Thread: Droopy pants at mall leads to family jailed

Droopy pants at mall leads to family jailed

Sheriff's office sends 20 deputies, 2 dogs, 1 helicopter after clothing dispute erupts

Posted: December 30, 2007
6:19 p.m. Eastern

WELLINGTON, Fla. – What began as a dispute over a young man wearing droopy pants at a South Florida mall led to a wild scuffle, a massive police response and six members of an entire family being arrested.

The incident took place Thursday evening as Joseph Leger, 52, took his wife and four other family members shopping at the Mall at Wellington Green.

Apparently Leger's 20-year-old son, Frantz, had been banned from the property previously for wearing his pants too low, violating the mall's "Rules of Common Courtesy."

"I know I'm not a criminal just because my pants are too low below your expectations," Frantz Leger told the Palm Beach Post.

Lt. Jay Hart of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office indicated, "The mall doesn't put up with that tomfoolery bullcr--. His pants were down below his butt. No one goes to the mall and wants to see the crack of someone's butt."

The versions of what happened differ between the Legers and law enforcement, but some 20 deputies, 2 K-9 police dogs and a helicopter became involved in settling the fracas, as nearby roads were shut down for a time.

Charges against the family members include trespassing, resisting an officer with violence, assault with intent to commit a felony and assault on a law enforcement officer.

The Legers, who are of Haitian heritage, feel their race played a factor.

"We feel like we've been prejudiced," Joseph's wife, Marthe, said. "They treat us like a second-class citizen."

Sheriff's Capt. Greg Richter, Wellington's senior law enforcement officer, responded to that allegation, saying, "The family got involved and tried to intervene and tried to resist the officers and that's why they were subsequently arrested. It had nothing to do with the color of their skin. It had to do with their actions."

While all of the family is out of jail now and considering legal action, the incident has become a hot topic on messageboards.

Some of the comments include:

Keystone Kops, anyone? What a waste of taxpayers' money. And the police wonder why no one respects them anymore. It's flagrant abuse of authority like this that leads to apathy in the public.

The example the parents set for the kids is amazing. Then trying to use the race card as a defense? That is ridiculous. Everyone's bloodline is so filthy at this point that race really doesn't matter. If a cop used excessive force it wasn't because they were Haitian but because they were so ignorant and oblivious to the fact they did something wrong.

I live in Wellington and work at the mall. I didn't see this incident but my sister did and she told me that the family were acting like animals. The deputies were only doing what the mall requested them to do, remove this guy who was given a notice of trespassing a few months ago. The mall was in their right and so were the police. If the Leger family think it's OK for their adult son to show off his ***crack at a public mall and that it's a "bad" law that protects the rest of us from having to look at it then they should hire a lawyer and take it to court; not act like a bunch of animals like I was told they were doing. I hope that the judge teaches them all what they need to learn.

I was there and witnessed this whole thing and the family behavior at the mall that night was terrible. I hope that the judge throws the book at all of them and do the job that the parents obviously haven't done over the past 20 years.

In another controversial mall incident on Christmas Eve, a man and his wife were stunned by a police Taser gun when authorities in Madison, Wis., responded to a call about someone carrying a gun inside the mall.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=59455

I just cant say out loud what I want about the Droopy pants thing!!!
but i sure can tell my children...

but i can say the droopy paints thing is wrong on so many levels as well as the 12 sizes to big pants thing that some kids tried for a while.
I dont get it...

These parents are the real problem telling their kids that their behavior is acceptable. You want to show your stuff at home fine, but not in my and my kids face. We use to call that indecent exposure and for good reason.

This sounds like the father of the kids who was killed in San Francisco after taunting a tiger that ended up killing him. Obviously, the kids scaled the wall and taunted the tiger along with two friends. The father in the interview said, "it doesn't matter if they threw rocks or did whatever they wanted to do, the tiger should never be aloud to get out." OH YA. Well, you taught you're kids anything goes and you got the consequences. Unfortunately, so did the tiger. I bet his friends who survived will never do that again or let their kids do something like it. I can't believe the audacity of some parents now.

Oh oh....Call the ACLU........crack discrimination.

We feel like we've been prejudiced," Joseph's wife, Marthe, said. "They treat us like a second-class citizen."

While all of the family is out of jail now and considering legal action, the incident has become a hot topic on messageboards.

Many businesses have signs posted, "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service"--they shouldn't have to get more graphic than that.

Second class citizen? Citizenship is a two way street with responsibilities not only entitlements. What do they know about citizenship--it involves respecting and obeying the law and rights of others.

In addition to restitution for the cost of the police responce, court costs, and jail time, I hope this family is sentenced to classes in etiquette, dress for success and citizenship classes.

Fences make good neighbors.

"We feel like we've been prejudiced," Joseph's wife, Marthe, said. "They treat us like a second-class citizen."

Here let me fix this quote for you “We are 3rd world-class citizens that see nothing wrong with our kids wearing droopy pants or gang attireâ€

There are even middleclass highschool boys that seem to think droopy pants are cool. One of the football players at my daughters highschool asked her out. Of course my husband checks out any boy interested in her. First thing he noticed was the droopy pants. He told my daughter she wasn't going out with any boy who wore his pants down below his butt.

Later we ran into his parents at a game and his mother asked me why we didn't like her son. I told her we just didn't like the way he wore his pants. Needless to say we sure get dirty looks from his parents whenever we run into them.

As my husband said how could we trust anyone that has such disrespect for himself as well as others.

Later we ran into his parents at a game and his mother asked me why we didn't like her son

Awesome! Great example of how to parent MontereySherry!

Good for you Sherry. I hope you said it that way to the parents too. "As my husband said how could we trust anyone that has such disrespect for himself as well as others." This kid may just be going through a phase. If I owned a business and he came in to apply for a job, I wouldn't hire him.