weird criminals

Homegrown Tomatoes · January 09, 2008, 12:07:42 PM

thought this was bizarre... you'd think they would've figured out that it wasn't going to work!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22565251/?GT1=10755

Sassy · January 09, 2008, 02:55:57 PM

seems to me there were some brain cells not working & I don't mean the dead man's...

January 09, 2008, 03:16:44 PM

A great number of people who engage in criminal activity are either [1] too stupid to be able to recognize the potential flaws in their criminal plans, or [2] too stoned to be able to recognize the potential flaws in their criminal plans.

This has not changed much in decades. I once was dumbstruck when the companion of the customer I was talking to took a pack of batteries off the rack 2 feet from us and placed it in his pocket. (back when I was in the retail photographic equipment trade). They walked out the door with me right behind them. I put the arm on the thief and marched him back inside. I let the other go as I had my hands full. Ten minutes later one of my sales people came to the back room and said the guys friend was asking how long it would be before his pal could go. I told my man to ask him on back. He came and we held the pair until the cops came. The officers knew the two by name. ............ These guys were both [1] and [2].

Drew · January 09, 2008, 04:29:49 PM

It's one thing that I'm paying into a social security system I will likely never see a check from (I'm 42), but now these dead guys - I'm sorry - respiration challenged people, are bilking the system. They should be ashamed. And buried. But ashamed, first!

But maybe there's something to that. Maybe I can make something out of some PVC pipe, a couple pulleys, and a car battery. My great grandkids (I plan to meet them) can wheel me in, tap the juice a few times, and cash my $11 check. I don't want to be a burden on them. Maybe this can help.

It's either this or go back to the plan to compost my remains.

Homegrown Tomatoes · January 10, 2008, 12:19:01 PM

I think a lot of criminals are either drunk or stupid... there are some pretty saavy ones out there, though. I worked at Staples for a little while right before I got married (in addition to my teaching job.) One day, right before shift change when the money manager is in the money room counting down the registers and the main managers are conferencing in the back, a group came in (one or two at a time.) I was working at a register and the assistant manager called me over to the service desk to rescue him because there was a guy there who didn't speak English and he thought maybe I spoke enough Spanish that I could understand him.... When I got to the service desk, this cute little thief was there asking about the ad in gibberish (it was not Spanish, nor was it any one decipherable language, but rather a bunch of different words from various languages thrown together...) I knew something was wrong, but he was very good at what he was doing. I told him, I'm sorry, if you want help, I can help you in English or Spanish, but I don't know what you're saying. He was very insistent... I looked up and around and he pleaded with me to help him with something. No other workers were within sight, so I picked up the phone and paged the managers out of the back office... didn't realize what they were doing, but knew something was really wrong. As soon as one of the managers emerged from the back, a blonde woman stopped right in front of him and led him on a goose chase around the store... I paged the other manager, and something similar happened, only this time it was a man. Meanwhile, the cute green-eyed young little thief is staring into my eyes and trying to keep me engaged in the conversation, but I'm finding it more and more impossible to watch the front of the store. I looked over at the copy desk and see that the woman who works there is gone, "helping" another seemingly lost shopper. Suddenly, the thief who moments couldn't speak a word of English changed posture, said, Thanks, and immediately left the store, followed by the blonde woman and another man. While they were working to distract everyone, their friends made off with an entire rolling rack of ink cartridges (something like $300 worth!) and two laptops. They walked right out the front door with it in broad daylight without batting an eye. They were pretty smooth. Our manager called the other stores in the area and warned them, and then they caught the bunch about three days later robbing another store... they were able to recover most of what was stolen from our store. There were either 6-7 of them, and apparently they were skilled enough that they had gotten away with it far more than once... they had a panel truck full of stolen electronics and mostly ink cartridges.

We all felt like a bunch of idiots for not catching on sooner. The assistant manager who'd asked me to help the 'foreigner' really felt bad because he'd left me with the guy and gone off with one of the other thieves that he couldn't understand to help them look for a fictional product. I was just glad they thanked us for letting them rob us... nothing like thieves without manners, doggone it. He, as well as the other two managers had completely left the front of the store vulnerable, and they knew it, so they really didn't blame anyone but themselves. The next shift manager felt bad because he didn't come out the first time I paged all managers to the front, because later on the surveillance tapes you could see that was when they took the ink cartridges out... During that time, the little thief got between me and the exit and got right in my face pointing at the ad and asking "questions" in his gibberish language... there were some words in Spanish, Portugese, Italian, and French... the rest of it, I don't know... it might have been entirely made up. So, there's some pretty smart (and bold) criminals out there... too bad they don't apply that intelligence to something useful.

January 10, 2008, 03:58:41 PM

television makes for dormant brain cell activity sassy

And people still look at me funny when I tell them that I do not really like TV or watch it much....I really believe it is evil mostly

MountainDon · January 10, 2008, 04:17:02 PM

Yeah, they were a little more clever than the run of the mill thief. They count a lot on the good nature, the willingness to assist, that most staff exhibit. And the fact that most staff don't believe or want to believe that the person they're talking to wants to rob them.

I attended several police sponsored anti-theft and store security seminars at trade shows early on during my retail years. I learned that most people are honest, but the crooks will rob you blind if you let 'em. And I learned that a most of the crooks do not look like stereotypical villains. They look like you and me.

I do believe that security cameras do deter a lot of crime. We had one of the earlier setups, back in the late seventies, first with Sony reel to reel video tape and then Betamax. (we sold them). After a while the number of mysterious disappearances as well as apprehensions dropped significantly... spoiled my fun catching thieves. $:-\$

What I don't understand today is why people still shoplift, stage holdups, etc. when anyone with half a brain knows what those ceiling blisters may contain. ...

Oh! I think we're back to stupid and/or stoned...

benevolance · January 10, 2008, 06:54:36 PM

if you leave the house and think you will not be videotaped you are mastaken... gas station bank grocery store...Even at busy traffic intersections...They are all loaded with video tapes....Always a dozen cameras on you.

1984 was just the tip of the iceberg

MountainDon · January 10, 2008, 10:53:03 PM

That's what I mean about how stupid or how drugged are some of these non law abiding types!?? I could care less if 'they' tape me at the gas station, etc.

January 11, 2008, 12:13:58 AM

Quote from: MountainDon on January 10, 2008, 04:17:02 PM

I attended several police sponsored anti-theft and store security seminars at trade shows early on during my retail years. I learned that most people are honest, but the crooks will rob you blind if you let 'em. And I learned that a most of the crooks do not look like stereotypical villains. They look like you and me. 8

That was my point, too. This fella that was keeping me occupied while his friends cleared out the place was cute and charming and harmless looking. He wasn't any bigger than me, just a little guy with bright green-blue eyes that were so unique. He was clean-cut and neatly dressed in brown slacks, a dress shirt, and a brown leather jacket. The blonde who stopped the first manager was a fairly attractive, normal-looking "mom" type. The other guy, while I don't remember specifics, was clean cut and wearing pressed slacks and a plaid shirt, and looked harmless.

Likewise, I was physically attacked one time in college by a clean-cut, nice-looking, and even friendly Egyptian guy who was an agriculture grad student. He didn't look like Osama Bin Laden... he looked like an average grad student. Thankfully, I kicked him and got away, but the only reason he got close enough to try to harm me in the first place was because he didn't look threatening. I think a lot of the stupid criminals may look like criminals, but the smarter ones blend in pretty darn well.

sparks · January 11, 2008, 12:27:40 AM

Quote from: MountainDon on January 10, 2008, 10:53:03 PM
That's what I mean about how stupid or how drugged are some of these non law abiding types!?? I could care less if 'they' tape me at the gas station, etc.

I'm pretty careful where I pick my nose.

MountainDon · January 11, 2008, 01:50:45 AM

I'm at an age I don't give a goll darn about that! If it needs picking....

benevolance · January 11, 2008, 01:55:25 AM

my wife got on my case the other day at the store... I wanted to try on a pair of jeans and there was nobody to open the changing room....So I dropped trouser in the store with people watching and tried on the jeans...She was freaking out... But I could care less... If people want to look at me trying on a pair of pants or scratching my ass I could care less...Let em look... I will lose no sleep over it.

Homegrown Tomatoes · January 11, 2008, 01:01:52 PM

Quote from: benevolance on January 11, 2008, 01:55:25 AM
my wife got on my case the other day at the store... I wanted to try on a pair of jeans and there was nobody to open the changing room....So I dropped trouser in the store with people watching and tried on the jeans...She was freaking out... But I could care less... If people want to look at me trying on a pair of pants or scratching my ass I could care less...Let em look... I will lose no sleep over it.

Good grief! You're worse than my MIL. She does that kind of crap in the open markets in Korea. Embarrasses the living daylights out of me. She and I were going walking early one morning and we were flagging down a cab to take us to a mountain walking trail. Just as we got to the main road, I pointed out that her shirt was on inside-out. Meanwhile, I saw a cab... they're few and far between at 4 AM, so I hail him and just as he stops in front of me, I notice his baffled expression and turn to realize that my MIL has stripped off her shirt, righted it, and is now putting it back on.

She looked at me and giggled, and then we climbed into the back of the cab. She looked only mildly embarrassed and giggled now and then... don't think she said a word to the cabbie, but she actually gave him a tip, which is unheard of.