Thieves!

[jm minica]

There has been a rash of thefts from construction sites in HPP this last week. They have been hitting sites in the middle of the day when the workers leave for lunch and stealing tools. I had $600 worth of tools stolen from one of my jobs down on Beach Rd when I ran up to the store at lunch, and another guy working on a new house on 1st lost everything at lunch time this week also. It use to be that we had to worry about loosing things at night, but now you cant even turn your back for a short time in broad daylight without being hit. Some of the people who live around here have a pretty good idea who is doing it, but until they get caught in the act, they keep stealing. And it all comes down to the one thing that is tearing Hawaii and our country apart; ice. It seems that it's the ice heads that are behind these thefts. The people they are targeting are hard working folks that rely on those tools to put food on their families table, it's sad and very frustrating. Especially when I look at how much money they spend on "Green Harvest", when they really should be focusing on "Ice Harvest". You dont see weed smokers running around stealing working folks tools, but that seems to be the m.o. of the iceheads. I believe if our country doesn't address the ice issue with a sense of urgency we are going to be in big trouble as a society. Sorry for the rant, just very frustrated...
Aloha,
Mark

[ericlp]

I agree... Until the community stands up... Until, we DEMAND that cops bust "KNOWN" ice houses ... Nothing will change. Even the cops are afraid of the ice heads and they won't do anything about em. Tho, they will bust dope people that mind their own business because they know they won't get shot at or killed....

It is rather pathetic that this type of attitude exits in Hawaii. 1 or 2 people can not make a difference but 1-2 thousand people can...

Sorry for you loss, I am very lucky that I have not been robbed ... I have a lot of stuff tools, generator in my home that I'm fixing up that is not even occupied tho, I got really good neighbors ... I am just crossing my fingers that it stay that way at least until we move in.

[haoleboy]

And never, ever buy tools that you even suspect have been stolen. Someone is buying these tools. When Joe Tweeker rolls into your jobsite offering tools for a bargain price with a lame story behind it...you know they are STOLEN tools! No Aloha for thieves!

Aloha
Richwhiteboy

"Thou shalt not steal."- God

[Scott_S]

Mark, how do you think these bas***ds are reselling so many construction tools? Is there any stores selling used merchandise that if the equipment has ID numbers the items can be checked or do you think they just ask around and sell it for practically
nothing? It sucks that someone can't earn a living without worrying about being ripped off all the time. A nice lady who does alterations(and sews on Harley patches)here in our small town was robbed and killed over a lousy 100 bucks.


Scott

[Carey]

Was at HD last summer & a guy was trying to return a DeWalt sawzall...didn't have reciept or instructions, the case had green spray painted inititals. Manager was called, turns out that this was a stolen tool & the owner had called HD a week before. The guy at the store was taken away by police.
Moral: some of the theives here are really gutsy & if you have had suff stolen, wouldn't hurt to call placs like HD.
As to where to sell tools, garage sales (esp. ones that are long running &/or in a different area), flea markets, online, auctions, word of mouth, pawn shop.

[Kapohocat]

We had three framing nail guns stolen about 2 years ago. Make sure you engrave in a couple of places some sort of ID. I went into the pawn shop with my police report and the guy laughed because he had 6 nail guns some make/model/color.

[Rob Tucker]

I had suggested in the past that the Police set up a "sting" operation with a fence buying stolen goods while a video camera watched. People should clamor for that type of effective tactic. Works everywhere else. Thieves aren't that smart. A sting could also embed a homing device in a pile of lumber or box of tools.

I also wonder why - if we can embed an ID chip in a dog why can't we embed one in our skilsaw? Maybe we can.
Ya gotta be proactive to combat these creeps.

[sansei]

Rob,
I think you are talking about RFID and it is slowly making its way into more applications. The State Department has started using them in passports. Walmart has been one of the major retailers pushing for it so they can automate inventory tracking so there is muscle behind the push. Pharma companies are also starting to use it on high value drugs to detect fakes. The only limitation on tools is that it has to be hidden under plastic so RF can get to it. So much plastic is used for housings on tools that it is not that much of a limitation these days.

[Rob Tucker]

I found a company with an inexpensive homing device in the $100 range. It can locate things within a 600 ft. range. With it you can also tag items and if they move beyond a preset distance from your base an alarm goes off. Oh yeah, you can tag your kids or pets and know when they wander off too. That is very worthwhile for parents with small children.

Quite interesting....

http://www.loc8tor.com/

On another note I have seen fake video monitor cameras on eBay for as little as $5 ea. They are battery powered, look real, and have a red indicator light and pan back and forth. Could be a cheap way to have the appearance of a monitored site. Of course a thief might steal it. So mount it high and obviously.

[leilaniguy]

I've had good luck (so far) by doing what Kapohocat suggested. Whenever I buy a tool, the first thing I do is get out the dremel and carve my name in the metal casing, big and bold, both sides where possible.