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Strange Crimes

A new twist? Has the potential of getting a lot more than from a card.

A gang has been held over a series of robberies in which victims, including new students, have been kidnapped and forced to transfer money online.

Police said a number of people were individually "coaxed" into a dark Audi in Manchester city centre on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

Officers foiled the robbery of a 19-year-old "mid-way through" and arrested four men aged 25, 23, 18 and 19.

During house searches a fifth man was arrested after ammunition was found.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said several victims reported they were forced to make online transfers of £3,000 from their bank accounts before being let out of the car.

Others told officers they had been driven to petrol stations, forced to withdraw the maximum possible amount of cash shortly before midnight, fill the car up with petrol then withdraw more money after midnight.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-45612105
 
No point in whining about it.

Police in southern Germany are looking for thieves who stole an entire vineyard of grapes from under their noses.

The criminals made off with the field full of grapes by "running a professional harvesting machine over the entire vineyard", the police said, according to the local Rheinpfalz newspaper.

Most galling of all for the police is the fact that the vineyard does not lie on some remote hillside, but is to be found right next to the car park of a major supermarket on the outskirts of the village of Deidesheim.

The resourceful thieves struck at some point between teatime last Wednesday and sunset the following day, netting 1,600 kg (3,527 lb) of the white grapes used to make Riesling wine. The haul is estimated to be worth 8,000 euros (£7,110; $9,272).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-45720218
 
I'm not sure what the thieves wanted with this artwork, nor how they plan to hide it ...

BigHammerArt.jpeg

Giant hammer artwork stolen in Northern California
Authorities in Northern California are looking for a hammer. A really, really big one.

The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat says police in Healdsburg in California’s wine country are looking for an enormous artwork that vanished over the weekend.

The artwork was an 800-pound ball-peen hammer made of metal with a long redwood handle. The hammer measures 21 feet long and the head is 6 feet tall.

The piece, valued at $15,000, was loaned by the artist about a year ago to the Healdsburg Community Center. It vanished from the lawn sometime Friday night or Saturday morning.

The artist, Doug Unkrey, says it would have required about eight people or a flatbed trailer with a winch to carry off his work.

Police, of course, want to nail the thieves.

SOURCE: http://www.apnews.com/80cf9b311ca846299bf1b925d1e37e1c
 
Perhaps Yith needed a new ban hammer.
 
I'm guessing that the thieves have a really big nail they need to bang in somewhere...?
 
I saw that story. If the police have the miscreants on file, they could nail them bang to rights. They should know the drill, otherwise they'll be screwed, though only if they had a driver... Sorry, I do realise some of these puns are a bit of a wrench. I'll get me coat...
 
I saw that story. If the police have the miscreants on file, they could nail them bang to rights. They should know the drill, otherwise they'll be screwed, though only if they had a driver... Sorry, I do realise some of these puns are a bit of a wrench. I'll get me coat...

I'm putting you in my bastard file for gratuitous punning offences.
 
The eyes have it

Police in Savannah, Ga., are looking for answers after a statue of a Revolutionary War general was defaced with “googly eyes.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday that local police were investigating after a query from city officials about the vandalism of Savannah's Nathanael Greene Monument went viral earlier this week.

“Who did this?! Someone placed googly eyes on our historic #NathanaelGreene statue in #JohnsonSquare,” the official City of Savannah Government account wrote on its Facebook page in a post Thursday.

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“It may look funny but harming our historic monuments and public property is no laughing matter, in fact, it's a crime,” the post continued.







https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brie...on-historic-georgia?__twitter_impression=true
 
Wasn't there an issue recently in... North Africa? Where a fishmonger was found to be putting googly eyes on his fish to make them look fresher?
 
This is probably a mis-thread but since I only joined the forums last week just before everything went to Hell in a hand-cart, I'll pop me posts where I like.

I was driving along a pretty wooded lane near Hedsor (Bucks/Berks) with my Mum (2006) when I was stopped at a Police road-check. I was asked if I had seen anything suspicious (lights, disturbance) in the woods a couple of weeks before, although the Officers weren't giving anything away. We couldn't help and carried on. I may have scanned the local paper later out of interest but found nothing and thought no more about it.

A year later I chanced upon an article in the Daily Telegraph that mentioned an incident in the woods at Hedsor and something went 'click'. According to the writer/journalist (who was local), the body of a young woman had been found tied to a tree and set on fire. A year on and the Police still didn't hadn't identified her and no-one had reported her missing. The theory then was that she may have fallen foul of an East European People-Smuggling gang.
Sad though the death was, the article was not about the incident, but rather it was trying to explain how the brutal murder of an unidentified young woman set on fire had not reported in any of the national newspapers.
I don't remember the details but basically the country was divided up into regions patrolled by a 'News Hound' (News-gatherer) who report news-worthy item back to their paper or Agency. The Bucks/Berks border was part of a patch covered by a Reporter who actually lived in Norwich (143 miles away) and he'd missed it.

I passed the woods again today, thinking of the headlines dominating the papers during the week ("Vaguely familiar-looking bloke snogs consenting woman in street"), written by journalists who only get the news by scanning the internet. I then went online to put a name to the person who died 12 years ago:
Beata Bryl, Polish model, last seen alive in London 2006, dumped in a wood with her head caved in and set on fire. Assailants unknown. Not forgotten. RIP

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-28630308
 
This is probably a mis-thread but since I only joined the forums last week just before everything went to Hell in a hand-cart, I'll pop me posts where I like.

I was driving along a pretty wooded lane near Hedsor (Bucks/Berks) with my Mum (2006) when I was stopped at a Police road-check. I was asked if I had seen anything suspicious (lights, disturbance) in the woods a couple of weeks before, although the Officers weren't giving anything away. We couldn't help and carried on. I may have scanned the local paper later out of interest but found nothing and thought no more about it.

A year later I chanced upon an article in the Daily Telegraph that mentioned an incident in the woods at Hedsor and something went 'click'. According to the writer/journalist (who was local), the body of a young woman had been found tied to a tree and set on fire. A year on and the Police still didn't hadn't identified her and no-one had reported her missing. The theory then was that she may have fallen foul of an East European People-Smuggling gang.
Sad though the death was, the article was not about the incident, but rather it was trying to explain how the brutal murder of an unidentified young woman set on fire had not reported in any of the national newspapers.
I don't remember the details but basically the country was divided up into regions patrolled by a 'News Hound' (News-gatherer) who report news-worthy item back to their paper or Agency. The Bucks/Berks border was part of a patch covered by a Reporter who actually lived in Norwich (143 miles away) and he'd missed it.

I passed the woods again today, thinking of the headlines dominating the papers during the week ("Vaguely familiar-looking bloke snogs consenting woman in street"), written by journalists who only get the news by scanning the internet. I then went online to put a name to the person who died 12 years ago:
Beata Bryl, Polish model, last seen alive in London 2006, dumped in a wood with her head caved in and set on fire. Assailants unknown. Not forgotten. RIP

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-28630308
Grizzly Bad Bungle. Are you not signing up to the new site then? .. it's got a bigger garden and it's closer to the shops ..

The Current FTMB Forum Dies on Halloween 2018 (No Joke; This is Not a Drill)
SEE: http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/important-forum-to-close.64678/


Sign Onto the Emergency Email List:
EMAIL TO: [email protected] (Include your FTMB username in the subject line.)
To Learn About Future Prospects and Plans - See This Thread:
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Last edited:
Beata Bryl, Polish model, last seen alive in London 2006, dumped in a wood with her head caved in and set on fire. Assailants unknown. Not forgotten. RIP

Thank you for taking the trouble to find this out.
Poor girl, what a sad, short life she had. I hope her killers are brought to justice.
 
It's all kicking off in Dundee

Couple found sleeping in Dundee multi with stolen sex toy and packet of custard creams
5b89156804dd4-558x372.jpg

The Hilltown Court multi in Dundee

A couple were today convicted of possessing a stolen sex toy and packet of custard creams.

Nadine Kelbie and Andrew Mason admitted a charge of reset over an incident in Dundee’s Hilltown Court last November.

They were found asleep in a flat in the block in possession of a bag of goods that had been stolen during a break-in at a flat on the level below earlier that night.

The pair later told cops they had bought the bag for £50 from another man earlier in the evening.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told Dundee Sheriff Court the bag contained a packet of custard creams, a sex toy, a pair of trainers, adult and baby clothes, a bottle of perfume and a clock.

etc



https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/..._V3BE5KphcM6_a6Thm1dUeSfTdFBt-ImYTAPzcKW5cn70
 
Once you've stolen the Magna Carta, what the hell do you do with it? Ever been approached in the pub and asked if you wanted to buy a thousand year old document that "fell off the back of a lorry"?
 
Once you've stolen the Magna Carta, what the hell do you do with it? Ever been approached in the pub and asked if you wanted to buy a thousand year old document that "fell off the back of a lorry"?
It may be some nut who thinks possession of the Magna Carta will give them some ownership over our constitution. Perhaps to be stolen for some crime lord or crooked billionaire who will put it in a case of curiosities, next to the white cat.
 

Update ... The owners are reunited with their stolen colon, and they've added two more in the mean time.

Relief: Police recover stolen inflatable colon

There was a sigh of relief after police recovered a giant inflatable colon that is used to teach about the dangers of colon cancer.

Police in Kansas City, Missouri, announced ... that a tip led officers to locate the “pilfered intestine” inside a vacant house.

The 10-foot (3-meter), 150-pound (68-kilogram) prop, worth $4,000, was stolen this month from the back of a pickup truck. It had been purchased by the Colon Cancer Coalition, which hosts walking and running events under a “Get Your Rear In Gear” campaign ...

There is a silver lining to the story. Donations poured in after the theft and the coalition was able to purchase two replacement colons.

FULL STORY (With Photo): https://www.apnews.com/186326f6851c466184b5c26167ca69db
 
Texas hunters shoot each other then blame it on immigrants

They tried to blame it on immigrants entering the US illegally but Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez told CBS affiliate KOSA that a grand jury indicted Michael Bryant and Walker Daugherty on charges of using deadly conduct by discharging firearms in the direction of others.

The charges stem from a Jan. 6 incident where police found Daugherty, 26, and another hunter, Edwin Roberts, 59, with gunshot wounds. Dominguez says an investigation found that Daugherty shot Roberts and Bryant shot Daugherty.

Investigators believe the gunfire was sparked when Daugherty thought undocumented immigrants were inside the RV that Edwin Roberts and his wife were staying in during a hunting trip, attempting to kidnap them. Daugherty allegedly tried to enter the RV, and that’s when the shootout began.

The hunters’ claim that immigrants shot them became fodder for a Facebook post by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. He wrote the attack was another reason why a wall must be built along the border.

A GoFundMe page set up to offset Walker’s medical expenses had collected more than $20,000.
 
Perhaps the 'shittiest' account of employee theft ever ... :dpoo:

Who steals portable toilets? German court renders verdict

... Two men in Germany have been convicted of stealing more than 100 portable toilets.

... Duesseldorf district court delivered its verdict Tuesday, giving a 40-year-old man a 10-month suspended sentence and a 28-year-old ex-colleague six months.

Both men worked for a waste disposal company from whose premises the toilets — worth nearly 70,000 euros ($79,700) in all — gradually disappeared, a loss that was only discovered a few months later.

The men admitted having sold the toilets to a company in the Netherlands via a go-between.

Only three of the missing toilets have resurfaced. ...

SOURCE: https://www.apnews.com/c6c07a94fc9044cf930b73ec6e5d6acd
 
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