Oregon Man Is Caught With Thousands Of Stolen Respirator Masks Because He Tried Selling Them on Craigslist The Next Day
Thousands of stolen respirator masks have been recovered in Oregon after they were discovered for sale on Craigslist amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to officials.
The Portland Police Bureau said in a news release on Sunday that officers responded on March 6 to a theft report at The Rebuilding Center in Portland involving 20 to 25 cases of N95 respirator masks.
Each case had about 400 masks inside and the total loss was close to $2,500, according to police. Officials said there initially was no suspect information.
I'm not sure whether I should be furious with this man or not.
On one hand, he stole respirator masks that were probably going to people who really need them like nurses or doctors. On the other hand, this man was just able to waltz in and scoop up a cool 20-25 cases full of masks without anyone noticing/seeing him do so. How about a little responsibility here boys? Jeez.
If they really cared about keeping their masks, The Rebuilding Center in Portland would've taken the necessary measures to assure their security. You can't just be sitting on 8,000-10,000 respirator masks and expect people to not come and at least try to steal them. There were pretty much full-on toilet paper truck heists in China a little over a month ago! People are willing to do whatever it takes so that they feel comfortable in these trying times!
The next day, police said the victim found someone selling what she believed to be the stolen respirator masks on Craigslist.
The victim then set up a meeting in the nearby city of Beaverton and contacted the Beaverton police, who arrived and arrested the suspect, 42-year-old Vladislav V. Drozdek.
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I think I'm gonna lean with being furious at this guy. Only because he was stupid enough to turn around the next day and sell the things on craigslist. I'm not mad at him for stealing the masks. Supply and demand, like you, read about. Don't get me wrong, it's a scumbag move considering that there's only a finite amount of these masks but hey, a man's gotta eat.
That being said, he couldn't just wait until the heat died down a little bit? No. He blew his shot at the big score. I guess it's a tricky situation, you want to strike while the iron's hot. Get the dough and get out of there, get the masks out of sight and out of mind. Little would he know he'd be walking into a sting operation, the likes of which he's never seen before.
The poor bastard was probably thinking of ways to spend that money already. A few essentials to stock up on before we're under complete lockdown, perhaps. Next thing he knows he's getting cuffs slapped on his wrists and he's being read his rights. Crazy how things can turn so quickly. One day you're on top of the world after a successful robbery, the next day you're inside a jail cell.
I'm not sure the extent of the punishment for stealing a couple masks but you'd have to imagine that due to the circumstances, it's probably curtains for our friend Vladislav. Whatever his charge is, you have to imagine it's only gonna be multiplied. Personally, I wouldn't have taken such a large volume of masks. You gotta keep it small to keep it under wraps. Masks are one of the hottest commodities on planet earth right now, so obviously the numbers are gonna be closely monitored. Seems like amateur hour out here.