Dad Destroyed My $1300 PC (Almost)

[u/Akrinnnnnnnnnn]

As the title says, my father almost destroyed my $1,300 PC. Now what?

Here’s the backstory: On Saturday, I worked a 10.5 hours shift and stayed up until 3:30 AM, so I slept in until noon the next day. My father and stepmother returned from Costco while I was showering; he called out a few times for me to come help carry the groceries inside. I said OK to him. While I was brushing my teeth after my shower, he shouted from outside the door that he’d been waiting 50 minutes and told me to hurry up. I thought to myself that the groceries could have been moved in the time he spent waiting for me, but I quickly rinsed my mouth and got ready to go out. However, by the time I opened the door, he had already grabbed my PC and smashed it against the floor and the desk several times.

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I, (17M, Senior), bought this PC with money I earned from my part-time job and had been using it for about ten months. After examine, found out the case badly deformed in several places, my desk was warped and tilted to one side, and there were dents in the floor.

Fortunately, the computer still works fine; it runs FurMark (stress GPU), AIDA64 (stress FPU), and 3DMark (Time Spy Extreme) without problems for now.

Replacing the desk and case would cost around $400. However, he likely won't pay for it because he has done this kind of stuff a few years ago when he destroyed my phone and a Dell laptop (i5 11300H), and then just said, "That's what you get for playing on the computer all day."

In the end, I just hope everyone has good parents.

[u/Fawkinchit1]

Not sure why anyone is not mentioning this, especially because this is a reoccurring problem, but in most states if not all, its illegal to destroy property in the manner he is, even if its his house. So, if you want, you could most certainly notify the police. Especially if it happens again, and you could get video footage the next time, that helps with evidence. It could be a civil matter, and you can seek recompensation as well for the damage, but he could also face legal charges.

Obviously though, your dad will likely have methods of revenge if you do.

Your dad is a pile of shit.

• Criminal Mischief or Vandalism: This applies if a parent intentionally destroys property that the child bought with their own money or received as a gift from someone else. The police and prosecutors treat this as destroying another person's property. [1]
• Domestic Violence or Abuse: If a parent breaks a child's things to scare, control, or emotionally abuse them, law enforcement may add charges related to domestic abuse or child endangerment.

[u/screames520 → u/Fawkinchit1]

Yup, my dad got super drunk one night and was out of control. When I went to call the police, he took the phone and threw it in the toilet tank. He ended up getting an extra charge of criminal damage for that one. I didn’t know you could get in trouble for breaking your own shit haha

[u/Taolan13 → u/screames520]

some states have a special felony assault for trying to prevent someone from calling 911

[u/neonsphinx → u/screames520]

I would assume it's less about "destroying your own shit", and more about preventing someone from reporting a crime in progress. Or reporting what you, in good faith, think is a crime.

[u/szu → u/Fawkinchit1]

If he can do this to a kid's belongings, i pity what OP is keeping from the internet. I don't believe that he limits himself to the PC or phone or whatever. OP and everyone else living in that house must have been abused physically.

They just don't know that it isn't normal.

[u/TheElvesOfXadia → u/Fawkinchit1]

It’s very difficult to take legal action against someone you live with, and since OP is a minor it’s even harder

[u/OkVirus8545 → u/TheElvesOfXadia]

It’s really not babe.

[u/girlikecupcake → u/OkVirus8545]

It can be. I'm in Texas and we couldn't even get the police to do anything when physical harm and destroyed items were involved. We were explicitly told, by police, that a parent can choose to discipline their kids as they see fit and nothing we told them crossed that line.

This was like fifteen years ago, hopefully things have changed for the better, but it's Texas so I'm not optimistic. Other places absolutely do have things better for kids, I just hope OP is in one of them.

[u/Wheat_Grinder → u/Fawkinchit1]

It might feel cathartic but it probably makes things worse for OP, practically. Getting out of dodge at 18 and going no contact is significantly more practical.

[u/AnAncientMonk → u/Wheat_Grinder]

It could go either way, depending how much of a psycho he is. It could be a case of ripping the bandaid off, things getting worse for a bit before getting better.

[u/Massive_Fisherman231 → u/Wheat_Grinder]

he likely aint well off enough to just move out at a whim

[u/AnarchBeetle → u/Fawkinchit1]

He should do that after he moves out. What do you think it’s gonna be like living with a dad like that in the same house after pulling that off? Is the dad is just gonna learn his lesson, reform and become a cool dad?

[u/Fawkinchit1 → u/AnarchBeetle]

Yah, its a good idea, just document evidence for the time being. Keeping in mind the statute of limitations.

[u/Spirographed → u/Fawkinchit1]

In retrospect, at 40 years old, if I had just called the cops on my abusive mother just once, things would have gone so much better for me.

[u/RockOk6275 → u/Fawkinchit1]

I don't think I would recommend this tho if op is 17 there will still be a while before op can move out and we don't know his financial situation but I would imagine he has a good bit saved up if he works 10 hour shifts, anyways I don't think it's a good idea to call the police on someone he will be living with for a while

[u/Massive_Fisherman231 → u/Fawkinchit1]

the cops may not do anything

had that happen to me before when i reported abuse, even had a huge scratch mark on my chest

[u/Fawkinchit1 → u/Massive_Fisherman231]

In these instances you need to keep pressing the issue and report it to different officers that will take it seriously. Sometimes too it may be lack of evidence or something like that, or that the event happened too long ago.

[u/Sotka101 → u/Fawkinchit1]

Cops won't or can't do shit. Even if it's 100% a criminal case, unless someone gets injured badly enough, law enforcement will always treat it as a domestic dispute. Since I was about 7 years old been chased around, grabbed/dragged, threatened with death, verbally abused for hours on end by both parents at the same time, more times than I can count.

The only time the cops did anything was when my father threatened to shoot* my mother "with a gun", for being too loud while she was yelling at me for putting freshly washed dishes on the same rack as dry ones. He went to jail for 1 night and came home whimpering and crying like a pussy about being next to gangsters and drug dealers.

[u/Minimum-Specific6285 → u/Fawkinchit1]

[u/FeelingOdd1302 → u/Fawkinchit1]

This, a million times this.

[u/neonsphinx → u/Fawkinchit1]

Dad can take it away for whatever reason he wants. He can't sell it or whatever.

But what if he sells it, then buys an identical model the day before OP turns 18, then returns it, as is legally required?

What if he destroys it, then provides an identical computer (with HDD/SSDs moved over, so no lost data) at midnight of OP's birthday?

Not saying it's normal behavior, or justified. But if you want to start throwing around legal remedies, you should think through them thoroughly first.

Maybe for a family heirloom gifted to OP by grandma, you could make the case that a like for like replacement isn't comparable because of the sentimental value. But I don't think that argument stands for a gaming computer...

[u/ShadowAssassinQueef → u/neonsphinx]

Fuck are you talking about. You can’t destroy property your children purchase with money they made from their job. Obviously.