BUTT 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 DURANGO, Colo. (Reuters) - A Colorado judge ordered two teen-age girls to pay about $900 for the distress a neighbor said they caused by giving her home-made cookies adorned with paper hearts. The pair were ordered to pay $871.70 plus $39 in court costs after neighbor Wanita Renea Young, 49, filed a lawsuit complaining that the unsolicited cookies, left at her house after the girls knocked on her door, had triggered an anxiety attack that sent her to the hospital the next day. Taylor Ostergaard, then 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitte, 18, paid the judgment on Thursday after a small claims court ruling by La Plata County Court Judge Doug Walker, a court clerk said on Friday. The girls baked cookies as a surprise for several of their rural Colorado neighbors on July 31 and dropped off small batches on their porches, accompanied by red or pink paper hearts and the message: "Have a great night." The Denver Post newspaper reported on Friday that the girls had decided to stay home and bake the cookies rather than go to a dance where there might be cursing and drinking. It reported that six neighbors wrote letters entered as evidence in the case thanking the girls for the cookies. But Young said she was frightened because the two had knocked on her door at about 10:30 p.m. and run off after leaving the cookies. She went to a hospital emergency room the next day, fearing that she had suffered a heart attack, court records said. The judge awarded Young her medical costs, but did not award punitive damages. He said he did not think the girls had acted maliciously but that 10:30 was fairly late at night for them to be out. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../odd_cookies_dc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Salacious Crumb Report post Posted February 6, 2005 What a stupid twat. Where's KKK with that cancer pixie or whatever? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunter's Torn Quad 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 I read about this earlier, and it's beyond absurd. The woman needs to lighten up before she really does have a heart attack. Actually, maybe she doesn't. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChick 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 Maybe those bitches will think twice before they do such an appalling act again. Now be good little girls and go out to drink and toke up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 God damn kids. Go out and have sex with your history teacher like normal girls your age! Baking cookies, why in my day the girls were out whoring and drinking at 10:30 at night! Damn kids with their flour and kind gestures Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sideburnious 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 Ok how fat is that woman? how did she have an attack because someone rang her door. She probably saw the cookies and got overly excited. See this is the growing problem with america. Everyone is trying to sue everyone, even when nice things are done for them. Shit, i'd love my neighbours to leave cookies on my door. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nighthawk 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 I wouldn't eat cookies somebody left at my door. It was a beautful thing to do, however. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChick 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 I wouldn't eat cookies somebody left at my door. It was a beautful thing to do, however. I'd give it to my brother to test out first. If he didn't die on the spot, I'd have one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest cosbywasmurdered Report post Posted February 6, 2005 whatever happened to flaming bags of crap? that's way better than leaving cookies. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 The Denver Post newspaper reported on Friday that the girls had decided to stay home and bake the cookies rather than go to a dance where there might be cursing and drinking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elite 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 Forgetting the neighbor bitch for a second (who is obviously senile and has 50 cats that she calls her children, you just know it), what the fuck is that judge's problem?! Yes yes, random acts of kindness should only occur between the hours of 9AM and 10PM. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FromBeyondTheGrave Report post Posted February 6, 2005 Finally, some justice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ravenbomb 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 did she eat the cookies first? It said she went to the hospital the next day. If she was so worried about it, she wouldn't have waited Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 How much of a loser do you have to be for a knock on your door to cause an anxiety attack? She must have a heart attack if someone says "BANG!" real loud near her while she is staring at them. Those kids should visit her house tonight with eggs, toilet paper, bags of crap, and spray paint. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NYU 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 (edited) Come on. Would you really eat cookies that came from those 2? And for those that are interested, the full article: Cookie klatch lands girls in court Two Durango teens thought they'd surprise neighbors with nighttime deliveries of home-baked treats. But one woman was so terrified, she sued and has won. Taylor Ostergaard, left, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti hold one of the plates of cookies they dropped on neighbors’ porches in July. One recipient sued, saying the gift spurred a trip to the emergency room. Durango - Two teenage girls decided one summer's evening to skip a dance where there might be cursing and drinking to stay home and bake cookies for their neighbors. Big mistake. They were sued, successfully, for an unauthorized cookie drop on one porch. The July 31 deliveries consisted of half a dozen chocolate-chip and sugar cookies accompanied by big hearts cut out of red or pink construction paper with the message: "Have a great night." The notes were signed, "Love, The T and L Club," code for Taylor Ostergaard, then 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, 18. Inside one of the nine scattered rural homes south of Durango that got cookies that night, a 49-year-old woman became so terrified by the knocks on her door around 10:30 p.m. that she called the sheriff's department. Deputies determined that no crime had been committed. But Wanita Renea Young ended up in the hospital emergency room the next day after suffering a severe anxiety attack she thought might be a heart attack. A Durango judge Thursday awarded Young almost $900 to recoup her medical bills. She received nothing for pain and suffering. "The victory wasn't sweet," Young said Thursday afternoon. "I'm not gloating about it. I just hope the girls learned a lesson." Taylor's mother, Jill Ostergaard, said her daughter "cried and cried" after Judge Doug Walker handed down his decision in La Plata County Small Claims Court. "She felt she was being punished for doing something nice," Jill Ostergaard said. The judge said that he didn't think the girls acted maliciously but that it was pretty late at night for them to be out. He didn't award any punitive damages. Taylor and Lindsey declined to comment Thursday, saying only that they didn't want to say anything hurtful. Young said the girls showed "very poor judgment." But Taylor had asked her father's permission to bake cookies for the neighbors after livestock-tending chores were done. "I said, 'Go ahead, as long as I get some cookies,"' Richard Ostergaard said Thursday. Just as dusk arrived a little after 9 p.m., Taylor and Lindsey began their mad spree. They didn't stop at houses that were dark. But where lights shone, the girls figured people were awake and in need of cookies. A kitchen light was on at Young's home. Court records contain half a dozen letters from neighbors who said that they enjoyed the unexpected treats. The cookies were good. It was a nice surprise. They weren't scared. But Young, home with her own 18-year-old daughter and her elderly mother, said she saw shadowy figures who banged and banged at her door. When she called out, "Who's there?" no one answered. The figures ran off. She thought perhaps they were burglars or some neighbors she had tangled with in the past, she said. "We just wanted to surprise them," Taylor said. Young left her home that night to stay at her sister's, but her symptoms, including shaking and an upset stomach, wouldn't subside. The next morning she went to Mercy Medical Center. "We feel that knocking on a door and leaving cookies is a gesture of kindness and would not create an anxiety attack in the general public," Taylor's parents wrote to the court. The girls wrote letters of apology to Young. Taylor's letter, written a few days after the episode, said in part: "I didn't realize this would cause trouble for you. ... I just wanted you to know that someone cared about you and your family." The families had offered to pay Young's medical bills if she would agree to indemnify the families against future claims. Young wouldn't sign the agreement. She said the families' apologies rang false and weren't delivered in person. The matter went to court. Young said she believes that the girls should not have been running from door to door late at night. "Something bad could have happened to them," she said. Edited February 6, 2005 by NY Untouchable Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 I just hope the girls learned a lesson. Yeah, I bet. Damn you bitches for not listening to that devil rock 'n roll, having sex and doing drugs. Although the whole "T & L Club" thing is a little odd. It'll be funny if this bitch's house gets flooded/burned down and the neighborhood goes "Well, we'd give you some supplies (blankets, food, etc.) but we don't want to get sued..." And by request: When you wish upon the Cancer Fairy It doesn't matter if you're bald or hairy As long as the dumb bitch that sues neighbors for being kind Suffers from Ke-Mo-Therapy... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest cosbywasmurdered Report post Posted February 6, 2005 I'd have pulled my Shotgun on them. Random acts of kindness? fuck that hippie shit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Si82 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 "Something bad could have happened to them," she said. So I'll take them to court and teach them a lession. Fucking retarded bitch. No wonder people treat each other like shit. Random acts of kindness get you taken to court. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jingus 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 I never cease to be amazed at what you can be convicted for in this country. I don't trust all his motives for doing it, but I agree with Dubya that something's gotta be changed to prevent some of these bullshit lawsuits. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slayer 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 I would've invited them in for a salted nut roll Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChick 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 If I was this women's family, I'd be embarrassed as all hell and not show my face anywhere. What a bitch. And they sent her an apology for being nice! And what the fuck was the judge thinking? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slickster 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 Cookie girls won't have to pay fine, Station raises money posted by: Dan Werner (Web producer) Created: 2/5/2005 11:36 AM MST - Updated: 2/5/2005 12:04 PM MST RELATED LINKS Teenagers fined for handing out cookies to rural 'neighbors' DURANGO, Colo. (AP) - Two teenage girls who got in trouble for surprising their neighbors with homemade cookies will not have to pay nearly $1,000 in medical bills for a woman who says she was so startled that she had to go to the hospital. Radio station KOA-AM of Denver raised more than $1,900 from listeners Friday to pay the girls' $930.78 fine. The rest of the money will go to a charity dedicated to victims of the Columbine High School massacre. The story unfolded when teens Taylor Ostergaard, 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, decided to bake chocolate chip and sugar cookies and place them outside their neighbors' doors with large red or pink construction-paper hearts that carried the message, "Have a great night" and were signed with their first initials: "Love, The T and L Club." The trouble began when they approached the home of Wanita Renea Young, 49. Young said she heard someone banging on the door of her rural home late in the evening. She went to the door and saw "shadowy figures" but they refused to answer when she called out to them. The teens said they did not answer when the woman called out because they wanted the treats to be a surprise. Young said she was so frightened, she spent the night at her sister's home, then went to the hospital the next morning because she was still shaking and had an upset stomach. The teens offered to pay Young's medical bills but she insisted on going to small claims court. Judge Doug Walker, after hearing the teens' explanation, awarded medical costs but declined to order punitive damages. "The victory wasn't sweet," Young said. "I'm not gloating about it. I just hope the girls learned a lesson." Meanwhile, Richard Ostergaard, father of Taylor, got a restraining order against Young's husband, Herb, in county court, claiming he continues to make harassing telephone calls to the Ostergaard residence. Wanita Young said, "This has turned into quite a fiasco. It's something that never should have happened and it's just devastating. My phone hasn't stopped ringing. My life has been threatened and I'll probably have to move out of town." http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME...47-c589c01ca7bf Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Cucaracha 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 The trouble began when they approached the home of Wanita Renea Young, 49. Young said she heard someone banging on the door of her rural home late in the evening. She went to the door and saw "shadowy figures" but they refused to answer when she called out to them. The teens said they did not answer when the woman called out because they wanted the treats to be a surprise. I'm not saying they should have been sued...far from it. But they went to a stranger's house, knocked on their door and then didn't respond when the woman called out. Now, if someone came to your house and did that, you wouldn't automatically assume it was kids dropping off cookies. And you can't completely blame the woman for thinking the worst, especially if she had problems with neighbours before. Still, taking them to court is pretty ridiculous. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest cosbywasmurdered Report post Posted February 6, 2005 they weren't strangers though. they were neighbors. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Iron Yuppie Report post Posted February 7, 2005 Cookie girls won't have to pay fine, Station raises money The teens offered to pay Young's medical bills but she insisted on going to small claims court. Judge Doug Walker, after hearing the teens' explanation, awarded medical costs but declined to order punitive damages. "The victory wasn't sweet," Young said. "I'm not gloating about it. I just hope the girls learned a lesson." One wonders what lesson this bitch was intending the girls to learn. For refusing to accept the settlement offer (which ended up being what was offered anyway) to continue this petty tirade, the Judge should have also issued a costs order against the woman. Better to receive "hollow" apologies than to be a subject of scorn. But moreover, I am curious as to what possible cause of action this woman possibly had against the girls. The articles hint that it is based in negligence. If so, I know US law is different to Australian, but shouldn't elements like forseeability and the remoteness of the damage suffered (knocking on door, leaving cookies and running away leading to anixety attack????) have resulted in no liability? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jingus 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2005 No real legal basis for this case. A few arguments could be made, but they'd all be a big stretch. Essentially, in private lawsuits the juries and judges of American courts can render any verdict they damn well please, which is why so many of these spectacularly wasteful suits get filed in the first place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ravenbomb 0 Report post Posted February 8, 2005 "Something bad could have happened to them," she said. And this isn't something bad that happened to them?! And how is 10:30 too late for 2 people, one 18 and one close to it, to be out in their own neighborhood? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunter's Torn Quad 0 Report post Posted February 8, 2005 Somebody should blow her pumpkin up on Halloween. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Damaramu 0 Report post Posted February 8, 2005 The trouble began when they approached the home of Wanita Renea Young, 49. Young said she heard someone banging on the door of her rural home late in the evening. She went to the door and saw "shadowy figures" but they refused to answer when she called out to them. The teens said they did not answer when the woman called out because they wanted the treats to be a surprise. I'm not saying they should have been sued...far from it. But they went to a stranger's house, knocked on their door and then didn't respond when the woman called out. Now, if someone came to your house and did that, you wouldn't automatically assume it was kids dropping off cookies. And you can't completely blame the woman for thinking the worst, especially if she had problems with neighbours before. Still, taking them to court is pretty ridiculous. I usually don't call out when people knock on my door or ring the doorbell. I look out the peep hole and see who it is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted February 8, 2005 Wanita Young said, "This has turned into quite a fiasco. It's something that never should have happened and it's just devastating. My phone hasn't stopped ringing. My life has been threatened and I'll probably have to move out of town." Awww, she might have to move. How horrible for her. Least her kids won't have to suffer abuse in school from their mom suing two kids who brought the family cookies. Just don't move to Delaware, we don't want the Young family. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
