Putting the “Petty” in “Petty Crime”: A company vehicle was recently broken into when an unknown suspect smashed the driver’s window. It seems the smasher passed over an expensive digital camera, among other items, and chose, instead, to take about four dollars in loose change from the console. Nothing else was stolen or damaged.Pop, Boom, Bang: A woman has been dealing with a number of harassing phone calls from three different callers. They have all called and threatened her, one stating, “You better hope I don’t kick your ass before you get downtown.” Another suspect threatened, “We’re going to get you anywhere we see you. We’re going to kick your ass.” The third suspect, however, perhaps delivered the most intimidating message when he warned, “I’ve got something for you that goes POW! I’m going to cut you and split your wig.” The victim stated that the suspects are doing this because she had one of them arrested for assault.
Suspicious Minds: Three deposits, totaling over $4,500, have been stolen from a local fast food chain. While it’s not known for sure who committed this crime, the most likely suspect appeared even more suspicious when he entered the business, turned in his keys, and told the assistant manager he was quitting.
Caddyshack: A turnhouse at a local golf course was recently broken into after hours. The unknown suspect used bolt cutters to cut the locks of the numerous cases of beer and candy — $500 worth — and then fled into the night.Too Late: Deciding that his vehicle could use a nice cleansing, one man went outside to find that his car needed much more than a washing: someone had set his car on fire. Unfortunately, he was too late with the hose as the fire had already died out.Freezing Your Assets: A local grocery store recently had some items stolen by two cooperative thieves: one did the stealing, the other drove the getaway car. A witness saw the suspect grab $250 of frozen meat, stuff it down his pants, and run out of the store to the waiting vehicle.”…Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?” Talk about your feelings of inadequacy, apparently hiding stolen goods down your pants is a popular method for some male shoplifters. In this instance, however, the man wasn’t packing any meat. This one managed to run away with about 20 boxes of cigars inside his trousers. Is that Freudian or what?No, it’s Not Mary Poppins: Another shoplifting occurred at a local department store, this time by a woman. She was seen entering the dressing room with four shirts and two pairs of pants. When she exited, however, she didn’t have the items with her. When she was approached outside the store, the items were found, not down her pants, but in her purse.Joy Ride: A man recently discovered that his son’s battery-powered car, which is large enough for the kid to ride in, was missing from his front porch. A witness saw juvenile suspects with the item on the grounds of the apartment complex. After searching, the man found the item in a wooded area near the building. It had been damaged.
Did Somebody Miss the U-Haul? One family of four recently had their home broken into and had over $7,400 in items stolen. The items include four TV sets (three of which were over 25″), one satellite dish, a VCR, a large plastic jug filled with $300 in silver change, an answering machine, two stereo systems, speaker stands, three diamond rings, a watch, gold chains, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, a gold ring, a video camera, five pairs of Timberland boots, a Playstation and four of its games, a cell phone, four jerseys, three baseball hats, a BB gun, and a jacket. A pair of black suede boots were found in the backyard, apparently dropped by the unknown robber(s): one can’t imagine how.
Blotter items are chosen from the files of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.
This article appears in Jul 10-16, 2002.
