Dumbass Steals Car, Gets Caught by Car Forum Members
From SlashdotÂ’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. IronsideÂ’s inventory.
One of the men had been to the dealership a week earlier for a ride, but he and Mr. Ironside didnÂ’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 moronÂ’s home. The picture mentioned earlier was used to track down his Facebook page. Forum members eventually drove to the suspectÂ’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
Hey Justice, Fuck You!
It seems both the Wall Street Journal and the Pentagon know a thing or two about justice, namely who deserves it (America's corporations) and who doesn't (detainees at Guantánamo Bay).
In an opinion piece appearing in Friday's WSJ entitled "The Gitmo High Life" (only available online to paying subscribers) Robert L. Pollock says:
Corporate C.E.O.Â’s seeing this should ask firms to choose between lucrative retainers and representing terrorists.
Pollock is talking about an interview Pentagon official Charles D. Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, gave to Federal News Radio this week where he shared these words of wisdom:
"As a result of a FOIA request through a major news organization, somebody asked, ‘Who are the lawyers around this country representing detainees down there?’ and you know what, it’s shocking." The F.O.I.A. reference was to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Monica Crowley, a conservative syndicated talk show host, asking for the names of all the lawyers and law firms representing Guantánamo detainees in federal court cases.
Mr. Stimson, who is himself a lawyer, then went on to name more than a dozen of the firms listed on the 14-page report provided to Ms. Crowley, describing them as “the major law firms in this country.” He said, “I think, quite honestly, when corporate C.E.O.’s see that those firms are representing the very terrorists who hit their bottom line back in 2001, those C.E.O.’s are going to make those law firms choose between representing terrorists or representing reputable firms, and I think that is going to have major play in the next few weeks. And we want to watch that play out.”
Right. So every detainee is already a "terrorist" and I guess we should all just forget about the rights of the accused and due process and being innocent until proven guilty. There are currently hundreds of detainees being held at Guantánamo Bay, with almost as many lawyers providing defense to them pro bono. Given that every person who stands accused of a crime has the right to a fair trial, I find this more than a little upsetting. I'm no fancy-pants lawyer, but it looks like I'm not alone in my feelings on justice for all.
Karen J. Mathis, a Denver lawyer who is president of the American Bar Association, said: “Lawyers represent people in criminal cases to fulfill a core American value: the treatment of all people equally before the law. To impugn those who are doing this critical work—and doing it on a volunteer basis—is deeply offensive to members of the legal profession, and we hope to all Americans.”
Even Alberto Gonzales, not one of my favorite people, had something to say about the situation:
In an interview on Friday, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said he had no problem with the current system of representation. “Good lawyers representing the detainees is the best way to ensure that justice is done in these cases,” he said.
Last time I checked America was a democratic nation, yet we are holding other human beings prisoner on an island where the government claims no international or US laws apply, and that's scary--oh wait--didn't we already do this once before? Why have we learned nothing? Collective-amnesia sure is a powerful thing, isn't it?