Refund Scammer/Shoplifter Was a Presidential Aide!

[Jack T. Chance]

Here's a messed up story I heard last evening on my local news radio station (WTOP in Washington D.C.), to the best of my recollection. I wanted to find the news report online, in written form, so I could get all the details right, but I've had zero luck with that. There's no sign of it on WTOP's website, and exhaustive searches on Google and several news sites (CNN, ABC News, CBS News) have turned up nothing either. :-(

Anyway... a shoplifter/scammer received his sentence in court this week for the crime(s) he's been convicted of... and he was a POLICE OFFICER!

Here's what the guy was doing... he'd go into a store and find an item he wanted or needed, take it to the register, and buy it like any other customer. He'd then go out to his car, put the item into his car, and walk back into the store with his receipt in his pocket. He'd then walk back to the shelf, pick up another one of the identical item, walk up to the register or customer service, and use his receipt to return the one he just took off the shelf! In so doing, he kept the item AND his money... thus commiting theft in a way that he obviously thought was rather clever. You'd think a police officer would know better!

He was, of course, eventually found out, arrested, tried and convicted. He's been found guilty of shoplifting goods worth less than $500, ordered to pay about $850 in restitution, and sentenced to 1 month on probation.

I apologize for not being able to locate the actual news report. I'm missing some details such as where this happened and what store(s) he hit. I'll try some more searching over the next couple days. In the meantime, if any of you stumble upon this news item on a news site, feel free to post a link.

UPDATE: Tonight I've finally found the complete story, and as I suspected, I got some of the details wrong initially. Turns out the shoplifter/scammer was actually a high-level aide of President George W. Bush!

Scroll down to my next post below for a link to the full story.

P.S. Mods/Admins, if the thread title has not changed to match the title of this edited post, could you please edit that for me? Thanks! :-)

[LostMyMind]

I'm not surprised, the few "police" I've met. Only a handful actually cared about the law. But of course, Hillsborough County police is well known for their screw ups. There have mean many "firing" here because some "officers" can't follow basic "everyone knows" laws.

I'm not putting down the police. They do have a very hard job. Some of my childhood buddies/friends became police officers. I just have a extreme distaste for so-call "police" officers who are just small-dicks looking to boost his ego.

[ebonyknight]

I'm not surprised, the few "police" I've met. Only a handful actually cared about the law. But of course, Hillsborough County police is well known for their screw ups. There have mean many "firing" here because some "officers" can't follow basic "everyone knows" laws.

I'm not putting down the police. They do have a very hard job. Some of my childhood buddies/friends became police officers. I just have a extreme distaste for so-call "police" officers who are just small-dicks looking to boost his ego.

Hard job....I was scared so I shot him.....driving through lights. I don't respect cops. If they think thier job is so tough and dangerous, then why don't they do what other people do and find safer jobs?!?!? Get an education and find something better...it's not hard...if you aren't a control freak that is.

If I hear one more cop say he was scared for his life, so he shot the guy holding an ice cream cone, who was pointing it in an aggressive manner...I am going to become a vigilante.

[Ryu]

luckily the two police ive known have been great but unfortunately too many arent

[LostMyMind]

ebonyknight, the same argument can be used for criminals. I'm truly tired of hearing, "I was just stealing, I shouldn't been shot at for it."

I've never heard anyone getting shot for holding a ice cream cone. Sounds like wives tales from criminals. If you run from the police, in my mind, you earn what happens to you. You drive your car toward a police officer when told to stop, you get shot. Even little kids can tell you that.

[Kiwi]

just like with any job, sometimes people become jaded

and just like any other job there are people who play the system, cops are human they do things wrong, they arnt all moral angels

but still shame on him, cop or not!!!

[phillippbo]

I worked third shift in a c-store that was right up the street from an area I lovingly dubbed "Cracktown, USA". The local police officers were always checking on me, and I have to say that only one or two of them were on a power trip (and boy, howdy were they). Then again, my town may just happen to have a good police force.

I think that the vast majority of police officers do their job well, and don't abuse their power. Unfortunately, the few bad apples that do ruin it for the rest (not to mention that in their line of work an honest mistake can be deadly). After all, in my experience people tend to remember the bad before the good, and how often do you hear on the news, read in the paper, or hear from someone else how good a police department or a particular officer is? Answer: Very rarely to never.

[gbm85]

Hard job....I was scared so I shot him.....driving through lights. I don't respect cops. If they think thier job is so tough and dangerous, then why don't they do what other people do and find safer jobs?!?!? Get an education and find something better...it's not hard...if you aren't a control freak that is.

If I hear one more cop say he was scared for his life, so he shot the guy holding an ice cream cone, who was pointing it in an aggressive manner...I am going to become a vigilante.

That sounds like a great plan. Let all the cops find a different job, and then there won't be anyone around to arrest criminals. Brilliant! Many cops *do* have an education. Detectives, chiefs, etc may have bachelor's degrees, master's, or even doctorates. They choose to be in law enforcement because it's what they love. Maybe I'm in the minority, but for someone to go out there every day and risk their life so that my town is safer deserves the utmost respect in my book. As far as being a vigilante, I say go for it. Maybe then you'll learn what cops face on a daily basis.

[mod hat]Any further discussion about whether cops serve a purpose, deserve respect, or anything related will be deleted and warnings will be issued[/mod hat]

[Jack T. Chance]

Update: Complete story

Well, I lucked out tonight. The story was on the evening news on NBC channel 4 in DC this evening. Turns out I was a little misinformed. The shoplifter wasn't a cop... he was a former high-level aide to President Bush!

Read the whole story by CLICKING HERE.

I'll edit the first post, to change the thread title accordingly.

[Ryu]

sadly, that surprises me much less *badum bish*