Stranger than fiction

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports an interesting story. If presented as fiction, it might be thought too preposterous to seem credible.

The basic story: 19 year Aaron was spotted stealing the tip jar from the counter of a Starbucks coffee shop by 54 year old Roger, who gave chase on foot and caught up with Aaron in the parking lot getting into his car. They struggled, Roger was knocked to the pavement as Aaron backed his car out, running over Roger. Aaron got away with the tip jar, which contained less than $5 dollars. Roger died 2 days later from head injuries.

The younger man eventually pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to one year in jail.

Now the story gets really interesting, because of the behavior of the older man's family.

On the day he was released from prison, Aaron had an emotional meeting with Roger's brother, Chris. It had been arranged by Aaron's father, who had developed a unique relationship with Chris over the months as they had talked about forgiveness and reconciliation and shared grief. Aaron's father wanted him to be part of this process for his own healing.

Then a few months later, Aaron was invited for a second meeting, this time with Roger's whole family and many friends -- outside Starbucks, where a tree had been planted with a plaque memorializing Roger near the spot he was killed. It was a tearful meeting as they all hugged and forgave Aaron, saying they knew he meant Roger no harm. And together they scattered Roger's ashes around the roots of the tree -- there outside the Starbucks coffee shop.

So far, a bit unusual, but not weird.

But now the family has turned around and filed a lawsuit against Starbucks for having a tip jar sitting out on the counter, which "invited" the crime of theft, without also providing security "to prevent such crimes" and to protect its customers. They allege that Starbucks did not "exercise reasonable care," and that as a "direct and proximate" result, Roger (a regular customer) was killed after being hit by the car.

What I find interesting from a people-watching perspective is the combination of the family's spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation with Aaron -- and its vindictiveness or greedy opportunism in suing Starbucks. It seems weird to exonerate the real perpetrator (Aaron who stole the tip jar and caused Roger's death), while suing the real victim (Starbucks got robbed).

Incidentally, they are asking for a minimum of $25,000 plus costs and expenses.

Ralph