The most surprising part of this is they contacted the police department who obtained a warrant and actually helped them!!!
The value of the items was either high enough to meet whatever internal threshold they have for opening an investigation or they were already aware of organized tool theft rings in the area.
That, or they were bored and said “Fuck it, let’s do it”.
I wish they’d do that instead of stupid speed traps.
Just this morning on my way to work, I was behind a cop, and they went 30-35mph in a 25 (everyone goes 35-ish on that road, it’s very wide). I know because I was following their speed, noticed I was over, then slowed down. They pulled over, then in my rear view mirror I saw their lights go on and they pulled someone over like 3 cars behind me who couldn’t have been going more than 35mph.
How does that benefit anyone? I’d much prefer they “waste” time tracking down theft like this instead of taking down hardened speeding criminals on roads where the speed limit should probably be adjusted (it’s residential, but it’s one of the few connector roads and has tons of space).
All the work was done and now they could announce a big bust with about an hours worth of effort.
This has happened to myself as well as other friends in the trades where you are expected to buy and maintain your own tools. Not only do you to loose thousands of dollars in tools, it also effects ongoing and new work as well as a shit load of time spent rebuying and finding the right tools again. The police just don’t care, the last time it happened I didn’t even bother filing a report. I consider this one of the lowest forms of petty theft. It kills people’s lively hoods and takes food out of their family’s mouths.
You should be able to get insurance on your tools. I know a few of my locksmith buddies have done this. Keep a well itemized list of your tools.
It really sucks, and I for one don’t even do this. If it is a huge worry though, it should be something you can look into.
If you’re a contractor, you should be carrying your own insurance anyways. Lots of beginners don’t bother setting up an LLC and insurance, because they don’t realize how bad it can be if they have an accident on the job. If you haven’t set up that LLC and have insurance at a bare minimum, then you’re in for a world of shit if someone gets hurt.
Source: Was a freelancer for a decade. Half of the goobers I worked around were sole owner/operators of an LLC, and the others were completely open to personal liability if they dropped something on someone.
Paywall? Pass
Thx but i saw it. Just had to disable my javascript
for those that have trouble with the weird paywall jank on mobile:
Twice before, this Virginia carpenter had awoken in the predawn to start his work day only to find one of his vans broken into. Tools he depends on for a living had been stolen, and there was little hope of retrieving them. Determined to shut down thieves, he said, he bought a bunch of Apple AirTags and hid the locator devices in some of his larger tools that hadn’t been pilfered. Next time, he figured, he would track them.
It worked.
On Jan. 22, after a third break-in and theft, the carpenter said, he drove around D.C.’s Maryland suburbs for hours, following an intermittent blip on his iPhone, until he arrived at a storage facility in Howard County. He called police, who got a search warrant, and what they found in the locker was far more than just one contractor’s nail guns and miter saws.
The storage unit, stuffed with purloined power tools, led detectives to similar caches in other places in the next four months — 12 locations in all, 11 of them in Howard County — and the recovery of about 15,000 saws, drills, sanders, grinders, generators, batteries, air compressors and other portable (meaning easily stealable) construction equipment worth an estimated $3 million to $5 million, authorities said.
“One of the largest theft cases not only in Howard County but in this region,” Police Chief Gregory Der told reporters recently, standing in a county warehouse where the reclaimed loot is piled neatly along walls and stacked high on shelves. “The scope of the investigation is enormous and ongoing,” the chief said, adding, “We believe the tools were stolen from retail stores, businesses, vehicles, residential properties and construction sites.”
Though none of the prolific thieves has been arrested yet, Der said, “we are investigating several suspects for their roles in this massive theft scheme and expect charges soon.”
“Yes, yes, I hope they do,” said the 43-year-old carpenter in Sterling, Va., who helped crack the case and spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his safety. “Jail for them.” Share this articleShare
Howard police provided contact information for the carpenter, who said his home remodeling business employs 14 workers. He lost about 50 tools in the January theft and has gotten back a half-dozen of them, he said. He is hoping for more.
“They don’t know what they do to me,” he said of the thieves. “They steal our job.”
Seth Hoffman, a Howard County police spokesman, said investigators think most of the 15,000 or so tools were stolen in Northern Virginia and Pennsylvania. Howard County is just where they were stashed. He said about a quarter of the tools are in store boxes with labels that make them traceable. Some were stolen as long ago as 2014, he said. As for the thousands of loose and well-used tools now in the county warehouse, it’s hard to tell who owns them.
“Oh, man, it’s basically every kind of tool you can think of,” Hoffman said. “Basically any kind of tool you can put in a car or a pickup and drive away with. I mean, it’s some kind of inventory.”
Der said detectives have identified about 80 victims so far, “and we believe there are hundreds if not thousands more.” Police created an online form for people to fill out if they think their stolen tools might be somewhere in the piles. It asks for serial numbers, receipts, photos or any “identifying marks, initials, or numbers.” Authorities declined to discuss further details of the investigation
As of Wednesday, Hoffman said, 140 forms had been submitted since police announced the recovery last week, and officers are trying to reunite victims with their implements. “A huge undertaking,” was how Der described it.
“These thefts affect their livelihoods,” the chief said. “We’ve heard from victims who lost work because of their tools. It goes well beyond the cost of replacing the tools.” correction
A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to AirTags as GPS devices. They are a type of locator device, but they are not GPS trackers. The article has been corrected.
