Planetfurry BBS

Vallus · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 2:49 pm Post subject: Smash and Grab

http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=12219699

... or not. Way to be subtle guys, maybe you could use a bulldozer next time. At least the cops nabbed them quick this time and I hope as part of their punishment they are made to help pay for the costs to repair the shop owners store front.

anthony · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:02 pm Post subject:

These kinds of robberies are getting more and more common.

It won't be long before some of the more exposed shop owners starts 'arming' their stores with hidden I-beams and similar in the hope of taking out the driver of the truck used to ram the stores.
(The truck is usually destroyed anyway. Most such criminals have two cars, one to ram with and one to escape in)

I also expect fewer and fewer 'full height' windows in stores.

Teric · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:04 pm Post subject:

Haha!

*shake head ruefully*

That reminds me of that story of the guy who tried to mug a former championship boxer. Idiots.

Vallus · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:12 pm Post subject:

anthony · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:37 pm Post subject:

The problem with bars is that they need to be ridiculosly thick to stop someone driving a Ford F-series or similar deathtrap...

And if you're thinking of latticework or similar used when closing down the shop for the night...
There has been a few 'shock and awe' type robberies where they hit stores with a truck during opening hours.
(Possibly in the hope of avoiding lattices, goods lockd down in safes and all that)
So, yes, criminals are willing to ram a store full of customers, if they think tat they can get away with it.

And the laws against boobytraps only applies if they're intentional.
"No officer, I had no idea that those I-beams used to support the exhibit wasn't properly fastened."

Cynical?
Yeah...
I also know that some store owners will 'take matters into their own hands' after the first few times it happens.

tobi3B · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:55 am Post subject:

Ohh man Idiots.
Like this two guy who wanted to rob a Gunshow some years ago

South_Munjoy · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:22 am Post subject:

Katra · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:14 pm Post subject:

Two words. Bumper posts.

Designed to keep vehicles from driving through/over things accidentally; but properly placed they should stop the smash and grab crooks. (In fact the sight of heavy duty steel posts should make the dumbest crook think twice.)

anthony · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:48 pm Post subject:

Only if they're properly placed.

That means getting permits, digging up the sidewalk, pouring tons of concrete and so on.

It's expensive to do it right.

And even then, some moron is just going to nick a farm tractor, big front-loader or something.
(I wouldn't think twice about tearing through the posts in the picture with my father's Belarus 420 4WD tractor. And a modern, BIG one... )

Also, posts like that are UGLY, and that's nothing anyone want associated with their shop.
And in areas where you get snow in the winter, they're kind of a pain in the rear...

Alexi · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:44 pm Post subject:

I beams?

feh.

Use scrap railroad track.

If the cops ask, you can say that you were reinforcing the walls with what you could find or say that it was reinforcement for strong winds.

Hawke · Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:55 am Post subject:

You could always do what they have at almost evey national monument to prevent terrorist attacks in vehicles... Large Concrete flower pots. Can't drive much through those things....Decorative too

http://www.cgstock.com/pics/1908.jpg

anthony · Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 4:36 am Post subject:

Yes, flowerpots works better than the steel posts.

And if need be, you can use them to hide a more solid pillar inside.