Theft dilemma

thegirlintheattic

I agree with marisco, either your son took them (maybe to sell) or he knows who did.

paulineb_2

Id also be wondering what they were selling them for, to fund what exactly?

gibson123

I would be tempted to set up a "sting", so you can find out who is stealing, leave some cash out and have some hidden surveillance video it. There are lots of how to's on the internet.

http://gizmodo.com/5878580/transform-your-old-iphone-into-a-home-surveillance-cam

Until you know who is stealing you can't decide what to do next.

if you can't bear to go after proof yourself, then ban your son and his friends from your house if you are not in.

concerned43

the boys are teenagers, they have access to son's bedroom which houses xbox games and ipod touch etc, they also go into kitchen to help themselves to juice, this is where the camera was.
all boys in room together playing xbox or individually in kitchen to help themselves to juice.
I like the idea of planting some cash and I am going to get my son to bring them in one by one, I will put my video camera in the room to see if it captures anything (hopefully the camera won't be stolen) !

paulineb_2

concerned43 wrote: »

the boys are teenagers, they have access to son's bedroom which houses xbox games and ipod touch etc, they also go into kitchen to help themselves to juice, this is where the camera was.
all boys in room together playing xbox or individually in kitchen to help themselves to juice.
I like the idea of planting some cash and I am going to get my son to bring them in one by one, I will put my video camera in the room to see if it captures anything (hopefully the camera won't be stolen) !

I wouldnt be setting people up by planting any cash. Youve already banned them from your house and now you are going to set up a camera and plant some cash and you have concerns that they might nick your video camera that you are setting up to try and catch them in the act.

Have you considered the possibility that it might be more than one person doing the stealing?

You already have enough to go to the police and report these items as stolen. Id draw a line under it by going to the police, giving names and addresses, asking the police to have a word and not giving them access to your home again.

Honestly, what if someone spots the video camera, bringing people into a room one by one with a pile of cash sitting lying around, do you not consider that having already banned these boys, that if you do that people might work out that you are trying to catch them out.

And the person who takes this cash, if they do take it, might not be the person who took the other stuff from you, all you'll achieve is to find out who wants to lift a pile of cash.

It wont tell you who took everything else.

concerned43

paulineb wrote: »

I wouldnt be setting people up by planting any cash. Youve already banned them from your house and now you are going to set up a camera and plant some cash and you have concerns that they might nick your video camera that you are setting up to try and catch them in the act.

Have you considered the possibility that it might be more than one person doing the stealing?

You already have enough to go to the police and report these items as stolen. Id draw a line under it by going to the police, giving names and addresses, asking the police to have a word and not giving them access to your home again.

Honestly, what if someone spots the video camera, bringing people into a room one by one with a pile of cash sitting lying around, do you not consider that having already banned these boys, that if you do that people might work out that you are trying to catch them out.

And the person who takes this cash, if they do take it, might not be the person who took the other stuff from you, all you'll achieve is to find out who wants to lift a pile of cash.

It wont tell you who took everything else.

Probably right - well I am back to square one then

paulineb_2

concerned43 wrote: »

Probably right - well I am back to square one then

No not really. Youve taken action, youve banned them from your home, quite rightly.

And you have the choice to report this to the police so you can claim on your insurance and get the value of your items back.

Also I do think you should speak to parents and let them know there have been items missing and I certainly think you should report this theft so that if these items get sold on or someone tries to sell them on, you might have half a chance of getting them back.

The very least Id be doing is getting a crime reference number so you can claim on your house insurance.

marisco_2

There is of course another worrying scenario. Is your son a latchkey kid? Has he ever mislaid his keys or could anyone have got a copy of his keys? Could someone be letting themselves in when you are out at work/school all day?

scotnan

Can I ask....how did you know that the xbox games and controller were missing. I'm just wondering as I wouldn't have a clue that any of my son's games were missing?

You've mentioned previously that your son keeps a cash stash in his room, has any of that gone missing?

This recent spate of missing items appears to have started just after you wrote in your other thread about his reluctance to pay for things and you taking money from his stash to pay for something he wanted while you were out and I'm just wondering if maybe there's any connection at all.

I'd be very wary of accusing his friends of theft without any proof.

If you are going to set up a camera I'd do so without telling anyone else.

I hope you get it sorted.

3v3

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Who cares how old these boys are? A thief is a thief. This isn't a three year old sneaking some Smarties.

The law of the land does and therefore, any 'consequences'. (Or, in the context of the OP: to what degree reporting this to the Police would 'ruin' their lives)

As for "a thief is a thief", that is not necessarily so when it comes to the consequences. A "one off" theft would have different consequences to that of a prolific offender. A 10yo thief would face different consequences to a 30yo.