STOLEN PIPES from Chicago Pipe Show

[sablebrush52]

If one of the perps was caught on security footage and can be ID'd, maybe there's a chance that Rodrigo gets his money back. Odds are the pipes are in a dumpster.
Lots of cash floats around a pipe show. That just seems to be the custom. All that's needed is for someone to become aware of the potential for making a score, identify who the best possibilities might be, and be ready for an opportunity.
Maybe it's just an unfortunate coincidence. Maybe it's someone connected to the bank. Maybe it's someone connected to the venue.
Reminds me of when I was a diamond and jewelry courier. You learned to watch your surroundings and you learned to be inconspicuous.

 

[warren]

If a bank employee was involved, this isn't a "one time" operation.
If I was getting 40 grand from a bank, the transaction certainly wouldn't take place at a teller's window. That's enough money to get some special treatment and have the transaction conducted in an enclosed room. Which may have happened. No teller can handle such a transaction without permission and immediate oversight in a neighborhood bank. "inconspicuous" is the keyword.

Reminds me of when I was a diamond and jewelry courier. You learned to watch your surroundings and you learned to be inconspicuous.

And, in my experience hire a bit of security, one in front a few yards and another in the rear.

That's simply a deductible business expense.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Jesse is 100% correct. Only in the rarest of rare instance have pipes been recovered that were not dumped into a trash can. No one, absolutely NO ONE gives any monetary value to a stinky old pipe, except another pipesmoker. The bag they were in would have held more value to the thief. The rest of the entire world see pipe collecting up there in the same genre as Beanie Babies or people who collect wigs.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I used PayPal mobile for several of my purchases at the show. Due to the metal building, I had to walk outside to get a signal but it worked quite well.

 

[londonmake]

At least Rodrigo was not harmed.

Time to get security guards for the grounds, not just the event hall.

 

[mso489]

Yeah, thieves don't want to handle loot that doesn't have a major ready market. Other than art thieves, and these aren't those. If a local found the bag of pipes and took it back to Pheasant Run, if they knew about the pipe show, that might be the only outside chance. Less than unlikely.

 

[mrenglish]

And who just hangs around inside a bank? It's not like you can go into a bank and just chill without raising suspicions. At the very least, you would have an employee trying to sell you something.

 

[warren]

Loan officers, investment advisors, low level managers, people waiting an appointment, customers, security guards, janitors, etc. all "hang" around inside banks. Then there are the people loitering around outside, particularly mall branches, eyeballing the customers, following some inside, standing in the line and observing. More than you would think.

 

[warren]

Art thieves, in my experience, work not on spec but with a paying customer.

 

[philobeddoe]

My guess is that if those pipes aren’t in a Chicago dumpster, they were packed with something else that evening. 8O

 

[mso489]

'Hope the pipe show hotel checks its security cameras and anyone at the show who took photos or video will check theirs. Especially any outside shots, since it would be surprising if the perps paid admission. But they might have cased the show from outside. At least worth a look for anyone with pics.

 

[kola]

CCW, Glock.
$40k in pocket and a sack of valuable goodies, I'd be packing.
"I feared for my life."

 

[ashdigger]

Kola, not in Chicago. In Nevada, yes. I carry everywhere I go, whether its $0.40 or greater.
Btw, some folks are Wolves, some are Sheep, I'm a Sheepdog.
Situational awareness is a priceless skill.
I'm glad he's okay and this might be a valuable lesson.

 

[brian64]

Kola, not in Chicago.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Chicago is a gun-free zone (which of course is why there's so many shootings there).

 

[woodsroad]

this might be a valuable lesson.

I don't know about valuable, but it damn sure was expensive. Might not even be a lesson.

 

[brian64]

it damn sure was expensive. Might not even be a lesson.

Sounds like most universities these days.

 

[aldecaker]

Illinois does have a CCW program, and around 250,000 private citizens hold one. However, IL honors no reciprocity, so someone from out of state in for the show couldn't carry legally. Sad.

 

[kola]

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so."

 

[aldecaker]

Sure, I agree with you there. But I'd sure hate to go to an Illinois state prison for a weapons violation. I'm too pretty for jail.

 

[saltedplug]

I'm lethal with toothpicks. Had I been walking around with $40K, I'd have been packing a box.