How about a spinoff from the “things nobody would steal” thread?
My ex-boyfriend’s house was broken into, and they did not call the police because the only thing missing was his roommate’s marijuana. It was obviously someone they knew, because they also had two big dogs.
When I was a teenager, I worked at Target, and a couple came through my line and there appeared to be nothing remarkable about them, until Security brought them back. I found out later that the woman, who wasn’t all that big, had carried a 13-inch TV, in the box, out of the store BETWEEN HER KNEES.
About 15 years ago, my mom’s car was broken into in downtown DC.
The thieves stole a boxed set of 1950s comedy cassette tapes, and one of my then-7-year-old brother’s batting gloves.
Not the other glove, and not the Gameboy or the Discman which were in the same plastic tub under the seat.
We’ve never been able to figure out what the hell the thieves were thinking. My mom didn’t care about the cassette tapes, so she bought my brother another pair of batting gloves and that was it. Didn’t even report it to the police, because why bother?
Anyone who works in a store that sells it has probably seen it, but saffron and vanilla beans get stolen all the time. it’s the reason my store stopped selling them and many other stores sell them in such big containers.
One of the times our store got broken into the only thing they stole was two of our scales. The cop remarked that they were probably pretty bummed that the scales only weighted in pounds. Even if they were dealing in pounds, it doesn’t have enough resolution to work with drugs.
We’ve also had people break into our store, break into our seafood case and steal all the lobster tails. It’s just a regular freezer like you’d see in a grocery store but we used to keep a lock on it. Then we started unlocking it at night that way if someone broke into the store, at least they wouldn’t have to break those doors also. Same reason empty cash registers are left open at night. No use in having burglars pry them open to find out there’s nothing in them.
About a year ago, I was at my dentist’s office, and noticed there were no magazines in the lobby. I mentioned it to my hygienist and she laughed and said that the previous day, a man walked into the dentist office shortly after it opened, picked up the wooden magazine rack, and walked out the door, taking all the magazines with them. The front desk staff thought it was a prank and waited for him to bring it back in. They saw him drive out of the parking lot. They had no idea who he was.
My apartment was broken into about 25 years ago, and most of my large collection of cassette tapes was stolen. I’ve always wondered about that thief: he took the German lieder, oratorios, most of the operas, and Renaissance music (which can’t have much resale value on the street). But he left behind all the tapes of Wagner’s operas. I guess he had strong musical tastes.
Someone once ransacked my car (I accidentally left it unlocked), strewed everything about as if they were looking for something, but ended up stealing nothing. There wasn’t much valuable in the first place but there were a couple things they could have pawned for at least a few bucks. But no, nothing was taken. My only guess is that someone walked by as they were getting started before they pocketed anything, and just darted away as fast as possible. I really don’t think it was a prank because none of my friends lived nearby and none of them would have pranked me anyway.
A guy who lived across the street from my dad used to mow his father’s lawn once a week. The neighbor’s father lived about a mile away, and being a kind son, mowing the lawn saved his dad some money and gave them an excuse to hang out on the weekend and have a few beers together. On a fine Saturday morning the son is half way through mowing the lawn when he decides to empty the bag. This is a push mower with the bag at the back of the machine. He brings the engine down to idle on the lawnmower and removes the bag.
Leaving the mower running, he takes the bag into the backyard, empties the bag, and goes inside to use the bathroom. He then goes into the backyard to get the empty mower bag and walks around to the front of the house.
I used to work at a prison and I heard how somebody once stole the warden’s desk (this happened a few years before I got there). It was a pretty difficult task because it was a really big desk - six feet across and made out of real wood with a solid marble top. It would have taken a crew of people to have picked it up and carried it out. But despite an investigation they didn’t catch whoever did it.
This was many years ago but I remember a band of thugs broke into a semiconductor plant and stole a truck load of wafers (semiconductors).
They merchandise they stole was worth a few million. But still, this was product that was still in it’s unfinished form. Before that stuff could be usable to anyone, they would still have to, probe the material, send it through a very delicate process called backgrind, cut the individual ICs out with a laser, and finally house the ICs in casings.
These are all very high tech processes, none of which could be done in someone’s garage.
I’ve always wondered about that heist, and how they intended to make that product useful.
That’s a common step for criminals on their way to another crime. Stop and steal a license plate and replace the plate on their car with the stolen one. That way they don’t have to worry about the car being identified by its plate number or take the chance of driving around without a plate. And they do it right before the crime so they minimize the risk that you’ll discover the theft and report it. By the time you saw the plates were missing they had probably already completed whatever robbery they were committing and had switched back to their real plates and dumped yours in a river.
Speaking of license plates, someone used tin snips to cut the corner containing the registration sticker right off my plate. I assume they did that so they could peel the sticker off at their leisure, and either stick it to their own car or sell it.
About ten years ago I had my compact pickup truck broken into while parked in the garage at my apartment. They took a few tools and a flashlight they found behind the seat, but they also stole the dome light housing. :dubious:
I hadn’t realized how much I relied on that light to see what the hell I was doing when getting in at night until it was gone…
The people in the business next to the place I was working at some years ago came in one morning to find that one of their pickups had been broken into overnight and had the dashboard stolen. (the thieves removed the radio first and left it on the passenger seat)
Another common thing that gets stolen from cars are the airbags. If one goes off, they’re expensive to replace with a new one. So there’s a market for cheaper stolen ones. It takes a little skill to remove one but it’s something a car thief will want to learn.
I’d pay good money to see the learning process for this:
Teacher: Ok, now turn the third screw slightly to the left. NO! I SAID LEFT!!!
Air bag: POOSH!!
It was obviously someone they knew, because they also had two big dogs.