Charlie Kelly: King of the Rats
Most Frequent Crime
Criminal Threats
Knowingly making a threat to commit a violent act against another person (words or gestures that place a reasonable person in fear of imminent physical harm) can constitute a criminal threat or assault in U.S. jurisdictions. Simple verbal threats that place a victim in reasonable fear may be charged as misdemeanor assault or as a separate criminal-threats offense depending on the jurisdiction.
Criminal Activities
Animal Cruelty
Intentionally killing a wild bird. Under U.S. law this can constitute animal cruelty under state statutes and may violate the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) (which prohibits taking/possessing/killing many migratory bird species without a permit).
Situation:
"Charlie states he 'just found a rat's nest. Slaughtered about 200 of 'em' and throughout the episode is shown using a 'rat stick' to bash rats. The transcript documents deliberate mass killing of animals; whether this constitutes a prosecutable violation depends on jurisdiction and methods used."
Criminal Threats
Knowingly making a threat to commit a violent act against another person (words or gestures that place a reasonable person in fear of imminent physical harm) can constitute a criminal threat or assault in U.S. jurisdictions. Simple verbal threats that place a victim in reasonable fear may be charged as misdemeanor assault or as a separate criminal-threats offense depending on the jurisdiction.
Situation:
"Dee tells Charlie that if he does not come with her to the movie/spa she will 'take this raccoon of yours and ... bash it into a telephone pole,' a direct threat to commit violent harm to Charlie's pet."
Criminal Threats
Knowingly making a threat to commit a violent act against another person (words or gestures that place a reasonable person in fear of imminent physical harm) can constitute a criminal threat or assault in U.S. jurisdictions. Simple verbal threats that place a victim in reasonable fear may be charged as misdemeanor assault or as a separate criminal-threats offense depending on the jurisdiction.
Situation:
"During the movie, Dennis tells Charlie, 'I swear to God, if you don't sit down and shut up and watch the movie, I'm going to attack you,' an explicit threat of physical assault."
Theft
Unauthorized taking and consumption of another person's personal property (petty theft/larceny): intentionally taking possession of property belonging to someone else without that person's consent.
Situation:
"Dennis admits he grabbed a shirt out of Charlie's shopping bag when Charlie wasn't looking, returned that shirt to the store, and kept the refund (he then bought himself a shirt with those funds)."