5 ms·

This angry inventor has a special gift for package thieves: Revenge

11 points by fmihaila 9y ago

londons_explore 9y ago
This guy had 20 packages stolen, after he made the exploding box? Sounds unlikely to me... The chances that there are 20 distinct thieves in the area, who all try to steal this one box? If that were the case, pretty much every legit amazon package in the area must be being stolen too...
- sjg007 9y ago
  Doesn't surprise me. There are people driving around neighborhoods all day long looking for packages.
ainiriand 9y ago
Those people are really scumbags. I think this invention is something good that has to bring some sanity to the world while the police is there not doing their job.
billconan 9y ago
How many of you have packages stolen? Some of my friends constantly have this problem. There should be some ideas like this to solve it.
geebee 9y ago
I'd be very careful about doing this - it appears illegal and could lead to civil and criminal sanctions against the person who left the blank-filled package. This concern is confirmed by statements from the police in this article. There are a couple of scenarios that worry me here. First, suppose a neighbor (perhaps a child) sees or hears about a package thief in the area and decides to take the packages for safekeeping until the owner is back. The neighbor grabs a blank loaded package, is terrified, and falls down the stairs suffering injury (IANAL, but let's get law student case study-ish here and say "suffers grievous bodily injury"). My guess is that the case against the property owner who set the booby trapped package would be strong, and criminal charges are possible here as well. Now, replace the above scenario where it is a thief? My understanding is that the property owner could still be charged and/or sued.
- JoeAltmaier 9y ago
  Isn't there something about you can't sue for damages incurred during the commission of a felony? Or is that just TV cop shows.
  - geebee 9y ago
    Sorry, IANAL. My guess is that there are probably some legal protections in that situation, but not enough to shield you from criminal charges or lawsuits. But I don't really know.
    - JoeAltmaier 9y ago
      A quick google turns up the doctrine of 'unclean hands' but not sure what that it.
  - smt88 9y ago
    Some states have statutes against using dangerous defenses against property crimes. For example, those laws make it illegal to shoot someone to death for stealing a purse or to write a bomb to explode if your bike is stolen. On another note, I'm pretty sure stealing a package isn't a felony. It's not as serious as stealing US mail out of a mailbox.
- vladsanchez 9y ago
  Yeah right, ScumBagAmerica can sue you? You're not a lawyer but you certainly show good enough background to support a frivolous case. It really baffles me to think anyone trying to protect their property would be sued by someone trying to steal their property. (facepalm)
  - sjg007 9y ago
    You can resolve your misunderstanding using your favorite search engine. You can be sued if someone injures themselves on your property, even if they are trespassing. They may not have a strong claim if the injury was self-sustained during a trespass, but if you caused the injury either directly or indirectly by negligence you would probably be liable. Certainly, setting a blank box or not posting warnings about known hazards would not help your case.
colanderman 9y ago
These videos make clear a suggestion I've seen elsewhere: Put security cameras at ground level, facing up. Perps are almost always hooded or hatted. Side note, does anyone know how effective it is to shame, through the media, local law enforcement into actually acting on surveillance videos like these? It boggles my mind that LE, presented with video evidence and an identity, would decline to press charges.

11 points by fmihaila 9y ago

This guy had 20 packages stolen, after he made the exploding box? Sounds unlikely to me... The chances that there are 20 distinct thieves in the area, who all try to steal this one box? If that were the case, pretty much every legit amazon package in the area must be being stolen too...

sjg007 9y ago
Doesn't surprise me. There are people driving around neighborhoods all day long looking for packages.

ainiriand 9y ago

Those people are really scumbags. I think this invention is something good that has to bring some sanity to the world while the police is there not doing their job.

billconan 9y ago

How many of you have packages stolen? Some of my friends constantly have this problem. There should be some ideas like this to solve it.

geebee 9y ago

I'd be very careful about doing this - it appears illegal and could lead to civil and criminal sanctions against the person who left the blank-filled package. This concern is confirmed by statements from the police in this article. There are a couple of scenarios that worry me here. First, suppose a neighbor (perhaps a child) sees or hears about a package thief in the area and decides to take the packages for safekeeping until the owner is back. The neighbor grabs a blank loaded package, is terrified, and falls down the stairs suffering injury (IANAL, but let's get law student case study-ish here and say "suffers grievous bodily injury"). My guess is that the case against the property owner who set the booby trapped package would be strong, and criminal charges are possible here as well. Now, replace the above scenario where it is a thief? My understanding is that the property owner could still be charged and/or sued.

JoeAltmaier 9y ago
Isn't there something about you can't sue for damages incurred during the commission of a felony? Or is that just TV cop shows.
- geebee 9y ago
  Sorry, IANAL. My guess is that there are probably some legal protections in that situation, but not enough to shield you from criminal charges or lawsuits. But I don't really know.
  - JoeAltmaier 9y ago
    A quick google turns up the doctrine of 'unclean hands' but not sure what that it.
- smt88 9y ago
  Some states have statutes against using dangerous defenses against property crimes. For example, those laws make it illegal to shoot someone to death for stealing a purse or to write a bomb to explode if your bike is stolen. On another note, I'm pretty sure stealing a package isn't a felony. It's not as serious as stealing US mail out of a mailbox.
vladsanchez 9y ago
Yeah right, ScumBagAmerica can sue you? You're not a lawyer but you certainly show good enough background to support a frivolous case. It really baffles me to think anyone trying to protect their property would be sued by someone trying to steal their property. (facepalm)
- sjg007 9y ago
  You can resolve your misunderstanding using your favorite search engine. You can be sued if someone injures themselves on your property, even if they are trespassing. They may not have a strong claim if the injury was self-sustained during a trespass, but if you caused the injury either directly or indirectly by negligence you would probably be liable. Certainly, setting a blank box or not posting warnings about known hazards would not help your case.

colanderman 9y ago

These videos make clear a suggestion I've seen elsewhere: Put security cameras at ground level, facing up. Perps are almost always hooded or hatted. Side note, does anyone know how effective it is to shame, through the media, local law enforcement into actually acting on surveillance videos like these? It boggles my mind that LE, presented with video evidence and an identity, would decline to press charges.