Katie Scarlet
December 10th, 2002, 7:43am
Julian Ray Angelo was dobbed in by the cellphone he had just pinched.
Quick-thinking shop staff nailed him as he left their store.
Angelo, a 27-year-old web designer, had been in the computer store doing some business when he stole a $350 cellphone from a shop assistant's handbag.
Shop staff challenged him about it, but he denied the theft.
Just as he left the store, they called the number of the missing phone. At this point, Angelo needed to do some quick thinking.
Perhaps he thought he might be able to ask the caller what number they had just rung, and thereby get the number of his new (stolen) cellphone.
Whatever the reason, he answered the phone.
Police prosecutor Vanessa Sugrue explained to the Christchurch District Court: "Shop staff were not only able to watch him leaving, but they could hear him leaving over the phone."
He was confronted when he came back to the shop later to buy a computer monitor. He led the police to a spot on a riverbank where he had buried the cellphone. It was recovered undamaged.
Angelo pleaded guilty to the theft charge. Judge John Bisphan noted that he had stacked up $6000 in fines, and was paying them off at $20 a week. He added another $500 in fines, and bumped the payment rate up to $40 a week.
-----
I don't get why he would steal it and then bury it? This belongs on the Stupid Thief list of shame!
Katie :laugh:
Quick-thinking shop staff nailed him as he left their store.
Angelo, a 27-year-old web designer, had been in the computer store doing some business when he stole a $350 cellphone from a shop assistant's handbag.
Shop staff challenged him about it, but he denied the theft.
Just as he left the store, they called the number of the missing phone. At this point, Angelo needed to do some quick thinking.
Perhaps he thought he might be able to ask the caller what number they had just rung, and thereby get the number of his new (stolen) cellphone.
Whatever the reason, he answered the phone.
Police prosecutor Vanessa Sugrue explained to the Christchurch District Court: "Shop staff were not only able to watch him leaving, but they could hear him leaving over the phone."
He was confronted when he came back to the shop later to buy a computer monitor. He led the police to a spot on a riverbank where he had buried the cellphone. It was recovered undamaged.
Angelo pleaded guilty to the theft charge. Judge John Bisphan noted that he had stacked up $6000 in fines, and was paying them off at $20 a week. He added another $500 in fines, and bumped the payment rate up to $40 a week.
-----
I don't get why he would steal it and then bury it? This belongs on the Stupid Thief list of shame!
Katie :laugh: