Strangest things people have stolen

[septimus]

Not the kind of thing OP intended, but what popped into my mind is The Vanderbilt Trophy, awarded to the team which wins a prestigious contract bridge championship.

On June 4, 1964 the Vanderbilt was stolen from a display at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. It was recovered the following month when the thief tried to sell the 11 lb. trophy to the Newman Silver Shop in Reno NV. The man, John Hadreas, an Ambassador employee, was arrested and charged with possession of stolen property. His bail was set at $2,500.00.

After that incident, the trophy continued to travel to the Spring NABCs, but was kept tucked away until presentation to the winning team.

I don’t recall ever having a conversation with that thief, but he and I misspent part of our misspent youths together. This song reminds me of John Hadreas: I think I even saw him pull an old schedule of trains from his pocket once!