Slashdot Mirror
Safeway Club Card Leads to Bogus Arson Arrest
Richard M. Smith writes "Tukwila, Washington firefighter, Philip Scott Lyons found out the hard way
that supermarket loyalty cards come with a huge price. Lyons was arrested
last August and charged with attempted arson. Police alleged at the time
that Lyons tried to set fire to his own house while his wife and children
were inside. According to KOMO-TV and the Seattle Times, a major piece of evidence used against Lyons in his arrest was the record of his supermarket purchases that he made with his Safeway Club Card. Police
investigators had discovered that his Club Card was used to buy fire starters of the same type used in the arson attempt. For Lyons, the story did have a happy ending. All charges were dropped against him in January 2005 because another person stepped forward saying he or she
set the fire and not Lyons."
I'm thinking it was the wife who came forward and took responsibility for this crime. She probably had access to the Safeway Club Card, and most likely would not want to see her husband wrongfully convicted. I find it kind of sketchy that the prosecutor would not say who it is!
Cases like this just remind us that there's no such thing as anonymity, at least not anymore. Unless you live alone and isolated in a cave somewhere (or a small cabin say, heh), someone, somewhere knows who you are. So how does one deal with this? Fake data? Use cash only? Nah, just act like a celebrity! Do everything as if everyone knows who you are, what you are doing, and who you are doing it with/to. In the age of computers and the internet, we are all stars on stage.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
That's disgusting!
Now, grape jelly on the other hand...
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Book(n): Utensil used to pass time while waiting for the TV repairman
clearly it was Mr Plum in the living room with the grill starter
Better yet, USE SOMEONE ELSE'S IDENTITY!
I do this all the time in Safeway: I give a friend's phone number as ID, because it gives her a few extra points and gives me a bit of a discount.
Were I an arsonist, I could just as easily use the phone number of, oh the irony, the Fire Chief!
I'd hate to see what my Safeway shopping card would get me arrested for.
i read that title as "boson argon arrest"
i was quite interested until i realized my mistake...now it's just boring arson.