CSI: Clifton [DP Store]

[digitalpress]

Almost three years, I'm actually a little surprised that yesterday was the first time the store was broken into. These pictures are priceless.Note that I've spent a pretty good deal of time over the p...

More... (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=16146264&blogID=408626389)

[carlcarlson]

Too bad you didn't have something like http://youtube.com/watch?v=Gv2QlFi4qVY to show. The pictures are very entertaining nonetheless. Glad to hear nothing was taken.

So do you yourself have any suspects? Do you think it really was some addict looking for stuff to pawn, or was an uber nerd who thought he had found his treasure trove?

[digitalpress]

Too bad you didn't have something like http://youtube.com/watch?v=Gv2QlFi4qVY to show. The pictures are very entertaining nonetheless. Glad to hear nothing was taken.

So do you yourself have any suspects? Do you think it really was some addict looking for stuff to pawn, or was an uber nerd who thought he had found his treasure trove?

Cool video, and strangely reminiscent! I've got video too but my system doesn't seem to want to convert to standards. It was enough for the local authorities, though. We've got leads, that's about all I can really say.

[s1lence]

Good deal that you had a good alarm system. I hope they catch those fuckers.

[TonyTheTiger]

I'm glad things worked out relatively well for you.

Based on the guy's legs (pretty scrawny looking) he doesn't look much older than 15-18 or so.

[digitalpress]

I'm glad things worked out relatively well for you.

Based on the guy's legs (pretty scrawny looking) he doesn't look much older than 15-18 or so.

Right. He's pretty tall, though. From the bottom of that triangle (molding) to the opening of the skylight where his waist is, he's about 5' 10", and probably still growing.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

You know, more and more I've been coming to know Scott as a truly awesome guy and an amazing member of the DP community ...

... now I'm beginning to question where exactly he parks the Batmobile when he comes to NAVA meetings.

[Coldguy]

Hmm...from all the episodes of It takes a thief that I watched the best way to secure you store is to get a security evalutation done by a security expert. They can find weak points and unlikly areas and secure them.

Why two cents, good thing you are showing off this info with other, now you know and knowing is half the battle! G.I JOE!

[guitargary75]

I hope they catch the piece of crap. I had something stolen out of my car about a week ago. Just plain sucks. I hope they end up like Otis on my sig.

[ProgrammingAce]

Is it wrong to imagine this breakin happening to the tune of yakety sax and the 3 stooges?

Either way, I'm glad nothing was stolen.

[TonyTheTiger]

Just an FYI, I know a thing or two about carpentry (plus my uncles are carpenters and my brother is becoming one) so if you need any help fixing whatever mess there is I'll help any way I can.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Next time that barrier goes up to block the skylight...

...it should have very sharp spikes pointed upward.

(Eh, that might not meet code.)

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I'm guessing that a metal window security grating would be the way to go up there.

Hopefully there's something out there that semi-standard to the size of that sky-light.

[guitargary75]

Next time that barrier goes up to block the skylight...

...it should have very sharp spikes pointed upward.

(Eh, that might not meet code.)

That sounds good. LOL

[digitalpress]

First thing I thought of was metal bars, like a prison. After chatting about it with my landlord (who is, if I haven't mentioned it before, probably the best landlord on this planet) "boxing them off" is another possibility. Experts are in the store tomorrow and Wednesday so we're not far off from some much-needed upgrades.

[TonyTheTiger]

That sounds good. LOL

Remember that it's a video game store. Not an actual video game.

As for that skylight, depending on how deep the shaft is, it might be possible to build some heavy duty paneling around the inside of the shaft to form a sort of funnel shape (or some kind of inverse conical structure). It might not sound like much but that would make it very difficult for someone to kick their way in and even more difficult for them to slide through.

[Dastardly Dylan]

That's horrible and shocking. These guys are masterminds if they found a way into the store. Little did they know that the alarm would go off.

I am really shocked that this happened.

[Kitsune Sniper]

First thing I thought of was metal bars, like a prison. After chatting about it with my landlord (who is, if I haven't mentioned it before, probably the best landlord on this planet) "boxing them off" is another possibility. Experts are in the store tomorrow and Wednesday so we're not far off from some much-needed upgrades.

Boxing them off? What do you mean by that?

[Diatribal Deity]

I like this one...but it is a classic so you might have seen it before. Karma can be a bitch! Hope the repair is a quick and easy (and not too costly) one Joe.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SCfsCQybek0

[TonyTheTiger]

Boxing them off? What do you mean by that?

It sounds like he wants to extend the shaft down more and close it at the bottom so that anyone who goes down into it can't get back out. ROFL


I like this one...but it is a classic so you might have seen it before. Karma can be a bitch! Hope the repair is a quick and easy (and not too costly) one Joe.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SCfsCQybek0

ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

OMG!

THIS JUST IN!

THE TRUE IDENTITY OF THE THIEF HAS BEEN REVEALED!!!

http://pitfallharrystealsps3s.ytmnd.com/

(refresh the page after it loads for proper audio synchronization!)

I knew times were tough for Harry, but I didn't know he'd resort to stealing from Joe.

[Sudo]

It's good that nothing was taken, at least. Be sure to let us know when they're eventually caught.

[TonyTheTiger]

You know, it seems like they went through all of this trouble to find the "perfect" way in (meaning they must have scoped out the store beforehand on the inside AND on the roof) yet they didn't realize the place would have security cameras and motion sensors. Is that the sign of a desperate junkie thinking more about his next "fix" rather than thinking critically about the situation or a sign of a young kid who thought about all high concept Mission Impossible stunts but in his immaturity didn't consider the most basic security systems? It just sounds like this would be thief was for one reason or another not thinking right.

[OMF2097]

Man, we're getting some real award winners in our area recently. It pains me to see this type of crap. When I stopped by the store today it didn't occur to me that this happened until I logged in here.

[Robtmcc]

Joe,make sure you get the repairs and upgrades in ASAP. It may have been a test run to see how long it takes for the police to respond, etc. While it does look like an amateurist attempt, be cautious. I've had a store broken into in a similar fashion (through the HVAC unit) and they never got much further than your guys did. On the second attempt, they were about 30 seconds too slow and were caught coming off the roof with about 5k in merchandise. I got lucky.

[Ed Oscuro]

Donald's post on the Myspace site is awesome.

Especially since I watched this a few days ago (okay more like two weeks, you get the idea):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZwHWi9dV-cY

[Mayhem]

Too bad you didn't have something like http://youtube.com/watch?v=Gv2QlFi4qVY to show. The pictures are very entertaining nonetheless. Glad to hear nothing was taken.

Upon seeing the photos, this is EXACTLY the same video that came to mind LOL

Glad to hear nothing was taken Joe or that they weren't even able to get as far as entering the store. Mind you, had he/they managed it, you might know who they were...

[SpyHunter]

It just sounds like this would be thief was for one reason or another not thinking right.

Anyone who resorts to something like this, they gave up "thinking right" a long time ago. :)

Sorry to hear this happened to ya, Joe.

[shawnbo42]

It really sucks that there are people out there like this idiot. Unfortunately, this is the society we live in today. BTW, just out of curiosity, how did they get UP there? That may be the first place to look into securing, before worrying about the skylight.

[Volcanon]

Take a cue from Metal Man and have flying buzz saws and conveyor belts that lead to bottomless pits everywhere. I'm sure if your landlord is THAT good, he won't mind some bottomless pits.

[Ed Oscuro]

Take a cue from Metal Man and have flying buzz saws and conveyor belts that lead to bottomless pits everywhere. I'm sure if your landlord is THAT good, he won't mind some bottomless pits.
I'm sure a few bottomless pits will fit in the skylight...right above the shop floor...

[The Shawn]

If they left all that stuff behind, they weren't exactly rocket scientitsts.Is that rope in the picture something they used to get in there?

My guess is whatever they stole,you would have gotton back anyway's as they tried to sell it back to you for meth money.

Glad no-one was hurt, or anything stolen though.

[Oobgarm]

Heh. A scary proposition, theft, but the end result was kinda funny. You'd think the morons would scout things out first, and realize you have all your bases covered.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

For those of you who missed my "reveal" of the actual thief on page 1 ...

http://pitfallharrystealsps3s.ytmnd.com/

(refresh the page after it loads for correct audio sync.)

And in direct reference to that - my advice to Joe is two fold.

1.) Stop keeping highly polished silver, gold, and platinum bars in the store.

2.) Giant white scorpions make the PERFECT security system.

[Greg2600]

Wow, what a couple of jerks. I have been to that store many many times going back to the Outer Limits years, and it never occurred to be there was a skylight. Either the perps rationalized that the molding seen in the ceiling was surrounding an entrance (I would have figured such a thing would be going to a crawl space not a window), climbed up there just to take a peek, or used Google Earth. If the dimwit had just climbed down a little further, we would have seen his face. If Clifton took fingerprints, I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't match someone who's already been busted.

There is a television show which airs these security videos of dummies falling out of the ceiling and all.

[GrandAmChandler]

"Looks like it's......

......Game Over."

"YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/horatio460.jpg

[mailman187666]

hey, at least showing the pictures online here you are showing anybody else, who decides to be a dipshit, to not try it because obviously its not lookin' too easy to get in and out without screwing yourself over.

[NytroSkull7]

The best security punishment:

They should be hung from their balls by a rope and beaten by little kids with baseball bats dipped in hot wax and glass shards.

I can't believe anyone would want to vandalize D.P. That is like breaking into a church.

[Slate]

Right. He's pretty tall, though. From the bottom of that triangle (molding) to the opening of the skylight where his waist is, he's about 5' 10", and probably still growing.

*looks left*

*looks right*

Why are you all looking at me strangely? :eek 2:

All joking aside, I hope you get your security back up to par and above.

[Mianrtcv]

Thieves SUCK. Get a job!!! And no THIEF IS NOT A REAL JOB TITLE!!! Unless your playing D&D and then stay the fuck away from my characters stuff!!! DAMN IT!!!!

Glad the amateur review didn't unlock any achievements... Hopefully Karma lays a huge one on the turds.

[MachineGex]

I am sure the police told you this, but thiefs often return to finish a job(and often return if they get a good hawl). So be careful, they may try and get back in. I may be posting the obvious, but some people think they failed and will not come back. Another lame attempt may follow in 3-8 weeks. I worked at a place that had 3 attempted burgalaries by the same guy. They finally caught the guy on the roof with a saw. He was actually cutting a hole in the roof.

Dont let this get you down, this kinda "stuff" comes with the business. I am glad you were so well prepared, this is probably why it took 3 years for your "skylight" to get popped.

I would get regular chainlink and hook it up to an extension cord.........zap!

[Icarus Moonsight]

Well, on the bright side Joe got to meet David Caruso when the CSI guys showed up. LOL

[Vectorman0]

Well whaddaya know, look who's returned to the scene of the crime....

http://web.comporium.net/%7Escottith/window2.jpg

Post of the year.

[RadiantSvgun]

At least nothing got stolen! They probably thought by coming in through the roof, they wouldn't set off any alarms.

[MrSparkle]

Sorry to hear about the break-in anyway i came up with a few security improvement ideas.

1) 8 robot masters

2) a set of overly elaborate easily escapable booby traps setup by the guys responsible for this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvdq8cRNBM

3) Mike Tyson

4) a box of ET, superman 64, and shaq-fu carts (sure to turn away even the most hardened of theives)

5) a single atari 5200 (the gravitational effect of being near such a large object should detain the perp indefinitely until police can arrive)

[jb143]

I can't believe anyone would want to vandalize D.P. That is like breaking into a church.

In my hometown, we had a "crimewave" of people breaking into churches. It was mainly punk kids stealing freon out of the AC units. They'll do that when they're high on freon.


I always thought it would be great to rig a few green laser pointers up to motors and have them shine it around at random. It wouldn't really do anything but it would look really cool since you can see the beam. And it would probally scare away those kids better than a security system sign would.

[onReload]

You know, it seems like they went through all of this trouble to find the "perfect" way in (meaning they must have scoped out the store beforehand on the inside AND on the roof) yet they didn't realize the place would have security cameras and motion sensors. Is that the sign of a desperate junkie thinking more about his next "fix" rather than thinking critically about the situation or a sign of a young kid who thought about all high concept Mission Impossible stunts but in his immaturity didn't consider the most basic security systems? It just sounds like this would be thief was for one reason or another not thinking right.

It is really weird that they would figure out that the roof was the best option, but NOT think about security. I think it was more about kids being stupid, thinking the alarm was only tied to the front glass or something.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

It just sounds like this would be thief was for one reason or another not thinking right.
I think "one reason or another" in this scenario translates to "meth." :p

[Garry Silljo]

It is really weird that they would figure out that the roof was the best option, but NOT think about security. I think it was more about kids being stupid, thinking the alarm was only tied to the front glass or something.

They probably didn't consider an alarm at all and used the roof thinking no one would see them on the street trying to break in at a door or window.

[GameDeals.ca]

Sorry to hear about your break-in. Been there, done that, got the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH7atEVH6iE

[Steve W]

A store I used to buy used Lynx and Turbo games at during the Genesis/SNES era was robbed three times. Nobody was ever caught, as far as I know. They'd steal a car or van, plow it through the front of the store to knock down the security gate over the front, and shovel everything they could get their hands on into the vehicle before the cops showed up. It eventually shuttered the stores, since that location and another one I knew of across town closed shortly afterwards.

If I had a store and I owned the building so I wouldn't have to worry about a landlord, I'd reinforce the front of the store and put in foot-thick plexiglass (the kind of thing they build viewing windows in whale tanks at Sea World with) and make it strong enough that nothing short of a tank could punch through. Then, automated gun turrets targeting body heat signatures and firing copies of Xbox, DC and PS2 sports game commons with the discs having sharpened edges. That's about the only way to ever get any use out of all those copies of Sega's NFL2K. I'd replace the back door with one designed to run a mild electrical current through it, with a keychain on/off switch, naturally. Then, if they made it through, I'd have a gigantic boulder made of Atari 2600 Pac-Mans, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Combats that would be released and would roll over them, Indiana Jones style.

[Cornelius]

If I had a store and I owned the building so I wouldn't have to worry about a landlord, I'd reinforce the front of the store and put in foot-thick plexiglass (the kind of thing they build viewing windows in whale tanks at Sea World with) and make it strong enough that nothing short of a tank could punch through. Then, automated gun turrets targeting body heat signatures and firing copies of Xbox, DC and PS2 sports game commons with the discs having sharpened edges. That's about the only way to ever get any use out of all those copies of Sega's NFL2K. I'd replace the back door with one designed to run a mild electrical current through it, with a keychain on/off switch, naturally. Then, if they made it through, I'd have a gigantic boulder made of Atari 2600 Pac-Mans, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Combats that would be released and would roll over them, Indiana Jones style.
After our house was broken into, and then again after the second time, i would continually come up with ideas like this. i finally decided that keeping them from getting in wasn't the issue. Keeping them from getting out with my stuff is what i really wanted to achieve. (note: no one was home either time, other than a very friendly kitten who probably loved the company). So I figured solid metal plates that drop down over all the doors and windows after an intrusion would be a good idea. Of course, then you'd have to worry about the assholes wrecking your stuff just out of spite after they discover they are trapped. Obvious solution to that is some sort of incapacitating gas, preferably one that affects the nervous system in such a way that they are left conscious to ponder their mistake. That worries me a bit though, because i'm afraid that an effective dose would likely kill my kitties. So the next best thing is clearly a barrage of darts loaded with the same neurotoxin. We don't have any really big rooms, so i'm pretty sure i could get all the trajectories right to guarantee a hit to the burglar without hitting a cat. Yeah, I've thought about this a little bit.

[Lostdwarf]

kinda mac guyver ish but here goes

where the perps tried to break in you should have a thing fishing wire that when tripped in any manner is actually a net that will hold the perp. If you want a diagram no prb i'll trade ya for an atari 2600 copy of E.T. j/j but seriously i have no problem drawing you a sketch, and it wouldnt be that hard to set up

mike

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Wait a minute, I think I've worked it all out. It was a pre-emptive strike by Peggy. *_*

[OMF2097]

Wait a minute, I think I've worked it all out. It was a pre-emptive strike by Peggy. *_*


Damn those HVAC specialists!

[Coldguy]

Dude anyone else thinking about hiring a security guard with only a gensis controller and hitting buttons to endless pits when they step on key icons?

Anyone?

[OMF2097]

Dude anyone else thinking about hiring a security guard with only a gensis controller and hitting buttons to endless pits when they step on key icons?

Anyone?

Only if Dana Plato shows up for NAVA :)

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Only if Dana Plato shows up for NAVA :)

If she did, that would make it the first ZOMBIE NAVA!