Man caught on tape trying to steal surveillance camera

Thursday Mar 29

Man caught on tape trying to steal surveillance camera

By Kristina Peterson / Daily News Staff Writer

Would you like some jail time with that?

On Tuesday, Palo Alto police officers arrested a McDonald's employee caught red-handed on film trying to steal a surveillance camera.

Amilcar Gomez, 29, of Redwood City, was booked on charges of attempted theft from the McDonald's at 3128 El Camino Real, where he had worked as a cashier.

Police Sgt. Sandra Brown said Gomez confessed to the crime right away when he was brought into the police station.

"He knew why we had brought him in," Brown said.

McDonald's employees called police 9:03 a.m. Tuesday after delivery men unloading a truck noticed something wrong with the surveillance camera. After watching the night's security film, the manager observed Gomez's botched theft attempt.

Brown said Gomez had attempted to steal the camera Monday night, but gave up. She said Gomez apparently had intended to resell the surveillance camera.

McDonald's shift manager Norma Valencia said Gomez had been a cashier at the restaurant for about a month.

"He's a very good worker. He's never been late," Valencia said. "We were kind of shocked."

She said Gomez had told two employees the day before the theft he would not return to work soon.

"Apparently he already figured out he wasn't going to come back," Valencia said.

Brown said the attempted theft was not related to last week's armed robbery at the same McDonald's. The camera Gomez tried to steal did not film that robbery, she added.

Firebugs caught on surveillance camera

03.04.2007

BY GERALD FORD "WE got the buggers on tape," Kuripuni businessman Dave Borman said yesterday of a group of people who set a fire next to the building he plans to turn into an art gallery and cafe. At 3.15am on Saturday, Masterton police returning from a callout to Harley Street noticed a fire in wood offcuts that had been set alight right next door to Mr Borman's two-storey building in Queen Street. They put out the fire before fire officers arrived. Mr Borman said the fire "wasn't under the building" and "didn't look like an arson attack". The fire had taken some time to get moving because the pieces of wood were quite large, and it had been lit with somebody's unopened mail.

Cameras Mr Borman had installed picked up the damage. Mr Borman said he had installed the cameras after the Christmas-morning theft of a large pot and tree outside his Countryman restaurant, which is next door to the relocated building. On Saturday night, thieves attacked the remained potted tree, but "quite apart from the two barrow-loads of earth", the pot had been bolted down. "They tried for about five minutes to dislodge it." Not to be deterred, the thieves dug out the tree and carried it away in a wheelchair. Mr Borman said he was "glad he put the surveillance in" and was hopeful for a result, as the tapes are "now with the police".

Caught on camera; or at least deterred.

Caught on camera; or at least deterred. That's what administrators hope happens when they install surveillance cameras. What can an eye in the sky--or hidden behind a wall--do for you? (Campus Technology).(surveillance cameras on college campuses)
From: College Planning & Management | Date: May 1, 2002 | Author: Milshtein, Amy | More results for: "fake camera"

A motivated, intelligent criminal is hard to stop, but what about the opportunistic thief? Crimes of convenience happen all the time on campuses, and security forces can't be everywhere. Perhaps cameras, from coven models to parking lot monitors to fake-out black boxes with blinking lights, can make your campus a safer place.

A well-placed camera can even catch that motivated thief but, before you start wiring for video, there are a few things you should know about using surveillance cameras. "First, ask yourself what you want to accomplish with a camera," advises Jeff

Robber Moves Fake Camera, Caught On Real One

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A robber in Fort Lauderdale thought he made sure that he could get away with his crime by removing a surveillance camera. Only problem: he moved a fake camera and was recorded by a real one still hidden in the store.The man robbed the Express Food Store in Fort Lauderdale of cash and cigarettes early Wednesday morning.If you recognize him, you are asked to call Broward County CrimeStoppers at (954) 493-TIPS.

Brothers' fake camera slows down drivers

Updated 02 September 2003, 20.13

A pair of teenage brothers made their village a safer place to live when they put up a fake speed camera.

George, 14, and 13-year-old Freddie Guest tricked drivers into slowing down in their village - Lepton, near Huddersfield.

The boys paid great attention to detail - even putting strips of tape on the road to make approaching drivers believe a camera was coming up.

They made their camera out of a cardboard box, which they painted yellow and attached to a pole.

Effective

The road is a popular short-cut with drivers and local people say a lot of them drive too fast.

But when the brothers' "camera" went up, the drivers slowed down.

"It is incredible that a simple yellow box could be so effective," said the boys' dad.

The box has now been taken down.

But anti-speed campaigners say the boys' trick proves that the cameras do make people slow down.