http://www.wtfnews.org/ Stories tagged Thieves en-us Wed, 22 May 2013 21:47:27 -0400 http://www.wtfnews.org/general/dumb-thieves-bungle-sofa-getaway-youtube/ This is the hilarious moment bungling thieves fled empty-handed when a shop manager hauled two stolen sofas out of their getaway van - after the raiders FORGOT to close the DOORS. Dramatic CCTV footage from a furniture showroom shows a pair of men brazenly loading two brown £400 settees into a white transit in broad daylight. Seconds before the intruders sped off brave store manager Justin Hallett, 37, leapt through the open backdoors and snatched the sofas back. The 60-second clip show... ]]> Thu, 04 Oct 2012 10:24:47 -0400 http://www.wtfnews.org/general/dumb-thieves-bungle-sofa-getaway-youtube/ http://www.wtfnews.org/general/shop-boss-foils-sofa-thieves/ A heroic shop manager has been caught on camera rescuing a pair of stolen sofas from the back of a getaway van. Justin Hallett, 37, saw thieves loading their van with the stolen sofas on the store's CCTV and dashed out to stop them. The manager of the Sofa King store in Northampton reached into the back of the van and dragged the sofas out just as the thieves drove away. The thieves tried making off with two brown leather sofas worth £399 in total. %... ]]> Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:17:54 -0400 http://www.wtfnews.org/general/shop-boss-foils-sofa-thieves/ http://www.wtfnews.org/general/thieves-bear-sprayed-spanked-by-store-owner/ When two masked men walked into Zhen Yang's Gatineau, Que., convenience store Tuesday night, at first he thought it was a practical joke. ]]> Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:14:32 -0400 http://www.wtfnews.org/general/thieves-bear-sprayed-spanked-by-store-owner/ http://www.wtfnews.org/general/thieves-stealing-manhole-covers-in-new-york-city-utility-says/ Manhole covers are being stolen from the streets of New York City, leaving dangerous holes in the roads and sidewalks, authorities said on Thursday. More than 30 manhole covers have been stolen in the city's Brooklyn, Queens and Bronx boroughs since early March, presumably by thieves selling them for scrap metal, said a spokesman for the Con Edison utility company. "Stealing manhole covers is dangerous," said Milovan Blair, Con Edison's vice president ... ]]> Thu, 03 May 2012 19:22:48 -0400 http://www.wtfnews.org/general/thieves-stealing-manhole-covers-in-new-york-city-utility-says/ http://www.wtfnews.org/law-politics/penguin-thieves-boasted-on-facebook/ Three men who allegedly stole a penguin from Sea World were nabbed because they boasted about it on Facebook. Sea World's Trevor Long told ABC Radio that Dirk the fairy penguin was recovering at the Gold Coast marine park after he was stolen and released in the Broadwater on Saturday night. Staff were relieved to have an exhausted Dirk back, as was his penguin partner, Peaches. Dirk had no chance of surviving alone in the wild, Mr Long said. ]]> Mon, 16 Apr 2012 06:36:03 -0400 http://www.wtfnews.org/law-politics/penguin-thieves-boasted-on-facebook/ http://www.wtfnews.org/law-politics/bee-rustling-thieves-steal-5000-honeybees-from-houston-restaurant/ Talk about your daring robberies. Unidentified thieves backed up their pickup truck to Haven Restaurant in Houston before dawn on March 10 and took off with a 500-pound beehive. Co-owner and executive chef Randy Evans said the hive, which was worth about $1,000, held as many as 5,000 bees. He raises them to use their honey in his restaurant. Evans also grows his own fruit and vegetables in the small plot behind his establishment. In addition to providing honey%2... ]]> Sat, 17 Mar 2012 06:04:55 -0400 http://www.wtfnews.org/law-politics/bee-rustling-thieves-steal-5000-honeybees-from-houston-restaurant/ http://www.wtfnews.org/law-politics/texas-thieves-steal-cookie-money-from-girl-scouts-hit-one-with-getaway-car/ Police in Texas are hunting a pair of thieves who stole cookie money from a group of Girl Scouts on Saturday, and then hit one of them with their vehicle as they made their escape. The Girl Scouts were selling cookies Saturday afternoon outside a Walmart store in Richmond, about 34 miles southwest of Houston, KHOU-TV reported. ]]> Sun, 04 Mar 2012 05:05:00 -0500 http://www.wtfnews.org/law-politics/texas-thieves-steal-cookie-money-from-girl-scouts-hit-one-with-getaway-car/ http://www.wtfnews.org/general/thieves-dig-100ft-tunnel-to-steal-cash-in-manchester/ Thieves in Manchester dug a 100ft (30m) underground tunnel to get to a cash machine. The theft happened overnight on Monday 2 January at Blockbuster in Fallowfield Shopping Precinct. A similar plot was foiled in the same area in 2007, and police believe it may have been carried out by the same gang. Thieves dug the tunnel directly under the cash machine and used machinery to cut through more than 15in (38cm) of concrete to steal the money. D... ]]> Sun, 22 Jan 2012 04:36:24 -0500 http://www.wtfnews.org/general/thieves-dig-100ft-tunnel-to-steal-cash-in-manchester/ http://www.wtfnews.org/law-politics/police-thieves-pocket-dial-911-leading-to-arrest/ Two Madison men were cited for retail theft Tuesday after a “pocket dial” to 911 provided a live play-by-play of their plans to sell stolen DVDs and computer games at a used video game store on the city’s East Side, police said. According to Madison police, Jason S. Hamielec, 29, and Brian A. Johnson, 28, couldn’t stop talking about their thievery after lifting a bunch of DVDs and computer games from a Target store at 201 Junction Road on th... ]]> Sun, 18 Dec 2011 01:21:37 -0500 http://www.wtfnews.org/law-politics/police-thieves-pocket-dial-911-leading-to-arrest/ http://www.wtfnews.org/law-politics/idiotic-car-thieves-slammed-by-police/ Car thieves in China have been slammed after stealing a four-by-four and driving it for more than a mile after it lost both its rear wheels in a police chase. The jeep - stolen in Xingtai, Hebei province, northern China - only stopped when sparks from the rear axle scraping along the road threatened to blow up the fuel tank. Two men who tried to flee from the stricken SUV were arrested and held for dangerous driving and theft. "It was an idiotic stunt. T... ]]> Fri, 25 Nov 2011 19:42:41 -0500 http://www.wtfnews.org/law-politics/idiotic-car-thieves-slammed-by-police/