Clothing Recycling Group Busts Collection Bin Thief With GPS Hidden In A Teddy Bear

Just for the record, a bin full of discarded clothing isn’t necessarily a free-for-all — and by plundering such a container, you could be taking items from others who are sorely in need of it. That’s why the manager of a Georgia clothing recycling organization decided to take matters into his own hands and track down whoever was thieving from the bin, by placing a GPS inside a teddy bear planted in a bag of clothing.

A spate of thefts from its bin at a local mall had the organization fed up with the loss of donated items, the Athens Banner-Herald reports, so the company manager set up his very own sting of sorts.

Early one morning he called police to let them know that the teddy bear was on the move, and thus, the hunt began. Staying in contact with the responding officer, the manager kept the bear’s whereabouts on his radar until it got to a shopping center.

When the officer arrived he allegedly saw a man taking bags out of a car and putting them into… another donation bin. He told the officer he was donating leftover clothing from a flea market sale, and said that the bag in the car with the teddy bear inside it had come from his house.

That’s when the officer pulled the GPS device from the stuffed animal in what sounds like a “gotcha!” moment, at which point the suspect confessed to boosting it from the other mall’s bin.

With the clothing valued at about $1 pound for a total of $40 worth of stolen clothing, the man was arrested and charged with misdemeanor theft.

The teddy bear ostensibly was allowed back in the field after proving he still had the guts for the job after The Incident With The G.I. Joe last year, so no more desk job for him.

GPS in teddy bear leads Athens police to thief [Athens Banner-Herald]

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