How to catch a thief red-handed??

[MDesigner]

Here's the short story of what happened.. my friend put his gym shoes outside the back door because they were wet from the snow. I live in an apt., so just outside our door is still considered indoors..there are stairs going down to an exit out of the building.

Anyway, someone stole his shoes! The f'ing nerve. Now, there are three levels.. we're on floor 2. There are two people on floor 3. It couldn't have been someone on the 1st floor because they probably would have no reason to go up the stairs.

So.. my girlfriend & I posted a note on the front door of our building and on the back door, saying MISSING SHOES, blah blah blah. Anyway, today, there was writing on the note we posted. One is in blue ink and it says "why were your shoes outside of the apt??" and the other note points to the blue ink note and says basically that the woman upstairs hates it when people put their shoes outside, "believe me, i know." And the paper was slipped underneath our door.. probably after the person dropped that hint for us.

Well anyway, I wanna catch this stupid b*tch and her stupid little kid red handed. I wanna install a very tiny hidden camera (wireless) and have it somehow motion sensitive so it only records when there's motion. Any suggestions for something inexpensive and basic? Or even not motion sensitive.. maybe just something that we can record 10 hrs at a time or so. I want to put more shoes outside the apt and catch this person in the act.

if anyone has any ideas... let me know this stupid b*tch had no reason to steal my friend's shoes. it was not interfering with anything or anyone.

Old thread revived by spammer.
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[StageLeft]

You could simply call the cops and though they have no evidence they may knock on her door and ask some questions. This technique was used by my neighbor when some punk on the street, suspected of it, got a knock on the door from the cops. His mother eventually turned him in, but the cops will do such a thing, if they're bored.

 

[TitanDiddly]

Alright, get some more shoes, a used up disposable camera, and soem very thin uninsulated wire. Inside of the camera, find the large capacitor and attach a few of those uninsolated wires. Make sure it's not charged at the time so that you don't shock yourself. Drape the wires over the shoes, using tape if you're paranoid. Make it inconspicuous. Place shoes outside- charge up the cap. It should stay charged for a while- depends on a lot of stuff. May want to test that. Put a little sign above the shoes that says "DANGER! Do not touch shoes!"

Wait for the kid to shock himself. Chances are that he'll either complain/file a report and screw himself over, or if you're home you'll hear him yelp outside your doorway.

Alternatively, I know where to get some of the surplus X10 cameras for $65.

 

[MDesigner]

we're gonna call the cops tomorrow.. and wait for now on the camera

 

[bootymac]

Dress up as a shoe and strategically place yourself outside your door. When they come and grab you, unveil yourself and sing "Mr President"

 

[acemcmac]

1) put shoes outside your door

2) wait looking through the peeophole

3) dont forget your loaded TEC9

4) Kill anyone who looks at the shoes

5) Kill yourself for putting yourself in that kind of situation in the first place. Trust noone. It's you and me against the world, when do we strike? :evil: :beer:

 

[ThaGrandCow]

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
Alright, get some more shoes, a used up disposable camera, and soem very thin uninsulated wire. Inside of the camera, find the large capacitor and attach a few of those uninsolated wires. Make sure it's not charged at the time so that you don't shock yourself. Drape the wires over the shoes, using tape if you're paranoid. Make it inconspicuous. Place shoes outside- charge up the cap. It should stay charged for a while- depends on a lot of stuff. May want to test that. Put a little sign above the shoes that says "DANGER! Do not touch shoes!"

Wait for the kid to shock himself. Chances are that he'll either complain/file a report and screw himself over, or if you're home you'll hear him yelp outside your doorway.

Alternatively, I know where to get some of the surplus X10 cameras for $65.

Jeebus, your first suggestion is way too much work. Second suggestion much better. Have an X-10 recording. One of my friends put an X-10 up in his kitchen because every time we threw a party people would raid his fridge. We recorded 12 hours on just a few gigs, and had a good enough picture to confront the person that did it and made them toss out a few bucks for the beer/food they took. Once you've got it recorded just skip forward until you see that the shoes are missing, then skip back a few minutes at a time until you see someone playing with the shoes and taking them.

 

[simms]

how much are X10s?
nevermind, they're about $100US a pop. I only need this to watch over something as well, I wouldn't mind chipping in to use it after you're done with it...

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Easy. It's called "entrapment".

 

[NeoPTLD]

haha i can't wait for

ohnoes my x10 got stolen

 

[MDesigner]

Problem is, the X10 is wayyy too obvious. Sure, it's small..but.. it's still very noticeable.

I actually found some wireless smoke detector cams on ebay for under $60. It's perfect. No one will ever suspect, and I can catch her on tape. That is, if the cops can't do anything. We'll get the smoke detector cam, and put like 8 pairs of nice shoes outside our door And then wait....

Man, I wanna SLAP HER!!!!!!!! If she had a problem with our shoes being outside, she should've had the decency to knock on our door & politely ask us to move them or something. Not STEAL THEM. man...

 

[sillymofo]

Originally posted by: MDesigner
Problem is, the X10 is wayyy too obvious. Sure, it's small..but.. it's still very noticeable.

I actually found some wireless smoke detector cams on ebay for under $60. It's perfect. No one will ever suspect, and I can catch her on tape. That is, if the cops can't do anything. We'll get the smoke detector cam, and put like 8 pairs of nice shoes outside our door And then wait....

Man, I wanna SLAP HER!!!!!!!! If she had a problem with our shoes being outside, she should've had the decency to knock on our door & politely ask us to move them or something. Not STEAL THEM. man...

Man, if I were your neighbors, I'd just use a long stick and steal your shoes, then tie the laces together and make some powerline ornaments with them :evil:. Just for trying to trap me. The best bet is to catch the perps red handed, then beat the living crap out of them.

 

[MDesigner]

Originally posted by: cr4zymofo

Originally posted by: MDesigner
Problem is, the X10 is wayyy too obvious. Sure, it's small..but.. it's still very noticeable.

I actually found some wireless smoke detector cams on ebay for under $60. It's perfect. No one will ever suspect, and I can catch her on tape. That is, if the cops can't do anything. We'll get the smoke detector cam, and put like 8 pairs of nice shoes outside our door And then wait....

Man, I wanna SLAP HER!!!!!!!! If she had a problem with our shoes being outside, she should've had the decency to knock on our door & politely ask us to move them or something. Not STEAL THEM. man...

Man, if I were your neighbors, I'd just use a long stick and steal your shoes, then tie the laces together and make some powerline ornaments with them :evil:. Just for trying to trap me. The best bet is to catch the perps red handed, then beat the living crap out of them.

Bah.. she deserves to be trapped. She and/or her stupid kid stole my friend's shoes..there was no reason for that. AND she deserves a serious slap across the face too..

 

[cpals]

Originally posted by: NeoPTLD
haha i can't wait for

ohnoes my x10 got stolen

 

[woowoo]

Originally posted by: MDesigner
we're gonna call the cops tomorrow.. and wait for now on the camera

Your kidding....?


Right?

Outside your door is a common area.
Shared with your neighbors.....

Keep your property inside your apartment.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: woowoo

Originally posted by: MDesigner
we're gonna call the cops tomorrow.. and wait for now on the camera

Your kidding....?


Right?

Outside your door is a common area.
Shared with your neighbors.....

Keep your property inside your apartment.

*steals WooWoo's whistle-tip equipped car*

Donut shop parking lot is a common area.

Keep your property on your lot.

Dipshit.

- M4H

 

[MDesigner]

Originally posted by: woowoo

Originally posted by: MDesigner
we're gonna call the cops tomorrow.. and wait for now on the camera

Your kidding....?


Right?

Outside your door is a common area.
Shared with your neighbors.....

Keep your property inside your apartment.

That's ridiculous. Does that give them the right to steal?? NO. The shoes were outside our back door because they were wet from the snow, and we don't want water stains on the carpeting. It's a valid reason. That lady needs to be SLAPPED, and so do you.

 

[cpals]

Originally posted by: woowoo

Originally posted by: MDesigner
we're gonna call the cops tomorrow.. and wait for now on the camera

Your kidding....?


Right?

Outside your door is a common area.
Shared with your neighbors.....

Keep your property inside your apartment.

That's the stupidest thing I've read all day.

 

[hevnsnt]

Instead of worrying about it, why don't you just go over there and ask them if they have your buddies shoes?

 

[kranky]

Do you want to catch her? Or stop her?

If you are sure it's her, just knock on her door and demand your shoes back. She'll deny it. Demand your shoes back again. She'll deny it again. Then you say that you don't care what she says, both you and she know that she did it, and you are just warning her that if it ever happens again, she's and her kid are going to be very, very sorry. She'll probably ask if you are threatening her, then tell her that you are only threatening the people who might stupidly consider stealing your shoes in the future, so if she knows anyone who might be that stupid, she might want to pass that warning along.

That would probably be enough to scare her off, and you don't have to try to catch her in the future.

 

[alkemyst]

She sounds like someone that thinks they are living in a house. I am glad my new apartment is in a building of only 4 units with the landlord living next door. Hopefully this year I find a house I like.

Å

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Get a pair of nasty, smelly old shoes, and epoxy them to the floor outside of her door so they're in the way.

 

[MDesigner]

Well, we don't want to be so accusatory because we're not 100% sure it's her. But the little hint on the notice we posted sure seemed to indicate that it was her, and that someone else in the building has had a problem with this lady complaining about shoes. And it makes sense that the first note in blue ink that says "why were your shoes outside your apt??" would be her snotty retort to our "missing shoes" notice.

Not to mention that our neighbors upstairs have had a problem with this lady's kid, something about a broken window in her car. AND I've seen the kid out in front of the building talking to the police once... so.. these people seem shady as hell.

Confronting her directly isn't an option yet because we are not positive it's her. Hence my wanting to hook up a secret camera to get it on film, then we'll know for sure, and then I'll have no reservations going upstairs and pounding on her door and calling her a thief to her face, and telling her that if she EVER touches any of our personal property again, I'll report it to the building owners, and she'll have to start worrying about eviction, because no one wants to live next door to a thief.

I dunno what her issue is. It's not like the shoes are in her way or anything. Well, I sure hope she's prepared to pay us for the shoes she stole, cuz that's where we're ultimately heading with this. Why should my friend shell out another $80 or so for a new pair of basketball shoes?! :|

 

[ISAslot]

Expoxy a pair of shoes to the floor outside your door. If you don't catch them, atleast annoy them.

 

[who?]

It's only entrapment if you give them the idea to steal. If you create the opportunity but don't give them the idea it isn't entrapment.