Grandparents recognize grandson in surveillance footage, turn him in
Note: This story originally stated that the boy’s mother turned him in. IMPD now says it was actually his grandparents.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A boy’s grandparents has turned him to police in after recognizing he was a suspect in a shoplifting case.
18-year-old Jonathan Ratcliff’s grandparents turned him in after seeing surveillance video that was released by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. He now faces a preliminary charge of theft.
The video, described as “brazen” by IMPD, shows a group of suspects ransacking a Phillips 66 gas station. Investigators said that several stations on the west side were victims.
In the video, suspects can be seen stealing items from the shelves and placing them in bags. IMPD called it a “mob-type mentality” and that they came in with the “sole intent of causing mayhem.”
Plain and simple, Charles Floyd said he wanted his grandson to learn a hard lesson: you commit the crime, you do the time.
Now he’s just hoping other grandparents, moms, dads, and guardians will have the strength to do the same. It’s called tough love and after watching surveillance video of a gas station robbery on the news, it’s the only parenting style Floyd felt he could do.
“It’s just hurtful,” he said as he watched it again. “Because we had talked to him about you know getting his life right.”
He’s talking about his grandson Ratcliff, one of several suspects caught on camera stealing candy and snacks from this gas station. Floyd said Ratcliff and his friends had done it a few times last summer.
“He could have made it right the first time and let it alone but that’s not what he chose to do, so this is what I chose to do, this is what we chose to do,” Floyd said referencing a decision he made with his wife.
The couple drove their grandson to IMPD’s Southwest District headquarters and turned him in. Now Ratcliff’s face is on the news again but this time it’s in the form of a mug shot.
“After the warnings we gave him and everything, can’t say I would even appear in court,” said Floyd. “There’s no appeal I could make to the court for him.”
But he is trying to appeal to other parents hoping they’d make the same decision.
“If it was my daughter yeah I probably would turn her in,” said mother Sirrea Hayes as she fueled up her car at the gas station where the robbery took place. “I’d hate to do it, it’d break my heart but you know, you got to teach them.”
Father Rick Spalding hesitantly agreed. “I think I probably could but I would have to go with (my son).”
It was the opposite for Floyd. He knew it’s what he had to do. “It’s just a decision that you have to make for them with their longevity in mind,” said Floyd.
We asked IMPD if they were surprised by Floyd’s decision. An officer told us people turning in their family members for crimes is more common that we might expect. Police said it’s even happened for high profile cases involving murder suspects.
IMPD said several more suspects are expected to be arrested.
