You ain't gonna believe this one!

[DonTx]

Just when you get comfortable in your daily inspection routine, something comes along to turn it upside down...

Showed up at today's inspection, met the Client out front and went up to the door. Rang the door bell several times and finally let myself in with the Supra Key.

I shouted "Hello, Home Inspector" like I always do when entering an occupied home. I heard this gruff voice say "Hello" back, which kinda startled me because there wasn't suppose to be anyone home.

It was the Sellers son and he told us to come on in.

My Client told me that she couldn't stay for the entire inspection but that her husband would show up near the end. I told her that would be a problem.

Anyway, she followed me around like a puppy dog while I did the inspection. She was taking measurements and asking all the same ole questions. She even came up and stood on the attic ladder while I inspected the attic. She then told me she had to get ready to go to work.

She changed in the Master Bath while I finished up the attic. As I came down, she told me that the Sellers son had left a few minutes earlier and that a cab had picked him up.

She started to take off about 12:30. I heard her say "Oh my God, I can't find my wallet or camera!" We turned the house upside down looking for them. I figured she'd left them out in the car. She went back out and looked in the car and her bags again. No wallet - No Camera.

The only place they'd been was on the Kitchen Island. She never took any pics of the home so she wasn't carrying the camera around the home.

Well, it didn't take long before we were thinking the Son had taken the things.

She called her husband who was on his way and their realtor. Those two showed up about the same time. After talking about it, they called the listing agent who in turned called the Seller. Seller said she didn't think her son would do something like that and was on her way home to talk to the Buyer.

Meanwhile, they call the Sheriffs Dept. and have a Deputy to come out. While he's on his way out, we start brainstorming and looked at the caller ID on the phone to find the number of the Cab. Co. We found that and gave it to the Deputy when he arrived. He also called the Seller and told her to get ahold of her son ASAP and return the items if he took them.

Seller said the Son didn't have a cell phone (wrong, the Buyer and I both saw him using one shortly after we arrived), then she said he got ahold of his girlfriend and that he was on his way home and that he said he didn't know anything about the camera and wallet.

The Deputy called the Cab Co. It didn't take long to find out that he paid the Cabby with a CC, when they ran the numbers, guess who's CC it was? Then the Cab Co. said that he'd tried to sell the driver a camera!

The Mother kept saying that "He'll be here any minute" The Deputy finally had to tell her "Ma'am, he's not coming back home, the girlfriend had dropped him off at a Metro Bus station" (so she said)

Anyway, what should have been a three hour inspection turned into a 6 hour inspection as I had to wait around until everything was cleared up and while the Deputy searched my truck.(before we learned about the CC from the Cab Co.)

Pretty wild day. Amazing how a 23 year old boy thinks he can swipe a $700 camera and a womans wallet and everything will be fine. Now he's facing time in the big house. (when they catch him)

What kind of mindset does one have to have to figure they can pull this off and not get caught?

[chrisprickett]

Donald,

Glad to hear you didn't get falsely accused. Been down that road before!

Why criminals do criminal things are very difficult for honest people to conceive. I've been ripped off by employees, tenants, family, and fellow church members. I used to try and figure it out, but you just can't.

"But for the grace of God go I."

Early in my construction career, I worked for a guy named Bill. Bill had two sons, Bill Jr. and Tom. Tom was a pretty normal kid, no angel, but basically a good kid. When I met him he was home from college working for his dad.

Bill Jr. was a differnet story. When I met him, he was about 28 and also working for his dad. But Bill Jr. was just out of prison for grand theft and drug charges. The guy was an amazing craftsman! He could make furniture that looked like it just came off the floor of finest gallery. And he was a very smart guy.

My last memory of Bill Jr. was seeing him take off in a car, from his dad's house. Five minutes later, his dad was taking off after him. Seems he had just swiped a check out of the middle of Bill Sr's company check book.

Next time I saw Bill Sr., he said Bill Jr. was back in jail for parole violation (posession of stolen BMW rims and drugs). He told me how he didn't understand how Bill Jr., with all of his talents and opportunity, could always make stupid decisions. I had no answers.

[kurt]

Originally posted by Donald Lawson

What kind of mindset does one have to have to figure they can pull this off and not get caught?

They watch the news & see ExxonMobil rip off society for a few hundred billion & think that a camera & wallet are really no big deal.

[Steven Hockstein]

Usually it can be traced back to drugs and/or drinking.

Good work Detective Lawson!

[Terence McCann]

Amazing story Don. Just when you think you've seen it all....

[paul burrell]

Most 23 year olds can not see to the end of their nose much less to getting caught. After all no one is looking, I am alone how they gonna know?

Stupid is as stupid does.

Paul Burrell

[Caoimhín P. Connell]

Donald-

As a cop, I can tell you the mopes are dopes. I wish I had a dollar for every car I stopped for a tail light out and the conversations goes like this (these are real):

ME: “Good afternoon, Sir. Deputy Connell, do you know why I’ve contacted you this evening?â€

[BlackJack]

Kurt:

The sad commentary is the fact a bigger deal is made of a wallet theft than the theft of millions of dollars from shareholders who will never recover their losses.

Sad commentary indeed.

Reason being that the Lawyers are getting filthy rich off the suffering of shareholders and the employees.

[Bradd Judd]

Mr. lawson,

I'm so happy you shared that story with us.....

I had always wondered if I was being paranoid(on thankfully 1 incident only) when the buyer showed up with his immediate family (and their children), distant aunts' and uncles' as well as their neighbors and friends on an inspection of a 3bed/2bath townhome.

At least 16 people were asking me about the unit and if I had found Jesus, as everyone was rifling through the sellers personal possesions. I immediately identified with the police who must engage in crowd/riot control.

I can't even begin to tell you the utter feeling of uselessness. I was very thankful that the realtor was their to fend off most of the irrelevant questioning as well as patrol the unit.

I never have forgoten that experience and remembered that the ending was poetic when the owner on the lower unit (one area was shared wall space) came up and said that their was a law suit (due to lack of noise abatement material in the floors and ceilings) and that she could literally here someone peeing from one of the bathrooms in her bedroom!

Thanks again.