I think that LSLGuy was referring to the actual person of that name (a state trooper), not the movie character.
The photo is awesome.
That “Kids Zone” looks fun if kids get to play on an excavator.
The real life Trooper Justice was supposedly a Flordia State Trooper (according to Burt Reynolds, as his dad had told him at least). So the idea was that if the RL Trooper Justice was still alive and still an active law enforcement person at the time the movie came out, it might have made things interesting.
(I assume that’s a big reason why legal departments verify if a character shares the name of a real person before a TV show or movie debuts, to avoid potential issues if it is.)
By the way, I’ve tried to find info about the real person but haven’t been able to. I’m not surprised, since the source is reportedly Burt Reynolds mentioning a person his dad told him about. That’s a lot of hearsay.
I’ll also note that this may be one of those internet “facts” that get passed around a lot. Here is an example:
Buford T. Justice, the titular “Smokey” portrayed by Jackie Gleason, was based on a real man. Yes, there really was a cop named Buford T. Justice. The real B.T.J. was a Florida Highway Patrolman known to Reynolds’ father, who himself had once been the Police Chief of Riviera Beach, Florida.
I do find a whiff of credibility here. See this page:
And on that page:
But, the 11th Hour reports, Buford T. Justice is actually based on a real person. The Sun Sentinel explains that Burt Reynolds’ father, Burton M. Reynolds Sr., was chief of police in Riviera Beach, Florida, and Reynolds based the character on a real police officer his father knew. According to author Scott Von Doviak, Gleason had performed a Southern sheriff routine for Reynolds that the star found hilariously accurate — extremely deferential to women and older folks, then viciously profane towards other men. Reynolds combined these characteristics with some actual phrases and mannerisms from his father’s friend — including the classic profanity “sumbitch” — to craft the funny character. The genial cursing that Justice engages in was kind of edgy for a PG-rated film in 1977, which only added to the character’s appeal.
It cites a Sun Sentinel obituary of Burt’s father that is paywalled, so I don’t know what it actually says, but it’s so far the closest thing to a legitimate source backing up the claim. If someone has a subscription already or is willing to pay $1 to satisfy their curiosity (sorry but I’m too cheap) then it might be worth checking out.
Backhoe probably worth more than whatever was in the ATM. So probably stolen I suspect.
Does that mean Junior was based on a younger Burt?
Yeah, but the cash in the machine is much much much easier to get rid of.
We had a wave of similar robberies here in Washington awhile back targeting Walgreens - drive through the glass storefront, hitch a chain to the ATM, drag it away.
Most Walgreens around here got rid of their ATMs, and the store I work at (not a Walgreens) moved the ATM about 50 feet away from the door.
Heh, maybe. 
Though technically Burt Reynolds was a Junior I suppose; his dad’s name was Burton Reynolds.
We’ve had two break-ins here, within the past year, targeting businesses within a block of our house: one a bar, the other a small liquor store.
In both cases, the primary target was the ATM; from what the police officer who investigated the bar break-in told me, some of the smaller, third-party ATMs that you find at bars and such are relatively easy to break open, in order to access the cash repository. He said that a skilled thief can be in and out, with the money, in no more than a minute or two.
Those smaller ATMs probably have less cash in them than the ones at a bank branch, but are probably easier targets.
Right. That’s what the Walgreens around here have/had; the freestanding ones that are about the size of a small refrigerator.
Ref …
Even better if the crooks left the keys in the excavator so the kids could start it up.
In the alternative I can imagine a very comedic low-speed chase through town with the crooks making their getaway on the excavator while wreaking havoc on parked cars with the buckets.
I note this took place in the leafy burbs of Toronto. Not all stupid MFers are American.
I also note this next article from that same source which is another fine example of a Canadian stupid MF who went all Rambo on a bunch of TSA people in Miami. For once Florida Man was the victim, not the perp:
I wonder if there’s something wrong with the water supply in Toronto this week?
Funny. I thought She’s the Sheriff.
Sometimes that’s for the best. The the burglars are going to take that money one way or another, the ATM and/or business owner would probably prefer less of their property damaged.
Not too long ago I saw a clip of someone smashing their truck through the front of the building, including the bars over the doors/windows, chaining the ATM to their truck and taking multiple attempts to break it free, causing more and more damage each time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they shouldn’t secure it, I’m just saying that if those guys could’ve popped the door open, there would be less damage. Here’s the video. It’s watchable (at least for me) without being logged into facebook. But it’s not like there’s a shortage of these videos on youtube.
At my store, at night, empty registers are left open so if someone breaks in, they don’t pry the register drawers open to find nothing. We also used to keep our seafood case locked. Then someone broke in at night and smashed the glass on the front of the case to get the seafood. After that we started locking it during the day and unlocking it at night.
It seems to me that making the argument for a client like Combs that “the rich deserve to be treated differently” is a pretty terrible argument to make, particularly in these days of anger towards billionaires. But then apparently Dershowitz was always kind of a tool.
It’s like a lizard that sheds its tail to a predator.
Just heard on the local news that the same woman from this story was caught again today trying to stow away on another plane. Some people just don’t learn.
It hasn’t even been a week since the the first time. She didn’t seem to get in much trouble, so why stop?
The story is on their website now;
I’m afraid double jeopardy doesn’t work that way, ma’am.
Pretty clearly she’s a wacko. That’s not an excuse, but it does mean the authorities ought to understand that she’ll keep trying as long as she’s not in custody.
Ordinary legal concepts like deterrence or fines simply don’t work on wackos.
If you can break the ATM free from its mountings and get it on a truck, it doesn’t really matter how hard it is to break into the device itself. Once you can get it back to your shop, it’s inevitable that you’re going to be able to crack it open sooner or later.
That depends on whether someone is chasing you. Do ATMs have trackers installed?