on where you live and that the girl is only 17 I’m guessing her parents will end up buying your son a car anyway. Be sure to press civil charges for the destruction of his vehicle. She needs to learn there are consequences for her actions. Play stupid games win stupid prizes as they say.

lemoncelbel −  NTA. This is a golden opportunity for her to learn that actions have consequences. Why are the parents ok with their son being punished more than their daughter who instigated the whole thing. That’s the AH move!

Notcherie −  NTA. Therapy isn’t going to help her if she hasn’t accepted that she’s in the wrong and her behaviour needs to change. It will be entirely meaningless for her, especially as her family is just reinforcing the behaviour by helping trash the car, and bailing her out. Consequences for said behaviour are the only way she will see it as needing to change, and eventually accept help. And it’s well past time she received some.

Capital-Philosopher6 −  In this day and age, with all of the ring and security cameras that people have, how in hell did she and her brother think they’d get away with destroying your son’s car? That just seems idiotic to me. So, her parents are trying to buy her way out of trouble? You’re under no obligation to accept their offer.

In the long run, it’s probably better for their daughter if you don’t. She needs to face the consequences of her actions. Otherwise, she’ll wind up in jail just like her brother. NTA. I wonder if you could file a civil suit to recoup the cost of the car she destroyed? She should be ordered to pay what the car is worth if it’s considered totaled or the cost of the repairs.

Actions have consequences, and this father believes that the girl’s behavior crossed a serious line. Do you think pressing charges was the right move, or should the family have accepted the settlement offer? Share your thoughts below!