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Dumbass Steals Car, Gets Caught by Car Forum Members

SUNDAY APRIL 13 2008 11:00 AM

Submitted by punk. Edited By punk.

TAGS: car, thief, skyline, GT, Nissan, Canada, hockey, vigilante, justice, hosers

From Slashdot’s crowdsourcing-justince department comes the heartwarming tale of a stolen car, the idiots who stole it, and a posse of car enthusiast-slash-forum-posters turned detectives who tracked the orchestrator of the act down and got him arrested.

The car had been imported from Japan by Shaun Ironside for his dealership. Despite its reserved appearance, the Skyline GT-R is something of a performance icon to car enthusiasts and video gamers; it fit well among the Porsches and Mercedes-Benzes in Mr. Ironside’s inventory.

One of the men had been to the dealership a week earlier for a ride, but he and Mr. Ironside didn’t get far. The car, with an engine modified for extra horsepower, began to act up. When the man returned with a friend for another try, Mr. Ironside was juggling two customers, so he just handed them the keys, explaining that there was only enough gas in the tank for a drive around the block.

The car did not come back. As Mr. Ironside put it, it went for a “permanent test drive.” He quickly posted a plea for help at Beyond.ca, where in a matter of days, a forum member was able to capture a picture of the suspect, inside the car, displaying the hand disfigurement that unquestionably identified him.

Soon after, another member spotted the suspect driving the car and tailed him, locating the moron’s home. The picture mentioned earlier was used to track down his Facebook page. Forum members eventually drove to the suspect’s home, blockaded the road with their vehicles. The owner of the car joined them and called the police, who responded in minutes. Someone had the presence of mind to video-tape the arrest:

”…you want to go on a test drive? How’s the car?” the man behind the camera asks - absolutely priceless. Jamie “The Claw” Jacobson (nickname given to him by forum members), 18 years old, now faces charges of theft over $5,000 and a court date on April 16th.

His friend in the car lost his hat to an eBay auction. No word on criminal charges for the Yankee's fan, or whether or not he was arrested.

The hat was found after the car was searched, along with receipts from a car wash and a 4-liter jug of oil. I guess Jamie-boy thought he was going to keep his new wheels.

Some are arguing the vigilante-esq tactics of the individuals who were instrumental in catching the thief. Should they have left the police work to the police or gone through with their efforts that ultimately landed Bozo in jail?

punk has been witness to the recovery of at least two vehicles via the efforts of VW Vortex members here in Arizona.

You can view the original call for help and the events that followed in the original forum post, here

38 Comments

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Shiny_Metal_Ass

I'm lost

October 2006

APR 13, 2008 11:18 AM

You can't hide from the internet.

starbuck42

I'm lost

February 2007

APR 13, 2008 11:25 AM

Wow. It's vigilante justice done right. If only it could always be this way.

DevilsReject

Cleveland, OH

February 2007

APR 13, 2008 11:32 AM

vigilante? they called the cops when they needed to, it's not like they tried to make the arrest. I would have said they were vigilantes if they made a decisive move to try to capture the said dumb-ass car thief, but all they did was barricade a road and call the cops.

punk

NEWSWIRE

Phoenix, AZ

APR 13, 2008 11:37 AM

DevilsReject said:
vigilante? they called the cops when they needed to, it's not like they tried to make the arrest. I would have said they were vigilantes if they made a decisive move to try to capture the said dumb-ass car thief, but all they did was barricade a road and call the cops.

Exactly. That's part of the argument: the misuse of the word 'vigilante.' In my opinion, they did what any respectable person should do.

I want to know what happened to Claw's friend.

zenFish

Calgary, AB

August 2004

APR 13, 2008 11:38 AM

The issue I'm finding with this is all the posting of information about this guy, freely on the net.

"Innocent till proven guilty".

There's been some chatter that possibly this guy was dupied by whom ever stole it.

Or yes, this is the guy that stole it.

Either way, while I applaud that they did call the cops.

Boo on them thinking it's funny to post videos of this guy being arrested, and posting all of his information around.

You don't see cops letting you go through their files, and these guys should have had the same sense of mind.

Get the evidence, call the cops, turn it ALL over to them, and let them handle it.

Don't parade around like a bunch of fresh roosters.

punk

NEWSWIRE

Phoenix, AZ

APR 13, 2008 11:47 AM

zenFish said:
The issue I'm finding with this is all the posting of information about this guy, freely on the net.

"Innocent till proven guilty".

There's been some chatter that possibly this guy was dupied by whom ever stole it.

Or yes, this is the guy that stole it.

Either way, while I applaud that they did call the cops.

Boo on them thinking it's funny to post videos of this guy being arrested, and posting all of his information around.

You don't see cops letting you go through their files, and these guys should have had the same sense of mind.

Get the evidence, call the cops, turn it ALL over to them, and let them handle it.

Don't parade around like a bunch of fresh roosters.

I don't see a problem with the videos - they're pretty funny, to boot.

To be fair, it's relatively easy to identify someone once their full name, picture, and city of residence have been reported by the news.

MrCrisp

Charleston, SC

August 2004

APR 13, 2008 12:13 PM

the kid should just be glad he didn't steal the car from the other ironside.

ardour

Ottawa, ON

March 2006

APR 13, 2008 02:43 PM

Pretty much agree in theory. If someone did it to me though, I doubt I'd feel the same way. I dispise people who have no respect for my stuff. I'd welcome that kind of information finding, it worked great.

I'm only uneasy over the potential for abuse. Imagine if this guy was innocent, that'd totally suck for him. In this scenario, it's not likely at all. But change a few factors and it could have ended badly.

Personally, I think the video's a bit much, even assuming he's guilty. I guess I just don't like gloating assholes, no matter how in the right they might be.

MrCrisp

Charleston, SC

August 2004

APR 13, 2008 03:12 PM

awww, poor criminal. can't stand a little ridicule and exposure.

OneWithAll

Charlton City, MA

October 2005

APR 14, 2008 07:56 AM

*applauds them*

michaeljtoo

I'm lost

December 2004

APR 14, 2008 08:40 AM

MrCrisp said:
awww, poor criminal. can't stand a little ridicule and exposure.

Well, that's the point, isn't it? He's not a criminal until the facts have been sorted out--and I don't mean on the internet--and he either confesses or is found guilty after a legal process. It's slow, but the opposite of this is called "fascism."

I do applaud the actions of these "fresh roosters," however, right up to the point where they acted like fresh roosters.