Stop, thief!

We get the newspaper delivered every morning. It's left in front of our apartment door. Lately, though, papers have been missing. Delivery is usually very reliable, so we suspect the papers are being stolen. The suspicion was reinforced when my wife went out one day recently, didn't pick the paper up, and when she came back a short time later, it was gone.

I'm trying to figure out what to do. We can't post a guard at the apartment door. I'm not going to shell out money for a security camera, if my coop board would even let me install one. But I would like to catch the thief. And, mainly, I'd like to get the newspapers I'm paying for.

One more thing: My building is safe. It's in a gated community that's patrolled 24/7 by security guards. So I suspect that the thief may be one of my neighbors.

Any ideas? What would you do?

Put a hold on delivery for a day. Place a decoy paper outside your door at around the usual delivery time with whatever level of nastiness you feel comfortable with wrapped inside it; ranging from a probably illegal mantrap involving used razor blades to steaming dog dookie to a terse note expressing your dissatisfaction.

Viseguy said:

One more thing: My building is safe. It's in a gated community that's patrolled 24/7 by security guards. So I suspect that the thief may be one of my neighbors.

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Really? What tipped you off, Sherlock Holmes?

No, seriously, you either have a cheapskate neighbor or a kid being a jackass.
It shouldn't be too hard to head off, just tell all your neighbors that you're having a problem with newspapers being stolen and look them straight in the eye while asking if they've "seen anything suspicious". The innocent ones will become your own personal Neighborhood Watch, and the guilty one will assume he/she is being accused and hopefully back off.

If you have to escalate, I'd put a sign on your door warning the thief about the new "security camera" you've had installed.

Stakeout. When the thief (most likely one of your neighbors) steals your paper, wait for him to leave then knock on his door and ask for your paper back.

I would put a huge man dookie rather than dog

Call delivery person, find out what time he drops it off. Buy inexpensive luggage alarm, set to movement detector. wake up early, when paper gets there immediately tape alarm inside paper and put back in front of door. Trap is set. Go back to sleep. When alarm goes off jump up and catch the thief red handed!

maybe mention it to the security people, they may be able to help, and that way you don't have to get a bad rep with the neighbors.

as stated above but tie a monofilament line to it and tie the other end inside you door to a stack of empty cans or some such,be ready to yank open the door when the trap goes off yelling your head off,odds are they will wet their pants and go screaming down the hall and never bother you again,unless you want them to pay for the missing papers:}cheap and sleazy,never easy:}

I would use a small hidden camera somewhere outside your door..look around and see where it could be "hidden"

http://www.walleyecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162150

PLS ALLOW ME TO SHARE A GREAT STORY ABOUT A RICH OLDER GENTLEMAN WHO HAS BEEN STEALING MY NEWSPAPER (SUNDAY USUALLY)


Check this out as to how I caught this JERK. The first thing to do is spool with 30LB Yo-Zuri Invisible Fishing Line (Yo-Zuri Hybrid). The ideal real can be any conventional open face reel such as a Penn 113H. My rod of choice was a Rogue 30-50LB (non-roller guide).
The paper was thrown before daybreak last Sunday and immediately retrieved. Inserted was my business card into the comic section and the Yo-Zuri line into the closed end of the plastic (opposite of open end where paper slides out) Attached was (1) Rear Treble Hook from a Yo-Zuri Hydro Magnum Lure.
After the above proper rigging whereby the hook is lodged deep in the Sunday Paper and the paper placed as close to the road as possible but on my property to facilitate trespassing.
The trap is set so easily. Simply open the bail, walk back into the house, and set the drag to about as light as possible while engaging the clicker-alarm. The final step is to wedge the road somewhere as to simulate a rod holder. I like the Garbage Disposal.
About 43 minutes elapsed before my dog flew straight up into the air from being scared to death. Line started to peel off and so was the that beautiful sound of a drag under full stress. Out the door I ran as the rod pointed in which direction the Thief Fish was running. "Gotcha, you [bleep]!" In all of my years never have I seen an expression like this one. Said the Thief, "This is my paper. I bought it at the restaurant down there." It was not long before Law Enforcement arrived to settle the dispute.
As we all know, one is innocent until proven guilty but having my business card in the Comic Section of the Newspaper did not help the case of the Millionaire turned Newspaper Thief. I still can't stop laughing!!!

Thanks, everybody, for all the good ideas. We saw "The Help" this week, so I can assure you that the "dookie" trap has already received serious consideration!

I like the luggage alarm. This being New York, however, I figure the thief will just steal it along with the paper. Also, it's not so easy to hear even a loud noise from within my apartment. I'm not sure I'd be able to react in time.

I really like the idea of a hidden camera. I want to nail this f***er on tape, make a complaint to the coop board, and get him fined. I'm not sure of the legalities of setting up a video camera, though. At the very least, I think I'd have to clear it with the board, since I'd be taping a common area. I don't want to end up getting sued or fined myself. Stranger things have happened. But the concept has a lot of appeal.

At this point I think my next move will be to have a quiet word with the building super. Other residents may be having the same problem and, for all I know, there may already be a suspect. Next level will be to talk to the board and see what they suggest. I'll leave self-help as a last resort -- which will also give me more time to think up something really devious.

Thanks again. If you think of anything else, please post here. If I catch the sonovabitch, I'll let you know.

f you have a Logitech webcam here are some cool apps... http://www.logitech.com/en-us/488/558?debug=0 I used the motion detector gadget for something similar to your problem. As to the legality if you are recording a common area it should be ok as long as you don't record audio(audio falls under wiretapping laws). Here is an article specifically about New York and recording video in common areas which is public according to the law http://cooperator.com/articles/1165/1/Surveillance-Equipment-in-Your-Building/Page1.html . As long as you can get video you can either approach the individual privately or go to your board and present you evidence. Hope that helps!!

Jay

Excellent, Jay, thanks so much! Interesting article about video surveillance.

yeah, i like this one!

noahpictures said:

Stakeout. When the thief (most likely one of your neighbors) steals your paper, wait for him to leave then knock on his door and ask for your paper back.

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If there are other neighbors loosing their papers as well, then you all could be victims of a new type criminal. These are people who are into extreme couponing, where they try to get their grocery bills to zero. It has recently come out that some of them resort to stealing newspapers for the coupons. So, if you have a neighbor who brags about his use of coupons...

Just be there when the paper arrives and get one of those dye packs the banks use and wrap it in the paper. When the guy opens the paper he will be in for the shock of his life and the stuff doesn't wash off so you will find him easy enough.

Viseguy said:

Any ideas? What would you do?

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Find a job in another place, move to where normal people act normally. Let the dog guard the yard.

If you won't do that...

OK... city way. Set the camera, find out who is doing it, hire some people to make it clear that messing with you is detrimental to their health.

_JP_ said:

So, if you have a neighbor who brags about his use of coupons...

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Don't get me started about couponers at the checkout counter.

Thebigspendur said:

Just be there when the paper arrives and get one of those dye packs the banks use and wrap it in the paper.

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Brilliant! Talk about catching someone red-handed.

aceinyerface said:

Find a job in another place, move to where normal people act normally. Let the dog guard the yard.

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I have a bunny. Does that count?

If you do go down the camera route, try this. Get a photo of the person taking your paper. Insert that picture into a story headlined "Neighbour caught on camera stealing newspaper!" Print out and insert in next day's paper. Leave it until it is "collected." See if he gets the message.

rajagra said:

If you do go down the camera route, try this. Get a photo of the person taking your paper. Insert that picture into a story headlined "Neighbour caught on camera stealing newspaper!" Print out and insert in next day's paper. Leave it until it is "collected." See if he gets the message.

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This gets better all the time! I will definitely file that idea away for possible future use.

You know, guys, I have to tell you that ever since I started this thread no newspapers have been stolen! Do you think that's a coincidence, or .... Oh my god ... could it be? Say it ain't so!