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."

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:SO you a duff console in a bar...

[Inda]

Right, anything you say.

Fences have reputations just like any other businessman. You sell crap all the time and no one will buy off you.

Everyone knows how to get stolen goods?

"Yeah, I just walk into a bar and people come up to me all the time asking if I want to buy a DVD player"

Seriously, people in bars sell stolen meat and duty free cigarettes - end of story.

Petty criminals operate in circles of other petty criminals. You aren't part of the circle; you aren't going to be offered anything. Money back guarantees are not monopolised by the retail industry either.

Too much TV...

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.

Not that stupid

[anon*127.0.0.1]

If my experience in the retail industry is any guide, probably half those systems work just fine, they were returned by consumers too stupid or lazy to spend five minutes figuring out what the problem was. Like a game disc in upside-down, or a power cord not seated properly.

Some of the reamaining consoles can be salvaged with a little cannibalizing... take a controller from a game with a fried mobo, match it with a console that works just fine but has a bad controller... you know the drill.

Then you sell the rest on EBay and advertise them as broken. Plenty of people will buy them for parts, or bid thinking that they can get a deal on a console hope they can repair it.

If the consoles weren't adequately secured because they were broken, and that's the reason the thieves were able to steal them... then the crime doesn't sound quite so stupid.

The robbers must be idiots...

[xQuarkDS9x]

Having worked in a warehouse myself for a couple of years that dealt with computers and electronics, every skid (pallet) we sent out that was for broken goods was shrink wrapped and CLEARLY labeled as defective merchandise to be sent back to the distribution warehouse for them to handle.

Each individual item also had some paperwork stuck to it explaining exactly what was wrong with it.

Now, since I doubt six pallets of non working ps2's and xbox's would be shipped out and not have paperwork and signage (signage on the shrinkwrap or at least visable through the shrinkwrap) saying it's defective merchandise, then obviousely the robbers can't read. :D

More likely I say it could have been an inside job. Perhaps a guy working there has some buddies who could then take all those machines (defective or not) and sell them on the black market or to other friends "under the table" so to speak.