Purse Snatcher Tries To Ransom Mobile Phone Back To Owner... For $185,000

from the perhaps-he-should-plead-insanity dept

Thu, Oct 18th 2007 10:57am — Mike Masnick

This one fall into the stupid criminal files. A guy who attacked a woman and ended up stealing her purse and mobile phone later tried to ransom the phone back to her for $185,000, a number he seemed to have picked out of thin air (found via The Raw Feed). Apparently, the ridiculousness of the request soon became apparent, as he was quickly negotiated down to $200 ransom. Of course the whole negotiation was taken place with police listening, and so it was the police who greeted him at the transaction location, rather than a woman with $200. The guy's now in jail. If the judge had a sense of humor, he would have set bail at $185,000, rather than $100,000, while also pointing out that he wouldn't negotiate down to $200.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: mobile phones, stolen

9 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased), 18 Oct 2007 @ 11:20am

Some just don't have it...
Logic would tell a robber that, hey, I just stole a ladies purse and cell phone. One, who's phone is she calling from and two where is she gonna get the $200, I am holding her purse in my hands. I would bet the extra zeros came from the visual effect of the wall-eye.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Danny, 18 Oct 2007 @ 11:21am

The only way...
this could be funnier is if the attacker sued the woman for entrapment or something and was asking for $185K in "irrerparable damages".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ajax 4Hire, 18 Oct 2007 @ 11:25am

For the love of money is the root
of all evil.

Greed will catch the best of crooks.

Bears make money, Bulls make money, Hogs get slaughtered.
Don't get greedy and you won't get caught.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- FunK, 18 Oct 2007 @ 1:54pm
  
  Re: For the love of money is the root
  Lack of money is the root of all evil.
  - George Bernard Shaw
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
austin p, 18 Oct 2007 @ 11:36am

he should have had her wire the money to his swiss bank account.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
JS Beckerist, 18 Oct 2007 @ 12:42pm

or...
He should have blanked the phone and sold it, provided it wasn't a cheapy...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Chris S., 18 Oct 2007 @ 12:59pm

Notch for the TARD's
This does just go to show how retarded people have become. This ID10T stole her purse and cell, assuming her credit cards and any cash she did have was/is in her purse, and then he demands ransom??
Phone call from crook to lady (Fly on the wall to hear convo):
"Hey lady if you ever want to see your phone again...bring me all your cash and credit cards! Oh and swing by Starbucks to get me a Venti White Chocolate Mocha since you are going to be in the area, cool thanks."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
DLW, 18 Oct 2007 @ 1:55pm

Must have been..
.. one of those unlocked iPhones.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Asmodeus, 18 Oct 2007 @ 2:10pm

All I can say is...
Wow. *shakes his head*

Asmo
[ link to this | view in chronology ]