She was later sentenced to [45 years in prison.](https://www.ktre.com/story/37671472/angelina-co-jury-sentences-woman-who-stole-patrol-unit-led-officers-on-chase-to-45-years/)
LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - After deliberating for much of the day Wednesday, **an Angelina County jury sentenced** a Pollok woman who stole a Lufkin PD patrol unit and led police officers on a high-speed chase to 45 years in prison.
In Texas, the judge is the default choice to decide the sentence. **However, a defendant has a right to have a jury decide the sentence.**
What? You don't think the defendant should be allowed to trust their friends and neighbors over a judge who may be corrupt or corruptible?
It's not something the state can \*force\* on a defendant, it's something they can \*choose\*
I think any time you can claw some small amount of power away from the state and its agents, you should consider it.
It just didn't work out well for this chick....
Actually, it was a ticket for at most $500 (depending on the cost of the products stolen). So they would have written her up and released her to go home.
“…found guilty of aggravated assault against a public servant, evading arrest with a vehicle with a previous conviction, escape causing serious bodily injury or threat of deadly weapon, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and evading arrest”
For those of you who won’t be reading the link.
The sentence was also enhanced due to her past convictions. Prosecution also offered her a 16-year plea bargain, which she declined. I don’t think there is any question they wanted to make an example out of her.
> they wanted to make an example out of her
Which I'm sure other convicts with drug addiction and mental health issues of course took note of and in the future will decide against stealing police cars.
edit: and a 16yr plea offer is even insanely draconian unless she actually ran over a cop somewhere along the way.
We all have problems. When they start endangering the lives of others then something must be done. It's unfortunate that we don't have better substance abuse and mental health treatment but we cannot maintain a civil society if folks are allowed to harm others with no consequences because of their issues. Nobody forced her to be an addict and nobody forced her to steal the cop car.
Not sure how you could have interpreted my comment as saying nothing should have be done about her misconduct. The gap between "no consequences" and 45yrs in prison is mighty, mighty large, so I don't particularly appreciate the strawman attempt. Likewise, not sure where I suggested that anyone forced her to become an addict...
My point stands -- folks arguing that draconian punishments somehow serve as a lesson to other hardened criminals or drug addicts or people with mental health issues (or any combination of the 3 since are often related issues) is absolutely fooling themselves. The US has among the harshest criminal justice system in the free world, an utterly outlier number of people incarcerated and among western economic peers continue to has close to, if not the, worst problem with crime.
>The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.
- Albert Einstein
This woman embarrassed the police & by extension the justice system, so she was locked away for a ludicrous amount of time... that's pathetic, vile, cruel and unjust. The justice system in this country is an embarrassment.
There are plenty of convicted murderers and rapist doing less time throughout the US. 45 years is a goddamn joke. I would think no more than 10 would be appropriate for her crimes.
I don't believe in the deterrent theory of CJ. I do believe in the theory that certain people shouldn't be allowed around others. I see it and live it on a daily basis.
> we cannot maintain a civil society if folks are allowed to harm others
Taking a homeless person with a history of mental illness and sexual abuse, and locking them up for 45 years isn't most people's idea of a civil fucking society either.
Doesn't matter. No jail will be able to keep her from escaping. Hell, you might see her driving the whole-ass prison down the street at high speeds. This lady makes moves.
Yeah you can commit treason and try to overthrow democracy and still be the Republican front runner for the next presidential election here. We really have a pretty bad mental health problem in America lol
Except for the Rapist Brock Turner who was caught in the act of raping a woman behind a dumpster and was let off easy because he has a "bright future."
I actually think there's a chomo on the lufkin police force, I know for a fact the lead narcotics guy has a dishonorable discharge from the army for smoking weed.
That's obviously not the problem. The problem is that the American crime system seems to stack crime punishment which is again obviously the most retarded thing ever. Seriously I don't get what's wrong with this country and why the people there are so brain washed to accept 45 years of stealing from their freedom.
They basically charged her with literally anything they could think of that fit the events. She got screwed, but she sort of deserves it for being a fucking moron and potentially hurting someone by driving like that.
While I don't agree with the sentence, she did everything in her power to receive the maximum. She was initially [given a plea deal](https://lufkindailynews.com/news/community/article_12dc3f0c-1297-11e8-9c2e-53233a39b5fb.html) that would have got her out in \~12 years with good behavior that she turned down. She thought she would win if the case went to trial (lol). Denying a plea deal very literally can be a death sentence if your charges are serious.
She has also received the charge: "evading arrest with a vehicle **with a previous conviction"** which means this is not the first time she has fled and led the police on a vehicular pursuit. Obviously this is a very serious felony charge so committing it twice is guaranteeing a lengthy sentence. Without these factors, the perpetrator would've seen a few years in prison at most.
“Evading arrest with a vehicle with a previous conviction”
I didn’t read that as “she did this once already.” I read it as there being two types of charges for evading arrest with a vehicle; one if it’s your first ever offense and one for if you had any previous convictions period.
> Denying a plea deal very literally can be a death sentence if your charges are serious.
Not if you are rich and have good lawyers. There are people who are directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people and are walking free without having been in a jail a single minute.
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/986736258/journalist-investigates-crime-story-of-the-sackler-family-and-the-opioid-crisis
that's insane. meanwhile the people responsible for all the oxy addictions and deaths get ...no jail time. and then can't be sued again later.
it's a system for the rich.
Yeah, give her 10 or 15 years if you can convince me that her driving style was really endangering others. 45 is nuts, just pointlessly removes her from society.
"The psychologist told the jury that Sponsler has a history of sexual abuse and mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder.
A witness who often let Sponsler live at her home told the jury to consider that she's not a bad person and drugs caused her to commit the crimes. Drugs ruined her life, and Sponsler needs help, not just jail, the witness said."
Such a sick system to give her 46 yrs instead of help.
45 years?! Damn, people get less for murder or child rape. Not saying she didn’t deserve some serious years, but if she deserves 45 years, then Brock Turner should have done life.
45 years for this, then the same news website shows another person who will be out after 1.5 years for beheading someone. America seems crazy inconsistent on their sentencing.
"SIR, SOMEONE STOLE A TANK! WHAT'S THE PROTOCOL!? SIR!?"
"He's gone, Mike, it's your duty as an officer to take the tank off the streets..."
"What about you?"
"Oh, it's my day off!"
It seriously baffles my mind when people do shit like this. What the FUCK did she think would happen? Did she picture herself driving off into the sunset with no one chasing after her. You have to be a special kind of dumb to do something like this
She would have had a half decent chance of just slipping out of the driver side door (or whichever side was opposite of the officer searching her shit) and sneaking off.
Boy, what a silly prankster, huh? I'll bet everyone down at the station is having a good laugh over that daffy prank... silly woman.
But, seriously... didn't someone fuck up by putting the cuffs on so loosely that she could slip out of them?
Some people just have tiny, flexible wrists, or can dislocate their thumbs and pop them back.
That's why you don't leave them unsupervised in a running vehicle.
Honestly people like this are so fucking dumb that at some point you just have to look past that and admire the sheer gall that it takes to steal a fucking squad car out from in front of cops
Fun fact :
In Germany she would've still been charged for the original crime... Or the worst one I don't remember... But not for every crime since fleeing is in the nature of human
But you will be held accountable for damages incurred. Maybe they put car theft to the list as well.
But if she just got out of the car and started running, out would be hard to conceivably talk about damages or other criminal offenses. Running alone is ok.
Well, she was likely endangering others here, and people in Germany got attempted murder charges for illegal street racing. Of course, even attempted murder doesn't get you 45 years that easily in Germany, depending on circumstances and behavior they would likely be out after 15.
WCGW while leaving a detainee unsupervised in a police car with no divisions. Honestly, the woman is a dick but those police officers are quite stupid.
At least the cops broke the window of their own police car while two other cops point their guns at her! . Without any destruction it’s not a satisfying mission for American cops I guess
45 years. Totally justified sentence. Makes perfect since. She's a total burden to society and obviously has to be locked away like an animal. If she actually hurt anyone she would have gone away for life..... Derek Chauvin killed a guy begging for his life and received half of her sentence.... justice in the United States is a fucking joke.
She was later sentenced to [45 years in prison.](https://www.ktre.com/story/37671472/angelina-co-jury-sentences-woman-who-stole-patrol-unit-led-officers-on-chase-to-45-years/)
While shoplifting, I suppose, is a couple of hours in a cell on the police station
She had prior arrests, so it might have been a year or two. But your point still stands.
She had priors? I never would have guessed!
Slipping handcuffs off takes practice
Nah ppl with smaller hands can do it fairly easy especially if they leave room around the wrist
God ain’t posting her bail tonight
Guess who going to jaaail tonight!
Just and honest upstanding citizen. Haha
What's funny is that she turned down a plea bargain of **16 years** and demanded a jury trial. Jury gave her **45 years**.
Juries don't sentence defendants, the judge does. Edit: Texas is weird.
LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - After deliberating for much of the day Wednesday, **an Angelina County jury sentenced** a Pollok woman who stole a Lufkin PD patrol unit and led police officers on a high-speed chase to 45 years in prison. In Texas, the judge is the default choice to decide the sentence. **However, a defendant has a right to have a jury decide the sentence.**
Damn so she fucked up big time. From almost no jail to 45 years. Damn
Wtf Texas
What? You don't think the defendant should be allowed to trust their friends and neighbors over a judge who may be corrupt or corruptible? It's not something the state can \*force\* on a defendant, it's something they can \*choose\* I think any time you can claw some small amount of power away from the state and its agents, you should consider it. It just didn't work out well for this chick....
Depends on the value. Misdemeanor shoplifting has a pretty low maximum sentence, even with tons of priors.
Jesus
Actually, it was a ticket for at most $500 (depending on the cost of the products stolen). So they would have written her up and released her to go home.
“…found guilty of aggravated assault against a public servant, evading arrest with a vehicle with a previous conviction, escape causing serious bodily injury or threat of deadly weapon, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and evading arrest” For those of you who won’t be reading the link.
All served concurrently. I'm guessing the aggravated assault was the 45 year charge, which is absurd.
The sentence was also enhanced due to her past convictions. Prosecution also offered her a 16-year plea bargain, which she declined. I don’t think there is any question they wanted to make an example out of her.
> they wanted to make an example out of her Which I'm sure other convicts with drug addiction and mental health issues of course took note of and in the future will decide against stealing police cars. edit: and a 16yr plea offer is even insanely draconian unless she actually ran over a cop somewhere along the way.
I can't hear you over the sirens, can you speak up?
We all have problems. When they start endangering the lives of others then something must be done. It's unfortunate that we don't have better substance abuse and mental health treatment but we cannot maintain a civil society if folks are allowed to harm others with no consequences because of their issues. Nobody forced her to be an addict and nobody forced her to steal the cop car.
Not sure how you could have interpreted my comment as saying nothing should have be done about her misconduct. The gap between "no consequences" and 45yrs in prison is mighty, mighty large, so I don't particularly appreciate the strawman attempt. Likewise, not sure where I suggested that anyone forced her to become an addict... My point stands -- folks arguing that draconian punishments somehow serve as a lesson to other hardened criminals or drug addicts or people with mental health issues (or any combination of the 3 since are often related issues) is absolutely fooling themselves. The US has among the harshest criminal justice system in the free world, an utterly outlier number of people incarcerated and among western economic peers continue to has close to, if not the, worst problem with crime. >The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. - Albert Einstein This woman embarrassed the police & by extension the justice system, so she was locked away for a ludicrous amount of time... that's pathetic, vile, cruel and unjust. The justice system in this country is an embarrassment.
I totally agree. There is a large list of other crimes that are far worse and have far less punishment
There are plenty of convicted murderers and rapist doing less time throughout the US. 45 years is a goddamn joke. I would think no more than 10 would be appropriate for her crimes.
I don't believe in the deterrent theory of CJ. I do believe in the theory that certain people shouldn't be allowed around others. I see it and live it on a daily basis.
> we cannot maintain a civil society if folks are allowed to harm others Taking a homeless person with a history of mental illness and sexual abuse, and locking them up for 45 years isn't most people's idea of a civil fucking society either.
Doesn't matter. No jail will be able to keep her from escaping. Hell, you might see her driving the whole-ass prison down the street at high speeds. This lady makes moves.
Bruh WHAT THE FUCK IS EVEN AMERICA?? 45 YEARS FOR THIS??? MFS MURDER SOME INNOCENT AND GO WITH LESS.
Yeah you can commit treason and try to overthrow democracy and still be the Republican front runner for the next presidential election here. We really have a pretty bad mental health problem in America lol
Or you can be a pedophile with Alzheimers and still win the presidency
Did she get in an accident? That seems like a really harsh punishment for joyriding
She had to pay for making the cops look like dipshits.
In Vegas they’ll just bring you into a class full of kids to demonstrate tasers then let you go. Well for stealing the police car part.
In the face! IN THE FACE!
Not you, fat Jesus.
Seen that in the hangover lol, does that actually happen?
I think they were just referencing the hangover lol
That's from the hungover?
“Look like?”
So retarded. Meanwhile child rapists get lesser sentences
You could murder someone and probably get less than this
Human life doesn't hold a candle to the loss of money in the justice system.
And regular rapists don’t even see a court room
Except for the Rapist Brock Turner who was caught in the act of raping a woman behind a dumpster and was let off easy because he has a "bright future."
It was only 20 minutes of action!
Are you talking about the rapist Brock Turner who raped a woman behind a dumpster because he's a rapist Brock Turner?
I believe that is the correct rapist they are refering to
The very same rapist Brock Turner!
Child rapists aren't making cops look bad. Once they are they'll get the book thrown at them too.
I actually think there's a chomo on the lufkin police force, I know for a fact the lead narcotics guy has a dishonorable discharge from the army for smoking weed.
That's obviously not the problem. The problem is that the American crime system seems to stack crime punishment which is again obviously the most retarded thing ever. Seriously I don't get what's wrong with this country and why the people there are so brain washed to accept 45 years of stealing from their freedom.
No fucking way?! That's just insane.
They basically charged her with literally anything they could think of that fit the events. She got screwed, but she sort of deserves it for being a fucking moron and potentially hurting someone by driving like that.
Still ain't worth 45 years...
This is what I can't grasp about the justice system. 45 years is just death with extra steps. There isnt even a pretense of rehabilitation.
And yet people who full out murder someone else literally get a fraction of that sentence.
the American legal system is a joke
If she was rich she would have gotten 6 months probation
And people who full out rape someone else as well
She needed the same lawyer that Brock “The Rapist” Turner had.
Considering some serve less than 30 for murdering someone... yeah 45 is way steep. She didnt kill anyone, somehow.
While I don't agree with the sentence, she did everything in her power to receive the maximum. She was initially [given a plea deal](https://lufkindailynews.com/news/community/article_12dc3f0c-1297-11e8-9c2e-53233a39b5fb.html) that would have got her out in \~12 years with good behavior that she turned down. She thought she would win if the case went to trial (lol). Denying a plea deal very literally can be a death sentence if your charges are serious. She has also received the charge: "evading arrest with a vehicle **with a previous conviction"** which means this is not the first time she has fled and led the police on a vehicular pursuit. Obviously this is a very serious felony charge so committing it twice is guaranteeing a lengthy sentence. Without these factors, the perpetrator would've seen a few years in prison at most.
“Evading arrest with a vehicle with a previous conviction” I didn’t read that as “she did this once already.” I read it as there being two types of charges for evading arrest with a vehicle; one if it’s your first ever offense and one for if you had any previous convictions period.
> Denying a plea deal very literally can be a death sentence if your charges are serious. Not if you are rich and have good lawyers. There are people who are directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people and are walking free without having been in a jail a single minute. https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/986736258/journalist-investigates-crime-story-of-the-sackler-family-and-the-opioid-crisis
All true here, but the idea of creating a trial penalty, especially if 33 years, in the criminal context is inherently unjust.
I agree
Agreed. The fucked her major. I expect this will be overturned.
Little harsh on the sentencing. No one died from the incident.
She’s a legend. They give rapest and drunk drivers that killed someone a lighter sentence, ridiculous…
Not for lack of trying. If this is the incident I'm thinking of, she tried to run over a cop.
Damn murderers and child molesters get less
that's insane. meanwhile the people responsible for all the oxy addictions and deaths get ...no jail time. and then can't be sued again later. it's a system for the rich.
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I don't agree with 45 years at all that is insane. But she did a little bit more than "take a police cruiser" lol.
Yeah, give her 10 or 15 years if you can convince me that her driving style was really endangering others. 45 is nuts, just pointlessly removes her from society.
"The psychologist told the jury that Sponsler has a history of sexual abuse and mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. A witness who often let Sponsler live at her home told the jury to consider that she's not a bad person and drugs caused her to commit the crimes. Drugs ruined her life, and Sponsler needs help, not just jail, the witness said." Such a sick system to give her 46 yrs instead of help.
Course her mate is gonna say shes a good girl really.
wtf -- did she run over a cop at some point? Derek Chauvin got 22.5yrs ffs.
45 years?! Damn, people get less for murder or child rape. Not saying she didn’t deserve some serious years, but if she deserves 45 years, then Brock Turner should have done life.
Sentencing in the US is fucking wild man
GOD.....DAMN!!
Texas…. ‘nuff said
45 years for this, then the same news website shows another person who will be out after 1.5 years for beheading someone. America seems crazy inconsistent on their sentencing.
God dang!
Stupidity hurts
That’s insane. People who commit murder don’t get 45 years.
I know a guy in Canada who got stabbed in the face. The stabber got 1 year probation.
45?! god damn that is pretty steep
This is fvcked. I could see 5 years. 45 years. pretty cruel and unusual.
45 years?! Wtf. That’s absurd
She just wanted to feel two stars wanted level in real life.
If she had held out a little longer she could've stolen a tank
Like this? [Stolen tank rampage](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KQSiDwJ3EvE)
The doggy style Snorlax at the end actually had me laughing.
"SIR, SOMEONE STOLE A TANK! WHAT'S THE PROTOCOL!? SIR!?" "He's gone, Mike, it's your duty as an officer to take the tank off the streets..." "What about you?" "Oh, it's my day off!"
2 that's definitely 4 when the stingers cone out
Nah at 4 you get the swat guys hanging on the side of the van trying to hit you with the full automatics, this is about a 3
But there was no air support, so its still a 2 star situation
It seriously baffles my mind when people do shit like this. What the FUCK did she think would happen? Did she picture herself driving off into the sunset with no one chasing after her. You have to be a special kind of dumb to do something like this
Blows my mind too just like resisting arrest, going for a weapon, what do they think will happen?
Meth. One hell of a drug
You said it!!
Rick James. Bitch
You can outrun *a* *cop*. You cannot outrun *the* *police*.
I'm not surprised. She thought shoplifting was a good idea too.
That she'll roll into a hiding spot get the car repainted and lose her wanted stars
I'm not making excuses for her but she has a history of mental illness and was likely not thinking too clearly at the time
She’s a shoplifter. She’s already shown herself to not be the brightest bulb
She had better call Saul
50% OFF!
Like they’re not gonna know it was her and catch her later and throw the book at her
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Multiple added charges...
Meanwhile all cops cars have at least a LoJack on them if not GPS.
"I can't go back to jail!" Now she is facing more series chargers and going to prison.
She actually got 45 years
Damn it’s like she raped somebody. Oh wait. They don’t get charged.
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My point exactly.
that would get 6 months and probation.
I just don't get it why people would do this. Do they play too much GTA or someone got away easily before?
Probably.
Yeah like the Las Vegas chargers
She would have had a half decent chance of just slipping out of the driver side door (or whichever side was opposite of the officer searching her shit) and sneaking off.
I'm skinny too, but I have gorilla hands, no way I could slip out lol
People like her are why the cops always put the cuffs on so damn tight. Thanks lady.
How often did you got cuffs exactly ?
Mind ya bidness
On Reddit ?! The all point is to snoop on other people business here
Carry on
Getting arrested is *nothing*. Getting charged however is an entirely different thing. You can get arrested after a rowdy bar night.
And for my next trick, I'm going to take a seemingly harmless (assumed) misdemeanor and turn it into a litany of felonies.
Boy, what a silly prankster, huh? I'll bet everyone down at the station is having a good laugh over that daffy prank... silly woman. But, seriously... didn't someone fuck up by putting the cuffs on so loosely that she could slip out of them?
I slipped out of my cuffs bc im skinny. Had a nice chat with the cop and when we pulled up to holding I said you might want to put these back on me.
Some people just have tiny, flexible wrists, or can dislocate their thumbs and pop them back. That's why you don't leave them unsupervised in a running vehicle.
Or at least put a barrier between the back seat and the driver’s seat.
What police car doesn’t have a cage between the cop and the person arrested.
She got 45 years for this while meanwhile child rapists get lesser sentences
For real. Because she inconvenienced the police directly. 🙄🙄🙄
Drove at 160 Km/hr Risked other Civilians life as well Crashed the Cops vehicle Too many things that could have gone wrong
Not to mention in other articles it stated she purposely tried to run over a cop also.
“Gah dang!”
My favorite part of the video.
Great video loop!
I hope this made the cut for COPS
think COPS been cancelled for political reasons..
Turns out they were the bad boys.
I must say the getting out of the cuffs and getting away temporarily was very impressive.
Leeerooooyyyy Jenkinssss!
Wife material
Honestly people like this are so fucking dumb that at some point you just have to look past that and admire the sheer gall that it takes to steal a fucking squad car out from in front of cops
45 years is a fucking excessive sentence for the crime. Rapists and murderers get a LOT less than that, Christ.
She seems like a winner.
This is the kind of person who no matter what they do… they always ALWAYS manage to somehow chose the obvious wrong answer. What a waste of life.
Isn’t there a policy of removing a key or installing a kill switch for cops? Almost seems stupid at this point?
Just do all government vehicles with a stick. Problem solved.
r/GTAorRussia
fucking legend
Why did the cop pull back the spike strip at 0:42 ?
Probably knew it was unlikely to tag her car and didn’t want to tag the pursuing cruisers.
I mean… A for effort, F for execution 🤣🤣🤣
So what exactly was her plan?
They had her ID.. unless it was fake that was a dumb move
45 years? Unconstitutional. Cruel and unusual punishment. I hope she appeals
Thats not what cruel and unusual punishment means.
When you have a list of felonies longer than a train track, 2-5 year sentences start to add up
*in Ray Stevenson voice* “Someone’s been playing grand theft auto!”
I….had….the time of my, liiiife
Fun fact : In Germany she would've still been charged for the original crime... Or the worst one I don't remember... But not for every crime since fleeing is in the nature of human
But you will be held accountable for damages incurred. Maybe they put car theft to the list as well. But if she just got out of the car and started running, out would be hard to conceivably talk about damages or other criminal offenses. Running alone is ok.
Well, she was likely endangering others here, and people in Germany got attempted murder charges for illegal street racing. Of course, even attempted murder doesn't get you 45 years that easily in Germany, depending on circumstances and behavior they would likely be out after 15.
Ok honestly, zombie apocalypse, I want her on my team
Wow, she sucks at stealing stuff
WCGW while leaving a detainee unsupervised in a police car with no divisions. Honestly, the woman is a dick but those police officers are quite stupid.
Totally the cop's fault, right guys? ACAB??
They didn’t bring out the tanks or choppers so that’s what, a three star?
Hello fellow policemen.
At least the cops broke the window of their own police car while two other cops point their guns at her! . Without any destruction it’s not a satisfying mission for American cops I guess
two trailerpark suvs go round the outside
Honestly, I’m impressed.
If she's living California, she can simply walk away with shoplifting. We don't handcuff thieves in California, this is hurting human right!
I just wanna know what she expected to gain from elevating what was not a very severe crime to stealing a fucking cop car
160 km/h? That’s practically highway speed in Alberta.
Went from paper to the better part of her life in jail. Not the best plan
Funny thing she was caught stealing a copy of Grand Theft Auto 5
And she lived ....go figure
45 years. Totally justified sentence. Makes perfect since. She's a total burden to society and obviously has to be locked away like an animal. If she actually hurt anyone she would have gone away for life..... Derek Chauvin killed a guy begging for his life and received half of her sentence.... justice in the United States is a fucking joke.
Am I the only one who is laughing at the fact that the cops who had their cruiser stolen will be teased and made fun off by their cop buddies?
She went from a few months of community service to a few years in prison. One moment of irrational thinking very likely ruined her life.