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After No One Will Give Her Money, Panhandler Throws Tantrum Costing Over $9K in Damages

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A panhandler in Portland, Oregon, was ordered to pay approximately $10,500 in damages this week after a series of aggressive outbursts and acts of vandalism.

Marlena Rochelle Neely, 30, pleaded guilty to one charge of first-degree criminal mischief for shattering the windows of five local businesses on July 10 simply because “no one was giving her money,” The Oregonian reported.

According to local authorities, Neely had been wandering the streets asking passers by for $5 when she decided to take out her frustrations on one local storefront for every refusal she received.

That’s right. It was a roughly $9,000 tantrum that left a Denny’s restaurant, the Citizen Baker cafe at the Hotel Eastlund, Red Robin, the Inn at the Convention Center and Action Sport with a giant mess of shattered glass on their hands.

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That tantrum would also see Neely sentenced to three years probation “and mental health, drug and alcohol treatment if deemed necessary,” the newspaper reported.

It likely should be considering Neely, reportedly diagnosed with bipolar disorder, also admitted to consistent drug use — smoking marijuana every day and using methamphetamine once a week, authorities said.

Also worth noting is the fact that this was not the panhandler’s first violent outburst.

Do you think entitlement culture is a growing problem in America?

In fact, her plea deal would see two other criminal cases dismissed — one of which took place in May and involved the destruction of motel furniture and technology, while the other involved the throwing of a rock through the window of a vehicle carrying a man and his teen daughter in August.

She was ordered to pay about $1,400 in damages for those two incidents, though.

Unsurprisingly, considering, behavior like this, Neely does not have custody over any of her three children. Her eldest son resides with his grandmother in California and her two younger sons, both under the age of ten, remain in foster care.

Claiming she is motivated to get her life back together, Neely told her the judge Wednesday prior to her release, “I want to be able to leave tonight, have a cigarette, drink a cup of coffee and live my life.” (While she was sentenced to jail time, she was set to be released on time served following the hearing.)

And none of this is to make light of Neely’s situation.

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This woman needs some serious help — help an upright and religious American citizenry is called on to administer when and where it can.

But actions like Neely’s — statements like the one above — paint a sad picture of an America that is undoubtedly watching as its societal foundations crumble under the overwhelming weight of entitlement culture.

Left homeless with three children taken from her custody, Neely was still spending money on drugs and reportedly refusing to take her actual medication.

Neely did not simply want charity, she demanded it.

She felt it was owed to her to such a degree that, if it was not forked over, someone else was going to suffer for it.

Unfortunately, Neely isn’t the only one feeling or thinking this way either.

Far too many Americans are. And I am not just talking about panhandlers or those on welfare.

This problem goes all the way up.

All the way up to my spoiled brat collegiate peers who believe their $100,000 sociology degrees should be free.

All the way up to the loaded leftists who love their private health care, but believe you should be forced to give yours up and pay into a public option so others can be covered.

All the way up to the 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidates who have planted a seed in the minds of the American people that if they are struggling or just scraping by, someone wealthier stole from them somewhere along the line — and the government’s job is to make that wealthy person fork the money back over.

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Andrew J. Sciascia was the supervising editor of features at The Western Journal. Having joined up as a regular contributor of opinion in 2018, he went on to cover the Barrett confirmation and 2020 presidential election for the outlet, regularly co-hosting its video podcast, "WJ Live," as well.
Andrew J. Sciascia was the supervising editor of features at The Western Journal and regularly co-hosted the outlet's video podcast, "WJ Live."

Sciascia first joined up with The Western Journal as a regular contributor of opinion in 2018, before graduating with a degree in criminal justice and political science from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper and worked briefly as a political operative with the Massachusetts Republican Party.

He covered the Barrett confirmation and 2020 presidential election for The Western Journal. His work has also appeared in The Daily Caller.




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