How can you keep from getting your car boosted? As a counselor for both in class and online theft classes I often have students in my class who have had their cars stolen. I also have had a number of students who have stolen a car.

Safety Tips for Your Vehicle

Fortunately, the NHTSA reports that the number of auto thefts reported each year is on the decline. So what can you do to ensure that thieves won't target your vehicular pride and joy? Start by correcting bad habits, such as leaving the keys in the ignition when the vehicle is unattended. Keep the windows and sunroof closed, and don't hide a spare key where an astute crook might find it.

If you have a garage, park inside it, not merely out on the driveway, and make sure both entry doors are closed and locked at all times. If you park on the street, choose a spot close to other vehicles, turn your wheels toward the curb and engage the emergency brake to make it more difficult to be towed. Away from home, park in a well-lit or well-traveled area after dark, and avoid using long-term parking lots–take a taxi to the airport instead.

Experts also advise having your car or truck's vehicle identification number (often called a "VIN," it's found on the driver's side of the dashboard at the bottom of the windshield, as well as on the model's title) etched on the windshield and major components to make them more difficult for chop shops to sell as replacement parts.

Remember “The Club”

Back in the 80s when it seemed like everyone was out to boost your ride, most of us had “The Club” or a “Gorilla Grip.” What a pain in the butt, but a pretty good deterrent. I had one on my 1977 AMC Pacer. That was optimistic.

Beyond the common-sense basics, use an antitheft device, which will often also warrant a discount on your car insurance. A steering-wheel lock like the popular "Club" is simple, inexpensive and can be as effective as costlier alarm systems.

A thief wants to get a vehicle as quickly as possible, and anything that might slow him or her down can be enough of a deterrent to instead choose another model on the block. Having a simple ignition "kill switch" installed in a hidden location makes it more difficult for a crook to start a car or truck and drive it away.

Advanced vehicle recovery devices like LoJack and General Motors' OnStar system use technology similar to that employed in satellite navigation systems to help police departments locate cars and trucks if they are stolen. They can be pricey and require a monthly subscription, but if you own an expensive high-profile car, the cost is usually warranted.

Here’s to keeping your car safe. Stop theft before it happens – take precautions.

Does it seem like a good idea when you are in a foreign land the visit a prostitute? Does it ever seem like a good idea to carry $10,000 in cash in your pocket? How about carrying 10 grand when you go to the prostitute? Sounds pretty stupid, right? Get this -

An English tourist was robbed of $10,000 cash and his trousers after hiring a prostitute on South Auckland's Hunters' Corner.

He and a friend had stayed on after the Rugby World Cup and were visiting the business centre in South Auckland is known as Hunters' Corner or Hookers' Corner.

The British men picked up two female prostitutes in Hunters' Corner for sex last Friday night.

As one of the males left the motel room that he was using with the prostitute, it is alleged that she removed his trousers containing a wallet, which contained credit cards, and $4000. She then left the motel with the cash, wallet and pants.

"The wallet was recovered at a park, and as of now the prostitute has not been identified and the two tourists have left the country."

The clients often don't report these crimes because of the stigma involved, but it happens very regularly.

Last year a bill was introduced to restrict where street-based sex workers could solicit.

Manurewa MP George Hawkins introduced the Manukau Council (Regulation of Prostitution in Specified Places) Bill to Parliament in September last year to enable the council to ban street prostitution from certain areas of South Auckland.

Anyone found soliciting or receiving commercial sexual services in no-go zones would face a fine of $2000.

Somehow I have trouble sympathizing with these guys. Two acts of stupidity, one of great moral degradation, and a negative outcome -whoodathunkit?

If you are a regular reader you know that I have been vociferous in my distaste for people out to make a buck by stealing or other nefarious reasons. Stealing from the elderly, charities or other causes may be marginally worse than the outright theft of others, but all of it just makes society a little worse off – the universal energy a little more negative.

Here is a story that makes me sick (no pun intended).

The good news is she doesn't have cancer. The bad news is she faces criminal charges.

Criminal charges have been filed against a young woman who raised the sympathy of a community along with thousands of dollars in donations by claiming she was dying from cancer.

Police said that a three-month investigation found that Angie Gomez, 18, had no record of having leukemia, as she claimed while allegedly collecting about $17,000 in donations.

Gomez is accused of theft by deception over $1,500, a state jail felony.

Gomez had an infectious smile, a positive outlook and a tragic tale. Gomez was a senior at Horizon High School when her story unfolded earlier this year. She graduated in June.

Gomez told a tale of having leukemia as a child and was now fighting a fatal resurgence of the cancer. She told classmates that doctors in January had given her six months to live. Classmates and teachers at Horizon High School rallied around her and held fundraisers, and then she was invited to speak at other schools.

Several people helped Gomez create the Achieve the Dream Foundation to help families of children with leukemia. Donations poured in.

There was even a donated Angie's Dream Prom for Gomez because she claimed she had missed her high school's prom while undergoing medical treatment.

"The doctors are telling me to prepare myself and to start planning for what's about to come," Gomez said in a March interview after the El Paso Times was contacted by her teachers. "They think the worst is coming, when you start to feel sick and you can't move. I think they're all crazy."

Gomez said the leukemia was first diagnosed when she was 2. She claimed she had been a patient at a children's hospital in Kansas City, Mo.

"When you grow up in a hospital, that's just what you're used to," Gomez said in convincing fashion. "You see other kids bald, you see other kids sick -- that's just what life is like. That was just normal for me."

Classmates said that Gomez often looked frail and sickly and that it was not uncommon for her to miss school, supposedly because she was having treatments. Once in a meeting at another school, she appeared to nearly faint and was helped to keep standing.

Adult friends had even driven Gomez to a hospital supposedly for a doctor's appointment, though they dropped her off and did not accompany her inside.

Where Are Her Parents For Crying Out Loud?

Her parents were absent during public appearances. She told a reporter she had a fight with them.

Police started investigating Gomez after receiving a complaint that the young woman didn't appear ill.

After the investigation began, some former classmates admitted they had suspicions that Gomez wasn't really ill but did not speak up because they did not want to be appear rude.

Police said investigators spoke to Gomez and her mother, who apparently was not aware of the extent of Gomez's fundraising efforts and was being told a different story by her daughter. The mother believed Gomez was trying to straighten out the matter.

Detectives subpoenaed the bank records of the Achieve the Dream Foundation. Investigators estimate Gomez received $17,000 from fundraisers, checks, gift cards and in-kind donations. The foundation's website is no longer online.

Wow – what a piece of work – and still so young. Good Lord!

How likely is your car to get boosted? Depends on what you drive and where you live, but there are cars that are more likely to be targeted.  Is yours one of them?

While some of the best-selling cars in the U.S. also top the most frequently stolen list each year because of their sheer numbers, another look at the statistics reveals which cars by percentage sold are the most likely to by targeted by thieves.

Audi S8 Top of the List

According to data recently released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the car most frequently stolen, based on the number of thefts per 1,000 vehicles sold during 2009, was the $92,000 Audi S8 sport/luxury sedan, with 8.81 thefts per 1,000 vehicles produced. Proving that statistics can show whatever you want them to - that comes out to just two out of the 227 S8s that were sold in the U.S., so it's hardly a widespread epidemic.

Still, NHTSA's statistics prove the point that the flashiest cars on the road can also be the most popular – for the wrong reasons.

The Ford Shelby Mustang GT had the next highest theft rate for 2009, with 8.61 vehicles per 1,000 stolen. Also in the top five were the sportiest variant of BMW's midsize sedan, the M5 (7.58/1,000), retro-flavored Dodge Charger full-size sedan (6.47/1,000) and the no longer produced Honda S2000 roadster (5.60/1,000).

The remainder of the top 10 list of cars with the highest theft rates for 2009 included the midsize Mitsubishi Galant sedan (5.11/1,000), the full-size Chrysler 300 sedan (4.57/1,000), the Infiniti M luxury sedan (4.32/1,000) the Cadillac STS luxury sedan (4.28/1,000) and the Mercedes-Benz CL-Class luxury sport coupe (3.91/1,000).

By brand, the most frequently stolen cars per 1,000 sold, were Chrysler products, with the Chrysler Sebring, Sebring Convertible and PT Cruiser, and the Dodge Avenger and Dodge Caliber making the top 20 in addition to the aforementioned 300 and Charger.

General Motors came in second, with four vehicles among top 20, with the Pontiac G5 and G6 and Chevrolet Impala joining the STS.

While the Toyota Camry was the most purloined model overall in terms of sheer numbers, at 781 stolen in 2009, it ranked 50th as a percentage of sales at just 1.74 per 1,000 cars. The least-stolen model per capita in 2009 was the since-discontinued Mercury Mariner SUV, with a theft rate of 0.08 per 1,000 units, or a mere two vehicles out of 25,682 sold that year.

Despite the fact that car theft has gone done in the past few years, your vehicle is a valuable possession, and in many cases, your livelihood, so take good care of it.

Let me begin by saying I have the utmost respect for firefighters. This is one profession that deserves tons more glory than it ever receives. However, like any group, there always are some bad apples. Here is one of those cases for the fire department.

In Tulare, California, a man already facing felony grand theft, embezzlement and elder abuse charges, is also accused in federal court of taking government money. While the other charges are despicable at best, the last allegation that carries with it a possible 10-year prison term.

Keith Little, 47, could be subject to a $250,000 fine and an additional three-year supervised release sentence. Little is a captain in the Tulare Fire Department.

Little used more than $600,000 from a trust fund set up for Harry and Julia Tuck, identified previously as an uncle and aunt.

He used the money to pay for personal living expenses, made cash withdrawals totaling $76,000, wrote checks to himself totaling $365,725 and purchased several vehicles including an all-terrain vehicle.

The trust fund contained the proceeds from social security retirement and military annuitant survivor benefits, according to the indictment. Little used $64,193 of social security benefits between 2004 and 2010.

Records show the trust had been set up to pay for Julia Tuck's health, support and maintenance.

Julia Tuck lived at her San Diego Ocean Beach home, receiving home-care assistance. In February 2008, Little sold the home and moved her to a nursing home in Tulare County. He failed to pay for Julia Tuck's medical, home care and nursing home expenses, however, as required.

Tulare police began investigating Little in September 2009. At the same time, federal Social Security administration personnel kicked off an additional investigation, police said.

Little has been with Tulare Fire for more than 20 years. He was first hired in 1989 as a firefighter and then promoted to engineer in 1997. He became a captain in June 2004.

As a vaunted member of the elite society of firemen I would have liked to have seen him act more according to the standards expected from men of his stature. Hopefully, with an online stop theft class and counseling he can again be a productive member of society.

This is straight out of a Hollywood formula. It is just like Nicholas Cage’s character in the Coen Brothers classic “Raising Arizona.” The title to this blog says it all!

Wanted: Diaper Thief

Illinois Police are looking for a black male in his 40s driving a white van in connection with two separate thefts of baby formula and diapers about a week apart.

Witnesses, who work at the store, told police that at about 9:30 a.m. they saw a man who resembled someone who was seen leaving the store without paying for cart full of formula and diapers and with video footage of him filling his cart with similar items.

Employees confronted the man as he was exiting the store without paying, but he ran past them. They observed him get into the van and were able to get the license plate number. He reportedly took 12 containers of baby formula and one package of disposable diapers with a total value of about $322 according to police.

More theft Charges of Varying Quality

Ipolito Gonzales, 26, was arrested at 10:52 a.m. at a grocery store and charged with retail theft, accused of putting a roasted chicken under his shirt. According to police, Gonzales was confronted as he was leaving the store and was asked to pay for the chicken, but he objected and struggled with the employee who asked him to pay.

Wallet stolen: Sometime between 2:30 and 3 p.m. someone stole a wallet from the women’s locker The green nylon wallet contained an Illinois driver’s license and several credit cards.

Jewelry taken: At least 10 pieces of gold jewelry were reported stolen from a home sometime between 6:10 p.m and 1 a.m. An open window was believed to be used to gain entry into the home, since the doors had been locked. The stolen jewelry was valued at $2,200.

Just general examples of theft happening every day in our society. Look at the times of the thefts. Lock your doors and windows and take precautions, folks, because thieves needing a good online theft class are out there.

If you live on the planet Earth and are literate you undoubtedly have read about how scrap metal theft has reached epidemic proportions.  From railway metal to copper piping to a complete friggin’ bridge, thieves are rounding up as much metal as they can steal.

This has created a new problem of theft – at the scrap metal locations buying the stolen scrap metal.  Hmm, how is that for irony?

No Public Sympathy

Scrap metal dealers are sometimes confounded by a public relations problem.

The scrap recycling business did about $77 billion in the United States last year and some people think the dealers willingly buy stolen goods. Although a few do, that isn't true for most dealers, insists Jim Tomson and John Greco, who own scrap yards in the Alle-Kiski Valley.

Most dealers cooperate with police when they find stolen metal is being brought to them, said Harrison police Chief Mike Klein and other officers.

Three local men are accused of selling about $151,000 of nickel steel to Lawrenceville scrap dealer David Michael Spaid, 55.

In another case, three other local men are separately accused of stealing tons of titanium steel from the mill.

Combining Resources

Greco is a member of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, whose ScrapTheftAlert.com alerts people about scrap thefts and gives dealers and citizens a place to report thefts.

Even so, it often tough for dealers or their employees to detect thefts.  Sometimes employees can see that metal brought to them is apparently stolen, but sometimes it's not so easy.

"Our business is to buy scrap and we only want to buy legitimate scrap," Tomson said. "But there are gray areas," said Tomson, who employs 22 at scrap yards in Brackenridge and Harrison.

State Law Helps

State laws are working to help dealers.  The law requires all scrap dealers to record the driver's license data for all sales of $100 or more. Some dealers also take photos of the license plates of vehicles that brought the steel, copper or aluminum to the yard.

There is no doubt many people don't like telling scrap yard employees from where the scrap was taken.  That should raise the cockles for sure!

Not surprisingly, two repeat thieves who tried to sell the steel they had just stolen were already banned from being on his property because they took metal from him before. Scrap dealers use surveillance cameras to discourage theft, but it still happens. 

Let’s hope that scrap metal dealers and law enforcement officials continue to work together to curb the sale of stolen metals as much as possible.  Maybe it’s just me, but there needs to be larger penalties for dealers buying stolen goods.  While I am usually not for more regulation, perhaps this industry needs some oversight.

All of you faithful readers know that one thing really sticks in my craw – people taking advantage of those they are entrusted to take care! This case really pisses me off.

In Madison, Tennessee a woman who ran a nonprofit that served some of Tennessee’s most disabled patients is facing charges she stole from her company and clients.

Deborah Aboyade-Cole, 56, former executive director of Life Action Tennessee, Inc., was arrested on a charge of theft over $60,000. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, she raided not only Life Action’s coffers from 2005 through 2007 before it went bankrupt, but also clients’ bank accounts.

Life Action Tennessee was founded in 1997 and helped provide housing and medical care for severely disabled patients. The agency averaged about 40 patients.

Stealing from the Poor – Shame, Shame, Shame!!!

As executive director, Aboyade-Cole took in $112,269 in compensation, according to 2005 tax documents.

Aboyade-Cole began stealing from Life Action and patients in January 2005, through ATM withdrawals, cash withdrawals and bank checks. IRS documents that year show that the organization had been on a 5-year slide with assets dropping from just over $2.4 million in 2002 to about $850,000 in 2005. Life Action shuttered in 2007.

The theft was uncovered by the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, which contracted with Life Action.

Aboyade-Cole likely had access to patient funds because patients signed waivers allowing Life Action to handle the money they receive from federal and state sources for their care.

The book should be thrown at Aboyade-Cole. After serving a lengthy jail sentence she should be given another chance. While in jail she should use her Internet time to take an online stop theft class.

The jokes about attorneys go on and one. Let’s face it, we trust attorneys about as much as we trust used car salesmen and auto mechanics. Often they deserve their well-earned moniker of a “shark.”

Have you ever felt over-billed by an attorney? Odds are you didn’t fight the bill too much. You sure don’t want to piss off your attorney, or any attorney for that matter. Most act like bullies with their threats.

A Chicago attorney accused of billing Calumet Park (Illinois) $600 per hour for work he never did pleaded guilty to theft.

Mark McCombs, 50, was sentenced by Cook County Judge Jorge Alonso to six years in prison for an overbilling scheme that spanned several years and cost the small south suburban community more than $1 million.

McCombs served as special counsel for village and worked primarily on issues related to a tax increment financing(TIF) district.

A state’s attorney’s investigation of McCombs was triggered in 2010 after Community High School District 218 Superintendent John Byrne started questioning McCombs about the tax increment financing district.

The lawyer allegedly responded by offering to pay the school district for Byrne’s silence. But he reported McCombs to village officials.

A subsequent review of records showed that he had billed the TIF fund for about $2 million since 2007 even though no economic development projects had been completed.

McCombs was arrested in March 2010 and charged with overbilling the tax increment financing district he represented.

McCombs pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government funds in excess of $100,000. 

This is crazy. How could he think he could get away with this? The sad thing is this is happening every day. This is just one of the “rotten sharks” that got caught and filleted.

Theft has been around since the days of the Caveman. It will continue in perpetuity. Here are just a few examples of people who really could use an online stop theft class. Thieves are known to keep keepsakes, but not diaries of their activities. This guy did and landed himself in serious trouble.

South Korea

A South Korean burglar has been arrested after police found details of his criminal exploits recorded in his diary, complete with addresses he hit and entries such as "Jackpot!"

The 42-year-old Seoul man, identified only as Kim, had stolen luxury bags, jewelry and electronic items worth 320 million won (about $280,000) from houses and shops over the past six years.

Caught on Camera

Kim was caught this month after a surveillance camera at an ATM recorded him trying to withdraw money using a stolen credit card. Kim initially denied burglary, but admitted to the crime after police raided his home. Along with piles of stolen goods, they found a diary that contained details of his crimes, including addresses of the houses he had burgled and an assessment of whether each day's haul was good or bad.

Keeping Score

Kim marked on the diary 'Jackpot!', 'So so' or 'Not so good' next to a house address, depending on how much he stole there.

Kim had also checked monthly horoscopes on the internet to pick the luckiest days to steal. Just another common thief. Please don’t steal.