FedEx Bandit

[Mannyman]

Update:
The thief came back!!
<_<
We were expecting more packages last week so we left a letter sized note taped to the front door, asking the delivery guy not to drop off packages.

I have new footage of him on camera 1 but he must have stopped short of activating camera2.

This tells me the guy is local.

I think it's time to try my gps tracker idea, plus I'll have a maglite in hand as well.

 

[dbinaz]

u should totaly do it. would be so worth it. guy needs a good ass-kicking.

 

[fitzpatri8]

Update:
The thief came back!!
<_<
We were expecting more packages last week so we left a letter sized note taped to the front door, asking the delivery guy not to drop off packages.

I have new footage of him on camera 1 but he must have stopped short of activating camera2.

This tells me the guy is local.

I think it's time to try my gps tracker idea, plus I'll have a maglite in hand as well.

Was it the same delivery guy, too? Was the time difference between drop-off and attempted pickup similar or different? Makes me wonder if the guy is 1) local, 2) just following a random FedEx van and watching for "interesting looking" packages, or 3) related somehow, and getting a phone call from the delivery guy about packages left on front steps.

 

[Mannyman]

UPS this time instead of FedEx.
I thought the same thing regarding a connection, but have had many deliveries without incident.
It looks like the thief just wanted to read the note as there were not any boxes to attract him to the porch.
My wife wonders how much trouble I can get into by beating him senseless...?

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

My wife wonders how much trouble I can get into by beating him senseless...?

If you beat him senseless he will probably recover in a couple of days, and possibly wind up doing this again.

Instead, if you can screw with his mind and get him thinking about this for days on end, well, this will be more of a victory for you. <_<

So, before making this suggestion I must declare the following: CocoonTech is NOT responsible for any resulting legal issues/actions/liabilities/bad feelings/ANYTHING associated with the following comments. Also, anyone reading these comments and actually performing any actions resulting from them does so at their own risk.

OK, well, let’s say, hypothetically, that you purchase some green slime that the kids play with. Then you get some "Danger, Radiation" stickers. You double box your package so the radiation stickers are on the box inside. Then package the slime in a "loose" baggie. Also type up some official looking letter stating that this is for laboratory use only and how any interaction, even for short periods of time could cause irreversible skin damage, etc, etc... Have the return address from some fictitious laboratory.

Don't ship the package, just place it outside with a scanned shipping sticker from an older package (this might be safer), then when a delivery is made, this package is already at your front door (may be liabilities and laws against shipping something like this).

Now think of the fun. He opens the package, sees the radiation sticker, opens that package, gets green looking slime on him, reads the letter, mission accomplished .

I’m sure our membership can even come up with something to top this!

Good luck,

BSR

 

[Smarty]

While I personally would want to beat the living snot out of the bandit, I am afraid most anything you do short of letting the cops/postal inspector catch the dude might escalate the situation <_< .

A REALLY GOOD camera shot is what is needed.

Manny, I feel for you......

These shorts of things can get under your skin and you spend more time and thought on them that should be spent elsewhere....... But, boy they piss you off!!!

 

[Digger]

Maybe you can buy one of those dye packs the banks use???

Would be funny if one of your neighbors kids was "green" all of a sudden.

 

[fitzpatri8]

You definitely gets points for creativity, BSR!

I'd hate for that clever little act to backfire, however--if the perp reported the incident, Manny might end up at Guantanamo Bay for God only knows how long trying to explain that he WASN'T involved in domestic terror activity, while the thief might just get a job as a paid informant!

Beating the lowlife senseless seems much more straightforward...

 

[ctay]

Any way you can change the camera angle before your next package so you can get a clear shot of this slime bag's ugly mug? Being that he came back I would say that the odds of him being local are quickly approaching 100%. Try to get a high quality snap shot of him then give it to the police. One thing though, police don't usually do much unless they have a "suspect" so if you can give them some guess of who may be the masked man they will be more likly to move on him.

Of course there is always the SSS. (Shoot, Shovel & Shut up) :blink: :unsure:

Hey I'm just saying....

 

[Mannyman]

Any different placement of the cameras would be too obvious.
But I'll keep trying ...

I just bought the GPS tracker (30$ cell phone) from Target today, have a data cable and will download/install the software tonight so by next week :

Operation Thief Hunt begins.

Manny

 

[Digger]

Here on Long Island a local town installed GPS tracking devices (Nextel Cell phone type) in all of the town vehicles. Someone broke in and stole about 20 or so of them one night. Well they apparently did not know what they were stealing since one of the guys had one in his hand when the cops knocked on his door the next day to get it back :unsure:

rumour has it he wont need a tracking device anyore since he will be confined to a cell for a few months at the very least according to the paper.

 

[Gemini]

Try to get a high quality snap shot of him then give it to the police. One thing though, police don't usually do much unless they have a "suspect" so if you can give them some guess of who may be the masked man they will be more likly to move on him.

Very true... I had a perfect picture of a thief and vandal. I turned it over to the police, but if nobody knows who he is, then it does absolutely nothing in catching the crooks.

 

[fitzpatri8]

I just bought the GPS tracker (30$ cell phone) from Target today, have a data cable and will download/install the software tonight so by next week :

Operation Thief Hunt begins.

Manny

Be sure to package the phone with some paperwork indicating that the repair was successful or some such thing, so that he'll have reason to keep it long enough for you to track him. If you don't create a persuasive enough ruse and he catches on, you are liable to track it right back to a trash dumpster.

Thanks for keeping us informed. Should you or any member of your team be captured, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Good luck, Jim...er...Manny!

 

[Mannyman]

I'M A FREAKIN IDIOT!!!!

I had the Boost Mobile GPS tracker ready and tested.
Placed it in a box (bit bigger than a shoe box) with newspaper and put the box into a recently delivered DHL bag.

I was home all day ducking from the front windows so as not to be seen from outside.
I put on some steel toed boots, plus shin guards and a cup I have from kick boxing.

By 2pm I was about to give it up and try again on Monday.

I heard a car pull up, and someone get out, I caught a glimpse from the den and started making my way to the front door, with a Maglite in hand.

In all the excitement, my adrenalin rush made me forget about the GPS.

TOO SOON!!
I opened the front door while he was still 2 feet away from the package.

Once again:
I'M A FREAKIN IDIOT!!!!

This guy had a goat-tee. I wasn't sure if it was the same guy.

He was completely caught off guard and started babbling about some guy he knew who used to live at my house before me (my neighbors later confirmed that there was only a little old lady here for the last fifteen years.) He said that he lived just around the corner from me. That his name is Richard Parker.

I followed him to his car casually.

I still had the mag-lite in hand (so I guess I wasn't that casual) and with other I was trying to get my camera phone out of my pocket. I used the pretense of bringing in the recycle bin. As he was leaving I saw boxes in his back seat (he may have just robbed some other people.) I check the picture I snapped and it was all black, stupid fat fingers. He waves as he drives off.

Screw it!
I run inside and get in my car. I'm telling myself I'm not paranoid, that he was after the decoy.
I start looking for him around all the winding roads and dead ends that are "right around the corner", and nothing.
I head back to my street and there he was to my left.
I hit the gas and he knows I'm tailing him.
He slows down and rolls down his window, and I yell out "Show me your ID"
He says that he told me the truth about who he was and what he was doing. We've stopped traffic but I don't care.
I bluff and say, "Don't make me pull out my gun."
"You have a gun?" he asks.
"and it's licensed, baby!, I answer.
(Note: I know I sound retarded, but that's what came out.)

He pulls over, and I'm thinking I wonder how far I'll take this. Cars are passing us as we're on the side of the road. I leave the flashlight in the car and he shows me an empty wallet, some kind of cardboard id , and a picture of a kid with a soccer ball. He says that's all the id he has and that he's just out of jail.I'm still not a 100% sure he's the same guy or another thief. He hasn't done anything threatening so I'm standing there pretty much impotent.

He asks what this is all about. I tell him I've been robbed recently, and that if he were me he'd do the same, right?
"Yeah", he answers as the question was rhetorical.
This time I aim slowly and snap a picture of his lic. plate.
He makes a u turn and gets on the nearby freeway, probably to his real home.

The whole conversation and experience seemed like some kind of game we were playing. I didn't catch him red handed, so did not call him a thief to his face, and he had to act innocent without giving me any real info about himself.

I called the cops again, and asked to speak with the officer that took my last statement. I said I had a lic. plate number this time. The lady just forwarded me to "investigations" where I left a voicemail.

I'll be posting the video from the sec.cams soon.

My neighbors are proud of me, and tell me it's unlikely he'll be back.

I'm mostly pissed at myself for ruining the trap that would have had this guy in possesion of stolen property plus an address to follow or give to the police.

I guess that's why I'm not in the law enforcement business.

So there you go...

 

[brotsten]

Dude, you got major balls....