Former NASA Engineer Makes a Box That Tortures Package Thieves

I'll never understand the mindset. There's few things I hate more than thieves. I work my butt off 40= hours a week to earn something, and you think you deserve it just because you picked it up off my porch? Hopefully, these guys actually get punished, instead of the cops brushing it off like it isn't their job.

He mentioned the police said it wasn't enough of a concern for them to follow up on, I would have asked "If I shoot the next one that tries it, is that ok and you won't follow up on that one either?"

Questions about legality here. As harmless as it seems it is still a booby trap and a booby trap is illegal.
Thieves have successfully sued because of that issue.

Great guy with a lot of skill there to engineer such an amazing device the reactions were priceless.

Sucks the cops won't get off their ass and take care of this problem when given everything they need to track down someone (face/license plate) Like it or not, the solution is actually really simple... catch a few of them, chop their hand off in a very public spectacle, sew them up, and send them on their way. Package theft would drop to 0% if they knew what happens when they get caught.

"but whaaaa that's barbaric and so cruel" -- so what, they made the conscious choice to steal and should have to live with the results of that stupidity for the rest of their life.

I think we need a Constitutional Amendment so it can't be found unconstitutional :) that just says: Anyone willfully committing a crime forfeits any right to their personal safety or any right to sue for damages done to their person or property from the moment they actively commence the pursuit of said crime until they have ceased said crime or departed the crime scene.

This would allow for use of boobytraps, self defense by any means available, and no responsibility if the criminal is injured or killed while committing the crime. I think that would add quite a bit of deterrent against such crimes of opportunity as these.
 
He mentioned the police said it wasn't enough of a concern for them to follow up on, I would have asked "If I shoot the next one that tries it, is that ok and you won't follow up on that one either?"





I think we need a Constitutional Amendment so it can't be found unconstitutional :) that just says: Anyone willfully committing a crime forfeits any right to their personal safety or any right to sue for damages done to their person or property from the moment they actively commence the pursuit of said crime until they have ceased said crime or departed the crime scene.

This would allow for use of boobytraps, self defense by any means available, and no responsibility if the criminal is injured or killed while committing the crime. I think that would add quite a bit of deterrent against such crimes of opportunity as these.

The problem is that innocent people can get caught up in these things too.

Due process is required in order to prevent presumption of guilt and harming the innocent.

What if this guy had put something more harmful in his device and it had harmed an innocent bystander or a passenger in the thiefs vehicle unaware of the crime being committed?

The legal protections that exist are a good thing and they shouldn't go anywhere. If they do, it's a slippery slope to lynchibgs of black people (or whomever the disfavored minority du jour is) who happened to be in a neighborhood when a crime was committed.
 
Hmmm, I have a simpler solution: a motion sensor inside a similarly-tempting box, connected wirelessly to an air horn mounted right over the porch. If the package is picked up, BRAAAAP! Now THAT would make for some fun videos! No need to invest six months and spend all sorts of money on extra phones (and phone plans!) to catch a photo of the moron.
 
I didn't see the "torture" part, but it was somewhat humorous. I'm sure he'll get 50 million YT views and make a lot of money from the video.
 
Swap the glitter for Aluminum mag wheel cleaner, and it will be unforgettable for the person that opens it. ( HF is nasty...)

Swap it for Magnesium powder, and then puncture a can of chlorine based brake parts cleaner, and the car is a fireball. :)

A mix of potassium perchlorate, sugar, and your favorite color RIT dye, and they are burnt crispy and colored whatever color you want forever.

Puree a skunks musk glands and swap t for the glitter, and that will lead the cops straight to them, from blocks away. :)

An animal found as roadkill, sealed in a baggie and dispersed by an M80...

Hydrazine is friendly...

Potassium powder also...

All illegal, but who says you put it there.
 
I think if cops did something besides hide behind bushes giving out tickets to fill their quotas some of this type of stuff might not be necessary. Obviously this is not murder or something but they just don't give a shit and the crooks know it, and we are not allowed to defend our property anymore.

We had some creeps stalking kids in our neighborhood, driving up to them trying to lure them over. Neighbor called it in, complete with descriptions of the car etc, but the cops said they couldn't do anything till they came out to get a statement. They showed up for that statement 3 days later. Good thing they are there to serve and protect our citizens.
 
What is interesting to me is the concept that anyone, other than the thief, could ever be held responsible or liable for any outcome of the thief's action.

I would never term this action as "torture".

Saudi Arabia has, at least, this part right: get convicted of thievery, lose a hand.
 
Saudi Arabia has, at least, this part right: get convicted of thievery, lose a hand.
I thought we were no longer barbarians. Keep, the hand, use it for unpaid work until you repay twice the value of the damages you caused, preferably cleaning a sewer.
 
What is interesting to me is the concept that anyone, other than the thief, could ever be held responsible or liable for any outcome of the thief's action.

But don't you know that these people aren't thieves - they're misguided, uneducated, drug-addicted human beings with troubled upbringings who just need a warm hug and a smile and everything will be OK? How DARE these "rich" (i.e., gainfully employed) people defend their personal property! /s

I almost choked to death typing that, but that is literally what some people think. My town had several porch pirates last year, a few of whom were caught, and the excuses from some community members were mindboggling. My favorite was the female half of the porch pirates couple who could've been confused for "Mom of the Century" if you believed her FB page. Fortunately my town has some pretty goood trolls (me included) so her FB was shut down from the public evisceration she received. Her boyfriend's FB was shut down too from all the trolling.

If you're stealing bread from my pantry to feed yourself and family, I have compassion . If you're stealing junk I bought off of Amazon and resell it for drug money, I want you to meet the business end of a baseball bat. The asshats in that video are lucky they just had to clean up some glitter.
 
I have not even watched the video yet and I am already literally laughing about it.
 
The problem is that innocent people can get caught up in these things too.

Due process is required in order to prevent presumption of guilt and harming the innocent.

What if this guy had put something more harmful in his device and it had harmed an innocent bystander or a passenger in the thiefs vehicle unaware of the crime being committed?

The legal protections that exist are a good thing and they shouldn't go anywhere. If they do, it's a slippery slope to lynchibgs of black people (or whomever the disfavored minority du jour is) who happened to be in a neighborhood when a crime was committed.

Say what? Oh, let's stop by this unknown house in an unknown neighborhood and come back with a package not addressed to the person carrying it but, the passenger could not possibly know what is going on and would not know what is going on? Presumption of guilt by association dude. And no, he did not do anything other than glitter, if the thief has an issue with that, they he or she needs to find another career.
 
Replace the glitter with poo. These people aren't poverty stricken or desperate, they're just pieces of shit.
 
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Say what? Oh, let's stop by this unknown house in an unknown neighborhood and come back with a package not addressed to the person carrying it but, the passenger could not possibly know what is going on and would not know what is going on? Presumption of guilt by association dude. And no, he did not do anything other than glitter, if the thief has an issue with that, they he or she needs to find another career.

Kids could be in the car and if you set off a bomb full of roofing nails in it because they stole a package, that won't work well for you. That and murder does not equate theft.
 
Fart Spray got them
The only reason he got it back after so many times. I would be like 'shit... , hey there's 4 free phones here without it'. I would have used a Panaramic lens on two super cheap phones. or even better a cheap wi-fi action cam(s) to a single phone with a wifi hotspot.
 
The only reason he got it back after so many times. I would be like 'shit... , hey there's 4 free phones here without it'. I would have used a Panaramic lens on two super cheap phones. or even better a cheap wi-fi action cam(s) to a single phone with a wifi hotspot.
I imagine they were cheap-ish pre-paids that he picked up explicitly for this. You can get a phone + service for a month for ~100-150$ a phone.
 
I imagine they were cheap-ish pre-paids that he picked up explicitly for this. You can get a phone + service for a month for ~100-150$ a phone.
So his gadget was only half a grand. Still could be stolen for burners. He may have not connected them to his account so they may still work for a month or so.

Kind of can tell he's got a government background. One of the reasons to be a 'maker' is to do things on the cheap. He should have shot for $200 or less total.
 
With the tracking of the phones he could get his package back that way and have police come in and take it.
Prepaid Cell phones are like 20.00 at Walmart with cameras included the subs are about 30.00 a month.
 
So his gadget was only half a grand. Still could be stolen for burners. He may have not connected them to his account so they may still work for a month or so.

Kind of can tell he's got a government background. One of the reasons to be a 'maker' is to do things on the cheap. He should have shot for $200 or less total.
Could he have done it cheaper? Sure. Upside: He did it well, and people can see that, so that will get his video more shares.

He's going to get a hell of a lot more money from this video than he spent on making the product.
 
Kids could be in the car and if you set off a bomb full of roofing nails in it because they stole a package, that won't work well for you. That and murder does not equate theft.

If there a little kids in the car, then the thief is below a low life. Also, it is glitter only, not roofing nails, not poison, not........ only glitter.
 
If there a little kids in the car, then the thief is below a low life. Also, it is glitter only, not roofing nails, not poison, not........ only glitter.

Very judgemental 'manofgod'.

Sorry my post was more directed at the comments of booby traps of a deadly nature.
 
Very judgemental 'manofgod'.

Sorry my post was more directed at the comments of booby traps of a deadly nature.

Correct judgement is not judgemental at all, as you are placing it. :) ;) That said, I see what you are saying but, folks are just talking out of frustration and are not really serious.
 
Say what? Oh, let's stop by this unknown house in an unknown neighborhood and come back with a package not addressed to the person carrying it but, the passenger could not possibly know what is going on and would not know what is going on? Presumption of guilt by association dude. And no, he did not do anything other than glitter, if the thief has an issue with that, they he or she needs to find another career.

There are many feasible scenarios. Passenger opens package, it startles driver, driver hits and kills neighborhood kid.

How do you feel about it now?

I agree that this particular application is mostly harmless, but I'm speaking about those who would go further and actually do something harmful.

There is a reason vigilantism is illegal.
 
There are many feasible scenarios. Passenger opens package, it startles driver, driver hits and kills neighborhood kid.

How do you feel about it now?

I agree that this particular application is mostly harmless, but I'm speaking about those who would go further and actually do something harmful.

There is a reason vigilantism is illegal.

How I would feel about it is not relevant, the thief 100% entirely at fault. How about the thief is startled by the police lights in his or her rear view mirror, driver hits and kills neighborhood kid. So, now the police are at fault?
 
How I would feel about it is not relevant, the thief 100% entirely at fault. How about the thief is startled by the police lights in his or her rear view mirror, driver hits and kills neighborhood kid. So, now the police are at fault?


Police have various protocols in place of what they are supposed to do in risky situations. They are the professionals, and they should be the only ones enforcing any law.

Besides, this entire conversation is moot. The 8th amendment of the constitutions is very clear about the proportionality of punishments. A death sentence is never appropriate for theft. Furthermore the fifth and fourteenth amendments guarantee due process.

In other words, it doesn't matter what you think about it. It's not only law, its constitutionally protected. Go ahead go out and inflict bodily harm on a simple thief and see who winds up in federal - pound me up the ass - prison.

Vigilantism is never ok.
 
Personally... I watched the video of the lady breaking her ankle when she fell when trying to steal packages from the front yard. I bet you bottom dollar she didn't get popped and went to the ER and didn't pay the bill for her broken ankle and just dealt with the pain and suffering... or over bought pain meds and flipped the extra on the black market to people addicted to them.
 
Although it's probably a tongue in cheek joke (im guessing, i can't tell here sometimes). Going to jail for life over some cheap ass CRaP from Amazon being stolen by some loser isn't really a good idea. You basically would have made a lethal IED that potentially killed a US citizen(s) on US soil, it could put you in a very bad place in the eyes of the law. Last i heard vigilantism isn't looked upon too kindly by law enforcement, seen as it upto the police and the court system to deal out justice.

Sounds macho though and i agree there needs to be a much stiffer punishment (y)

It was a joke. Nobody that is a civilian would use white phosphorous when napalm is so much easier to procure.
 
The problem is that innocent people can get caught up in these things too.

Due process is required in order to prevent presumption of guilt and harming the innocent.

What if this guy had put something more harmful in his device and it had harmed an innocent bystander or a passenger in the thiefs vehicle unaware of the crime being committed?

The legal protections that exist are a good thing and they shouldn't go anywhere. If they do, it's a slippery slope to lynchibgs of black people (or whomever the disfavored minority du jour is) who happened to be in a neighborhood when a crime was committed.

That is why it has to be carefully written to be valid only when the crime is being committed and while the person committing the crime is at the location where the crime is committed. Once they left his property, the rule would no longer be in effect.
 
One of my uncles had to leave Tennessee due to rigging a booby trap involving a shotgun and an easily broken-into window; it cut a 14yo repeat burglar in half, that had a penchant for robbing my Grandma during church.

Different times...

I think asshole got what he deserved; judge let Uncle Floyd relocate instead of jail time.
 
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