It was only yesterday that we were bemoaning the fact that yet again, we had to call attention to a report of a man arrested for molesting a female passenger on a flight. Here we are today with another story — a different man and a different victim, but all too familiar allegations. [More]
Crime & Fraud
Cops: Suspected Phone Thief Called 9-1-1 Because Victim Wouldn’t Leave Her Alone
By 8.13.14
Who do you turn to when some stranger is harassing you, refusing to leave you alone? The police, of course. But perhaps not, if the reason this person won’t stop bothering you is that you happened to steal his phone just moments before. Ah, life lessons. [More]
Ex-Bank Worker Charged With Insurance Fraud For Claiming PTSD After Robbing Her Workplace
By 8.12.14
A former manager at a Bank of America branch in California who was already convicted of helping bank robbers steal from her place of employment found herself in even hotter water, after officials said she had the “audacity” to also file a bogus workers’ compensation claim. She said the robbery — which, again, she was in on — left her with post-traumatic stress disorder. [More]
Police Somehow Not Fooled By $100K Maserati Painted Like A Cop Car
By 8.12.14
Cop car paint colors? Check. Some sort of shield with some sort of saying on the side? Done. K-9 and 9-1-1 decals in appropriate spots? Got’em. Yet somehow, police in Massachusetts realized that a Maserati isn’t likely to be a real cop car. Because hello, $100,000 (give or take a few thousand) sports car, you’ve clearly got better things to do than impersonating a police cruiser. [More]
Scammers Call Restaurants At Peak Hours, Demanding They Pay Power Bill Now Or Lose Service
By 8.12.14
A good con artist knows that distraction and an added sense of urgency can help to separate a mark from his money. If you want to hustle a cashier into believing that he gave you the wrong change, it helps to have a line of impatient customers behind you. And if you want a restaurant to pay an electric bill they don’t actually owe, there’s no better time to threaten them with losing service than the lunch rush. [More]
A Booze Burglar Is Stealing Beers From Town’s Refrigerators For Second Summer In A Row
By 8.12.14
Residents of a Texas town are clutching their cans and bottles of beer closely, as the city’s residents are being plagued once again by a mysterious booze burglar. Someone is breaking into garage refrigerators and even homes simply to swipe beer, for the second summer in a row. IS NOTHING SACRED ANYMORE?!? [More]
Woman Climbs Airport Fence To Try To Stop Her Cheating Husband From Flying Away
By 8.12.14
A word to those hurting hearts out there: We feel your pain, but if you think your husband is flying off to see another woman, there are other ways to go about mending that broken heart other than climbing a 10-foot high barbed wire fence at an airport to try and stop his plane from taking off. [More]
Police Recognize The Guy Who Beat Them In Doughnut Eating Contest As Robbery Suspect, Arrest Him
By 8.11.14
It’s one thing to return to the scene of the crime, but to show up at an even packed with law enforcement after spending months on the run from police? That is just a behavior in its very own category. [More]
Scam Artist Tries To Play Landlord, Collect Rent For House He Doesn’t Own
By 8.7.14
A woman in California was about to put down a $1,500 deposit on the house she’d just been shown by a nice young man who was managing the rental property for his dad. Luckily, she told her real estate agent pal about her new digs before she was scammed out of her hard-earned cash. [More]
Attention Parents: The LEGO Store Is Not A Day Care Center
By 8.7.14
LEGO stores are fun and amazing places for children, collectors, and for human beings in general. However, there is one thing they are not: a child care service where parents can ditch their kids while they shop. A mother from Long Island learned this earlier this week after she was arrested when she returned to the store to pick up her 7-year-old son. [More]
Jerk Or Genius: Burger King Customer Buys 23 Apple Pies Just So Loudmouthed Kid Can’t Get One
By 8.6.14
We’ve all had to stand in line next to some insufferable brat of a child who won’t stop shouting out his desires for the entire world to hear. But most of us don’t have the gall to do what one Burger King customer claims to have done. [More]
Police: Do You Have Four Logs Of Swiss Cheese Stuffed Down Your Pants Or… (Insert Punchline)
By 8.6.14
I can imagine getting away with stuffing one log of rather expensive Swiss cheese down your pants and passing it off as a “No big deal, nothing to see here, just a guy walking around a store,” situation. But four logs of cheese? Come on now, we know you’re not just really, really happy to see us. [More]
Police Arrest Rite Aid Customer Because Shooting Up Heroin At The Pharmacy Isn’t Okay
By 8.6.14
Sure, waiting in line at the pharmacy can feel like a test of one’s patience during what feels like an insufferable amount of time. But while I’m not sure shooting up with heroin while you’re there makes the line go any faster, I do know it’ll get you kicked out of the pharmacy pretty darn quick, no matter how long you’ve been waiting. [More]
Bakery Robbers Demand Cash, Get 2 Doughnuts Instead
By 8.5.14
Early this morning, a pair of would-be bakery robbers walked into a bakery and demanded $20. The person staffing the counter, who happened to be the bakery owner’s 79-year-old mom, made them a counter-offer of two glazed doughnuts. They accepted. [More]
Man Uses “I Wasn’t Robbing Anyone, Cashier Just Handed The Cash To Me” Defense
By 8.5.14
We’ve all had that weird experience when suddenly, the cashier will just force you to take a bunch of the cash from the cash register. And then, because that’s so weird, the instinct is to just flee, right? Wait, that’s not normal, you say? Weird. But that’s what one guy accused of robbing a local grocery store is claiming. [More]
Facebook-Shaming Gets Another Dine-And-Dash Artist To Pay Up
By 8.5.14
Even though it’s no different than other forms of theft, it can sometimes be difficult to get the authorities worked up about a restaurant customer who skips out on a meal without paying. But some restaurant owners are having success with getting these dine-and-dash scofflaws to pay up by publicly shaming them on social media. [More]
Woman Shouting Obscenities Kicked Off U.S. Airways Flight
By 8.5.14
While we’ve never had occasion to experience it, getting kicked off a plane cannot be a fun time. But it isn’t just a terrible experience for the person in the midst of being taken away, but often it’s a very uncomfortable, cringeworthy event for all those around. To wit: A woman screaming obscenities at her captors on a US Airways flight as they take her into custody and force her off the plane. [More]
When Your Parents Don’t Let You Make Pot Brownies At Home, Don’t Break Into A Stranger’s House
By 8.4.14
First of all, let us acknowledge that it is unclear what kind of drugs two teens allegedly baked into brownies at an absent stranger’s house. But based on the pop culture knowledge we possess here at Consumerist (Have you seen Half Baked? That Dave Chappelle is going places!), we’re gonna go ahead and guess that they were making pot brownies. Allegedly. [More]
