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Time for the
latest installment of "If we're in a recovery, why are people stealing
everything that isn't nailed down?" As I've noted previously -- here, here,
and here,
for example -- the past few years have seen a notable uptick in the breadth
and depth of unusual items that have been targeted by thieves. As the
following reports suggest, that trend seems to be continuing, unabated:
Cosmetics
"Pair
Accused of Pocketing, Reselling $20K in Perfume, Cosmetics" (Washington
Post)
The young women
walked so quickly, grabbed items from the shelves so confidently, that
employees at the Glenarden J.C. Penney might have
thought they were out shopping for Mother’s Day.
Except this was
their second trip to the store that day. And Mom probably did not ask for
$20,000 in perfume and makeup.
The women,
police said at a news conference Friday, were professional shoplifters
— bit players in an organized ring of cosmetically-inclined thieves.
Three and four times a day, police said, Darquesha
Wilkinson, 19, and Latasha Mungo, 24, both of the
District, would walk into department stores across the region, swipe high-end
perfume, lotions and makeup, then sell them on the streets at a discount,
often out of the trunks of their cars. And until Tuesday — when a J.C.
Penney loss-prevention employee recognized the pair as suspects in previous
shoplifting incidents — they hadn’t been charged there, blending
in with other shoppers because they were charming and well-dressed, police
said.
“That’s
what they do. This is their job,” said Sgt. Aubrey Thompson, who heads
the Prince George’s County Police’s Organized Retail Crime Unit.
“It only takes them but 30 seconds.”
Grave
markers
"'Pathetic'
Thieves Take Minnesota Vets' Markers"
(StarTribune.com)
Bronze stars
are disappearing from the graves of so many Minnesota soldiers that some veterans officials are urging families to place the
memorial markers at home instead of in the cemetery.
In Isanti
County alone, more than 200 stars have disappeared from three local
cemeteries in recent weeks and similar thefts -- presumably carried out by
crooks who plan to sell the stars for scrap -- have
plagued veterans' graves in Anoka County.
"It's
really unfortunate that there are people among us who are so cowardly that
they prey on the people who have demonstrated the greatest bravery,"
Anoka spokeswoman Martha Weaver said. "That's really pathetic."
Airbags
and catalytic converters
"Car
Thieves Are Increasingly Looting for Oddball Parts" (MSN
Autos)
Airbags and
catalytic converters containing precious metals are all the rage on the
automotive black market.
In the dark of
night a few weeks ago in Santa Monica, Calif., thieves made off with so many
parts -- including the airbags -- from a 9-year-old Honda Accord that the car
was declared totaled. In Detroit, there's been a spike in the number of
catalytic-converter thefts of late; looters are lured by the precious metals
contained in the parts, which can fetch as much as $150 from scrap yards,
according to the Detroit News.
Along with
catalytic converters and airbags, thieves have recently begun coveting auto
parts such as tires, rims and navigation systems and hawking them on the
black market. According to Detroit's CBS affiliate, the culprits responsible
for stealing these oddball car parts are increasingly turning to Craigslist
and other online sales outlets to unload them.
One possible
reason for this burst in car-part-stealing creativity is that technology has
made it more difficult to make off with an entire car. So, instead, thieves
simply target individual parts. A catalytic converter, for instance, can be
jacked in a few minutes by thieves who roll beneath a vehicle with a
battery-powered saw and make a few cuts.
Religious
items
"Metal
Thieves Steal Fresno Church Cross"
(UTSanDiego.com)
FRESNO, Calif.
— Metal thieves used a sledgehammer to smash a California church
stained-glass window and steal a cross and other religious items.
Fresno police
say they have recovered most of the items taken from St. Therese Roman
Catholic Church.
Father Michael
Burchfield says the thieves broke into the church earlier this month and
ripped off metal fasteners from priest vestments.
Also taken was
a 2-foot cross that contained a splinter from the cross on which Jesus Christ
was crucified.
Plants
"Gardener:
Thieves Stole $1,000 Worth Of Plants From 2 Mpls
Gardens" (WCCO)
MINNEAPOLIS
— The tough economy may have turned thieves to steal a different kind
of green.
Somebody stole
plants and planters — worth more than $1,000 — from two yards in
the south Minneapolis.
Abby Rutchick has lived on her tree-lined street in Linden
Hills for more than 30 years.
“You can
kind of tell we’re all gardeners and spend a lot of time out
here,” she said. “And really enjoy it, it’s a
passion.”
Sometime
between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., somebody stole dozens of plants and planters from
her front yard.
Rutchick
discovered the thefts when she opened the door Wednesday morning.
“Came out
and looked a little further to see all my planters were gone, and everything
that was in the pot is gone,” Rutchick said.
“It still looks very full, but we know everything that’s
missing.”
She says the
thieves seemed to know what they were doing.
“These
were very discerning plant thieves,” she said.
Gardening
equipment
"Summer
Brings Rash of Lawn Mower Thefts"
(TriCities.com)
A slew of lawn
equipment has gone missing, in what police said has been a rash of storage
shed break-ins.
Bristol,Tenn., police have seen an increase in
thefts of lawn mowers, weed trimmers, chainsaws and hedge trimmers, Capt.
Charlie Thomas said. The equipment is often stored in an outdoor shed, and
Thomas said the thefts have occurred all over the city, often in the early
morning hours.
Scuba
gear
"Dive
Shop Theft Suspect Caught on Security Cameras" (WINK)
LEE COUNTY,
Fla. - Investigators have released surveillance photos from a May 10th theft
at a Lee County scuba diving shop.
"We trust
our customers, I love my customers, but I do have surveillance cameras
throughout the entire store," said ScubaVice
Diving Center owner Ramiro Palma.
It's a security
measure that came in handy at the store on McGregor Boulevard, after a young
man and woman came into the store on May 10. Deputies say the woman
distracted the clerk while the man grabbed a diving computer out of the
display case and stuffed it down his pants.
Snack
foods
"Discarded
Wrappers Used to Track Snack Thieves" (Associated
Press)
Police say they
followed a trail of discarded wrappers to track down four people who
allegedly burglarized a Little League snack bar.
La Mesa Police
Sgt. Colin Atwood tells U-T San Diego (http://bit.ly/JEcEyF) that police were
called late Thursday night about a lot of noise at the Rolando Little League
snack bar in Rolando Park.
Atwood says
officers followed empty cookie, chip and Cheetos packages for about two
blocks to a home where more snacks were found in a car.
Atwood says one
man, two women and a girl were arrested for investigation of burglary. The
girl was taken to Juvenile Hall.
Dogs
"Pet
Thefts on the Rise" (WRGB)
SCHENECTADY --
A local family is desperately searching for their dog after she was taken
from her home on Wednesday.
Foxy, a pomeranian, was stolen from the front porch of her family's
McClellan Street home while her owner was inside for two minutes. A neighbor
witnessed the alleged thieves, a woman and a young girl, pull up in front of
the house and snatch the dog.
Authorities are
encouraging pet owners to be on the lookout, as pet thefts are on the rise
during summer months. The most regular dog thieves are those who are training
fighting dogs.
"They will
steal other peoples dogs and actually use them for
what they call 'bait dogs,'" said Brad Shear of the Mohawk Hudson Humane
Society.
The American
Kennel Club tracks thefts through a national database and cite a 32% increase
in 2011.
Michael J. Panzner
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