Cell phone thief takes phonecam shot of himself
This Cincinnati, Ohio gentleman snatched a cell phone from a lost, deaf woman who had gotten out of her car to look for a street sign. Later, Gary Walker, 24, took a phonecam shot of himself. A few weeks after the robbery, the victim, Ashlee Hutchens, downloaded her data from the phone network into a new handset and Walker's photo popped up. Police then sent it out to the media and subsequently arrested Walker. From Cincinnati Enquirer:
Previously on BB:
• Guy who auto-uploaded pix of self turns in hot Mac
• Photo taken on stolen Nokia uploaded to Flickr
Cell phone suspect in cell (Thanks, Charles Pescovitz!)“All of a sudden his picture came up and (Ashlee) said, ‘Oh my god, Mom, that’s him and that’s the shirt he had on,’” Christine Hutchens said.
“I get very upset when the elderly, kids or handicapped people become victims of these offenses,” said Officer Tamar Skelly, who is with Crime Stoppers.
Previously on BB:
• Guy who auto-uploaded pix of self turns in hot Mac
• Photo taken on stolen Nokia uploaded to Flickr
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Cellpwn3d!
...Yt nthr ghtt thg cght by hs wn stpdty. f nly tht wld hppn t vry dmnd n f thm.
So it's okay to publicly shame him? Is that our job?
We need a word that encapsulates the online trend toward articles that entrench our existing fears and stereotypes. The UK's execrable Daily Mail was founded by Lord Northcliffe, who said his job was to give the public "a daily hate".
BoingBoing is better than that. Isn't it?
The lesson here is not - "Don't take pictures of yourself after you've stolen a phone!" - We've learned with other stories...
The real lessons -
1) Do not get out of your car for any reason when you drive through Cincinnati. Same for alot of Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, North America, Europe & likely Antartica....
2) Get a GPS already - They're like under 150 now and will even tell you what street your on!
Wait a minute, wait a minute. If she was deaf, then why did she have a cell phone?
Hamish MacDonald said:
"So it's okay to publicly shame him? Is that our job?"
No, it's not our job, but it is ok. Not only he is a thief, but dumb one too...who said anything about fears and stereotypes on the article? Maybe you're projecting.
@#3: Hamish:
"We need a word that encapsulates the online trend toward articles that entrench our existing fears and stereotypes."
We already have one - NEWS. Our "fears and stereotypes" are shaped by the world around us. Most fears and stereotypes are based on reality.
#5 - Quite possibly for text messaging, also you can still dial 911 and make sounds. If you're not perfectly able bodied (like most of the elderly), assured access to 911 is very important.
#4 - I have a strict policy of not going to Cincinnati in general. Seven years living there was more than enough.
"So it's okay to publicly shame him? Is that our job?"
...Yes, it is. Next dumb question?
They don't say, but I'm betting it was a Sidekick.
Actually, I wonder why they don't say... wouldn't this make both the carrier and manufacturer look good?
Then again the Sidekick is out, the G1 is in.
This is exactly the sort of fellow who would be an excellent candidate for the stocks. The internet is sort of the modern equivalent of town square humiliation. What an arse.
People who sink to stealing communication gadgets from helpless women deserve to be publicly humiliated.
#12, I agree, the stocks are definately in order here.
Aren't all policemen "with" Crime Stoppers?
@ #5
Texting. I have a number of deaf and hard-of-hearing friends, and every one of them has a cell phone for texting.
so, a blasting cap built into the case with a code chip detonator perhaps?
Definitely had to be a sidekick.
Over 3 years of selling T-mobile and helping plenty of customers who were deaf with Sidekicks.
Also, I've had 3 Sidekicks myself.
Sidekick instantly uploads any data on the device to the internet. And people like to steal them.
Therefore you can goto T-mobile.com pretend to be Paris Hilton and answer the secret question "whats your dogs name?" and BAM you get all the contacts and pictures from the phone.
"So it's okay to publicly shame him? Is that our job?"
Would you prefer we went back to stocks and pillorys?
"Would you prefer we went back to stocks and pillorys? "
...Well, since we can't hang him, that would have to do.
Well I suppose, and I know it's beside the point but there must be a better device for people who just want to text without having to pay for phone time.
@20 well..they do. It's called prepaid plans. If you don't talk on them, and only text, they are practically free.
#7 Santa's Knee: "Most fears and stereotypes are based on reality."
Give me a break. This is the most tired comment I have seen all day.
Many fears are based on distortions of reality. Just because someone uses faulty logic concerning an event that occurred, doesn't make their conclusion or generalization "truth".
@#3 posted by Hamish MacDonald
When someone is so throughly pwned by their own selfish stupidity, then that is a cause for celebration. I say that, in the spirit of BoingBoing, this is indeed, a "wonderful thing".
The loser stole a phone from a lost, deaf woman - took a photo of his own stupid vain face, and got busted. What's not to like about that?
"Most fears and stereotypes are based on reality."
If by 'based on' you mean wildly extrapolating the details of a single incident to reinforce pre-existing prejudice and xenophobia. I can imagine that might be an aspect of the human psyche that was a survival trait in the sabertooth tiger days, but now we live in constant fear of the boogeyman. It's time to move past that. We don't live on the verge of being eaten any more. We have the leisure to evaluate situations as they come up without resorting to the crude mechanism of making archetypal judgments.
@#3: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38968
"Most fears and stereotypes are based on reality."
Most reality is based on sterotypes and fears.
Kim lollink!
Been a while but...
This guy is stupid, if this is for real.
Stereotypes exist for a reason.
And that reason is not always based in reality, (or even close for that matter. Mostly they seem to be based on ignorance.)
Good call katsujinken!
@#3 - Darwinian Justice
What a moron, this guy deserved to get caught for this. Seriously, who actually keeps (and uses) a phone that they've stolen?
It's the job of the media to report FACTS.
This young BLACK man stole a woman's cell phone, and then got caught because he was stupid.
How can reporting facts EVER be stereotyping?
So what if those facts lead to stereotyping, it's not the media's fault, it's society's fault.
Would you rather the media ignored this story, to shield us viewers from racist thoughts?
Not just is it not the media's job to try to "improve" society, it's highly unethical.
Personally, I would be much more concerned if the media was cherry-picking stories to report on based on what they thought we needed to hear.
"How can reporting facts EVER be stereotyping?"
...The way the double-standard in journalistic analysis of racial bias goes:
* If race is left out, odds are readers regardless of race, creed or color, will suspect the perp was a minority. The sad part is that they'll probably be right.
* If the perp was Black and is mentioned as such, the writer is a racist. Especially if the perp is actually guilty of the crime.
* If the perp was White and is mentioned as such, then nobody gives a shit. Especially if the perp is an inbred or a redneck.
...We got taught these facts about journalism 25 years ago at Texas U when I worked for the Deadly Texan, and they haven't changed one iota since. However, one *has* been added:
* If the perp is an illegal alien from Mexico, then mentioning this means the writer *and* the cops who busted him are racist, and that automatically excuses whatever crime he's committed.
Dequeued
Personally, I would be much more concerned if the media was cherry-picking stories to report on based on what they thought we needed to hear.
Then I recommend that you need to be much more concerned.
#7
"We already have one - NEWS. Our "fears and stereotypes" are shaped by the world around us. Most fears and stereotypes are based on reality."
I would change this to read:
Most fears and stereotypes are based on the reality presented on the news and other media.
Someone suggested a word for this the last time it happened:
Schauden-douche
This young BLACK man stole a woman's cell phone
Really? What was the victim's race? Oh, right. She was the default race. White unless otherwise stated. So, yes, when the perp's race is reported and the victim's isn't, it's cherry-picking and it's racist.
The deaf and cell phone question: why would they even use one and not some other non-voice devices?
1. What non-voice device is light to carry?
2. There are "deaf plans" by several carriers that charges flat-rate data plan and no voice plans (or, 20 cents per minute if you use the voice part for some reason, e.g., your hearing kids need to make an urgent call)
3. Smartphones have not only text (BTW, text is used but is not the most popular item used by the deaf) but also AIM, MSN, e-mail, Relay Service (free deaf-nonvoice-device to hearing-voice-device interpreting service), games, video (subtitled ones, especially, or to take one), camera, et al.
4. The smartphone is a vital thing for a deaf to have. Say, a deaf person run into a hearing person who wants to talk but that deaf person can't lipread (the majority can't, another misconception that "all" deaf people can lipread), so take out the smartphone, kick up notepad and type out messages back and forth.
5. I am personally deaf and I have many, many deaf friends. I don't know of a deaf friend that doesn't have some sort of smartphone, be it SideKick, Blackberry, text-only cell phone, etc.
Hopefully that settles for all why a deaf person would own a "cell phone."
Now, don't ask if a deaf person can drive (of course!), can work (duh), can get an education, can marry, etc. Just know a deaf person can not hear well enough to make sense of sound, that's it. A few may have trouble balancing in the dark (your inner ear is what keeps you balanced), some may suffer from vertigo (get dizzy), hear ringing in the ear (tinnitus), may not have good speech (well, it's hard to learn speech if you can't hear what you're saying) but overall, can do just about anything but hear well.