TECHNOLOGY

How I Defeated Adoraburglar

When a thief stole my laptop, I was determined to get it back. Oh yeah, and seek a little electronic revenge along the way.

By Joshua Alston | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Apr 29, 2009

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  • Posted By: johnsmith1 @ 04/30/2009 3:03:28 PM

    So you made a fool of the burglar (who knows where you live) and he didn't get charged? Brilliant. And you now listen to your ipod while in the shower so that you can not hear future burglars? Brilliant. You've also told future burglars that if they reformat your hard drive or only use the internet at public WiFi spots, you cannot track them? Brilliant. And you've also told future burglars that you also have a desktop and another laptop? Brilliant.

    • Posted By: TGAPGeorge @ 05/11/2009 2:35:23 PM

      I am outraged! I am literally angry with rage!

      For starters, burglars and thieves are disgustingly cowardly. No, my xbox is not worth a human life... normally. But I wouldn't snatch an intruder's life for the xbox, I would do it to teach him a lesson that messing with other people lives is wrong. Okay, so I wouldn't teach HIM a lesson, but it would definitely send a message to his friends, family, and "co-workers".

      But what REALLY fills my rage meter is johnsmith1's comments. YES, the thief and the stolen goods owner--and they may be the same person--and all their friends, family, and co-workers know where the article author lives. They know what else he's got in the apartment. They definitively know about the long showers. And they know that they can come back, steal EVERYTHING, and get away with it. The police apparently won't even look for them.

      Even WORSE, they know how the author messed with them, with their songs, pictures, etc. Is there a late-night beat-down in the author's future? Will the author be taking precautions? Will they be enough, or will he have to move to be somewhat safe again?

      HE was robbed. He was ignored and patronized. He is in more danger than before. He was the victim and is still being victimized, while degenerate people play his Wii, discuss revenge, and laugh at him and the impotency of the system.

      I am seeing red.

      There is one thought that makes me strangely calm. The author--and hopefully some other helpful people in his area--seem to be far more intelligent than the perpetrators. And they know where the perps live. They know their schedule somewhat. They know first-hand the weak points and loopholes of the system, as well as the abilities and motivation level of the local police.

      The opportunity to wreck havok, to descend upon these perps' lives and show them the true meaning of being a victim, to make them feel--truly feel--what their actions do to people is one that should not be passed. Evil wins when good does nothing.

      Anyway, I really hope the author is taking precautions. That, and I hope he gets his other stuff back.

    • Posted By: TGAPGeorge @ 05/11/2009 2:33:59 PM

      I am outraged! I am literally angry with rage!

      For starters, burglars and thieves are disgustingly cowardly. No, my xbox is not worth a human life... normally. But I wouldn't snatch an intruder's life for the xbox, I would do it to teach him a lesson that messing with other people lives is wrong. Okay, so I wouldn't teach HIM a lesson, but it would definitely send a message to his friends, family, and "co-workers".

      But what REALLY fills my rage meter is johnsmith1's comments. YES, the thief and the stolen goods owner--and they may be the same person--and all their friends, family, and co-workers know where the article author lives. They know what else he's got in the apartment. They definitively know about the long showers. And they know that they can come back, steal EVERYTHING, and get away with it. The police apparently won't even look for them.

      Even WORSE, they know how the author messed with them, with their songs, pictures, etc. Is there a late-night beat-down in the author's future? Will the author be taking precautions? Will they be enough, or will he have to move to be somewhat safe again?

      HE was robbed. He was ignored and patronized. He is in more danger than before. He was the victim and is still being victimized, while degenerate people play his Wii, discuss revenge, and laugh at him and the impotency of the system.

      I am seeing red.

      There is one thought that makes me strangely calm. The author--and hopefully some other helpful people in his area--seem to be far more intelligent than the perpetrators. And they know where the perps live. They know their schedule somewhat. They know first-hand the weak points and loopholes of the system, as well as the abilities and motivation level of the local police.

      The opportunity to wreck havok, to descend upon these perps' lives and show them the true meaning of being a victim, to make them feel--truly feel--what their actions do to people is one that should not be passed. Evil wins when good does nothing.

      Anyway, I really hope the author is taking precautions. That, and I hope he gets his other stuff back.

  • Posted By: wimm @ 05/06/2009 7:39:46 AM

    for free:
    www [dot] whereismymacbook [dot] com

  • Posted By: KristinaBrooker @ 05/03/2009 2:57:56 PM

    Hey I control the interest rate. I did put the oil to $147, then $40,
    not $200 -it was a choice I made.

    Kristina Brooker (126 395 086)

  • Posted By: MrAce @ 04/29/2009 7:20:25 PM

    Funny story; but sounds like your detective in charge is a bit on the lazy side. Contact the police chief and INSIST that they present this case to your prosecutor. If that doesn't work, then take it to the prosecutor yourself, then make a formal complaint about your police department. At the very least the POS that was in possession of your laptop is guilty of possessing stolen property, and that is a crime in every state. It doesn't matter if you can prove he stole it or not. Good luck

    • Posted By: nethead @ 05/02/2009 10:14:47 PM

      @MrAce: Yeah, Piss off the local police. Really good idea!

  • Posted By: Apolitical @ 05/01/2009 1:25:30 PM

    And I thought you are tech savvy. Next time install a motion activated recording camera in your house.

  • Posted By: jswrtzlndr @ 05/01/2009 4:11:41 AM

    The person who ended up with the laptop is most assuredly NOT the persom who stole it. This type of theft is not committed by the person who just can't afford a laptop otherwise but is done by one who will do it several times a week and sell them on ebay or whatever. Proving someone knowingly received stolen property is MUCH tougher than the theft itself. The sluething done by the writer only served to catch the ultimate user and to recover it, which is great itself, but to castigate the police for not catching the actual perp is way too easy and is off the mark. Think people, think.

    • Posted By: chown @ 05/01/2009 11:59:16 AM

      Yes, expecting the law enforcement community to do anything that takes too much time is well off the mark. Let's just stick to the easy infractions and cases that we know we can win. Well said jswrtzindr...well said...

  • Posted By: foobar365 @ 05/01/2009 3:58:49 AM

    My wife and I tracked down someone who was using a credit card number stolen from us. It was pretty much the same story, we gave both our local police and the police 30 miles away where the thief was located all the info and tons of evidence. Basically, no one cared. It was a joke. My reaction is that every time a police funding measure comes up for a vote, I vote no. I don't see why we are paying law enforcement if they won't enforce the law.

  • Posted By: teufelhund @ 05/01/2009 3:20:38 AM

    Great story, but I fail to comprehend how this person could not be charged with something. At minimum possesion of stolen property. If he had all or most of the stolen items it would seem that being charged with breaking and entering etc wouldn't be difficult to get a conviction on. . . he kicked in the door, leaving part of a boot print on it - were that boot in the house? While I usually support the police, it would seem like in this case yours aren't doing their jobs.

  • Posted By: stephen1098 @ 05/01/2009 1:05:53 AM

    I enjoyed the article, but I also wonder why the person in possession of stolen property couldn't have been arrested. I also wonder why at a minimum they couldn't have put pressure on the theif to return the other goods. In light of the fact that this guy essentially got caught and not punished, he will just be smarter next time - he will steal again and delete the logmein or other programs, and be rewarded for crime. A disappointing ending to the tail, I must say.

  • Posted By: ladyofargonne @ 04/30/2009 11:54:51 PM

    good for you! thank you for sharing. i use logmein for work and i would highly recommend it for exactly the reasons you've illustrated here. even if the local police don't know what possession of stolen goods means you can reek subtle but effective havoc on the thief's life. great work.

  • Posted By: basedrum777 @ 04/30/2009 10:40:10 PM

    I'd like to see if anyone commenting on this board is a detective and can explain the actions of the police in this case. It looks like pure laziness to me.

  • Posted By: gchernya @ 04/30/2009 10:18:51 PM

    Moving against police department thin blue line of inaction can have recoil effect as PD can easily target complainer instead of the criminal. The moves like this can be only advisable if you have backing of a lawyer, and do not mind spending a day in detention(you can explunge everything later but that will not take you out of the jam on the day like this). Police become very strange institution within the society, and should in theory spur the creation of the alternative law enforcement, if people could only afford it. Particular perpetrator will not bother with the victim of the crime, as he looking now for another laptop, not for another reason to get booked. But friendly neighboorhood drug dealers can arrange little throat slashing, also not always that way...

  • Posted By: mathycakes @ 04/30/2009 10:13:09 PM

    This person should most definitely have been charged. While the evidence may have been circumstancial, a decent jury would have found him guilty. I recently served on a jury and a number of people believed that "all reasonable doubt" meant that the state needed to prove their case beyond "all possible doubt". It's disappointing that the police were so lame.

  • Posted By: Munsta Boy @ 04/30/2009 9:41:20 PM

    God saw him and it will be something He will have to answer to one day.

  • Posted By: trijcon @ 04/30/2009 9:39:57 PM

    I wouldn't worry much about my material possessions. I assume someone who kicks in my door has direct intent to harm my family or myself. This should have been remediated with an double tap of 40S&W (or 45ACP or 00 buck if that's how you roll) to the center of mass followed up by another double tap to the center of face for good measure to stop the attack. A few more responses like that may establish that kicking down a persons door is certainly not worth their life. You can be assured that if this bozo had kicked in a cops door that would have been the response... so why should I respond differently

  • Posted By: retiredpolice @ 04/30/2009 9:20:49 PM

    You saw photos of the bad guy! You saw him using your stolen computer! You gave the police enough information for them to obtain a search warrant during which they recovered that computer! And they didn't have enough to charge him? Come on! Since you saw the suspect, couldn't the police had created a photo array with a picture of the guy they questioned in it for you to try to pick out? How about that footprint on the door? Maybe some latent fingerprints found on the scene? Was a door-to-door and a neighborhood canvas conducted in search of witnesses that might have seen a guy matching the description of the guy who was in the photos? What about an interrogation in which the police confront the suspect with some or all of what you saw? Unless there's a lot more to the police department's side of this story, then I'd have to agree with cyprusg's comment and say that you local police dropped the ball. You did the bulk of their legwork for them. I'd be interested in learning what police department handled this case.

  • Posted By: mchapman2 @ 04/30/2009 9:10:34 PM

    If you knew a little more about IT you may have been able to install the software you mentioned in the article silently.

  • Posted By: popmanifesto @ 04/29/2009 7:01:59 PM

    Not a solid enough case? Wow, what does it take to get someone convicted of theft these days? It's not enough to find someone in possession of the stolen goods in their home? I'm flabbergasted. Apparently it's open season on other people's property! Feel free to bust someone's door down and take what you what. If you get caught, you just have to give one of the items back. No harm done.

    • Posted By: reddog63w9 @ 04/30/2009 9:02:27 PM

      I agree, the possession of the property should be a crime, so I'ts only going to get worse ,people. I think law abiding citizens should take control of their neighborhoods, if you look suspicious to the residents then detain them in any way, its risky, but eventually people will become more honest and responsible, even the best of cops dont have enough time in a day to handle semi petty crimes and in Florida you should be scared to steal bubblegum.

  • Posted By: alegr @ 04/30/2009 9:01:34 PM

    But how about using a good password on your laptop? You don't want the random guys looking at your files.

  • Posted By: cyprusg21 @ 04/30/2009 8:58:03 PM

    Good detective work but I thought this was going to be a story about how you were able to send the criminal to jail but instead the story highlights police laziness and apathy. It's not a time issue, they have the time to collect the evidence and make the arrest, it's a police culture issue that makes them believe that unless it's drugs or violent crime they shouldn't waste their time on it. I'm glad that you got your laptop bad, but it angers me that you had the criminal in your grasp and the police let you down.

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