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Tag: Theft

  • Starbucks: Bad Passwords, Not Hackers to Blame for App Thefts

    Starbucks: Bad Passwords, Not Hackers to Blame for App Thefts

    If you use the Starbucks app to pay for your morning coffee, you might want to check your bank account. And then strengthen your password.

    After reports emerged saying hackers had gained access to user accounts and used its app to siphon money away from unsuspecting customers, Starbucks has hit back, saying that these reports are false.

    Blogger Bob Sullivan first reported the issue, telling the stories of multiple victims. What these “hackers” are doing is accessing a Starbucks customer’s account, using the balance to buy a gift card, and waiting for the app to auto-load more money onto the card. This way, they can draw funds directly from someone’s bank account or PayPal account.

    From Bob Sullivan:

    Maria Nistri, 48, was a victim this week. Criminals stole the Orlando women’s $34.77 in value she had loaded onto her Starbucks app, then another $25 after it was auto-loaded into her card because her balance hit 0. Then, the criminals upped the ante, changing her auto reload amount to $75, and stealing that amount, too. All within 7 minutes.

    CNN confirmed that this was happening to other people:

    It happened to Jean Obando on the Saturday evening of December 7. He had just stopped by a Starbucks in Sugar Land, Texas and paid with his phone app. Then while driving on the highway, his phone chimed with a barrage of alerts. PayPal repeatedly notified him that his Starbucks card was being automatically reloaded with $50.

    Then came the email from Starbucks.

    “Your eGift Just Made Someone’s Day,” the email said. “It’s a great way to treat someone — whether it’s to say Happy Birthday, Thank you or just ‘this one’s on me.’”

    He got 10 more just like it — in just five minutes.

    Sounds bad. And it is. But according to Starbucks – this isn’t a hack. This is simply bad password practices.

    “Like all major retailers, the company has safeguards in place to constantly monitor for fraudulent activity and works closely with financial institutions. To protect the integrity of these security measures, Starbucks will not disclose specific details but can assure customers their security is incredibly important and all concerns related to customer security are taken seriously,” said Starbucks.

    “Occasionally, Starbucks receives reports from customers of unauthorized activity on their online account. This is primarily caused when criminals obtain reused names and passwords from other sites and attempt to apply that information to Starbucks. To protect their security, customers are encouraged to use different user names and passwords for different sites, especially those that keep financial information.”

    Starbucks is right in that your passwords do suck. But the company can do more to help prevent this sort of scheme (two-step authentication wouldn’t fix everything but could help). Also, Starbucks doesn’t have a perfect record when it comes to app security.

    Image via Starbucks

  • Smartphone Theft is Still on the Rise

    For smartphone owners (and iPhone owners in particular) the risk of theft is always present. Millions of smartphones are stolen every year and most of them are never recovered. A quick survey of recent Twitter posts is enough to demonstrate the phenomenon:

    Now it appears that, even as smartphones become more secure than ever through software, smartphone theft is rising rapidly.

    Consumer Reports today issued a new survey showing that 3.1 million Americans had their smartphones stolen last year. That is nearly two times the 1.6 million stolen U.S. smartphones that the firm estimated for 2012.

    “Given how much personal information smart phones can contain – from photos, contacts, email accounts to social-networks, shopping, and banking apps – losing one of these devices or having one stolen can definitely be cause for panic,” said Glenn Derene, editor for Electronics at Consumer Reports. “Our survey revealed that the number of lost and stolen smart phones is on the rise, and too many smart-phone users are needlessly imperiling their personal data by not taking basic security measures.”

    In addition to the thefts, the survey found that 1.4 million smartphones were lost for good during 2013, a slight rise from the 1.2 million lost in 2012.

    With smartphone loss and theft so common, it would make sense for smartphone owners to protect themselves using every method available to them. This is not the case, however, as most smartphone users do not implement even basic security measures.

    Consumer Reports found that only 36% of smartphone owners using a screen lock with a 4-digit pin. This is a 50% increase over 2012, but still far short of a majority.

    The survey also found that only 29% of smartphone users backup their data and that only 22% of smartphones are running software that can locate the device if it goes missing. Also, with smartphone viruses and malware growing significantly as a threat, only 14% of smartphone users have installed antivirus software on their device.

  • $460,000 in Quarters: NJ Gov’t Employee Confesses to Theft

    One New Jersey man obviously took his coin-collecting hobby a little too far.

    Government employee Thomas Rica pleaded guilty to four counts of third-degree theft on Wednesday.

    The 43-year-old admitted to the Hackensack Supreme Court that he had stolen at least $460,000 in quarters while working in Ridgewood village as a public works inspector.

    He was initially arrested in 2013 after a fellow employee discovered that there were quarters missing from the village’s parking meter coin-collection room.

    Rica-who makes $86,000 a year-was eventually charged with stealing $500 worth of quarters and terminated from his government job.

    However, after extensive investigation, authorities determined that Rica had stolen a lot more than they originally thought.

    According to NorthJersey.com, village officials confirmed:

    “Rica did not have authorization to enter the meter-collection room but used a master key he was given “due to the nature of his position” to gain repeated access to it. Ridgewood collected $800,000 in quarters from meters in 2013.”

    It’s unclear how often Rica swiped quarters from the storage room, but local officials said that they were disappearing progressively, several times a week.

    To avoid getting caught, Rica apparently did not deposit the money all at once and instead used coin machines at different bank locations in the area. The quarters were deposited into his personal bank accounts over a two-year duration.

    Sources say that the stolen quarters weighed nearly 11.25 tons, which is equivalent to two million quarters.

    Defense attorney, Robert Galantucci, said that although his client is a well-established worker, he couldn’t fight the temptation and decided to use the money to supplement his income. However, he apologizes for his actions and is now trying to get his life back on track.

    As part of the plea deal, Rica will not serve time in prison. He is instead ordered to pay the money back over a five-year probation period.

    Rica is also forbidden future employment in any other borough of New Jersey.

    The quarter-thief and married father now works for his brother’s construction business.

    The video below shows a similar story of a parking meter mechanic who stole quarters in Buffalo, N.Y. from 2003 to 2011:

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • The Hunt Is On For Hulk Hogan Shoe Thief [Video]

    The Hunt Is On For Hulk Hogan Shoe Thief [Video]

    Wrestling star Hulk Hogan is missing a $5,500 shoe.

    It wasn’t just any shoe. Hogan once wore the white wrestling boot in the ring, and he has signed it with a permanent marker. The Steve Cardillo shoe was on display at Hogan’s shop in Clearwater, Florida until staff noticed it had gone missing on Tuesday. They checked the CCTV and reported the incident to the police.

    Staff suspected a “heavyset woman in her 50s” had taken the shoe. The woman, possibly a tourist from Michigan, visited the shop along with three friends on Sunday afternoon, and took the shoe while the store workers were busy with something else.

    According to the police report and based on the CCTV footage, four white females arrived at Hogan’s Beach Shop at 5:16pm on Sunday. Around four minutes after they came in, a large statue of the popular wrestling-star-turned-shop-owner fell over outside the store, distracting the staff. Clearwater Police believe this was the time when the woman swiped the shoe, valued at $5,500.

    Hogan recently announced his return to WWE after six years of being away from the ring. Last month, the 60-year-old wrestler made an appearance at WWE Raw Backstage Pass, and will host the special anniversary show of WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans next month. He first entered the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) scene in 1985 back when it was still known as WWF (World Wrestling Federation), and expressed his excitement at being back.

    Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman, was also thrilled to have “Hulkamania” as a big part of the anniversary program. He said that it was fitting for Hogan to celebrate 30 years of WrestleMania with them “and usher in a new era” with the launch of the new WWE Network.

    Hulk Hogan was born Terry Gene Bollea. He won a total of 12 wrestling championships for the WWF/WWE and the WCW (World Championship Wrestling). He has several wrestling records under his belt, including being the all-time longest-reigning World Heavyweight Champion in WCW. He is also the first wrestler to win two consecutive Royal Rumbles (1990-1991).

    Florida police are currently on the lookout for the shoe thief.

    See video of the thief taking off with Hogan’s shoe

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • McDonald’s Employees Sue, Claim Wage Theft

    McDonald’s Employees Sue, Claim Wage Theft

    According to the Chicago Tribune, there have been seven class-action lawsuits filed by McDonald’s restaurant employees recently. The suits charge McDonald’s with systematically stealing wages from employees in a variety of ways.

    Some of the plaintiffs said that the burger chain did not pay overtime as they were required to do. Others said they were forced to do work “off the clock”, pay for their own uniforms, and were not given timely breaks at work.

    A spokesperson for McDonalds, Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem, said in a statement:

    “McDonald’s and our independent franchisees are committed to undertaking a comprehensive investigation of the allegations and will take any necessary actions as they apply to our respective organizations.”

    Some of the lawsuits were leveled at area franchises, as opposed to the parent McDonald’s corporation, though 2 of the suits did name the headquarters company.

    The Tribune went on to report that one of the attorneys in the case, one Joe Sellers, had said in a statement:

    “In the past, McDonald’s has tried to shield itself from liability from these unlawful employment practices committed at its franchise restaurants. We believe it is time McDonald’s accepts responsibility for the pay practices at its franchise restaurants.”

    One of the workers, Jason Hughes, says that the wage theft consisted of his being asked by management to clock out during slow periods during the day, but to remain on the premises, ready to clock back in when things got busy.

    McDonald’s is no stranger to lawsuits. The infamous “hot coffee” suit polarized people for years, and provided fodder for late night comedians and politicians alike. But the Golden Arches have also seen suits over obesity and, in one strange case, damages for a man only being given a single napkin with his order.

    Image via: Wikimedia Commons

  • Another Soldier Sentenced For Afghanistan Fuel Theft

    U.S. Army Sergeant Kevin Bilal Abdullah has been sentenced to one year, one day in prison for his role in fuel thefts at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Fenty in Afghanistan. Abdullah pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery in August 2013 for receiving bribes in exchange for helping to steal fuel during his time in Afghanistan.

    Abdullah is one of four convictions that have been obtained that are related to fuel thefts at Fenty. Two civilian contractors, Jonathan Hightower and Christopher Weaver, have been sentenced to two years in prison and three years, one month in prison, respectively for their part in the thefts. Former U.S. Army Specialist Stephanie Charboneau last month was sentenced to seven years, three months in prison for helping to facilitate the theft of around 70 truckloads of fuel worth approximately $1.2 million.

    Like Charboneau, Abdullah was in charge of overseeing deliveries of fuel from Fenty to other military bases in Afghanistan. He forged fake transportation movement request documents authorizing transfers of fuel to other locations in the country. Instead of other military bases, the fuel was diverted by an Afghan trucking company and stolen. Abdullah, as with others in on the scheme, was paid in cash by the trucking company for helping to facilitate the thefts.

    In all Abdullah was responsible for the theft of around 25 truckloads of fuel from the U.S. Army. In addition to his year in prison, Abdullah has been ordered to pay $466,250 in restitution to the U.S.

  • Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom Report Theft

    Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom may not be an item anymore, but it looks like the two are still dealing with issues including burglary at the home they once shared.

    LAPD confirms that they are investigating a report of missing property at the Tarzana, CA., home.

    They cannot confirm the amount or that there were no signs of forced entry. Officers are following up and the investigation is still ongoing.

    However, a source told E! that $250,000 worth of jewelry and items was stolen and “maybe more.” They do not know who robbed them, added the source.

    The duo purchased the seven-bedroom, eight-bath mansion in December 2009 for $3.9 million. Kardashian and Odom later put their 8,400 square-foot home on the market in January for $5.4 million.

    Kardashian took to Twitter this morning to unload her aggravation.

    The couple was married for four years.

    Kardashian graces the cover of Cosmopolitan on newsstands today.

    Image Via YouTube

  • Another Soldier Found Guilty of Afghanistan Fuel Theft

    U.S. Army Sergeant Alber Kelly III today pleaded guilty to charges related to the theft of fuel from the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.

    Kelly was stationed at Forward Operating Base Salerno in Afghanistan from 2011 until 2012, assigned to oversee the delivery of fuel into the base. Kelly was in charge of verifying and documenting the total amounts of fuel that were transferred to Salerno.

    Instead of accurately performing his duties, from November 2011 through January 2012 Kelly falsified records showing that fuel had been delivered to Salerno. The fuel in question had actually been diverted by Afghan trucking companies and stolen.

    Kelly received around $57,000 from Afghan trucking companies for facilitating the fuel thefts. The total amount of fuel stolen through Kelly is estimated to be around 25,000 gallons, or around $100,000 worth.

    Kelly is due to be sentenced on May 22. He faces up to 10 years in prison for his crime.

    Kelly’s crimes are similar to those of U.S. Army Specialist Stephanie Charboneau, who also helped facilitate the theft of fuel from a military base in Afghanistan. Charboneau was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison for helping to steal over $1.2 million worth of fuel from Forward Operating Base Fenty. Charboneau took bribes from trucking companies to forge false transportation movement requests for fuel that was stolen.

    Charboneau and Kelly are two of five people now to be prosecuted for crimes related to fuel theft during the war in Afghanistan.

  • Soldier Jailed For Fuel Theft in Afghanistan

    The U.S. Department of Justice this week announced that former U.S. Army Specialist Stephanie Charboneau has been sentenced to seven years and three months in prison for her role in a plot to steal fuel from the U.S. Army.

    Last September Charboneau pleaded guilty to the charges, which include bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery. Her thefts are estimated to have cost the U.S. over $1.2 million.

    Charboneau was stationed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Fenty in Afghanistan in early 2010, when the thefts occurred. She was assigned to oversee the delivery of fuel from Fenty to other bases in Afghanistan.

    To facilitate the thefts, Chaboneau forged false transportation movement requests (TMRs) which were used to fill truck and send the fuel to a trucking company involved in the conspiracy. She was directly involved in the theft of around 70 truckloads of fuel and has admitted to taking bribes from the trucking company for her part in the scheme.

    Charboneau is the fourth person to be prosecuted for crimes related to the fuel thefts. Civilian contractors Jonathan Hightower and Christopher Weaver were sentenced to two years in prison and three years, one month in prison, respectively in October 2013. Army Sergeant Bilal Kevin Abduallah has pleaded guilty to charges related to the thefts and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 12.

  • Mailbox Theft Brings Federal Action, 27 People Charged

    Snail mail isn’t as popular as it once was, especially with the prevalence and ease of email, but it is still a useful, important part of many a person’s life. After all, how else would you be able to get your Amazon packages, or send tacky Christmas cards? A group of folks with bad intentions in the California area didn’t have their eyes on those goodies, though; when they took to robbing mailboxes, they were on the search for prescription medications, credit card information, and checks.

    Mail theft had been a problem in the Central Valley area of California for a majority of the 2013 year, and federal action has finally managed to put a stop to it. Postal investigators, coupled with police officers, targeted large groups of mail thieves, who would rob mailboxes in bulk. Sacramento, Fresno and Bakersfield were hit particularly hard during the crime ring’s reign.

    The thieves targeted multiple-slot boxes and post office lobbies, swiping goods from many people in one swoop. They also broke into postal trucks, mostly in order to acquire postal keys that they then counterfeited. They were after checks, credit card information, and other personal identification. All together, the thieves were able to rack up about $400,000 in total losses.

    U.S. Attorney Ben Wagner proposed that the astounding amount of mail theft in the area was due to the large population of drug users, as well as the history of methamphetamine abuse in the area. Saying that addicts will often resort to theft to fuel their drug habit, Wagner pointed out that the large, multi-slot boxes that were repeatedly targeted were “tempting targets if you’re a mail thief.”

    Gregory Campbell Jr., deputy chief postal inspector for Western Field Operations, agreed with Wagner, saying, “Where there’s meth, there’s mail [theft], and there is a correlation between those who are on substance abuse and going out to do things to accommodate their habit. And it just so happens that mail theft is one of those things.”

    27 people had charges brought against them in total. Six of these people are being charged in the Kern and Sacramento counties of California, while the other 21 are facing federal charges. Nine of those 21 have been sentenced to 4 years in prison, each, and the others can expect similar results, since the maximum penalty for mail theft is 5 years.

    Image via YouTube.

  • ‘Duck Dynasty’ Scarecrow Thief is Arrested

    ‘Duck Dynasty’ Scarecrow Thief is Arrested

    Poor Uncle Si can’t catch a break. Between the guys on Duck Dynasty giving him a hard time for his vocabulary and naps and someone stealing and burning up a scarecrow made in his likeness, the tea-guzzling duck hunter is always catching grief. Cherokee County police in Georgia have made an arrest in the case of the stolen Duck Dynasty scarecrow. It turns out that the thief was a teenager.

    A police report was filed last week that said someone had stolen a Duck Dynasty scarecrow from downtown Ball Ground. Police offered a $1,000 reward to anyone who had information that led to the arrest and conviction of the scarecrow thief.

    The police received a tip at the end of last week that led to the arrest of a 16-year-old, who confessed to the crime. “Someone called in a tip and said they’d seen it on a porch outside the city. He admitted that he did take it on his way home one night, and he burned it because he got afraid of the media attention and what it got on social media,” Police Chief Byron Reeves said.

    A group of moms from Ball Ground Elementary worked an estimated 40 hours to make the scarecrow look just like Uncle Si, and were quite upset at the news it had been stolen, but they have forgiven the teen thief.

    “To begin with we were kind of upset, the main reason we had done Duck Dynasty was because of the background and their beliefs and we truly believe in them, and as a community we have to forgive,” Martin said. Martin is referring to the Christian beliefs the Robertson clan is very open about on the show, and every Duck Dynasty ends with patriarch Phil Robertson saying grace.

    While the teen has been charged with theft, he is described as being remorseful over his actions. “He felt bad about what he did and he actually talked about going and apologizing to the class,” Ball Ground City Manager Eric Wilmarth said.

    Duck Dynasty scarecrows and costumes are all the rage this Halloween. Check out some photos before if you’re looking for some inspirations for your Halloween costume:

    Images via YouTube and WSBTV

  • Thief Returns Prized Pumpkin, Leaves Note

    Ah yes, York, Pennsylvania. Home of the York Peppermint Patty, York International Air Conditioners, the rock band “Live,” and now prized pumpkin theft. On Sunday, a thief returned a 255-pound pumpkin a boy won at a Windsor Township Oktoberfest celebration, along with an apologetic note.

    Nine-year-old Jaiden Newcomer correctly guessed the weight of the whopping pumpkin, and was able to take it home and put it on his family’s porch. The pumpkin was quickly swiped, though after a weekend outing, the Newcomer’s found that it had been returned.

    The included note read, “I’m really sorry about taking your pumpkin, it was wrong of me, you earned the pumpkin, I didn’t think my actions through nor realize who they were affecting. Sincerest apologies.”

    I’d once lived in York for 7 years, the self-styled first capital of the United States, and recall that the people there take their gourds, Indian corn, cucumbers, squash, melons and pumpkins quite seriously.

    Jaiden’s mom Amy told the York Dispatch that her son is “very excited. He’s beside himself.”

    Still, someone goes through the effort of jacking a 250 pound pumpkin from a stoop, from a little kid, but then apologizes, so the incident is now testament do-goodery and kindness. The late Norman Rockwell could’ve painted the situation. Some might say the present national ethos demands a serious reaching for anything that might resemble an ideal. Along with a serious reaching for recreational squash.

    Live’s ode to York, featured on their 1994 album “Throwing Copper,” is entitled “Shit Towne:”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuJj3jpZCEk

    York, also known as Yorktown in the mid 18th to early 19th century, was founded in 1741 by settlers from the Philadelphia region, and named for the English city of the same name. Today, much of York’s culture is indicative the city’s evolving role as an agricultural and industrial center. Half of all Harley-Davidson employees work in York, and one of Starbucks’ four roasting facilities in the world exists just north of the city. And there’s big pumpkins.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Bourbon Heist: 65 Cases of Pappy Van Winkle Stolen

    As Zac Brown sings, “The whiskey’s gone.” Someone in Frankfort, Kentucky must like Pappy Van Winkle bourbon an awful lot because they made off with 65 cases (195 bottles) of the rare bourbon, which is valued at over $25,000. Nine cases of Pappy Van Winkle rye were also missing.

    The 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle bourbon is hard to get (unless you’re a master thief, anyway). “We get phone calls from people asking, ‘Do you have Pappy in stock?’” said Bill Thomas, owner of the Jack Rose Dining Saloon, where a two-ounce shot of 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle will set you back $65.

    Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton, who is leading the investigation, says that the bourbon is “highly coveted” and is “the best of the best.” Melton says that he is “being told that it’s going for $300-$400 a bottle, if you can find it.”

    The sheriff thinks that the Pappy Van Winkle bourbon heist, which occurred at a warehouse at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, is probably an inside job. “We believe whoever did this took them out the back from the secured area over a period of two months” Melton said. “I don’t think anyone could walk out with 74 cases of bourbon. Obviously, the way this happened, it’s indicative of an inside job.”

    Sean Brock, the owner of Husk Restaurants in Nashville and Charleston, S.C., has his own theory of how the bourbon was stolen. “I’m pretty sure it was George Clooney and the boys from Ocean’s 11,” Brock said.

    Bourbon aficionados are heartbroken, no joke. Pappy Van Winkle bottles fly off the shelves and even the super rich have a hard time finding the bourbon. “We have people with literally billions of dollars who can’t find a bottle,” said Julian Proctor Van Winkle III, the current head of the Wan Winkle family dynasty. “They could buy a private jet in cash. They’d have an easier time buying our company.”

    If you were going to toast the stole bourbon, what would you use? Respond below. (And if you say “Pappy Van Winkle,” prepare to have Sheriff Melton come knocking on your door.)

    [Image via Twitter]

  • Woman Faces Jail Time After Taking $2.87 From a Water Fountain

    People are outraged after learning that a woman who stole less than $3 from a water fountain may face jail time. An Ohio woman, Deidre Romine, was charged with petty theft and issued a summons to appear in court after a police officer discovered her taking change from a fountain.

    Romine has no job and took $2.87 from a water fountain to buy food for herself and her cats. She was gathering change from a fountain in front of the Logan County Courthouse last week when an officer with the Bellefontaine Police Department approached her.

    “The cop asked me what I was doing and I was afraid to tell him,” Romine said. “The money didn’t belong to anybody, so I just took it out of there. I’m trying to feed myself and I’ve got four cats I’m raising and trying to feed them,” she said. “I might go to jail.” According to Ohio state law, a first-time petty theft offense is punishable by up to 180 days in prison.

    “I am trying to find a job,” Romine said. “I am filling out applications all the time. No one will hire me. I get food stamps but they are not enough. My lease is up here and they are asking me to leave,” Romine continued. “I was just trying to get food for me and my cats–that’s it. It’s really hard for me.”

    While some people are split on whether Romine’s actions were okay or not, most agree that tying up the courts over pocket change is ludicrous. Do you think she should be fined or receive jail time? Respond below.

    A man named Will Zell started an online fund to raise money for Romine’s defense. Zell originally wanted to raise $200 for Romine, but his GoFundMe page has gotten almost $9,000 in donations so far. “We want the community to know the why rather than just the headline that she got arrested, and we also want to help her out,” Zell said.

    [Image via 10TV]

  • Fountain Theft Might Get Woman Jail Time Over $2.87

    An Ohio woman who says she is battling mental health issues and can’t find a job was recently spotted by a police officer while taking change from a fountain; the officer charged her with theft after finding $2.87 in change in her pockets, and now the town is rallying around the woman.

    Deidre Romine says she didn’t know that taking change from a fountain was wrong and was only looking for some cash to feed herself and her pets. The story resonated with residents in Bellefontaine, who have raised more than $1,000 to help Romine and keep her from losing her apartment.

    “Soon as the cop asked me what I was doing and I was afraid to tell him. The money didn’t belong to anybody so I just took it out of there,” Romine said. “I’m trying to feed myself and I’ve got four cats I’m raising and I’m trying to feed them.”

    Romine has a case worker through mental health services in her county, but the community is trying to spread the word about her story so that when people hear why she was arrested, they’ll know what her motivation was.

    “We want the community to know the why rather than just the headline that she got arrested and we also want to help her out,” Will Zell, who is leading an online donation drive for Romine, said.

    Romine’s court date is set for November 25.

    Image: 10TV.com

  • Man Drinks 50 Bottles Whiskey Worth $102,000

    According to WTAE News in Pennsylvania, a man has swilled down 50 bottles of pre-Prohibition whiskey in one year – whiskey he was supposed to be guarding for safekeeping.

    The man, John Saunders, 62, was a caretaker who lived in the basement of the South Broadway Manor Bed and Breakfast near Pittsburgh, was a friend of the inn owner’s family for 40 years. The owner, Patricia Hill, had discovered several cases of historic whiskey hidden in an enclosed space under the stairs of the inn during renovations. She had the cases taken to the basement for safekeeping until renovations were complete. She charged Saunders with keeping an eye on the cases.

    It was a classic case of the fox being left to watch the henhouse.

    “There were four cases, 52 bottles, manufactured by an old distillery here in the Township that went out of business many years ago,” Barry Pritts, chief of police in Scottdale, Pa., said.

    “The family that owned the estate, somebody hid it under a flight of stairs and enclosed the staircase, and the estate went through several families. The lady that owns it now was doing a remodeling project and the people who were doing the work found them,” Pritts said.

    About a year later, when Hill discovered that the whiskey bottles were now empty, she called police. Saunders denied drinking the whiskey. Seven months of DNA testing ensued. Finally police confirmed that DNA found on the bottles was a match to Saunders. They charged him with felony theft and receiving stolen property.

    The man had drunk a bottle every week for a year. Apparently no one knew Saunders had a drinking problem. But now his attorney tells the court that Saunders is awaiting a liver transplant.

    “It’s a shame it took historic whiskey to realize and come to this point,” said Hill. “But if it saved his life, maybe that’s the best of it all.”

  • Victim Finds Thief’s Phone, Calls His Mom

    Victim Finds Thief’s Phone, Calls His Mom

    Eliza Webb, 29, of Seattle, had a unique situation before her. She had come out to her car and found that her running shoes and sunglasses and been stolen from inside the vehicle. But the thief had also left something behind, quite by accident: his cell phone.

    Webb thumbed through the phone and found the thief’s contacts. One of them was labeled “Mom”. Now, what’s a theft victim to do?

    Webb called the number. When a woman answered Webb told her, “This is a very uncomfortable phone call to make. I have your son’s phone and I’m missing some things out of my car and I think they might be two related items.”

    The woman’s son turned out to be nineteen years old. As Webb says, “She was devastated.”

    Webb works with teenagers. She knew that a police record would certainly haunt this young man for a long time to come, hurt his chances at getting into a good school, of getting decent employment. She did not want to involve the police, especially if the mother was willing to cooperate with her in a plan she was hatching. She decided to hold him accountable, and to make sure he felt the sting of his crime.

    She went to visit the teen and his mother. “We knocked on the door and he answered in just sort of a defeated look. He looked like he had been crying,” Webb said.

    The teen admitted to her that he had stolen items from ten more cars in the neighborhood. He said that the whole spree was a result of a night of drinking with a friend. Webb and the teen’s mother decided that he would go house-to-house in her neighborhood, knocking on each door, admitting what he had done, and returning ever item he had stolen.

    One of the neighbors who spoke with the teen, whom Webb still refuses to identify, told ABC News, “Kid said, ‘I know it was wrong. We’re not going to do this again.’ I said, ‘I hope not.’”

    Webb hopes that her actions, while helping the young man avoid the direst consequences of his crime, will help steer him from any further infractions.

    “Sometimes when you get shamed or told that you did something wrong by somebody else,” she said, “it can stick.”

  • CNN Anchor Robbed: iPhone Stolen in Atlanta

    A CNN anchorwoman was the victim of a brazen daylight robbery in Atlanta last week.

    Carol Costello, the news anchor for the 9 am to 11 am segment of CNN Newsroom, revealed this weekend that she had been robbed on Thursday. She claims that she was “walking down a beautiful, leafy Atlanta street” while talking on her iPhone. Three “teenagers” then ran up to her and grabbed her phone. Costello fought for the phone but had a “chunk” of her hair pulled out for her trouble.

    According to a wsbtv report on the incident, Costello was walking in the 1100 block of Piedmont Avenue. Costello gave the police a description of the iPhone thief. The anchor vented about the event on her Facebook page, where she wrote that she was “angry”:

    (image)

    Carol Costello CNN3 days ago

    Good Morning. In retrospect, what happened to me yesterday is insignificant in light of what happened in the Boston.
    Still, I feel the need to vent. And isn’t that what friends are for?
    I was robbed.
    And I am angry.
    I was walking down a beautiful, leafy Atlanta street, talking on my IPhone.
    Guess what happened next?
    Three teenagers ran up behind me. One of them grabbed my IPhone. Stupidly I struggled to hold on-to it. But, he was a big guy. And he pulled out a chunk my hair.
    I let go.
    As he ran down the street, laughing, I hurled a few expletives his way.
    I felt no fear at the time, I was just angry. Now I’m angry, shaken and sad. What a lousy life those kids have ahead of them.
    Turns out, according to ABC news: “cities across the country are on alert as officials warn of an uptick in stolen Apple products, dubbed “Apple picking.”
    Thieves steal IPhones, wipe them clean, then sell them for up to one-thousand bucks.
    So, a warning for you. Do not talk on your IPhone as you walk down the street.
    Oh, and let go of the stupid device if someone tries to steal it.
    Hope you join me at 9 and 10 AM ES. Powered by socialditto(image)  390 likes ·  740 comments

    IPhone theft is nothing new, and though thieves may be getting better at it, apps such as iCloud can help locate an Apple device once it is stolen.

  • Stolen Yacht Washes Ashore in Northern California

    The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that three people have been arrested in connection with the theft of an 82-foot yacht earlier this week. The three people, all of them over the age of 50, were arrested on suspicion of grand theft and conspiracy.

    The yacht, named the “Darling” was found grounded on a sandbar off the coast of Pacifica, California on Monday. Pacifica is a suburb on San Francisco.

    According to the chronicle, the owner of the boat reported it stolen after seeing it featured on the news. What had been a rescue then turned into an arrest and police surrounded the boat, ordering its passengers to surrender.

    The yacht was reportedly stolen from a harbor in the North San Francisco Bay. The trio’s joyride would have taken them underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and miles down the southern coast. The Chronicle report states that pizza boxes and beer cans were found on the ship.

  • First Rule Of Robbing Banks: Don’t Brag About It On YouTube

    A lot of criminals could be categorized as less than intelligent. The Internet has made that more apparent than ever as idiots around the world are posting their criminal exploits on social media. Today’s dumb criminal went the extra step and filmed herself on YouTube right after stealing a car and robbing a bank.

    Hannah Sabata, 19, of Nebraska, is like many teens who use YouTube to share daily exploits and connect with like minded people. Her account was updated with a new video last week, however, that featured Sabata bragging about her recent adventure that involved stealing $6,000 from a bank.

    The video is still up on YouTube for your viewing pleasure with the following description:

    I just stole a car and robbed a bank. Now I’m rich, I can pay off my college financial aid and tomorrow i’m going for a shopping spree. Bite me. I love GREENDAY!

    Hey, we all have mountains of student debt, but robbing a bank isn’t going to fix anything. In fact, it’s probably going to make things worse. She might have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for the little fact that she filmed a seven minute video showing off the stuff she stole.

    After the video went public, loads of viewers called the local sheriff. She was arrested and is now hopefully reevaluating her life choices.

    This is the kind of stuff that makes me lose faith in humanity. Robbing a bank is one thing, but bragging about it for seven minutes on YouTube is a whole new level of stupid. The real insult, however, is that the video exposes you to seven minutes of Green Day music. She didn’t have the decency to pick any of the band’s somewhat decent songs.

    [h/t: NY Times]

  • The iPhone 5 Is Already Popular Among Thieves

    The iPhone 5 has proven to be one of the most anticipated hardware launches of the year. Lines as far as the eye can see are stretching throughout cities. Some folks in Japan just couldn’t wait and decided to skip the line (and paying).

    The Wall Street Journal reports that a group of thieves have reportedly hit three major stores in Osaka before the launch of the iPhone 5. The thieves were able to get away with 191 iPhones just hours before the official launch. Three major stores were hit with one store losing its entire stock of 116 devices.

    To be honest, it’s a little strange. It’s rare to see crime of this magnitude in Japan. It’s also strange that stores didn’t have lines in the hours before launch. The launch of a new Dragon Quest game, which is nowhere near the popularity of the iPhone is today, commands long lines hours before a store’s opening.

    That being said, the thieves may have intentionally targeted Osaka-based stores for that very reason. The stores in Tokyo probably had more stock, but there would be greater chances of crowds forming hours before the launch. It’s still unfortunate that these stores had to miss out on the launch. One store even estimated that they lost 7.45 million yen due to the thefts.

    There has not been any reports of iPhone 5 thefts in the U.S. yet, but the massive lines may have had something to do with that. We’ll probably start to see individual thefts where people are mugged here instead. Thankfully Apple provides a free service that allows people to catch stupid thieves.