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Facebook Photo of Stolen Ring Puts Couple In Jail

An anonymous reader writes "A Facebook photo of a stolen 3 carat diamond ring recently helped police solve a jewelry theft. After rings and other items valued at more than $16,000 were taken from a home on Saturday, a friend of the victim's roommate saw one of the items on the social network. 20-year-old Crystal Yamnitzky captioned the photo with the following message: 'Look what Robby gave me I love him so much,' in reference to her 21-year-old boyfriend Robert Driscoll. Yamnitzky's cousin saw the post and told some friends, who alerted police. Both Yamnitzky and Driscoll have been charged in the case."

22 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Fitting name... by mekkab · · Score: 5, Informative

    "Robby", it's more than just his hobby! /I love how they charged the girlfriend (even though she's not just innocent but also oblivious) just so she'll roll on her fiance. //For the record, I'd totally spill my guts, too.

    --
    In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
    1. Re:Fitting name... by gd2shoe · · Score: 2

      The receiving stolen goods charge is bogus though, why isn't the pawn shop being charged if it's a valid charge.

      It is not a bogus charge. At least in California, the prosecutor must establish that the defendant knew it was stolen. It's often used in theft cases when they can't prove who stole an item, but they have a pretty good idea.

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      I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
    2. Re:Fitting name... by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 2

      I love how they charged the girlfriend (even though she's not just innocent but also oblivious)

      Why do you think that the girlfriend knew nothing about this. According to the guy's grandmother she was hounding her boyfriend for a ring knowing that he couldn't pay for one. The grandmother said of her, "All the time, 'I want a ring. I want a ring. I want a ring'". She had been at the house where the robbery took place. I could just imagine that she saw the ring, liked it and pointed it out to the boyfriend and said that she wanted THAT ring.

      Dare I say that she might have been the ringleader of the gang? No, I dare not!

    3. Re:Fitting name... by Hope+Thelps · · Score: 2

      On top of that, pawn shops typically force people to sign that they are the owner of the item.

      So what? They either suspected it was stolen or they didn't. Having the putative thief sign something is irrelevant.

      "Well, it did look suspicious but then we thought, 'there's no way a thief would lie about something like that'"

      --
      To summarise the summary of the summary: people are a problem. ~ h2g2
  2. When you care enough to send the very best by bgfay · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nothing in the world says "I love you" quite so much as stolen merchandise. I'm so head over heels for my wife that I'm about to go out and knock over a convenience store.

    --
    Yeah, I'm as old as my UID would suggest.
    1. Re:When you care enough to send the very best by physicsphairy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ha! Your love is feeble, my friend. For my wife I just stole roughly $1.2 million worth of intellectual property. (downloaded her a Beatle's album via torrent)

    2. Re:When you care enough to send the very best by martin-boundary · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's just wrong. It's because of people like you that John Lennon has point blank refused to write any new songs for the last 30 years. I hope you're proud of your achievement!

    3. Re:When you care enough to send the very best by syousef · · Score: 2

      Ha! Your love is feeble, my friend. For my wife I just stole roughly $1.2 million worth of intellectual property. (downloaded her a Beatle's album via torrent)

      That's just so wrong! Your wife doesn't need it. Just think. If you set up your unlimited Internet connection just right you could download enough merchandise to end World poverty by Wednesday!!!

      --
      These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
  3. Nothing Beats Stupid Criminals by hduff · · Score: 3, Insightful

    for solving crimes. Ask any cop.

    --
    "I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
  4. Re:"Receiving stolen property"? Why is this a crim by MichaelSmith · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I bet she knows all about how "Robby" gets his hands on stuff like this, and appreciates the flow of stolen goods.

  5. Happy anniversary! by athe!st · · Score: 2

    Oh handcuffs, you shouldn't have!

    No really, you shouldn't have.

  6. What is this I don't even by Alex+Belits · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, at least according to the police and article author:

    1. Dumb woman insists on getting an expensive engagement ring from her boyfriend despite both being broke.
    2. Dumb boyfriend steals a ring from dumb woman's cousin's friend's roommate while visiting with dumb woman and her cousin.
    3. Dumb boyfriend gives stolen ring to the dumb woman.
    4. Dumb woman posts a photo of the ring to facebook.
    5. Dumb woman's cousin recognizes the ring.
    6. Dumb woman's cousin tells his friends and they call the police.

    While (1) to (4) are already incredibly stupid, and (2) is beyond my understanding of stupidity (that is, I can not see the logic, faulty or not, behind making such decision), I have to point out that the person who recognized the ring was dumb woman's cousin AND victim's roommate's friend. Even if dumb woman did not post the photo in (4), he would see her wearing the ring, so (5) and (6) would inevitably follow.

    So considering how little importance Facebook has in those events, I have to bring a more important (at least for this site) matter -- SOME PEOPLE ARE EXTREMELY STUPID. Stupid to the extent that they choose the worst course of actions available to them in a situation when absolutely nothing compels them to do anything at all. And people like that use technology.

    --
    Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
    1. Re:What is this I don't even by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >why even bother for such a small amount of money?

      Junkies live in the moment. Often they expect to die very soon and they are bargaining for the moment. This is hard to understand if you haven't walked in their shoes. I'm not trying to justify it.

    2. Re:What is this I don't even by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Don't forget that he sold six stolen items for only $250.. I mean, selling stolen goods is risky and can earn you a not-so-nice accommodation for a year or more, so why even bother for such a small amount of money?

      Because that's all the thief can get - it's not like he has any leverage.

      Thief: Hey, I got this great laptop worth $2000.
      Fence: Meh. I'll give you $50.
      Thief: Hey, it's worth $3000. I want at least $1000
      Fence: I'll give you $50, or I'll call the cops and tell them you tried to sell it to me.
      Thief: (Grumbles as he hands over laptop and takes his $50)

  7. How about the other items? by e9th · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They later learned that Driscoll had sold six of the stolen items at Gold Buyers of Pittsburgh for $250.

    This is what is so maddening about these crimes. I do not know what the six stolen items were, but I'll bet that some of them had sentimental value to the owners far beyond the intrinsic value of the gold itself, and now they are likely gone forever.

  8. Re:"Receiving stolen property"? Why is this a crim by SharpFang · · Score: 5, Informative

    Knowingly receiving stolen property is a serious crime. Receiving it in good faith, without knowledge or suspicion it was stolen is not. It's up to the court to determine which is the case. (you still have to give the property back, and if you paid for it while buying it in good faith you may join the suit against the thief to have your money back)

    If she had a good reason to suspect the ring was stolen, she's guilty. But if the boyfriend successfully deceived her into believing this was all legit she'll walk away free.
    (yes, she can lie her way out of this one even if she's guilty, if she's clever enough. OTOH she doesn't sound very clever.)

    --
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  9. Re:"Receiving stolen property"? Why is this a crim by sjames · · Score: 2

    Lets face it, none of the people involved sound all that bright. She was either dumb enough to believe it was legit OR she was dumb enough to post an expensive stolen ring on Facebook.

  10. Re:I am from that area. by wmbetts · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's not nice to assume everyone is a coke head. She might like meth too!

    --
    "Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me". - stolen from Dan C alt.os.linux.slackware
  11. Re:"Receiving stolen property"? Why is this a crim by causality · · Score: 2

    isn't she constitutionally protected against incriminating her partner? or am I thinking of a different country?

    I'm no lawyer but I think that's only if they are married.

    --
    It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
  12. Link to page on facebook by tomhudson · · Score: 2
    Could it be this one ?

    Lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania It's complicated From Monroeville, Pennsylvania

    Crystal Yamnitzky
    Today haa been a fucked up day period
    March 6 at 4:44pm via Android

    Robert Driscoll is among the Friends.

    Also, she probably created this account - the 3 friends currently in it are common with the above account. My guess is the police have gotten her barred from accessing the first account.

  13. lol...facebook status by Sabalon · · Score: 2

    Okay...with a not so common name like that, it was easy to find her page. While I feel for her a bit (7 month old, hence the marriage pressure, and the fact that she fell for something like that), I just had to laugh at the current relationship status: It's complicated.

  14. Re:"Receiving stolen property"? Why is this a crim by sjames · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Actually, what I mean is that it appears that DAs are increasingly willing to bring charges even when it should be obvious the defendant is not guilty, add charges that are clearly inappropriate and insist on the defendant's guilt even when actually proven innocent through forensics. The latter to the point that they have been known to fight the release of a prisoner AFTER they have been unequivocally exonerated.

    I suppose all of that could be genuine belief in guilt, but only if the belief has crossed into mental illness, kinda like those guys who genuinely believe the aliens are talking to them in their heads.

    It could be that it has always been like that and it just comes to light more often, but that hardly improves matters.