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Rolex Thief Caught On Tape

6K views 108 replies 41 participants last post by  Monocrom 
#1 ·
#3 ·
How could he think he could get away with that? An airport!!
 
#4 ·
Wouldn't it be funny if it was a replica?
 
#9 ·
I saw that, and it freaked me out. I am staggered that they couldn't find him. Forget the watch, this is about the entire point of the TSA... What if the video had revealed a guy with a weapon or device that the machine had missed? Dude just disappears into the crowd, and they have no idea who he is, what flight he's on? That's insane! Why do they even bother looking at your boarding pass and ID then?
 
#10 ·
Good point!
 
#13 ·
first of all, I dont condone what this person did, especially if he knows whose that watch was

but to be fair, this is like finding a watch on the floor

somebody left it there, it's not like he was targeting someone to steal their watch, he found a watch at one of those container

it's more like he found it than stole it ... but of course by keeping it, I suppose that would make him a thief (??)
 
#14 ·
first of all, I dont condone what this person did, especially if he knows whose that watch was

but to be fair, this is like finding a watch on the floor

somebody left it there, it's not like he was targeting someone to steal their watch, he found a watch at one of those container

it's more like he found it than stole it ... but of course by keeping it, I suppose that would make him a thief (??)
He knew who that watch belonged to. The person immediately in front of him in line and odds are she was still within view when he stole the watch.
 
#18 ·
Ahhhhh, gotta love South Florida, lol


OK, but no one blames the lady for leaving her watch in the tray? Yes, if I woulda been the guy I probably would of said "Maam, Maam, you left your watch" & then thought to myself "what a dumb @#$%&#, she just leaves her watch there, good thing I'm honest....."

I mean half of the people who get robbed almost ask for it. Not aware of their sorroundings, & absent mindedly leaving valuables places where they are easily taken.
 
#22 ·
Ahhhhh, gotta love South Florida, lol

OK, but no one blames the lady for leaving her watch in the tray? Yes, if I woulda been the guy I probably would of said "Maam, Maam, you left your watch" & then thought to myself "what a dumb @#$%&#, she just leaves her watch there, good thing I'm honest....."

I mean half of the people who get robbed almost ask for it. Not aware of their sorroundings, & absent mindedly leaving valuables places where they are easily taken.
Blame? She made a friggin mistake. Who knows; airports are a stressful place and she left her watch. Who know what else she had on her mind as she was trying to get to her flight. What other stressors were at work. We are not perfect all the time. She made a friggin mistake. In a free society, there is no room for blaming victims.
 
#19 · (Edited)
This watch story illustrates the funny thing about human nature and the fact that we are all different. There is no "good" in all of us. Some people are just scumbags. In that split second of time, that guy had a choice to make and he chose to steal. He might not even look at it as stealing but his good fortune. His first thought was not to do the "right thing" by the standards of society but to do what he thought was good for himself. He did not care what kind of impact it had. Was the woman still paying on the watch? Was it a precious gift with far more sentimental value? This is the type of guy that would take life vest off of a child to save himself and I have no problem saying that. People are capable of anything.

What would your knee jerk reaction be? Would you have any reservation? Years ago, I was in a department store with a friend purchasing something. The woman made a huge mistake giving me change to the point I would have gotten the item free plus money. Now, I am by no means a saint but, in a knee jerk reaction without thinking, I said "here, you made a mistake on the change." When we left the store, my friend, who I consider an honest guy started to bust my chops about giving the money back. I explained to him I was not trying to "prove" I was better than anybody; that it was a knee jerk reaction. I also told him that 1) I was not "out" anything; that the money was never mine to begin with and 2) put yourself in the cashier's shoes. Would she be fired for coming up short? What is the impact on her from a simple mistake?

What is the impact of your actions? Do you care?
 
#24 ·
Again, I by no means am saying that what the guy did was right or anything remotely like that.

But if, like you said, she was still paying for the watch or it was given to her & has sentimental value beyond a price, then she should be more carefull with it. Every time I travel I always have my bag & any other belongings in sight at all times. When I go through security, shoes come off, watch goes in shoe, always keep my eye on my stuff. I really care about my watch & I'm 100% positive that I would not leave it in an airport security tray, but again, that is because I really care about it.

The examples given before: watch found on a park bench, watch found on the floor....yes, it still belongs to the person who left it there, but it makes you wonder how important it was to them for them to just leave it there.
 
#56 ·
Every time I travel I always have my bag & any other belongings in sight at all times. When I go through security, shoes come off, watch goes in shoe, always keep my eye on my stuff. I really care about my watch & I'm 100% positive that I would not leave it in an airport security tray, but again, that is because I really care about it.
I used to follow the exact procedure you say, then one day a TSA agent took one of those little round "dog food" type bowls, picked my watch out of my shoe and slammed it into the bowl saying "you can't put that in your shoe"...the watch was my Lange 1 Zeitzone, after my heart started beating normal again I said "that watch is like 30 grand, eh", he laughed and said "yeah right"....I gave him a death stare and said "I'm serious." Now I wear my watch or place it in my carry on before I reach the check point.
 
#28 ·
'Finding' things is not how civilized people acquire property. There is no justification for what the criminal did.

Blaming the woman is a slippery slope. What next? Do not use your phone in public, do not park your car outdoors, wear a burka and do not go outdoors without a male guardian?
No, but don't park your car outdoors, with the windows open & the keys in the ignition & then be surprised when it's not there.

Don't leave your purse or laptop on the front seat of the car, in plain view & then be surprised that you window is broken & your purse/laptop is missing

Don't use your iphone/ipad next to the doors on the subway & not be aware of the 2 guys eyeing you & commenting to each other, who as the train is coming to a stop get up & start to approach you. (I saw a public Service announcement on this recently & though "duh!", lol)

Don't leave your open purse in a grocery cart while you walk to the other end of the isle to get cereal you forgot to get.

IDK, maybe it's just growin up in a city instead of a small town makes you be more aware fo things like this. But theives need an oportunity to strike, all I'm saying is try to minimize those opportunities.
 
#27 · (Edited)
there's no denying what this person did was wrong, especially if he knew who it belongs to

that said, I had some reservation of calling him a 'thief' at first, since the video only shows him finding that watch in the bin ... and taking it

I mean, we find things all the time ... does that mean the next time you find a quarter on the street and you deciding to keep it makes you a thief?

you find a newspaper in the subway and decided to read it, does that make you a thief? same principle, is it not?

or does value come to play; finding and keeping a quarter is OK, but finding and keeping a Rolex is not?

or are we basing this on assumption ... finding a newspaper, we assume the previous owner does not want it, finding a Rolex, well hell, somebody dropped it by accident

by criminal law definition, I agree that this person is consider a thief because a thief is someone who committed theft, and theft, by criminal law definition, is the dishonest taking of property belonging to another person with the intention of depriving the owner permanently of its possession.

but how do we know he wasnt looking for the lady or a lost and found?

or perhaps it's subjective;
other people finding nice stuff = thief
other people finding your stuff = #@*!^$% thief
you finding nice stuff = lucky
 
#29 · (Edited)
there's no denying what this person did was wrong, especially if he knew who it belongs to

that said, I had some reservation of calling him a 'thief' at first, since the video only shows him finding that watch in the bin ... and taking it

I mean, we find things all the time ... does that mean the next time you find a quarter on the street and you deciding to keep it makes you a thief?

you find a newspaper in the subway and decided to read it, does that make you a thief? same principle, is it not?

or does value come to play; finding and keeping a quarter is OK, but finding and keeping a Rolex is not?

or are we basing this on assumption ... finding a newspaper, we assume the previous owner does not want it, finding a Rolex, well hell, somebody dropped it by accident

by criminal law definition, I agree that this person is consider a thief because a thief is someone who committed theft, and theft, by criminal law definition, is the dishonest taking of property belonging to another person with the intention of depriving the owner permanently of its possession.

but how do we know he wasnt looking for the lady or a lost and found?

or perhaps it's subjective;
other people finding nice stuff = thief
other people finding your stuff = #@*!^$% thief
you finding nice stuff = lucky
He did not "find" the watch, he "took" the watch. It was not a quarter on the street where it is clearly impossible to find the owner. He took the watch from an airport sercurity bin. He looked around to see if the coast was clear. He looked for the owner to make sure they were not there, not to return it. His options were 1) leave it, 2) give it to the authorities who were all around him, 3) tell the owner "hey you left your watch here" , say loudly 4) did someone leave a watch here? He did none of those things. He took it.

We may find things all the time. We don't find Rolexes sitting in airport security bins all the time. A Rolex is not a discarded newspaper and I'm sorry, but its humorous to try to link the two. No slicing and dicing it, he's a scumbag thief who saw it as his lucky day. His actions on the video are quite clear.
 
#36 ·
This guy is a pure, self-centered, opportunist. He knew, full-well, where the watch came from (i.e. it was someone else's property), and that taking it was wrong (as demonstrated by his behavior).

Hope the owner gets her watch back.
 
#53 ·
This guy is a pure, self-centered, opportunist. He knew, full-well, where the watch came from (i.e. it was someone else's property), and that taking it was wrong (as demonstrated by his behavior).

Hope the owner gets her watch back.
As I said in another thread, that's just the public forum, baby! You can say "Stubbing your toe sucks", and some dude will construct an elaborate argument why it doesn't.

The guy stole it, Ari.seoul- that makes him a thief. Forget newspapers on busses and quarters on the ground. The comparison to them is about as apt as stating that Great White sharks don't eat people because goldfish don't.
I'm sorry, but what he did is no where near the same thing as finding a watch on the sidewalk outside, or finding a watch in the backseat of a taxi cab. In those situations, you're genuinely finding or stumbling onto something that a stranger left behind. You have no way of finding its owner, and no clue how long its been there. Maybe a couple of minutes if you found it on the street. Maybe hours if on the floor of the backseat of a taxi. That's very different from finding a watch in an otherwise empty tray as you're passing through the airport. You know the person right in front of you left it behind. That's when you shout at them as they're walking away.

"Hey! You forgot your watch!"

They come back, you hand it to them. If you just grab the watch out of the tray, and head on about your business, with the person still walking several feet in front of you; that's theft. You know the watch isn't your's and you can see the person who left it behind, directly in front of you! That's just blatant theft right there. Yeah, the guy didn't plan on stealing someone else's timepiece. But when an opportunity presented itself, that's exactly what he did.
Agree. The comparisons to newspapers and quarters on the ground is laughable. People don't slyly pickup newspapers or quarters and sneak off to some location to examine the goods they "found". They don't because there clearly is a difference.
 
#37 ·
As I said in another thread, that's just the public forum, baby! You can say "Stubbing your toe sucks", and some dude will construct an elaborate argument why it doesn't.

The guy stole it, Ari.seoul- that makes him a thief. Forget newspapers on busses and quarters on the ground. The comparison to them is about as apt as stating that Great White sharks don't eat people because goldfish don't.
 
#44 ·
let's rock the boat a bit more,
I'm not trying to be difficult (or maybe I am), I'm really interested in people's (intelligent) response

this man's action is clearly wrong because we assume he knows who the watch belongs to, and that he's not giving it back

now, somebody mentioned there's a clear difference between finding a quarter and finding a Rolex on the street

suppose both items have been on the street for a while and that you have no idea whose they are,

is it the same; keeping the quarter and keeping the Rolex?
if not the same, what are your points?

(and like I said, if this is only going to make you bash your head against a wall ... well, maybe you should go back to watching your Jersey Shore and skip this conversation)
 
#46 ·
Playing devil's advocate only works if the argument is sound.
You can't say you think the man's actions are wrong and then argue that it might be ok after all.

Whether or not you choose to keep a long lost Rolex found on the street is down to your own morality and in no way relates to this specific scenario where the man clearly took the watch belonging to the person in front.
As noted in another news story, someone did find a Rolex and they handed it in to the Police.
That person has a good morales.
 
#48 ·
I understand what you're saying, but I'm not so much playing the devil's advocate as I'm trying to put more thoughts into the arguments (that what he did was wrong)

like I said, I dont want this to be an angry mob mentality where we all pick up our sticks and pitchforks and start following the popular view,

there has to be sound reasons ... I just would like to see them

as to his action "might" be OK ... tell me when or if such action is OK

somebody mentioned that if it's clearly been laying there for a while and you have no clue whose it is, then it might be OK - or is that still wrong?
 
#50 ·
I don't quite get what the point of your discussion is.
You have said yourself that what he did was wrong, just like everyone else has said.

I can't help but be reminded of this quote:
what is understood need not be discussed.

In any case, I am also remind of something that is taught in UK Common Law:
each person owes a duty to behave as a reasonable person would under the same or similar circumstances.
 
#52 ·
I have taken a poll here at the office and this is what the majority has said: if a person finds a valuable piece and it is obviously been there for a while and has no name on (like the guy in the UK that found a watch in a drain) it it is pretty much up for grabs, the finder should in good faith at least check for obvious signs or listings of something missing....... if on the other hand something found has a label, name and/or is obvious it just happened one should do what he can to return it to his rightful owner. AND referring to this airport incident the general consensus is he stole it.
This may or may not be right but in my unofficial poll this is the results.
 
#54 · (Edited)
The guy took something that wasn't his walked right past the person who it did belong to, made eye contact and kept walking. If you take something that is not yours and have the opportunity to return it to the rightful owner and you do not that is stealing!

At minimum I think he should have turned in into lost and found and if he didn't have the time he could have turned it over to the TSA agent right there.

Their are too many bums out there. For example:
My Dad set his iphone down to check out at the grocery store and then walked to his car and realized he left it behind. He ran back in and it was already gone!

My wallet fell out of my pocked in the grocery store parking lot in a snow storm. I went back and looked everywhere for it but it was a lost cause in the snow. I left my name and number at the store and they called me the next day saying someone turned in the wallet...without any of the cash.

*He who is faithful with little, is faithful with much.
 
#58 ·
The guy took something that wasn't his walked right past the person who it did belong to, made eye contact and kept walking. If you take something that is not yours and have the opportunity to return it to the rightful owner and you do not that is stealing!

At minimum I think he should have turned in into lost and found and if he didn't have the time he could have turned it over to the TSA agent right there.

Their are too many bums out there. For example:
My Dad set his iphone down to check out at the grocery store and then walked to his car and realized he left it behind. He ran back in and it was already gone!

My wallet fell out of my pocked in the grocery store parking lot in a snow storm. I went back and looked everywhere for it but it was a lost cause in the snow. I left my name and number at the store and they called me the next day saying someone turned in the wallet...without any of the cash.

*He who is faithful with little, is faithful with much.
I had this happen with my phone. It literally took 30 seconds.
 
#57 ·
One day last summer I took my son to a soccer park for a practice, I went into the men's room and found a wallet right there on the floor. There was nobody in the restroom. I picked up the wallet which had a considerable amount of cash in it and I removed the driver's licence. I called information looking for the man's phone number but it wasn't listed. So I wandered around to all the fields, looking up and down the sidelines for the man in the licence, and couldn't find him . After about 45 minutes I seen a young man coaching some kids who looked like the man on the licence, I walked out on the field and said "excuse me coach, can I ask you what is your name" , he seemed somewhat confused but he told me his name, I said "I thought so, I believe this is yours, I found it in the restroom" and handed him his wallet. He was surprised as he hadn't realized he had lost it. He said "Oh thanks, wow, let me give you something, here take $50, please", I said "no thanks...you are doing a good thing coaching these boys, let this be my good thing"

You know it may sound sappy, but the good feeling I got was worth more than $50.

Cheers,
Rob
 
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