Ever been affected by CRIME?

[AnthonyO'Brien]

I've been lucky. Closest I've come was I had a guy with (likely) mental health and drug problems do a snatch and run of cash from the register at a charity thrift store I was working at.

And you?

[DrNewGod]

Burglary. Pure smash and grab.

Pushed in a door while we were working, grabbed everything (almost all electronics) that would fit in one of my backpacks plus a tv that would have taken two hands. All of it from the first 2-3 rooms, didn't even rifle the bedroom drawers, or the sideboard full of silver. One round trip, with as much as they could carry, as fast as they could go, and focused on stuff they could barter cleanly.

Forensics actually made more of a mess dusting us from rafters to foundations.

Fortunately, nothing irreplaceable went with them. Made us a smidge more cautious, but it's not like it gave me nightmares that drives me to hunt the the wicked in a mask and cape.

[babyblob]

I have been on both sides of the crime spectrum. I was abused by a neighbor three times. Had my house robbed and a car stolen. I also did four years in prison. So both sides. After getting out of prison I worked with a group for reform in prisons. Havnt done that in awhile because of the virus and my dads health in the middle of this year. As well as my own mental health disorder acting up.

[AnthonyO'Brien]

Thanks. Also had a pair of swipers at another thrift store I worked at. The woman distracted the manager while the male stole a pearl necklace that had been donated from the front window display..

ALSO nearly fell victim to a family(?)of nutty con artists in Vietnam c.2011. They seemed friendly and charmed me into having lunch with them which soon turned into a card game when Mrs Wong "unexpectedly" turned up. They pressured me into a game with her(I can't even play fish or snap!) which apparently I was winning. They just needed me to get some money out from the bank for them to bet a big hand. Fortunately I left my credit cards at my hostel locker , which left the ring leader frustrated soon as we set foot outside the house I bolted and grabbed the nearest motor cycle taxi. Left me a bit shaken but wiser. They'd been playing other good natured people at my hostel as well that week...

[DrNewGod]

Thanks. Also had a pair of swipers at another thrift store I worked at. The woman distracted the manager while the male stole a pearl necklace that had been donated from the front window display..

ALSO nearly fell victim to a family(?)of nutty con artists in Vietnam c.2011. They seemed friendly and charmed me into having lunch with them which soon turned into a card game when Mrs Wong "unexpectedly" turned up. They pressured me into a game with her(I can't even play fish or snap!) which apparently I was winning. They just needed me to get some money out from the bank for them to bet a big hand. Fortunately I left my credit cards at my hostel locker , which left the ring leader frustrated soon as we set foot outside the house I bolted and grabbed the nearest motor cycle taxi. Left me a bit shaken but wiser. They'd been playing other good natured people at my hostel as well that week...

Saw a variant on that one in Istanbul. Ukrainian sex workers (Natashas they're called) get lone or small groups of young tourists to sit with them while they have a drink so they can hear about Spain/Canada/UK/US/etc. After a few Dutch rounds, the bartender hands the marks a bill, including the ladies drinks, which cost more than the Shah of Iran would have paid per glass. Suddenly, a couple of very large Turks are standing behind the marks demanding they pay up.

[Riv86672]

I've been lucky. Closest I've come was I had a guy with (likely) mental health and drug problems do a snatch and run of cash from the register at a charity thrift store I was working at.

And you?

More times than I can count.

I grew up in a family of criminals in NYC, and was a criminal and gang member myself growing up. I managed to avoid any major convictions and after I turned 18 I had some choices to make, which I did, holding down various jobs (bike messenger, bouncer, working at a comic shop) before joining the Army.

It worked out pretty well. I’m retired now, have a family of my own w. kids that are all pretty exemplary. I’ve outlived both my older brothers, who stayed in the criminal life after I got out. All in all, despite PTSD and TBI from multiple deployments around the world i think I made the right choice(s).

[DrNewGod]

More times than I can count.

I grew up in a family of criminals in NYC, and was a criminal and gang member myself growing up. I managed to avoid any major convictions and after I turned 18 I had some choices to make, which I did, holding down various jobs (bike messenger, bouncer, working at a comic shop) before joining the Army.

It worked out pretty well. I’m retired now, have a family of my own w. kids that are all pretty exemplary. I’ve outlived both my older brothers, who stayed in the criminal life after I got out. All in all, despite PTSD and TBI from multiple deployments around the world i think I made the right choice(s).

Glad you got home man. From both fronts.

[C_Miller]

I worked at a bank that was robbed about a decade ago. It's not as exciting as it looks in the movies.

[AnthonyO'Brien]

Wow. Lot of honesty here.

I'm pretty sure I was duped by my (polar opposite) brother into smuggling drugs for him from the city to the small town he lives in. He rang me up saying he'd left a jacket at a friend's place and if I could meet his friend one night near my local train station to pick it up. I arranged to meet his friend who claimed to have known him since 1996 (odd since my brother lived overseas from 97-2008) he took me to his car where he produced a small, fancy shopping bag saying he'd bring the jacket some other time and that it was a crystal figurine for my neice's birthday. The bag inside the package felt more like a bag of rice and I have yet to see the figurine. The whole thing happened while our sister was in the final days of cancer, putting me in a situation where asking questions would make things worse. My brother was high on valium one day, shrooms the next upsetting his wife and playing too rough with his kids. He loudly brags about his previous dealing days and was buying lots of sandwich bags from the supermarket. Won't be so trusting next time...

[Crazy Diamond]

* had a classmate who murdered her client (she became an escort)
* lived in a neighborhood where one of the people there was arrested for bilking the government of Ghana for billions of dollars
* gas station near one of the schools I went to got robbed and the robber ran onto campus and tried to pretend that he was a student which led to several hour long lockdown
* saw the cops from time to time at the house for reasons I don't want to go into
* got questioned by the cops in college for a crime I didn't commit

[PCN24454]

A couple of teenagers once shot me with a BB gun on Halloween.

When I was working at a cashier, some old lady was committing gift card fraud.

[Iron Maiden]

I've pretty lucky. I think the worst encounter I had was back when I used to work in the laboratory records dept at one of the area hospitals. Sunday mornings were usually pretty quiet at the outpatient reception desk, which he had to staff to log in the doctors orders and various other tasks. So my co-worker and I were in the records area where we filed away the reports and answered the phone. The was down a hallway behind the reception desk. As I was standing and filing away some reports (no computer software back then) I heard a voice behind me asking if this was the emergency room. We were just off the lobby and the ER was down the hall from us. I said no and then gave him directions. The guy just gave me the creeps since neither of us heard in come down the hall to our file room. My co-worker said that she noticed that as soon as I turned around to see the guy I instantly took a step back. He just gave me the creeps and had a dead look in his eyes. Later in the day we found out through the grapevine that the guy went to the ER and was arrested. His girlfriend had died in the emergency room and their infant child was in critical condition. He had gone berserk and stabbed the mother repeatedly and then attacked the baby. The mother died not long after getting to the ER and the baby's spinal cord had been almost severed. Some years later one of the people working in the lab was recalling that case and she said that she knew the family. The child survived but was paralyzed and would never be able to walk. AFAIK that is the only time I was face to face with a murderer.

[DrNewGod]

I've pretty lucky. I think the worst encounter I had was back when I used to work in the laboratory records dept at one of the area hospitals. Sunday mornings were usually pretty quiet at the outpatient reception desk, which he had to staff to log in the doctors orders and various other tasks. So my co-worker and I were in the records area where we filed away the reports and answered the phone. The was down a hallway behind the reception desk. As I was standing and filing away some reports (no computer software back then) I heard a voice behind me asking if this was the emergency room. We were just off the lobby and the ER was down the hall from us. I said no and then gave him directions. The guy just gave me the creeps since neither of us heard in come down the hall to our file room. My co-worker said that she noticed that as soon as I turned around to see the guy I instantly took a step back. He just gave me the creeps and had a dead look in his eyes. Later in the day we found out through the grapevine that the guy went to the ER and was arrested. His girlfriend had died in the emergency room and their infant child was in critical condition. He had gone berserk and stabbed the mother repeatedly and then attacked the baby. The mother died not long after getting to the ER and the baby's spinal cord had been almost severed. Some years later one of the people working in the lab was recalling that case and she said that she knew the family. The child survived but was paralyzed and would never be able to walk. AFAIK that is the only time I was face to face with a murderer.

Yeee-ikes! Glad you got clean on that one. Maximum scary. Likely to be seeing that one in my nightmares.

[Iron Maiden]

Yeee-ikes! Glad you got clean on that one. Maximum scary. Likely to be seeing that one in my nightmares.

I still wonder to this day why he showed up there at the hospital. I've guessing he was coming down from something. Back then I guess it would be crack. Thank God he didn't come with a weapon.

[ERON]

Growing up, our house got broken into twice. Fortunately we weren't home either time. The first time, they took our microwave and my dad's guitar. The second time, they got into our garage and took our weedeater, an old boat motor my dad was tinkering with, and the stereo out of my dad's jeep.

Since I've been on my own, I've had my car broken into four times over the years. The first two times, they took the stereo. The third time, they took my registration sticker, and the fourth (and hopefully last) time, they took my phone charger.