Brian Holloway didn’t really want to press charges against the teens that ransacked his house while he was away on business, holding a wild party that cost tens of thousands of dollars in damages while organizing and bragging about the event on social media.  He wanted the kids and young adults involved to recognize their crimes, learn from them, and atone by helping him fix the damage.  Instead, after the former NFL player posted the pictures and messages from the party in an attempt to shame the perpetrators, their parents demonstrated why they turned out the way they did by threatening to sue Holloway.  That left Holloway with little choice but to pursue his own legal options.

So be it:

Six arrested, more than 300 to go. But it’s a start for Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Investigators who are trying to put a dent in the case of a huge, underage drinking party at a former NFL player’s home.

Cameras weren’t allowed in the courtroom. But Thursday night, the first six to turn themselves in faced a judge and reality.

Police say 19 year old Seth Hawk, 20 year old Juan Santana, 21 year old Cody Blain, 18 year olds Meghan Loiselle and Keely Sullivan and 17 year old Mackenzie Grogan were the main players in the giant underage drinking party at Brian Holloway’s Upstate New York home. …

The charges read Thursday night range from burglary, to grand larceny, to criminal trespass.

What happened at court is only the beginning. Sheriff’s investigators say they’ve identified 238 others who were at the party. They’re urging that they turn themselves in. And they’re asking for a little help from the parents.

It’s a long investigation. But part of it made simpler, because of the messages and the pictures the partiers put out on social media.

Name ’em and shame ’em, which seems to be the only method that has a chance of working.  So far, though, it has had only limited success, even among the parents of the suspects:

When NewsChannel 13’s Jessica Layton asked Investigator Holcomb if he believes any of the suspects are sorry or learned a lesson, he said: “Some are remorseful, some not.”

“And the parents?”

“Again, it’s a wide range,” Holcomb said.

These are felony charges in some cases, which could mean a huge dent in the futures of these ransackers and vandals.  Given the lack of remorse and atonement, that may have been inevitable for them.  The 238 that police have identified had better take some pro-active steps to deal with the situation, or they will find themselves with criminal records that will drag them down for decades.

They can’t blame Holloway for that. He gave them weeks to do the right thing, and all he got in response was greedy parents looking to loot his bank account like their kids looted his home.  Shame on all of them.  Holloway’s daughter offered a lengthy video response explaining how shocking the attack on their family home really was:

As far as the lawsuit goes, Holloway warns these parents that they don’t have any clue as to what will happen to their lives afterward:

TO THE PARENTS: If you would like to pursue a LAW SUIT; that’s entirely up to you. Here’s a heads you may want to consider; that will TRIGGER the biggest FIRESTORM of media that will invade every area of your life. Anything and everything, current and past will be brought to the surface to build the MEDIA FRENZIE to drive their ratings. I’m used to this, and have spent 30 years helping to prepare other NFL players about TRIGGER events that bring the FIRESTORM; without exception, no one was ever prepared. It effects your family, your relatives, your work and all your friendships; and that damage cannot be reversed for some reason. Again, I’ve lived with this a long time. It’s extremely difficult. Either way, I am prepared.

Are they really anxious to pursue a lawsuit with discovery in both directions, where their names and faces will be plastered all over local and national media for months? Again, it looks like the 300 apples didn’t fall far from the trees.