Posted on 12/18/2005 8:16:00 AM PST by SmithL
In the annals of law enforcement, it may go down as the great "Toilet Paper Caper" -- a high-tech sting operation that enlisted even the Oakland Police Department's internal affairs division, to catch a thief who was swiping bathroom wipes out of the Civic Center complex.
It all started about a week and a half ago when people began complaining about the lack of toilet paper in the building's bathrooms.
"At first, we blamed the staff for not filling the receptacles,'' said Derin Minor, the complex's assistant manager. "But then I noticed that the cardboard spools at the end of the rolls were missing, too. So someone was taking the whole thing."
But who? And why?
The first step was to establish a time frame for when the heists were going down. The janitors began frequent checks of the toilets and found the stalls were coming up short between 6:45 a.m. and 7:15 a.m.
Next, authorities enlisted some high tech-help, matching the times with tapes from the complex's closed-circuit TVs.
Bingo. There was the suspect, entering the building empty-handed -- and leaving a short time later, bag in tow.
Then came the sting operation.
The next time the suspect walked in, janitors were put in place at the entrances to restrooms and other "strategic" locations.
After about 10 minutes, they could hear toilet paper receptacles being ripped open.
Miner and one of the custodians decided to stop the guy before he cleaned out the entire building. When they moved in, he bounded down the emergency stairs and headed for the door, toilet paper and all.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
What a crappy thing to do.
All other crimes in Oakland have been solved, so the police needed something to do.
What, as opposed to unwinding the whole roll and putting it in your pocket or purse to take home and wind back onto an empty roll?
Hey, never can have enough tp on hand.
In other news, 1 murder and 2 rapes were occuring somewhere in Oakland during the tp sting.
For those who haven't been to Oakland CA..... There is nothing that has any value that isn't nailed down that doesn't get stolen here. Including TP.
Give a guy abreak!
He must have beeeen fool of sheeeet and neeeeded some toylet papeeeer. He is publik, so wat's rong with taking his paper from his publik rooms of rest, ha?
Jus' bring your own or use New Yorkie Times!
Assuming it's the right guy (seems to be...caught red-handed), I'm glad they caught him and made the citizen's arrest. I don't care that he left the handicapped stalls' paper there...he stole $200 worth of stuff and should know better, being on parole already!
I worked in a bar back in the mid-80's where stealing TP was costing the owner a thousand (if not more a year). We caught two people from the same family brown handed and barred them for life. A week later another bar owner caught the same two and prosecuted them. They got two years in Co. jail.
Was the guy scalping all those "poo tickets"?
BTW, from ATJ (usenet) today:
A drunken man staggers in to a Catholic church and sits down in a confession box and says nothing. The bewildered
priest coughs to attract his attention, but still the man says nothing. The priest then knocks on the wall three
times in a final attempt to get the man to speak.
Finally, the drunk replies: "No use knockin' mate, there's no paper in this one either."
Sitting in thecubicle, A guy enters the next door one. After a while he asked me, "Got any toilet paper over there?" I saw there was very little so I said "No." A bit later he asks, "Got a newspaper over there?" I said "No." Finally he asks "Got change for a $50?"....Joke, didn't really happen.
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