Seriously, where is the outrage about the fact that this man has not been arrested?
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I never said her having insurance or not was connected to that. They are mutually exclusive topics. Just because this guy is a shady scam artist, doesn’t mean I cannot also hope she had insurance to cover her loss.
What exactly are you going to charge him with?
The best case scenario would be possession of stolen goods, their value is most likely not high enough to be a class A/B felony, so its a simple out on no bail. From there the prosecution would be non existent as they’d rather plea down to nothing because again what proof do they have that he stole the items.
It sucks to be sure, but what recourse is there exactly? I agree with @Avery_Thorn in that the punishment/risk needs to be greater to deter this from happening; however, as I stated this has always been an issue of an after market for stolen property. I don’t see how we reasonably can change that.
We had a car older than that, that had the release inside the lockable glove compartment. Not perfect, but better. If I were a pro photographer I’d have a huge safe in the car for my >$10k in equipment.
Living in the city for decades you learn not to leave ANYTHING in plain sight in your car, they’ll break your window to see what’s in the empty canvas bag. At least the thieves no longer break your window assuming you have a portable GPS, and the radio theft thing seems to have gone away. Anyone know why? Removing your radio or at least it’s front plate was a PITA.
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NPR had a story on that some years ago: Car Stereo Theft: A Dying Crime : NPR
tl:dr: stereos have gotten cheap, which means cars come with good built-in stereos, which means both that stereos are harder to ‘uninstall’ in a hurry and there is no real demand for used stereos (since even if you want to buy a stereo, they are cheap)
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Nikon didn’t used consider the D80 and D5300 to be pro gear. Nowadays they use a “point system”, but the D5300 doesn’t count for very much at all. However, they do privilege the Anniversary editions-- so maybe it’s all about giving Nikon the most money.
This guy better call Saul.
I was once given to understand that being in jail in Detroit is somewhat redundant.
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In most US jurisdictions, a conviction for possession of stolen goods requires the prosecution to prove the recipient knew the goods were stolen. Absent that proof, the goods are simply confiscated (unless it was stolen by the cops, which insanely is legal in most US states) and returned to their owners if possible, but the recipient escapes prosecution. There’s good reason for this. If the person selling the stolen goods on eBay can be prosecuted without proving they knew they were stolen, then so could the people buying the goods on eBay from that seller.
For relatively large traffickers in stolen goods, law enforcement will sometimes invest the resources to prove the fence and his or her suppliers are knowingly dealing in stolen goods. Given how common this is though in a major metropolitan area such as Detroit, I suspect this crook’s operation is too small for the cops to bother. That said, if the cops were investigating him, this news story will likely spur him to make changes to his operation that could impede any such investigation. Here’s hoping he’s as dumb as he acts, in which case maybe this story will do some small good if enough people see it and avoid buying from him.
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Uhhh… I don’t know. Slimeball.
Busted!
I‘m asking because she’s paying to get her stuff back. She can prove it’s hers.
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She might be able to sue him in civil court. Even then, it’s unlikely she’d get anything from him without proof that he knew it was stolen. As obviously guilty as he is of knowing the goods were stolen, proving it in a court of law would be difficult.
Realistically police aren’t going to mount a criminal investigation against him on her complaint.
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So she can’t get the money back she paid him? That’s the difference I was alluding to: Over here you only need to prove it’s yours because others can’t acquire ownership of stolen goods - even if they got it in good faith.
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No, it isn’t. It’s a simple assertion of an unfortunate fact: A professional, especially a freelancer, needs to be able to replace their gear at the drop at the hat, at least the essentials.
Either by having spares or enough ready cash to buy them. Or proper insurance.
Of course, not everyone can do that, but it should be the very first thing after food, shelter, and health insurance are covered.
Theft is only one risk and a freelancer needs to be aware of that (and treat it as a normal business risk) the same way any company does and figures in their operating costs.
AFAIK in the Netherlands, if you buy something with a price that seems to good to be true, or there are other blatant signs that make it seem like it may have been stolen (bike with no key for the attached lock, device without a charger, etc). And it turns out it was stolen, you are guilty of “heling” which translates to: receiving stolen goods; pilferage and can be charged for this. So in this case even the photographer would technically be guilty of a crime (but obviously no one would prosecute her for that).
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German Hehlerei , Englisch fencing. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fence_(criminal)
And the photographer wouldn’t be guilty, at least in Germany, as she is still the Eigentümer (owner) instead of being just a Besitzer (holder, possessor) of the item in question.
That was the point Fabian made: In Germany it’s basically impossible to become the legal owner of stolen goods. Even if you buy it at a reasonable price from a seemingly respectable source, you are out of luck: If the actual owner shows up and can prove that the item is question is his and was unlawfully taken from him, you have to return it. Go get your compensation from the seller.
Wether are not there are criminal charges against the buyer or the seller for either fencing or theft or robbery is irrelevant, it’s a matter of civil law.
There are some exceptions, but those don’t apply here.
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don’t you get a free iPhone X from Obama, funded by Soros?
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Alley people?
She probably could, but it would likely require going to small claims court. The legal costs would probably wind up being more than what she paid him. The general wisdom is that small claims court is only worth is once the amount you’re trying to recover is in the thousands. A few hundred wouldn’t be worth it, which as I understand it is what she, the reporter and her friend spent to recover the three pieces of gear back.
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So, has law enforcement been brought into this. It seems there is enough evidence to at least charge him with something.
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