Long Live the Pigs and Other Strange Security Stories
Some crimes are complicated, like the pig story that is number one in this month’s strange security review. But when the crimes—allegedly—involve two young and drunk airmen, a snatch-and-grab wannabe jewelry thief, or a collector willing to go to great lengths, they may be strange, but they are not complicated. Throw in a crisis averted, and you have this month’s Strange Security. As always, security is serious, and our lighter touch with these stories should not betray the sometimes serious nature of crimes… except the pigs, we’re glad that crime took place.
Stealing a British Childhood Icon Will Get You One Shaming in Court: Two Royal Air Force engineers were given a dressing down by a Newbury, UK judge for breaking a stealing a Paddington Bear statue from city bench. “Your actions are the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for,” the judge scolded.
Eighty Years Later, It’s the War that Keeps Giving: At least a few times a year, news of unexploded World War II ordinance makes the news. This time, a half-ton bomb unearthed by construction equipment on the outskirts of Paris caused significant rail and highway delays. The British-made bomb was believed to still be quite dangerous and engineers delicately disarmed it.
If $1 Million Cactus Heist Was on Your Strange Security Bingo Card, You Win: Andra Piombetti, an Italian cactus collector (a pastime, I must confess I did not know existed), stands accused of illegally taking the rare cactuses in question from the Chilean desert. Far from a niche news story, the BBC proclaimed the ill-gotten cacti have been “at the heart of a landmark trial over an international cactus heist that might revolutionize how biodiversity crimes are dealt with the world over.”
How Long Does It Take for Diamonds to Make Their Way Through the Human Digestive System? A surprising question the Orlando, Florida police found themselves asking after capturing an alleged (do you have to say alleged when he had stolen contents in his stomach?) thief who reportedly took $769,500 worth of diamond earrings from a Tiffany’s counter in a snatch-and-grab that turned into a snatch-and-grab-and-swallow. The answer, to my surprise at least, was nearly two weeks.
This Time, I’m on the Side of the Thieves: In an act of art as protest, an exhibit in Copenhagen, Denmark, featured three caged piglets the artist planned to let starve to death over five days. He said the exhibit was meant to protest the pork industry in the country where, according to Animal Protection Denmark, hundreds or thousands of piglets die each day in the country because the pigs are bred to give birth to a litter of 20 though the sows have only 14 teats. However, the protest was shortlived because thieves were able to steal the piglets.
And a few more strange stories that crossed our desks in the past month:
Michigan judge wanted Walmart shoplifters to wash cars. His boss stepped on the hose.
Babysitter finds man under bed after child complains of ‘monster’
Strong Winds Send U.S. Customs Blimp on a 600-Mile Trip Across Texas
