Meat on the menu for Connecticut thieves

[The Straight Story]

Meat on the menu for Connecticut thieves


NEW HAVEN, Conn., Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Meat and poultry companies in New Haven, Conn., have become a popular target of thieves, company representatives said.

The New Haven (Conn.) Courant reported Saturday three businesses have experienced six break-ins in the last month, with thieves stealing pounds upon pounds of meat.

Police said most recently Onofrio's Meats was hit Thursday by thieves who took an estimated $5,000 worth of meat and sauces from two delivery trucks.

An owner of the meat business confirmed the theft was the third at the company during the last month.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/11/21/Meat-on-the-menu-for-Connecticut-thieves/UPI-46611258832779/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. People are hungry, and these are hard times...

I'm not a bit surprised.

:hi:

[The Straight Story]

3. My dear Peggy

Yes indeed. That is what I found interesting in this article. Damned sad it has gotten this bad here.

If only people were banks we could better help them out...

[TreasonousBastard]

8. It's just that nobody grabs $5,000 worth of meat because...

they're hungry. And no Robin Hood is taking that stuff to a food bank.

We're not talking about the galleys for a loaf of bread-- these are slimy, thieving bastards who are selling that stuff to a store or restaurant owner who doesn't care where the food comes from or what his customers eat.

Jail, not sympathy, for such thieves in a time of want.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Ah, I was thinking they were stealing it for themselves...

If you're correct, and you most likely are, then I agree: jail time for these crooks.

[MineralMan]

16. I've noticed an increase of the number of people selling meat

in the neighborhoods from the back of trucks. I assume that it is stolen, and tell the guy who comes to the door that I never buy meat from door-to-door salesmen. I assume that it's stolen the way the meat in this story was stolen, or by employees of some meat-processing business.

[frylock]

12. a market for cheap stolen meat may just be a result of high unemployment

[anigbrowl]

26. so criminals can make $$$ out of selling stolen meat.

Nobody steals $5000 of meat because their kids cry at dinnertime. Your empathy is worthy, but a little misplaced in this case.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

27. Yup...I have zero empathy for criminals.

[glowing]

2. I'm also sure that the shop lifting incidents are also increased at this time.

[Hawkowl]

5. Very true

I can't provide links but I have read that shoplifting and employee retail theft is up almost 100%. The most troubling aspect of these reports was that FOOD was being stolen.

I have a theory that stealing is going to increase by orders of magnitude because the poor see politicians and banksters stealing billions and are going to take it that to mean that theft is now tacitly accepted as a means to getting rich--so surely it must mean it is ok to steal to survive?

[Codeine]

19. The really crappy part about shoplifting

is that the stores people steal from are struggling too. The market I work for has been in business since 1958 and we're really frightened about whether we'll be open come next Thanksgiving.

[MineralMan]

4. Now, see...if they were vegetarians, they wouldn't have to steal

that meat. It'd be sacks of beans and lentils they'd be stealing.

[The Straight Story]

9. I'd have to be pretty desperate to steal beans, I could see me stealing a cow though

One cow would feed me a lot longer than a bag of magic beans :rofl:

[malaise]

21. Here they prey on the farmers directly

and steal cows, goats and pigs. Recently two farmers found the heads of several of his cows after they raided his farm overnight.

Unemployment makes thieves of everyone because few ask about the origin of the meat.

[Sinti]

6. folks got to eat - and it sounds like perhaps they're hungry n/t

[cali]

11. no, it doesn't. the apologism on this thread for these

people is astonishing. this is theft for profit,

[The Straight Story]

13. So they are like AIG and banks?

:evilgrin:

[Goblinmonger]

18. FTW. Nice. n/t

[Sinti]

14. At what point does theft look like the best option?

At what point in a person's life does armed robbery look like the best option? I don't mind being called an apologist in this case, but I prefer to see myself as a realist. I am very fortunate to have a pretty good job, that is remarkably recession-resistant. If I could not find work that would feed my family, I can promise you from the bottom of my heart I would steal someone's stuff - preferably a well-to-do corporation. Sounds criminal? Yes, and I don't care - grub before ethics.

[cali]

22. there's nothing new about this,.

Furthermore, you don't have to resort to stealing truckloads of meat to feed your family. that's patently absurd. I would hope that if you found yourself in a position where you couldn't afford food for your family that you'd obtain foodstamps rather than pulling out a gun and stealing a truckload of meat.

[Sinti]

23. You make it sound as if you can just walk into any local gvt. office

and get assistance. Have you ever been in a position to need it? You simply can't in many places. You have to have been in a terrible situation for quite some time and have basically a family history of requiring help, depending on where you live. Then you have to deal with the rest of the world looking down on you, and virtually spitting on you for receiving help, because corporations need more profits and you aren't a good enough human being to be employed.

You can feed yourself on a loaf of bread for a week - I know, I've done it. You cannot put a roof over your head by stealing a loaf of bread - I know, because I was still sleeping in the parking lot, and on benches. Food stamps only buy food. You may be able to go to a shelter, and they MIGHT have room for you. It's more likely they won't, because there are that many desperate people out there.

This was probably a couple of guys, out of work, or 'unfit' for the mainstream economy. $5000 worth of meat would get them about $2500 max sold to a shady restaurant owner who wanted to save a few bucks. So, that's $1200 a piece if there were only two guys. $1200 is potentially food and rent for a month. If they live really, really cheaply that might last two months.

No child wants to grow up to be a criminal. People become criminals, because it's what they have left. I'd rather have reform and rehabilitation. I'd rather have people able to work and take care of themselves in a self-respecting manner. Criminality is only offensive when poor people do it.

I don't need the sharp stick to poke people in the eye with. It doesn't make me feel better. I'm able to put myself in their shoes. I'm really grateful that I'm able to. I am brutally aware that "but for the grace of god there go I."

Apparently, for those who have never had to face the reality of these kids of things, it's easier to break out their law-and-order bat and beat everyone else over the head. That law-and-order bat has been around for hundreds of years, and has not even slowed the crime rate one iota. I like to take a different tact.

[cali]

24. you can where I live and you can in CT

access food stamps.

And odds are that it's not a couple of poor guys out of work.

And btw, I'm someone who's just scraping by.

[Sinti]

25. That was not my experience in VA and MD

When I called, because I was on the verge of being homeless and had a 3-year-old child, they said "call back when you ARE homeless, then maybe we can help." I wanted to see if he could be put in foster care, so he wouldn't have to sleep outdoors. Later I found, if you have no address, you cannot get help.

In Idaho, where I live now, my sister SO has advanced rheumatoid arthritis - he is under 30 years old and has very twisted hands from the disease he has suffered with since he was 7-years-old. He went down to the Social Security office, primarily because he wanted a handicapped parking sticker for school. Thy asked him, "when did you decide you were handicapped?" This guys elbows don't bend beyond 45 degrees and his fingers look like they were remolded out of clay at some point and hardened. He is in pain, in school, and should not have to suffer like this - plus he can't get insurance for anything.

The world is cruel and ugly. I don't imagine these people have good jobs that pay them enough to survive. It's very rare (never happens) that well-off people commit armed robbery. The really rich steal from us all and call it business.

If they are not a couple of guys whose choices are so low that stealing looks like the best option, then what do imagine they are? No child wants to grow up to be a criminal. It happens to people, because they see no other prospects or they were born into a criminal family - in which case they see no other prospects.

[Frosty1]

28. Tell it like it is Sinti

:yourock:

[ddeclue]

7. That happens pretty frequently here in Orlando, FL too.

The other commonly stolen things are liquor, cigarettes and copper (wiring, plumbing, tubing...etc.), firearms, gold/jewelry, and cash.

[bobburgster]

15. All of it is sold below market value which means high demand.

Yes, the thieves do it for profit, but the demand for cheap food, and other essentials for living, must have skyrocketed in this crappy economy.....hence more thefts.

[keep_it_real]

17. Gives new meaning to the saying, "puting meat on the table."

[Bonhomme Richard]

20. Les misérables...........Off with their heads. n/t