I'd like to add my two cents. Some years ago (maybe 20), I lived in Miami and
worked on a cruise ship so was therefore gone from each Sat. to the following
Sat. One week, I came home to find someone had popped open a sliding patio
door on the second floor, and stolen half the contents of the house. The
insurance claim came to almost $100,000 which wasn't even enough to cover the
cost; and they depreciated quite a few of the items whether they were worn or
not. Didn't collect movie paper at that time, but did collect rare books,
Hummel figurines, and other stuff. I had two insurance policies; one refused
to pay anything because as they put it "You have another policy. They'll pay."
The police investigated, took fingerprints (what a mess!), made a full report,
etc. I kept in contact with the police but nothing ever turned up. A month or
so later, the house next door was broken into (ostensibly by the same people),
but a relative of the owner happened to stop by while the thieves were there.
The front door was open slightly, so the visitor went in and hollered "Hello".
One of the thieves was just coming down the stairs and said to the visitor
"Good thing you're here! We think the house has been robbed. You'd better go
usptairs and see if you can tell what's missing." The visitor started up the
stairs while the man on the stairs continued down and out the front door. The
visitor realized after a few seconds that whoever this guy was he had no
business there, so he turned and ran out after him. He caught the
make/model/license plate of the getaway car, and called police. Police traced
the car, went to the residence of the car owner, and questioned him. He said
he'd been home all that day and didn't know anything about it. So that was the
end of it! I never heard another word about either robbery. I personally
visited all the secondhand shops, pawn shops, etc., for a trace of anything,
but never found anything. Based on the items stolen from me (set of women's
luggage, my slacks/clothing, furniture including matching throw cushions) I
assumed that the items weren't sold but rather used to furnish the crooks'
home. I know police have lots of work to do especially in Miami chasing
illegal aliens, drug dealers, murderers, etc., but it would have been nice to
have had some help and maybe something might have been recovered. Nothing
against police--look at the great work they did on 9/11 and the day-to-day work
they do. But robberies seem to be low on their list of priorities. I, like
Bruce, learned the hard way the vaule of a good alarm system, which of course I
immediately had installed. Happy Holidays to all! Judi
Judith Weaver
1457 Guava Avenue
Melbourne, FL 32935
321-514-4861
----- Original Message -----
From: Dave Rosen
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 2:24 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] OT: Keystone Kops, alive & well in Las Vegas
LOL...Funny story, from the outside anyway. Hope tomorrow goes better for
you, Rich.
Dave
www.posteropolis.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Halegua Comic Art
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 10:30 PM
Subject: [MOPO] OT: Keystone Kops, alive & well in Las Vegas
hiya folks
I have a very funny story for all of you today.
You folks remember when my warehouse & office were burglarized in September
don't you??
Thieves (we're pretty sure we know who) broke in through the wall from a
vacant unit next door, smashed through the office door & stole what was my then
new camera, my laptop, some misc stuff and 2 boxes of comics & stuff that was
on the front table
all told, I filed a claim for my merch at $20,000+ to Collectibles
Insurance Agency. My equipment was not covered
Called the police and filed a report, the cops walked all around inside the
building taking photos of busted doors & the hole in my wall etc. They even
sent a fingerprint technician (I called her Marg Helgenberger) to look for
prints etc. The day of the burglary, they spent 3 1/2 hours taking pics, my
report & looking for prints etc.
Then during the next two weeks, I compiled as close a list of missing stuff
& filed it with the police and even had photos of about 100 items
about a week after the theft I got a phone call from the detective working
my case - Detective Madison who assured me they were on the case. He asked
about what was stolen and I told him comics etc and said I called all the
stores, let them know about the theft & emailed lists to them if possible. I
explained that they would have to come up sooner or later & I would hope to
retrieve them.
Detective Madison said "well they're just comics. How would I know they
were your comics unless you have the only copies of them?"
I explained that if he saw my pictures he would understand. He said "well
lets find them first I guess" and that was that.
I filed my insurance claim which was paid this November and then I spotted
a guy on ebay selling my books.
I alerted Detective Madison to the ebay seller right away & again he gave
me the "How would I know they were your comics" line. So I again explained, why
don't you look at my pics and his and you will understand immediately. he gave
me his email address, I sent him pics & links to the guy's auctions and within
5 minutes he called back, explained that they sure looked like my books and he
shot off a request to ebay for info on the seller.
It took 3 weeks for ebay to respond and Detective Madison called me to let
me know the dealer would come in wityh the books & I should come pick them up
later in the afternoon.. that was today.
I get to the police station, and I go to his office and of the 400 books,
he has 15 crappy issues worth $200 on the outside. Some of them were not even
my text list, though I had pics of them - so I guess I didn't even make a full
text list for the insurance company. Here is the following discussion:
Richie: "Where's the rest of the books?"
Detective Madison: "this is all he has left. he says he sold the rest"
Richie: " but Detective Madison, the 7 golden age comics he had on ebay
aren't here and they were listed until Friday"
Detective Madison: "This is all he has left."
Richie: "what about the rest?"
Detective Madison: "I spoke to the property crimes department. Your
insurance company called them. Did you file a claim?"
Richie: "yes"
Detective Madison: "did you get paid?"
Richie: "yes I got replacement value"
Detective Madison: "you know these people are innocent, they paid for them
too"
Richie: "where did they say they got them?"
Detective Madison: "he says 2 old people walked in with them"
Richie: "you know Detective Madison, they're selling you a crock"
Detective Madison: "Mr Halegua, you sell your comic books, I'll do the
police work"
$25,000 Reported Theft
$200. Value Recovery
NO Suspects Arrested
Crime Solved
Case Closed
so I took this little stack and went home, because clearly Mack Sennett had
started filming movies again, right here in Las Vegas and I had gone to the
film set & not a real police station.
then when loading some stuff into my car at the house of a friend who is
unfortunately on his deathbed, I didn't notice I had dropped my phone under the
car until I started backing up & heard C-R-U-N-C-H
so tell me folks.. what's going on in your day???
PS. I should mention that the comic store that had or still has my comics
is Action Comics in Henderson Nevada
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