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Cache maggot arrested.


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Wrong or NOT Wrong....the cache thief was lucky he was caught in another area, by two people who were a little more lenient then i would have been, That thief caused havoc in my area for years and stole so many cache containers, its hard to put a count and dollar value to it. Not only did he steal the containers, but he damaged property doing so as well. This man brought children each summer to a museum in our area and while he was there, was stealing the caches off the museums property.

 

I staked this person out many times and even went as far as investing 600.00 of my own money into a game camera to get photos of him.

 

All I have to say is he is glad that it was not I who caught him....because I tried.

 

You can all say what you will about taking justice into your own hands, but he wrecked havoc here for years and the majority of geocachers from the Adirondack Mountains are no longer into geocaching because of this man!

 

He should be scared......he should be very scrared...now that he has been outed!

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Wrong or NOT Wrong....the cache thief was lucky he was caught in another area, by two people who were a little more lenient then i would have been, That thief caused havoc in my area for years and stole so many cache containers, its hard to put a count and dollar value to it. Not only did he steal the containers, but he damaged property doing so as well. This man brought children each summer to a museum in our area and while he was there, was stealing the caches off the museums property.

 

I staked this person out many times and even went as far as investing 600.00 of my own money into a game camera to get photos of him.

 

All I have to say is he is glad that it was not I who caught him....because I tried.

 

You can all say what you will about taking justice into your own hands, but he wrecked havoc here for years and the majority of geocachers from the Adirondack Mountains are no longer into geocaching because of this man!

 

He should be scared......he should be very scrared...now that he has been outed!

Seems like you know it's wrong and you've decided to do it anyway. Edited by sbell111
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Wrong or NOT Wrong....the cache thief was lucky he was caught in another area, by two people who were a little more lenient then i would have been, That thief caused havoc in my area for years and stole so many cache containers, its hard to put a count and dollar value to it. Not only did he steal the containers, but he damaged property doing so as well. This man brought children each summer to a museum in our area and while he was there, was stealing the caches off the museums property.

 

I staked this person out many times and even went as far as investing 600.00 of my own money into a game camera to get photos of him.

 

All I have to say is he is glad that it was not I who caught him....because I tried.

 

You can all say what you will about taking justice into your own hands, but he wrecked havoc here for years and the majority of geocachers from the Adirondack Mountains are no longer into geocaching because of this man!

 

He should be scared......he should be very scrared...now that he has been outed!

Well, I certainly can empathis, but unless he has confessed to the others, all you really can say is that he stole this most recent one, and that hundreds of others in your area have been stolen over the years by some individual or group, right? Or, has he confessed to the others?

 

Any updates on the status of things?

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Wrong or NOT Wrong....the cache thief was lucky he was caught in another area, by two people who were a little more lenient then i would have been,

 

All I have to say is he is glad that it was not I who caught him....because I tried.

 

He should be scared......he should be very scrared...

 

You'd better hope nothing bad happens to him, now that you have threatened him in a public forum.

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Wrong or NOT Wrong....the cache thief was lucky he was caught in another area, by two people who were a little more lenient then i would have been, That thief caused havoc in my area for years and stole so many cache containers, its hard to put a count and dollar value to it. Not only did he steal the containers, but he damaged property doing so as well. This man brought children each summer to a museum in our area and while he was there, was stealing the caches off the museums property.

 

I staked this person out many times and even went as far as investing 600.00 of my own money into a game camera to get photos of him.

 

All I have to say is he is glad that it was not I who caught him....because I tried.

 

You can all say what you will about taking justice into your own hands, but he wrecked havoc here for years and the majority of geocachers from the Adirondack Mountains are no longer into geocaching because of this man!

 

He should be scared......he should be very scrared...now that he has been outed!

 

So many assumptions.... You can't know he was the one that stole all those caches. And honestly, if you invested $600.00 of your own money into a game camera, it sounds like you have gotten a little bit obsessed.

 

I've said way too much. I feel my life may now be in jeopardy.

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It seems that there are too many people judging those of us who have had to deal with this guy for so long. When you have had your caches stolen weekly, sometimes even daily, and other geocachers post DNF after DNF, and you receive weekly emails from cachers who want to come cache in the area, but want to make sure the caches are there, and you spend countless hours going back to the sites over and over again only to find the cache gone, then and only then can you say that someone is obsessed and the responses to this guy are wrong or that someone is overreacting.

 

There is no way to know for sure that this guy stole all those caches all those times. He did however have a log book from one of my caches in his glove box from two years ago. It was dated 8/4/07. That seems to point in the direction that he has in fact stolen other caches.

 

If he was not guilty - why did he run????

 

Has anyone ever come across someone at a cache site that ran away when you approached him? He not only ran from the site, but ran a second time when I tried approaching him in the parking lot. If that doesn't scream guilt I don't know what does.

 

Why did he lie to the police repeatedly about why he was there and why his car had been abandoned? The police told us that the guy's stories (plural) , because he told more than one to them, just did not make any sense.

 

What should happen to the guy is up to the judge and the DA.

 

He did something wrong and now has to face the consequences, no matter how harsh or embarrassing they may be.

 

If his job is in jeopardy, he only brought it on himself. If his reputation is tarnished, the same holds true. He brought all of this on himself, the minute he stole a cache!

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It seems that there are too many people judging those of us who have had to deal with this guy for so long. When you have had your caches stolen weekly, sometimes even daily, and other geocachers post DNF after DNF, and you receive weekly emails from cachers who want to come cache in the area, but want to make sure the caches are there, and you spend countless hours going back to the sites over and over again only to find the cache gone, then and only then can you say that someone is obsessed and the responses to this guy are wrong or that someone is overreacting.

 

There is no way to know for sure that this guy stole all those caches all those times. He did however have a log book from one of my caches in his glove box from two years ago. It was dated 8/4/07. That seems to point in the direction that he has in fact stolen other caches.

 

If he was not guilty - why did he run????

 

Has anyone ever come across someone at a cache site that ran away when you approached him? He not only ran from the site, but ran a second time when I tried approaching him in the parking lot. If that doesn't scream guilt I don't know what does.

 

Why did he lie to the police repeatedly about why he was there and why his car had been abandoned? The police told us that the guy's stories (plural) , because he told more than one to them, just did not make any sense.

 

What should happen to the guy is up to the judge and the DA.

 

He did something wrong and now has to face the consequences, no matter how harsh or embarrassing they may be.

 

If his job is in jeopardy, he only brought it on himself. If his reputation is tarnished, the same holds true. He brought all of this on himself, the minute he stole a cache!

 

I, for one, don't judge you. I have had my posessions stolen and know how it feels to be the repeated target of a predatory individual.

I know how it feels to imagine many different scenarios of revenge. I know how revenge feels and it feels good.

Fortunately I also know what it's like to be a thief. I know what it feels like to get caught and I know what it feels like to get off scot free.

 

I know both sides because I've lived both sides.

 

I don't judge you for feeling as you do. I am both disappointed and happy that there are laws in place in regards to vigilante justice. From this side of the screen I can say that you should not engage in vigilante justice but at the same time, take some comfort in knowing he may lose his job. I would never openly state that anyone should do harm to this person but would understand their motivation for doing so.

 

One thing I will say is that this person needs to suffer some inconvenience. Of what proportion is not mine to say. Who doles out the discomfort is also not mine to say but one thing I can say with 100% confidence is that however he suffers, and by whatever means, he has caused his own suffering. He has no right to whine or complain.

 

And yes, when I was in trouble in my younger years, I never once complained about the trouble I made for myself. I accepted the fact that I was responsible for the discomfort I brought upon myself.

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He should be scared......he should be very scrared...now that he has been outed!

 

Why is that again?

 

I can answer that.

He should be scared because there are some people out there who will succumb to their primitive instinct to perform justice on a personal level.

 

Not everyone can sustain control over their emotional need to feel the sweet taste of revenge.

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If he was not guilty - why did he run????

 

In my state, juries are instructed that they may consider this as consciousness of guilt (although I have tried to convince our high court otherwise).

 

And I am certainly willing to assume that he took an extraordinary number of caches, that he was obsessed with taking caches as much as I am with finding them, and that the caching community needed to find him and put a stop to it. You took the right action. The police should have been called. With luck, no matter what happens with the legal proceeding, that will be enough to put an end to his actions.

 

And if future caches disappear, you know who he is. It would be easy to ask him if he fell off the wagon and stopped attending CSA meetings (or the equivalent). My guess is that being identified and arrested is enough to have broken whatever cycle he was caught up in doing.

 

In the ideal world, for actions like this, the community would adopt a restorative justice model where community members work with the cachers who were victimized and Mr. Repak to find a solution. Unfortunately, very few areas use this approach.

 

I have found it interesting to think about Mr. Repak's defense because after 25 years of training, if you give me an unpopular defendant and an unsettled legal theory, I am more than happy to run with it. If the cache where you caught him was there with permission, then larceny it is. If it wasn't, there are a number of interesting legal issues dealing with how the cache placers "right of possession" would be defined under NY's larceny laws.

 

But I don't expect those to get resolved. In my county, he would be put into diversion, take a few classes, do some community service work, and the charges would be dismissed short of conviction. NY may work it differently, I don't know. Most judges I have worked with would want to clear their caseload as long as they were fairly certain that he would not appear in their courtroom again. And as long as he was someone like Mr. Repak. Again, NY may do it differently.

 

I don't think that the legal proceedings will ever give emotional satisfaction or a personal remedy to the harm that Mr. Repak undoubtedly caused. Even my noncacher daughter thinks justice should do more. Perhaps small claims court would be a better forum than criminal courts. Perhaps Mr. Repak would be willing to meet with cachers after the legal proceedings are over. We shall see where this takes us if you keep us informed.

 

So on behalf of cachers (or more approriately, myself), thank you for taking the right action and being alert to what he was doing. Some might have let it go and assumed he was just a shy cacher or not want to get involved. Its not always easy to do. And I am glad you are leaving it to the DA and judge to decide what should happen to him. (With perhaps a little input from one of my brothers or sisters in the defense community who would like to earn a fee and let Mr. Repak help pay for their kids' college education.)

Edited by Erickson
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He should be scared......he should be very scrared...now that he has been outed!

 

Why is that again?

 

I can answer that.

He should be scared because there are some people out there who will succumb to their primitive instinct to perform justice on a personal level.

 

Not everyone can sustain control over their emotional need to feel the sweet taste of revenge.

 

True. And those that can't should be processed through the justice system -just like this guy. Crime is crime.

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I can answer that.

He should be scared because there are some people out there who will succumb to their primitive instinct to perform justice on a personal level.

 

Not everyone can sustain control over their emotional need to feel the sweet taste of revenge.

 

True. And those that can't should be processed through the justice system -just like this guy. Crime is crime.

 

Right, so make your revenge legal.

 

<_<

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I can answer that.

He should be scared because there are some people out there who will succumb to their primitive instinct to perform justice on a personal level.

 

Not everyone can sustain control over their emotional need to feel the sweet taste of revenge.

 

True. And those that can't should be processed through the justice system -just like this guy. Crime is crime.

 

Right, so make your revenge legal.

 

<_<

 

Righteous litigation? ;)

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If he was not guilty - why did he run????

 

Maybe he had a sudden attack of diarrhea. <_<

 

Has anyone ever come across someone at a cache site that ran away when you approached him?

 

Yes, but I hadn't bathed in days and I smelled horrendous.

 

Why did he lie to the police repeatedly about why he was there and why his car had been abandoned?

 

Maybe he was afraid of a steel toed geocaching lynch mob coming out and kicking him repeatedly in the knees and then stringing him up. ;)

 

What should happen to the guy is up to the judge and the DA.

 

Good to see at least you are thinking with your head and not your emotions.

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As I have said many times in my life. If people don't want to get punished severely, they shouldn't do bad things.

 

For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

 

That's the same thing bittsen said, but worded a bit differently. <_<

 

What ever happened to turning the other cheek a few times first?

ReadyOrNot suggested potential ramifications for the judger. Bittsen did not.

 

Yes he did, "Punished severely" is a potential ramification for the theoretical person who is judging bittsen and repeatedly doing vandalism. ;)

 

Punishment is only good as a deterent to prevent others from doing crimes. If it is used as a means to make a victim feel better, it usually carries a negative collateral effect. No two actions are ever exactly alike, as it is impossible to "get even" without creating more unneccessary negativity.

 

I have no problem with letting the maggot go if he stops his ways. Unfortunately it may be used as a precident to inspire other Paul Repaks. The fact that he devoted so much time and energy over many years to repeatedly cause distress to others signifies a serious mental defect, and it's hard to believe that he may completely stop "cold turkey". I suspect that there may be another issue going on which caused him to take it out on cachers, or perhaps he was a cacher at one time until someone (or several people) pissed him off enough to label all cachers as bad (perhaps in the forums? :laughing: ). Whatever the case, he is unlikely to get prosecuted for all that he did.

 

Caches are not abandoned if they are listed and the owner is actively maintaining them. If someone found one accidentally without any info on them it could be argued, but if someone is using the website to intentionally find them, he is stealing. If I park my car in the woods on public property is is not abandonment unless I demonstrate a lack of intent to pick it up. Many years ago I recieved a ticket for "abandoning a vehicle on a public highway" because I had left my '75 Nova there for more than a few days. If someone else had picked it up, they would have been charged with stealing.

 

I strongly suspect there is something else going on in his life, and the cache maggotry is only the tip of the iceberg..

Why do you have to twist my post to the breaking point? Suffice it that my posts mean what they say and nothing more. You made your point many pages ago. It is not necessary for you to distort the meaning of my posts to make your point.

 

I wasn't twisting your post, I was twisting bittsen's and ReadyOrNot's posts around.

 

But that's it, I've had enough. I'm going to hop in my car and drive out to Tennessee and stand outside of your house and turn the other cheek. :laughing:

 

You ought to be very nonplussed at this point. :)

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[opinion utterly unsupported by evidence] This guy absolutely cannot afford a finding of guilt in this case, even if the charges are significantly reduced as a plea bargain. So long as the case remains up in the air, his security clearance, and subsequently his continued employment, is probably safe. Even a "No Contest" plea could hurt this guy. As such, it's in his best interest to fight this tooth & nail, tossing gobs of cash at his attorney. Paying for an attorney will hurt this guy financially much more than any court imposed fine. [/opinion utterly unsupported by evidence]

 

His commanding officer (even though he's a civilian -- there's a CO in charge of his facility) has the power to temporarily revoke his security clearance if he is deemed a security risk. When you apply for a security clearance, you're required to disclose all brushes with the law (except traffic offenses < $300), including arrests, acquittals, dismissed cases, etc. Further, he's REQUIRED by law to inform his security office of the arrest immediately. So, there's a fighting chance he's on "leave without pay" at the moment...

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[opinion utterly unsupported by evidence] This guy absolutely cannot afford a finding of guilt in this case, even if the charges are significantly reduced as a plea bargain. So long as the case remains up in the air, his security clearance, and subsequently his continued employment, is probably safe. Even a "No Contest" plea could hurt this guy. As such, it's in his best interest to fight this tooth & nail, tossing gobs of cash at his attorney. Paying for an attorney will hurt this guy financially much more than any court imposed fine. [/opinion utterly unsupported by evidence]

 

His commanding officer (even though he's a civilian -- there's a CO in charge of his facility) has the power to temporarily revoke his security clearance if he is deemed a security risk. When you apply for a security clearance, you're required to disclose all brushes with the law (except traffic offenses < $300), including arrests, acquittals, dismissed cases, etc. Further, he's REQUIRED by law to inform his security office of the arrest immediately. So, there's a fighting chance he's on "leave without pay" at the moment...

 

A good citizen would make sure his CO was notified. THis is especially necessary since we are being told by the government to report anything suspicious.

True, he hasn't been found guilty but he WAS arrested. Nothing wrong or illegal about being a good citizen and helping out a little.

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He should be scared......he should be very scrared...now that he has been outed!

 

So, let's say someone theoretically decided to go out and steal some more caches and let everyone assume our friend, Mr. Repak, is back out doing his thing. Just what would you do?

 

Bittsen's lynch mob comments weren't that worrisome seeing as he lives in Oregon. But you're a bit closer and I guess he really should be worried. You may consider some anger management.

 

He should be embarassed..... he should be very embarassed...

 

He should NOT be scared. But now I'm a bit scared. <_<

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A good citizen would make sure his CO was notified. THis is especially necessary since we are being told by the government to report anything suspicious.

 

The one communication that was reported to us rom Mr. Repak referred to his job. He would, of course, be required to report all arrests for a seven year period. I don't know about the security process for where he works. I saw that NASA security considers petty larceny to be a level B offense that would not, in itself, be cause for "debarment."

 

So assuming that life pretty much continues for Mr Repak, there is one remaining question. If a cache disappears because it was poorly placed and a kid took it, or an animal carried it away, or the gardener threw it out with a trash, will people be knocking at his door? Any DNF will raise a certain amount of uncertainty.

Edited by Erickson
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Nice to see we have some good old foaming at the mouth, red mist, pitchforks and torches ready to storm the castle.

 

Seriously, if not a participant in the procedings against the man, it's time to settle down.

 

Here, look at this happy little salamander I saw walking about today.

 

iNewt.jpg

 

Relax and wait for things to go as they will. Plenty of time to get worked up later, too, don't waste all that energy now.

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Wrong or NOT Wrong....the cache thief was lucky he was caught in another area, by two people who were a little more lenient then i would have been,

 

All I have to say is he is glad that it was not I who caught him....because I tried.

 

He should be scared......he should be very scrared...

 

You'd better hope nothing bad happens to him, now that you have threatened him in a public forum.

 

All you wanna be lawyers on here...coming up with all kinds of reasons why his charges wont stick and how hes gonna get off because of this and that........and yet you think, if he ends up hurt somehow, i will get charged for what i said on a public forum. You better read my statement, its as vague as you think his crime was.

 

All im saying, is i wouldn't want to be hiking on a Adirondack trail anywhere near a geocache if i were him.

 

I am not the only geocacher in the Adirondack Park.

 

It seems from his profile (Guide, Paddler, Troop Leader, etc. ) that he spends a lot of time here in the park. Well, at least he use to. He may be thinking twice about that now in the future.

 

This type of behavior is growing, its not an isolated incident. There are websites and facebook pages dedicated to stealing caches and causing havoc to our geocaching communities. Soon, it will happen in some of your back yards. And when you get so you are replacing 10.00 ammo cans (not 1, not 2, not 3, but many) on a weekly basis, we will see how long you can refrain.

 

Thats all I have to say on this subject....im through

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Wrong or NOT Wrong....the cache thief was lucky he was caught in another area, by two people who were a little more lenient then i would have been,

 

All I have to say is he is glad that it was not I who caught him....because I tried.

 

He should be scared......he should be very scrared...

 

You'd better hope nothing bad happens to him, now that you have threatened him in a public forum.

 

All you wanna be lawyers on here...coming up with all kinds of reasons why his charges wont stick and how hes gonna get off because of this and that........and yet you think, if he ends up hurt somehow, i will get charged for what i said on a public forum. You better read my statement, its as vague as you think his crime was.

 

All im saying, is i wouldn't want to be hiking on a Adirondack trail anywhere near a geocache if i were him.

 

I am not the only geocacher in the Adirondack Park.

 

It seems from his profile (Guide, Paddler, Troop Leader, etc. ) that he spends a lot of time here in the park. Well, at least he use to. He may be thinking twice about that now in the future.

 

This type of behavior is growing, its not an isolated incident. There are websites and facebook pages dedicated to stealing caches and causing havoc to our geocaching communities. Soon, it will happen in some of your back yards. And when you get so you are replacing 10.00 ammo cans (not 1, not 2, not 3, but many) on a weekly basis, we will see how long you can refrain.

 

Thats all I have to say on this subject....im through

I can promise you, aside from the few people who think this jerk will get away with this or that you've made inappropriate public comments, I am (as I'm sure many others are) on your side 100%. There is no way any prosecutor can demonstrate for the judge, the level of angst this guy has created for the cachers in your area. I really hope this is finally over for you guys up there and maybe now you can get back to enjoying the game once again.

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... There is no way to know for sure that this guy stole all those caches all those times. He did however have a log book from one of my caches in his glove box from two years ago. It was dated 8/4/07. That seems to point in the direction that he has in fact stolen other caches.
I'm curious as to how you know this information.
If he was not guilty - why did he run????
That logic is so faulty that it's not even funny.
Has anyone ever come across someone at a cache site that ran away when you approached him? He not only ran from the site, but ran a second time when I tried approaching him in the parking lot. If that doesn't scream guilt I don't know what does.
Actually, people have posted in these forums that they have done similar when approached by unknown people at or near the cache site.
What should happen to the guy is up to the judge and the DA.
This is the very thing that many people in this thread keep forgetting. It's not up to geocachers to make this guy pay.
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A good citizen would make sure his CO was notified. THis is especially necessary since we are being told by the government to report anything suspicious.

 

The one communication that was reported to us rom Mr. Repak referred to his job. He would, of course, be required to report all arrests for a seven year period. I don't know about the security process for where he works. I saw that NASA security considers petty larceny to be a level B offense that would not, in itself, be cause for "debarment."

 

So assuming that life pretty much continues for Mr Repak, there is one remaining question. If a cache disappears because it was poorly placed and a kid took it, or an animal carried it away, or the gardener threw it out with a trash, will people be knocking at his door? Any DNF will raise a certain amount of uncertainty.

That's a good point. It also begs the question as to whether all of the cache 'thefts' being attributed to him were even actually stolen or merely went missing through other means. It's just one more reason that I roll my eyes every time someone mentions keeping a spreadsheet of all these 'stolen' caches.

Edited by sbell111
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Wrong or NOT Wrong....the cache thief was lucky he was caught in another area, by two people who were a little more lenient then i would have been,

 

All I have to say is he is glad that it was not I who caught him....because I tried.

 

He should be scared......he should be very scrared...

 

You'd better hope nothing bad happens to him, now that you have threatened him in a public forum.

 

All you wanna be lawyers on here...coming up with all kinds of reasons why his charges wont stick and how hes gonna get off because of this and that........and yet you think, if he ends up hurt somehow, i will get charged for what i said on a public forum. You better read my statement, its as vague as you think his crime was.

 

All im saying, is i wouldn't want to be hiking on a Adirondack trail anywhere near a geocache if i were him.

 

I am not the only geocacher in the Adirondack Park.

 

It seems from his profile (Guide, Paddler, Troop Leader, etc. ) that he spends a lot of time here in the park. Well, at least he use to. He may be thinking twice about that now in the future.

 

This type of behavior is growing, its not an isolated incident. There are websites and facebook pages dedicated to stealing caches and causing havoc to our geocaching communities. Soon, it will happen in some of your back yards. And when you get so you are replacing 10.00 ammo cans (not 1, not 2, not 3, but many) on a weekly basis, we will see how long you can refrain.

 

Thats all I have to say on this subject....im through

Wow. Even when you state that you are not physically threatening him, it reads like a physical threat to his life.
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All im saying, is i wouldn't want to be hiking on a Adirondack trail anywhere near a geocache if i were him.

 

It seems from his profile (Guide, Paddler, Troop Leader, etc. ) that he spends a lot of time here in the park. Well, at least he use to. He may be thinking twice about that now in the future.

 

Wow.. Where to start.. Let's say this guy does get prosecuted and pays a fine (which is all that will happen). Does this mean he is no longer allowed to go hiking? According to you, he will no longer be allowed to spend time in the park as a Guide, paddler, troop leader, etc. How exactly do you plan on enforcing that?

 

So the guy is out in the woods with his son and his troop, you going to be a big man and start a fight with the guy with the kids around? Is that your plan? If I was this guy, after all this is said and done, i'd be getting a weapons permit and carrying one with me anytime I was out in the woods, to protect myself from crazies like you.

 

The real question is, are you willing to die because of your missing geocache containers that may have absolutely nothing to do with this guy?

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All im saying, is i wouldn't want to be hiking on a Adirondack trail anywhere near a geocache if i were him.

 

It seems from his profile (Guide, Paddler, Troop Leader, etc. ) that he spends a lot of time here in the park. Well, at least he use to. He may be thinking twice about that now in the future.

 

Wow.. Where to start.. Let's say this guy does get prosecuted and pays a fine (which is all that will happen). Does this mean he is no longer allowed to go hiking? According to you, he will no longer be allowed to spend time in the park as a Guide, paddler, troop leader, etc. How exactly do you plan on enforcing that?

 

So the guy is out in the woods with his son and his troop, you going to be a big man and start a fight with the guy with the kids around? Is that your plan? If I was this guy, after all this is said and done, i'd be getting a weapons permit and carrying one with me anytime I was out in the woods, to protect myself from crazies like you.

 

The real question is, are you willing to die because of your missing geocache containers that may have absolutely nothing to do with this guy?

This is getting good! Could become a movie-of-the-week... cacher gone wrong steals caches, cache cop sets up surveillance on him, cache thief gets busted, members of the caching community go after him, he arms himself, the rest plays out on the geocaching trail... and ends with somebody in the morgue and somebody in prison... but who ends where? :laughing:

 

Call it Law and Order: Geocaching Style

Edited by TheAlabamaRambler
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This is getting good! Could become a movie-of-the-week... cacher gone wrong steals caches, cache cop sets up surveillance on him, cache thief gets busted, members of the caching community go after him, he arms himself, the rest plays out on the geocaching trail... and ends with somebody in the morgue and somebody in prison... but who ends where? :laughing:

 

You've left out the love interest. Maybe after years of pursuing the maggot, a strange bond develops between the two. They fall in love and end up caching together. But the honeymoon is quickly over when someone's cache is found under the bed. Possibly ending in a murder suicide? I'd watch it.

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This is getting good! Could become a movie-of-the-week... cacher gone wrong steals caches, cache cop sets up surveillance on him, cache thief gets busted, members of the caching community go after him, he arms himself, the rest plays out on the geocaching trail... and ends with somebody in the morgue and somebody in prison... but who ends where? :laughing:

 

Call it Law and Order: Geocaching Style

 

Probably like in real life... both involved parties in prison, and some innocent bystander in the morgue.

AND Nothing actually resolved to anyone's satisfaction... Always the sequel, I guess.

 

Doug

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You've left out the love interest. Maybe after years of pursuing the maggot, a strange bond develops between the two. They fall in love and end up caching together. But the honeymoon is quickly over when someone's cache is found under the bed. Possibly ending in a murder suicide? I'd watch it.

 

That gives me another idea... What if that cache under the bed is one of those EVIL puzzles, which is casting some spell over cachers within range of its evil mind control powers... a true anti-cache so to speak.

And it wil not cease until it is destroyed or all caching ceases world wide... NO disabling or even archiving will be of any use... Possibly a stake through the container... or being muggled by an innocent child...

 

Doug

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You've left out the love interest. Maybe after years of pursuing the maggot, a strange bond develops between the two. They fall in love and end up caching together. But the honeymoon is quickly over when someone's cache is found under the bed. Possibly ending in a murder suicide? I'd watch it.

 

That gives me another idea... What if that cache under the bed is one of those EVIL puzzles, which is casting some spell over cachers within range of its evil mind control powers... a true anti-cache so to speak.

And it wil not cease until it is destroyed or all caching ceases world wide... NO disabling or even archiving will be of any use... Possibly a stake through the container... or being muggled by an innocent child...

 

Doug

 

Word spreads of the evil cache. The Nazi's of course take interest, wanting to harness the power of the cache to take over the world. Upon finding the cache missing, the couple head out to reclaim what was theirs (Indiana Jones theme song plays)

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Something to add to the "case" is evidence that many town and county visitor associations (or other departments) support geocaching and even own geocaches.

 

Potentially, this cache maggot has stolen from the government if any of the stolen caches were county owned caches.

He could be charged with lots of things regarding hindering commerce or something (not that he will, of course).

If, and when, he's convicted, I hope those cache maggot websites will post a little blurb about what can happen when you steal a cache.

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This one's still alive?? Time for another 2 day vacation.

 

Stick around. I have an uneasy feeling it will not be long until we're listening to all of GeoLobo's friends asking for folks to chip in to his defense fund. Only this time, we won't be discussing misdemeanors. :laughing:

 

All im saying, is i wouldn't want to be hiking on a Adirondack trail anywhere near a geocache if i were him.

 

It seems from his profile (Guide, Paddler, Troop Leader, etc. ) that he spends a lot of time here in the park. Well, at least he use to. He may be thinking twice about that now in the future.

 

Seriously, and I'm being as serious as I know how to be. I understand the frustration involved here. Scratch that. I understand the frustration involved as much as someone who has not had hundreds of caches stoles can understand. I get that you are angry. I even say you have every right to BE angry.

 

But making not so veiled threats like this is not doing geocaching any good. Your last 2 posts are more than a bit worrisome.

 

No matter how you cut it, this is a simple misdemeanor. That means that very likely he will NOT receive a punishment anywhere close to what you feel is deserved. That also means, based on your last 2 posts, that you need to figure out a constructive way to channel your anger. You really need to consider what you've posted. Are you prepared for the inevitable outcome?

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... If it wasn't, there are a number of interesting legal issues dealing with how the cache placers "right of possession" would be defined under NY's larceny laws.

 

But I don't expect those to get resolved. In my county, he would be put into diversion, take a few classes, do some community service work, and the charges would be dismissed short of conviction. ...

 

This has been my (limited) experience on a more serious crime.

 

After reading this thread, talking to our own local attorney, and making a case in many other threads about what a cache is. I'm satified that a cache is personal property. What I realized last night though was that the other side of the fence is what's confusing folks.

 

The other side of the fence being how a person in various situations may interact with the cache and be held accountable differently depending on circumstances. A cache remains personal property in all cases, but when a person thought it was litter is one outcome. If they knowingly stole it knownig full well that it's owned, that's another and so on. It's interesting and I think a lot of our English Common law roots come into play on this side of the fence.

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...Seriously, and I'm being as serious as I know how to be. I understand the frustration involved here. Scratch that. I understand the frustration involved as much as someone who has not had hundreds of caches stoles can understand. I get that you are angry. I even say you have every right to BE angry.

 

But making not so veiled threats like this is not doing geocaching any good. Your last 2 posts are more than a bit worrisome.

 

No matter how you cut it, this is a simple misdemeanor. That means that very likely he will NOT receive a punishment anywhere close to what you feel is deserved. That also means, based on your last 2 posts, that you need to figure out a constructive way to channel your anger. You really need to consider what you've posted. Are you prepared for the inevitable outcome?

 

Our local cache maggot caught wind of a thread were such things were being posed. He posted that he carried a gun and implied that perhaps we should be prepared for someone who was prepaired. His angle was "if you are ready to commit harm for your cache be ready to die for your cache." Of course I read it the other way. He's willing to forwarn people that he's out there ready to kill and that he's wiling to die for his maggotry. He actually doesn't understand that his maggotry relies on our good will and the moment he looses that with the right cacher the price he will pay is pretty high because of the very threat he's made to ensure the good will continues (via fear I guess).

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...Seriously, and I'm being as serious as I know how to be. I understand the frustration involved here. Scratch that. I understand the frustration involved as much as someone who has not had hundreds of caches stoles can understand. I get that you are angry. I even say you have every right to BE angry.

 

But making not so veiled threats like this is not doing geocaching any good. Your last 2 posts are more than a bit worrisome.

 

No matter how you cut it, this is a simple misdemeanor. That means that very likely he will NOT receive a punishment anywhere close to what you feel is deserved. That also means, based on your last 2 posts, that you need to figure out a constructive way to channel your anger. You really need to consider what you've posted. Are you prepared for the inevitable outcome?

 

Our local cache maggot caught wind of a thread were such things were being posed. He posted that he carried a gun and implied that perhaps we should be prepared for someone who was prepaired. His angle was "if you are ready to commit harm for your cache be ready to die for your cache." Of course I read it the other way. He's willing to forwarn people that he's out there ready to kill and that he's wiling to die for his maggotry. He actually doesn't understand that his maggotry relies on our good will and the moment he looses that with the right cacher the price he will pay is pretty high because of the very threat he's made to ensure the good will continues (via fear I guess).

 

Maggot steals cache...

CO catches maggot

Maggot tries to run

CO catches maggot and starts beating him to a pulp

Maggot pulls out a gun and shoots CO

CO gets charged with attempted murder

Maggot gets charged with theft

 

Remove CO actions past "CO catches maggot" and you are left with "Maggot gets charged with theft"

 

Am I missing something here?

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As I mentioned in my first post to this thread, I'm not sure we even WANT this to reach a court.

 

Sure, I would like a definitive answer on whether caches remain personal property with all the rights thereof (and if so for how long... if hide it and never return is it my cache forever?), and I would like to know what penalty, if any, can be levied against a cache thief, but what I DON'T want is a newbie who thought you were supposed to move the whole cache (it happens) to be arrested for theft... worse, if I find a damaged cache that I could take home, fix with a bit of glue and return the next day, to be arrested when seen putting that cache in my car!

 

I've had land owners tell me that the cache was not supposed to be there, that it had no permission and that they wanted it off their property, so I took the cache with me and posted a note to the owner. I would not want to be arrested for stealing the cache! Since I did take the cache and did notify the owner that I had done so I would have no defense! Done and admitted to, go directly to jail, do not pass go...

 

Beware of the law of unintended consequences, and be careful what you ask for, you just might get it!

Edited by TheAlabamaRambler
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If you come onto my property and stick something on my wall and ask that other people find it, does that give you a legal right to possession or can I take the object with the intent to permanently deprive you of it?
Two laws broken. The first would be trespass, the second would be an unlawful conversion of property.
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Groundspeak could have a larger role if it goes far enough. All that the prosecution needs to do is subpoena the information on those caches that were stolen and pair them up with a user logging in and searching for them. In a criminal case that subpoena would have already been issued.

Even a civil case could trigger some interesting results. In the event anyone would sue for the cost of their 100 missing 30 cal ammo cans, discovery alone might drag gc.com into it.
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