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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: thief

thief stories: 15 news summaries
MORE VIDEO VIOLENCE

 Vigilante Video Divides Mexico 

Some say alleged teen thieves got what they deserved

Oct 27, 09 2:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - A video of five teenage boys being beaten by vigilantes and forced to French-kiss each other has sparked a debate on crime and justice in Mexico. Officials and human rights organizations have reacted with outrage to the abuse of the alleged thieves, but many ordinary Mexicans fed up with soaring... More »

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YouTube • Mexico • thief • vigilante justice

Drunk Man Steals Ambulance, Leads Low-Speed Chase

No one harmed in brief incident

Oct 12, 09 1:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - Most drunk people grab a cab home, but a 21-year-old Kansas man was charged yesterday with stealing an ambulance and leading police on a low-speed chase through downtown Lawrence. The ambulance had been left unattended while rescue workers responded to a medical emergency, the Lawrence Journal-World reports. After a... More »

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thief • Kansas • drunk driving • ambulance • car theft

Robber Mocks Victim on Facebook

'TV was rubbish so I
left it ... regards your nighttime burglar'

Aug 15, 09 6:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - A robber who swiped a family's laptop and iPhone in England this week has returned to haunt them—on Facebook, the Telegraph reports. "I have the laptop, phones OK but a bit scratched itll do," the thief wrote after hacking into the Facebook page of Victoria Richardson,... More »

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iPhone • robbery • Facebook • thief • burglar • laptop

 iPhone Feature 
 Catches Thieves 

Stolen phone recovered thanks to new software

Jul 29, 09 8:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - Apple addicts were excited by the new Find My iPhone feature, and that excitement paid off for one Colorado teen, who used it help catch a thief, Mashable reports. Dustin Simantob, 15, pinpointed his phone, stolen after his father’s car was broken into during a camping trip; police recovered... More »

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crime • iPhone • thief • burglary • iPhone applications • stolen merchandise • Dustin Simantob • Find My iPhone • MobileMe

 Polly Steals a Passport 

Winged New Zealand thief makes off with Scottish tourist's passport

May 29, 09 4:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - One of New Zealand's native parrots now has a British passport, the AP reports. The kea, one of a notoriously brazen species of alpine parrots, snatched the brightly colored bag containing the passport from the luggage compartment of a stopped tour bus and flew off into the rainforest with it.... More »

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thief • New Zealand • parrot • passport

(Newser) - The rich and poor alike may have despised Robin Hood in his day, the BBC reports. A note written by a monk in a medieval manuscript describes the famous thief—and giver to the needy—as having “infested” the countryside “with his accomplices.” The find also pinpoints... More »

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England • Robin Hood • thief • history • monks • Nottingham • Sherwood Forest • manuscript • Latin

 Perv Robs 
 Sex Shop, 
 Gets Down 
 With Dolls 

Burglar fornicates with dolls in alleyway

Jan 7, 09 2:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Australian police are hunting for a pervert who has twice broken into a Queensland sex shop and had sex with blow-up dolls, the Cairns Post reports. Both times, the deviant smashed a hole in the wall to gain entry to Laneway Adult Shop, stole several sex dolls and copulated with... More »

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Australia • crime • sex • thief • Queensland • burglary • sex toys

Brazen 'Pink Panther' Heists Stir Ire, Admiration of Cops

European thieves renowned for suave, meticulous banditry

Dec 14, 08 12:28 PM CST
(Newser) - A sophisticated cadre of bandits have deserted Serbian battlefields to invade the globe's finest boutiques, the New York Times reports, daringly swiping millions worth of jewels from luxury stores. Interpol has dubbed the crooks—thought to be about 200 ex-soldiers and their relatives from the former Yugoslavia—the Serbian Pink... More »

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crime • France • thief • Paris • Interpol • jewels • armed robbery • jewelry

Robbers in Drag Nab
$100M in Paris Jewel Theft

Theft among costliest in French history

Dec 5, 08 10:45 AM CST
(AP) - Armed robbers—some dressed in drag—made off with $100 million in loot in what police today called one of France's costliest jewel heists. Brandishing handguns, three or four lightning-fast thieves swiped rings, necklaces, and luxury watches from display cases at the Harry Winston store near the Champs-Elysees in central... More »

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crime • France • thief • Paris • armed robbery • jewelry

 Obama Tags Are 
 'Hot' Commodity 

Long Island man can't keep vanity plates away from thieves

Dec 1, 08 1:24 PM CST
(Newser) - A New York supporter of Barack Obama has vanity plates bearing his candidate’s name, but dares not use them, the Post reports. The man, who got the plates during the primaries, has caught thieves trying to pry them off his car. “Those plates will probably, at some point,... More »

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Barack Obama • New York • thief • Long Island • Election 2008 • cars • President Obama • license plates • vanity plates

Gun-Toting Granny Foils Would-Be Thief

Pa. octogenarian keeps the heat on burglar until police show up

Aug 19, 08 2:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - An 85-year-old Pennsylvania woman foiled a thief by pointing her .22-caliber revolver at him and holding him at bay until police arrived, the Uniontown Herald-Standard reports. A 17-year-old broke into Leda Smith's home Sunday afternoon, but before the intruder could steal anything, the great-grandmother retrieved her gun, forced the burglar... More »

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crime • robbery • thief • Pennsylvania • guns • Leda Smith

 Diesel Thieves Plague Farmers 

Irrigation systems are also caches of diesel fuel

Jun 6, 08 2:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - With oil prices stuck in triple digits, any form of gas is becoming precious booty for thieves, CNN reports. The latest targets: farmers running diesel-fueled irrigation pumps. Fuel tanks, often sitting unguarded in fields, can be a quick score of around 250 gallons in the middle of the night. In... More »

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oil • theft • thief • diesel • gas prices • farmer • oil price • farm

Serial Thieves Swipe $2.5M in JCPenney Gold

As price climbs, all
that glitters is gone in series of Calif. heists

May 14, 08 11:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - California police are hunting a gang of gold thieves raiding JCPenney stores across the state, the Los Angeles Times reports. The gang has struck 11 times in 18 months to grab $2.5 million in jewelry, and they've been getting busier as the price of gold continues to climb. Cops... More »

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California • JCPenney • theft • thief • gold • jewelry • gold prices

Swimming Pools ... Movie Stars ... Burglars?

SoCal housebreakers go where the money is

Aug 6, 07 1:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Burglars are running rampant through Beverly Hills and Bel-Air, targeting the houses of the rich and famous. Over the last 4 years, crooks have made off with more than $20 million worth of goods, the LA Times reports. The A-list victims include Sherry Lansing and William Friedkin, Clippers star Cuttino... More »

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California • crime • thief • Beverly Hills • Bel Air • Faith Hill • Tim McGraw • Cuttino Mobley • Sherry Lansing • William Friedkin • burglary • movies

Police Nab
'Ninja' in Italy

Black-cloaked, bow-wielding bandit preyed on farmers 14th-century-style

Jun 13, 07 5:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - A weeks-long manhunt in northern Italy for an elusive "ninja"-styled thief ended yesterday after cops pursued the robber as he fled through cornfields on a bicycle, the BBC reports. The culprit, his head wrapped in a black bandanna, had stolen onto several isolated farms at night and robbed... More »

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Russia • robbery • Italy • Robin Hood • Ninja • thief • farms

15 Stories


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