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My relentless pursuit of the guy who robbed me

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Re: My relentless pursuit of the guy who robbed me

#61

Post by OtherMichael »

brc wrote: post #32

I did some amateur sleuthing as well, but unfortunately the most high tech thing I used was a zoom lens on a digital camera. You see, my neighbourhood thief was knocking off pot plants and outdoor furniture. I saw him walking up the road several times with these items, but the guy looked like a 'roid rager so I wasn't about to start asking questions and figued he might be moving house locally. But then he made the mi…

Given that you gave a photo of your "pot plant" to the police, I'm going to assume that it was not what I first thought it was....

Re: My relentless pursuit of the guy who robbed me

#62

Post by davidw »

bdigital wrote: post #38
Confusion wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He should have stolen the entire car before you would have him sent to prison? If someone were to pickpocket a single $1 bill from my pocket, I'd want him to be punished, to try and deter him from doing it again.

Well there are different theories of justice. Deterrence is certainly one, but rehabilitation is another theory that should be considered. I'm not sure what the correct response is, but the article conveyed an attitude that this was a clear cut narrative on the triumph of good over evil, casting herself as the heroine. Another perspective is that a common thief, desperate to make ends meet, becomes the victim of a vi…

The US could certainly do more for the poor, but when you steal other people's things, you are not the victim any more.

Re: My relentless pursuit of the guy who robbed me

#63

Post by TheAmazingIdiot »

retube wrote: post #13
JacobAldridge wrote: post #2

I know HN etiquette dictates that my comment should add something to the conversation, otherwise a simple upvote will suffice, but I have nothing to add: I just wanted to state that this story is awesome. OK, maybe a few things to add. Snarks would point out that this was overkill, that insurance would have covered most of it (most of it was recovered anyway) and self-sleuthing can lead to dangerous situations. But a…

> Snarks would point out that this was overkill, that insurance would have covered most of it (most of it was recovered anyway) and self-sleuthing can lead to dangerous situations. Possibly true. But nothing is as cathartic as personally tracking down the person that wronged you.

What are you going to do? Kill them? Maim them? Bring it out in blood equity? Or some sort of "bringing them to justice?"

Its just stuff. You never know what the motivations they had for doing it. It could have done all sorts of good, at a cost of some personal sacrifice. Is it wrong? Society says so. But personal "justice" is just as extreme.

And yes, I have had things stolen from me.

Re: My relentless pursuit of the guy who robbed me

#65

Post by trustfundbaby »

jdietrich wrote: post #53

It strikes me that people who are bothered by theft in the modern age just haven't got the whole digital revolution on quite a profound level. She lists the things that bothered her as "the BlackBerry with contact information for dear old friends, the wedding anniversary wallet that her husband bought her when she finished chemo, stuffed with about two years' worth of love letters from her toddlers, hopeful doctors'…

> The wallet itself I kind of get, but the rest is just data

how insensitive. No wonder some people find we hacker/geek types so unlikeable.

Re: My relentless pursuit of the guy who robbed me

#66

Post by trustfundbaby »

TheAmazingIdiot wrote: post #63
retube wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Snarks would point out that this was overkill, that insurance would have covered most of it (most of it was recovered anyway) and self-sleuthing can lead to dangerous situations. Possibly true. But nothing is as cathartic as personally tracking down the person that wronged you.

What are you going to do? Kill them? Maim them? Bring it out in blood equity? Or some sort of "bringing them to justice?" Its just stuff. You never know what the motivations they had for doing it. It could have done all sorts of good, at a cost of some personal sacrifice. Is it wrong? Society says so. But personal "justice" is just as extreme. And yes, I have had things stolen from me.

> What are you going to do? Kill them? Maim them? Bring it out in blood equity? Or some sort of "bringing them to justice?"

Its almost like you didn't read the story or something.

Re: My relentless pursuit of the guy who robbed me

#67

Post by CWuestefeld »

rottencupcakes wrote: post #18

> "By now it was Friday afternoon, and Inspector Vargas does not work weekends or Mondays, thanks to the California state budget cuts." The movies would have you believe that detectives work around the clock and would do anything and everything to catch a crook. Rude awakening. Seems like a lot of crimes must go unsolved because of this - time just seems like such a critical aspect of a lot of cases.

From what I've seen, most small crimes do go unsolved, at least in areas where the police have more to do than sit behind a corner waiting for speeders.

Petty theft is typically (AIUI) dealt with by giving the victim a copy of a police report for use with the insurance company, and then dropping the original into a file cabinet.

Re: My relentless pursuit of the guy who robbed me

#68

Post by wooter »

I wouldn't have contributed to putting a guy who is engaged and about to have a child in jail for 2 years (which would probably piss a lot of people off) and then posted the whole story, in intimate detail, on a popular site, tied to my real identity.

The story is entertaining but the guy lost a lot more than her and it seems pretty foolish to tell the world it was because of her. If the guy uses craigslist, myspace, dating sites, and facebook, how many degrees of separation can there really be? I hope a lot.

Re: My relentless pursuit of the guy who robbed me

#69

Post by BrandonM »

IgorPartola wrote: post #55
jdietrich wrote: post #53

It strikes me that people who are bothered by theft in the modern age just haven't got the whole digital revolution on quite a profound level. She lists the things that bothered her as "the BlackBerry with contact information for dear old friends, the wedding anniversary wallet that her husband bought her when she finished chemo, stuffed with about two years' worth of love letters from her toddlers, hopeful doctors'…

Have you ever been robbed? Also, it sounds like the "transient things" were the things that helped her get through chemo. Have you every gone through that?

I agree... being robbed induces sharp feelings of rage and helplessness that don't fade for a long time. That said, I voted the grandparent up (from -1) because there are a couple good points in there.

Re: My relentless pursuit of the guy who robbed me

#70

Post by kenjackson »

jdietrich wrote: post #53

It strikes me that people who are bothered by theft in the modern age just haven't got the whole digital revolution on quite a profound level. She lists the things that bothered her as "the BlackBerry with contact information for dear old friends, the wedding anniversary wallet that her husband bought her when she finished chemo, stuffed with about two years' worth of love letters from her toddlers, hopeful doctors'…

The best we can do is lock people up for longer periods of time -- at least for crimes with victims (robbery, murder, assault, rape, etc...).
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