It’s the definition of small-time crime: a thief who was apparently in a hurry to get some free frosty snacks allegedly walked off with the frequent-customer stamp at a California shaved ice stand. He also grabbed some cash from the tip jar while he was at it. The owners put their faith in the power of public shaming and posted the surveillance video on their Facebook page. [More]
crime
Don’t Rob A Store, Then Leave A Real Job Application Behind
By 7.10.13
We’re all about multitasking here at Consumerist: as I write this, I am also running a load of laundry and petting a dog with my foot. For example. If you want to save time while running errands, though, don’t follow the lead of a man who combined robbing a store with applying for a job at them, leaving behind an application with his real contact information. [More]
San Francisco Landlords Plead Guilty To Making Tenants’ Lives Miserable
By 6.20.13
The couple who took over ownership of a San Francisco apartment building in 2006 wanted their tenants out. That can be very inconvenient for the tenants, but it happens. The tactics they used during their two-year reign of tenant terror were unusual, ranging from stealing and trashing tenants’ belongings to cutting floorboards, setting fires, and forging e-mailed death threats from tenants to their own attorneys. [More]
Man Ate In Restaurants, Refused To Pay: Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison
By 6.17.13
Authorities don’t know why an Illinois man skipped out on his tabs at two restaurants. Was he broke? Was the food terrible? We don’t know. What we do know is that twice in a period of two months, he ordered a nice meal at a restaurant, then simply told waitstaff that he couldn’t pay and waited for the police to arrive. [More]
Man Commits Murder In Sporting Goods Store With Convenient Baseball Bat
By 6.10.13
All police know is this: the two men who got into a fight inside the Sports Authority knew each other, and had a physical altercation. Unfortunately, they happened to be in a sporting goods store, where baseball bats are handy. Now one of the men is dead, and the other has been arrested for his murder. [More]
Man Accused Of Filming Tween Girls In Gap Changing Room With His iPhone
By 5.31.13
According to police, a 24-year-old Minnesota man went on a voyeuristic rampage at a local mall in April, slipping his iPhone under the door of a Gap changing room, up a shopper’s skirt, and into a ladies’ room stall. Surveillance camera footage and information from a Gap worker who happened to have attended high school with the suspect led to his arrest. [More]
Alleged Shoplifter Makes A Run For It, Loses Pants
By 5.23.13
Always dress for the task at hand. If you’re going on a long hike, wear layers. Going to the beach? Put on some sunscreen. Suspicious clouds in the sky? Pack an umbrella. And if you’re going shoplifting, for gosh sakes, make sure your clothes fit properly. And put on some underpants. [More]
Colorado Dad Goes Out For Ice Cream, Thwarts Robbery
By 5.21.13 — Updated: 5.22.13
Staying with her dad for the weekend, a Colorado girl wondered why it took so long for her dad to run to Safeway for some ice cream. When he got back, she asked him what the delay was all about. “I had to break up a robbery,” he said. Yeah, right. But unlike when your dad kids about being a superhero, it was true! [More]
McDonald’s Drive-Thru Worker Spots Own Stolen Car Pulling Up To Window
By 5.16.13
A McDonald’s employee may have left her car unlocked outside of her apartment complex overnight–she doesn’t remember. That didn’t mean that she deserved to have it stolen, though. She woke up to discover that her car was missing, then spotted the culprit…in the drive-thru lane at her workplace. [More]
Man Arrested For Overnight Grocery Store Feast Of Whipped Cream, Steak, Shrimp, And Beer
By 5.15.13
According to police, a Kentucky man held the best overnight grocery store campout ever in the wee hours of Monday morning. Employees knew that something was up when they found 57 cans of Reddi-Whip brand whipped cream in the store’s trash. The whipped cream cans use nitrous oxide as a propellant, see. Oh, but the festivities didn’t stop there. [More]
Hobby Lobby May Have Overreacted To Theft Of $5 Worth Of Iron-On Letters
By 5.3.13
A Texas woman might be a little absentminded or beginning to suffer from dementia, but says that she didn’t mean to walk out of a craft store with a handful of embroidered iron-on letters. Unfortunately, she was shopping at Hobby Lobby, a chain whose management takes loss prevention almost as seriously as their Christian faith. The store wants the customer and her daughter to pay more than $1,000 in fines and civil penalties for the theft. [More]
Bank Investigators Do Not Need You To Withdraw $6,000 Cash And Give It To Them
By 4.25.13 — Updated: 4.26.13
Bank fraud is pretty serious business, and investigating it is important work. Banks do not, however, need you to help. If someone calls you up claiming to need your help with an investigation, do not help them. Do not withdraw thousands of dollars from the bank and give it to the “investigator.” It’s too late for two elderly women outside of Albany, New York, who withdrew $5,800 and $6,400 from their accounts, respectively. [More]
Taco Restaurant Cook Allegedly Filmed Ladies’ Room With Hidden Camera Phone
By 4.17.13
Another day, another creepy voyeur gets caught secretly filming customers in the restroom of the establishment where they work. This time, it’s a fast-food taco joint in the suburbs of Chicago, and police have put out a call looking for possible victims. The employee allegedly aimed his phone’s camera at customers using the women’s restroom. [More]
Comfort Food Crime Wave Continues: Man Steals Truckload Of Soup
By 4.10.13 — Updated: 2.4.14
First, the comfort food crime cartels came for the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve, stealing more than 10,000 barrels and selling it on the amber market. Next was the Nutella theft: someone lifted more than $20,000 worth of choco-hazelnut spread from a truck in Germany. This week, we learned about a crime against one of the most comforting comfort foods, soup. Over the weekend, two men in Florida drove off with a tractor-trailer that contained $75,000 worth. [More]
Two Men Stole $1,000 Worth Of Mucinex From A CVS
March 20, 2013
Watch out for shady black-market over-the-counter drug dealers. Police outside of Pennsylvania’s capital are looking for two men who stole $1,000 worth of Mucinex from a CVS store, and who may or may not have one heck of a cough. If that sounds like a lot, it’s not: it’s less than twenty 100-packs. [WHTM] [More]
Thief Dressed As Deliveryman Walks Out Of Florist With 21 Bouquets On Valentine’s Day
By 2.21.13
Valentine’s Day is a chaotic time for florists, with temporary help mixing with regular staff to get everything delivered on time and to the right recipient. (Well, mostly.) In Chicago, one busy florist claims that a man took advantage of the floral fracas to walk off with 21 flower arrangements worth a total of $2,000. [More]
Starbucks Barista Offers Would-Be Robber Free Coffee Instead Of Cash: Robber Accepts
By 1.21.13
When a would-be robber asked for all of the cash in the register of an Alabama Starbucks, either a quick-thinking cashier or the limits of technology got in his way. According to police, the cashier told him that the drawer wouldn’t open….so would he like a free coffee instead? Score! Free coffee! [More]
Man With Semiautomatic Rifle Kills 2 And Injures 6 At Mall, Then Kills Himself
By 12.12.12
On Tuesday afternoon around 3:30 PM, a man opened fire with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle at the Clackamas Town Center mall in Portland, Oregon. According to police, wo people were killed and as many as six injured, at least one of whom is hospitalized and in serious condition. Early reports indicated that the gunman may have been wearing body armor and/or camouflage, and was wearing the hockey mask associated with Jason in the Friday the 13th films. After firing up to 60 rounds, he killed himself. No law enforcement officers fired any shots inside the mall. [More]
