Recently, my teacher sonfescated my PSP on the last day of the semester and it was stolen under his possesion.

Question

He said i had to wait until the next day to get it back. He put it in his desk drawer without locking it and told me not to mention it again. Then afterschool he said i could get it back if i participate in a debate that i had to prepare for in 10 minutes. After I basically won, he called me outside and asked the value, then said it was stolen. He didn't seem to care and told spoke to my dad saying it was my responsibility because I should not have had it out. Is there any way to track it, find out who has it, or make him reimburse it? It had personal pictures of my family, earphones, 110 songs, a UMD, my WEP code, a 1GB memory stick and schoolwork on it; almost a $300 value. Please help me, I am desperate for answers! Thank you very much.

Answer 1

1) report the theft to the police.

2) The school had it in care, they lost it. If they can't settle it with you or refuse to deal - take them to court. Does your state hav a "small claims court"? If so, you may be able to file against them for about $25. Sue both the teacher and the school board, and the principal if he refuses to deal.

3) They promised to give it back, so they had temporary custody. They can't claim now that they confiscated it for good, and they probably don't have the right to anyway. If they didn't take proper care of it, that's their problem and cost, not yours.

4) You can attempt to put a value on the xtras, especially songs if you bought them, the disc, the memory stick etc. Include this in the small claims. You can also claim the cost of filing the small claims...

5) All you can claim is real losses, so whatever it would cost you to replace it all today (or original cost, if you had a receipt.) If they argue "it costs less today" then the comeback is "oh, are you offering to replace it now"?

6) some places, then you need to file a second claim after the judgement "they owe you" to get the money if they won't pay.

Good luck.

Answer 2

CALL THE POLICE.

That's what you do when something you own is stolen. File a police report. I'm not sure how they will handle the issue but they are the authority you have to deal with.

After that I would see if you could bring the case to small claims. If not then it will probably end up costing you a lawyer and at that point I think you'd just want to cut your losses.

You not being allowed to bring the item to school is a different issue. They could have chosen to send you to the principals office with the item and have your parents come pick you up. Instead they chose to become responsible for the item.

Please email me and let me know how this turns out.

Answer 3

Ok I am no expert on law so i may be totaly wrong but, I would say that if you broke one of the school laws then it is up to the school to punish you, so they took the PSP off you, but I would also say that because they made the rules it is their responsibility that the property was returned to you at an appropriate time, they clearly have not done this so I would get your parents to go in to talk to the headmaster about the situation, if it has been stolen and cant be returned then i think you may be reimbursed but you have lost all the music and schoolwork on it.

Answer 4

Personally, I'd go after him and the school in small claims court (both as defendants). He took something from you under color of law, it was stolen while in his possession, and the school and/or he is on the hook for the cost of replacement.

I'd send him a demand letter beforehand, stating the facts and demanding reimbursement (cost of a new PSP & memory stick) and giving him say 30 days to replace it.

I'd also do a police report...it would be ugly if this guy's kid was playing with your PSP, for instance...

Answer 5

Report the theft to the police. The police will send someone to interview the teacher. Let your parent(s) know about it; have a parent contact the principal. You can do it yourself, but sometimes an administrator will, unfortunately, pay more attention to a parent than to a student. Of course, it helps if the parent isn't screaming when reporting it ....

In terms of finding it, you can ask other students if they have any ideas (i.e., what's the gossip on who might have taken it.)

Answer 6

He has it and is doing it to teach you a lesson. Tell him "point taken" and you want it back now. Make sure he knows you won't break the rules any more. If that doesn't work then call the police.

Answer 7

Call the principal.

Duh!