"thieves" news and stories

Lately bacon has been appearing in everything from tiaras and bras to ice cream and Obama logos. It's gotten so popular and so absurd that many in the blogosphere are crying, "Enough with the bacon all ready!" Which is why I found this story about bacon shoplifting rather refreshing. Not that I'm in favor of shoplifting, I just like reading about bacon in the traditional sense.

I guess with all the hoopla about unconventional uses for bacon, I missed this one. Last month shoplifters cleaned out a Londis supermarket in Burnley, U.K., of all of its bacon – for two days in row, no less. The price of the breakfast meat has increased 100 percent making it a target of opportunity for shoplifters. Local police believe the bacon burglars were stealing the bacon and selling it on the street to buy heroin.

In response to the thefts the supermarket's managers have placed the breakfast meat under lock and key. At least Londis' management is taking the new policy with a healthy dash of dry British wit. A sign at the Burnley store reads, "Due to the fact that our bacon is so delicious the shoplifters can't resist it – If you would like to try some please ask at the tills."

[via Bacon Today]

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Leave it to The Simpsons to accurately predict the future. Remember the episode where Homer and Bart suck the grease from Springfield Elementary's cafeteria to try and turn a profit, but the vacuum explodes and the kids wind up playing "snowball fight" with grease balls?

Well, that scene is now a reality. Okay, not the part about the grease fight - but pretty much everything else.

As the demand for biofuel rises, thieves making to look a quick buck are stealing the "yellow grease" leftover from restaurants that cook their food in veggie fat. Like Homer Simpson, they suck up the substance with vacuums, and can get a few thousand dollars from about 5,000 gallons (grease has shot up to 32 cents a pound).

It's not a job for the dainty thieves: Christian Science Monitor writer Ben Arnoldy describes the smell of a grease rendering plant as "like a combination between a fast food restaurant and a butcher shop, where maybe the meat's gone bad."

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It looks like Hansel and Gretel aren't the only ones who tried to advantage of crumbs to lead them to where they wanted to go. The police in Sylva, North Carolina were able to use a very literal - not just literary - trail of cake crumbs to track down two thieves who attempted to break in to the police station last week.

The two suspects damaged the door of the station in their attempt to gain entry and, when they couldn't force the door, instead stole a sign, some flags and flagpoles before making their getaway. The door to the station was "smeared with cake and frosting" and a trail of the same sweets led along the main street, leading away from the station. It didn't take long before the detectives found their way to the two suspects, who "had cake all over them."

As you might expect from two people who smear themselves with cake and try to break into a police station, the pair had been drinking (heavily) at a birthday party in a nearby restaurant. Witnesses identified the suspects as having been serving the cake to partygoers, and then later also spotted them with the stolen goods.

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The theft of beer kegs from pubs and breweries is on the rise in the UK, according to a recent story in The Publican. Apparently beer isn't what the thieves are after, however. High prices of aluminum and steel are to blame, with kegs being worth around £50 (approximately $90). One brewery actually reported a theft of 100 kegs in 13 minutes one night. Some thieves are even posing as beer distributors collecting empties. Local police are urging pub owners to keep their kegs in more secure locations for now.