That was his first time getting in legal trouble.
I did it all the time he was growing up. I bailed him out of little things; when he'd get in a little scuffle at school, and then as he grew older, I even went to one of his employers who supposedly talked harshly to him - or so he said -- and I really made a fool out of myself. Turns out, he was just wanting to quit his job.
He's always been a manipulator.
But, yes. I really have to be careful and remember that alcoholism/drug addiction is the disease of big deals.