Daring Console Heist Nets Broken Machines

Thanks to the Indianapolis Star for their article discussing an audacious, but ultimately unfortunate heist of videogame consoles. According to the piece: "In a robbery as scripted as some movie heists, armed bandits struck a Far-Eastside [Indianapolis] warehouse Tuesday evening and used forklifts to load six pallets, containing several hundred of the popular PlayStation 2 and Xbox machines, onto a waiting get-away truck." However, The Indy Channel throws a spanner into the works with their follow-up story, revealing: "Police say many of the video game systems that were stolen from a warehouse Tuesday night were in the process of being returned because they didn't work."

Comments

Re:Darwin

[Smidge204]

Apparently, you either:

a) Didn't RTFA
b) Don't know what the Darwin Awards are about
c) All of the above

Besides, the crooks will still turn a profit. It's the poor shmucks who BUY the consoles off of these guys that'll lose out. I don't think the guy selling out of his van has a return policy...

Did I mention they usually deal in cash only? What are you going to do, call the cops because the STOLEN merchandise you bought is defective and the guy who sold it to you won't refund your money?
=Smidge=

Sadly...

[Anonymous Coward]

The fact that the consoles don't work won't matter to the criminals that try and sell them. Whether the consoles work or not they'll still get them sold.

And on christmas morning they'll definitely be some broken hearted children when discs cannot be read and consoles won't boot.

Re:Darwin

[RALE007]

I think warehouses should do this more often - get defective goods stolen.

Uhm yea I'm sure this is exactly how they planned it. I know when I get robbed I make sure it's only my broken stuff they randomly take in a methodic heist in the middle of the night...

(And yes, revenge - if someone else buys stolen goods, they don't know where it come from - it could have been stolen from your house)

Some receivers of stolen goods aren't aware the wares they're purchasing were stolen. Wouldn't you be pissed to buy a "used" item from a video game shop or pawn shop to find out it's broken? Or the good deal on your dream toy you find on ebay is a little too good to be true? Upon trying to return or have a manufacturer repair you get tangled up in the mess and labeled as a receiver of stolen goods?

Last I checked, sellers of stolen goods more often than not don't advertise "STOLEN GOODS SOLD HERE". Yea we need revenge on the bargain shoppers, they're obviously part of the problem.

At the Best Buy

[Snowmit]

"Hi, uh, I'd like to return some consoles."

"Some consoles?"

"Yeah, I bought some consoles for my family and none of the damn things work! I want a refund."

"OK sir, how many consoles are we talking, here?"

"Uh, about four hundred PS2s and about two hundred Xboxes."

"!!!"

"I have a big family is all!"

It's all part of the plan.

[Snowmit]

Oh, they weren't looking for working consoles. They'd just heard that videogame consoles were bullet-proof and wanted to use them to armour their hideout.