One one of the most vaunted and respected football programs in America, there i little doubt that Penn State's reputation has taken a serious hit in the past six months. Led by Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno for almost 50 years, the Nittany Lions were a perennial powerhouse and the little known school attracted some of the nation's best football recruits.  

The downfall was quick and ugly.  As reported by Fox Sports, It started with the allegations that Jerry Sandusky, a longtime coach and member of the Pennsylvania university had been sexually assaulting children both in private and on school grounds.  That incident led to the removal of Paterno as head coach.  The 83--year-old Paterno died from cancer less than five months after being removed from his job.

The latest allegation involves former Penn State defensive end Shawn Oakman who was charged with summary offenses of retail theft, harassment and disorderly conduct after campus police were called to a dormitory complex last month.

Three days after Oakman's arrest, the team had announced three days later that he was dismissed from the squad because of an unspecified rule violation. The 6-foot-9, 270-pound defensive end sat out last season as a redshirt freshman. He was considered a promising prospect from the Nittany Lions' 2011 recruiting class.

Could a theft class have prevented this from happening?  We never will know the answer to that question.  However, I have long been a proponent of more education.  Schools that invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in their student athletes would be wise to invest a few more dollars in both theft classes and alcohol classes.  Tim will tell if Penn State's football program will rise from the ashes of he current scandal.

In one of the most bizarre thefts I have read about in many moons, a church in Ireland is reporting the theft of a preserved 12^th century heart – the heart of St. Laurence O’Toole.

Christ Church Cathedral describes the theft  as "completely bizarre" from the Cathedral in Dublin.

In a story reported in the Irish Examiner, The preserved heart of St Laurence O'Toole is kept in a wooden heart-shaped container sealed within a small iron-barred box in St Laud's chapel in the Cathedral.

Ironically, the thieves ignored valuable gold chalices and gold candlesticks in the chapel in favor of the financially worthless relic.

The dean of Christ Church Cathedral and the diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, the Rev Dermot Dunne said he was “devastated” by the theft of the treasured artifact.

While it holds no economic value, it is a priceless treasure that links the present foundation with its founding father, St Laurence O’Toole.

Born Lorcan Ua Tuathail in Castledermot, Co Kildare, in 1128, Laurence (Lorcan) O’Toole was appointed Archbishop of Dublin after the death of Archbishop Gregory in 1162.
 He died in November 1180 in Normandy, France.

The former church leader was canonized in 1225 by Pope Honorius III.

Church authorities say it is possible the thieves had hidden themselves in the building overnight and broke into the relic after the cathedral closed for the day.

St Laurence O’Toole was known as an ascetic, who wore a hair-shirt, never ate meat and ate only bread and water every Friday.

Each Lent he returned to Glendalough, in Co Wicklow, where he lived in St Kevin’s Cell, a sort of cave, over the Upper Lake for 40 days.

He was canonized due to the number of miracles that occurred at his tomb.

In 1442, his skull was brought to Britain and his bones were interred at the Parish Church of Chorley, Lancashire, now called the Church of St Laurence.

However the bones disappeared in the Reformation under Henry VIII’s rule.

His heart has been a major pilgrimage site at Christ Church since the medieval period.

Thievery, what purpose does it serve?  To feed a hungry child might be the only justifiable cause.  Otherwise, it brings negative karma to the world and makes everyone just a little more suspicious of their fellow man!

Former Pennsylvania House Democratic whip Mike Veon has been convicted on 10 counts of theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest charges in his second corruption trial.

Jurors also convicted his former aide on six counts of theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest charges. They were accused of misusing state grant money awarded to a nonprofit run by Veon.

Veon is already serving at least six years in prison on his 2010 conviction for using more than $1 million in taxpayers’ money for bonuses to reward legislative employees for campaign work.

Veon served 22 years in the House. He was elected by House Democrats as their whip in 1998 and held that post until voters ousted him in the 2006 election.

Thieving politicians really stick in my craw. It is way too easy to abuse the trust the public has given. All Pennsylvania politicians should be forced to take a comprehensive Pennsylvania theft class and be subject to regular polygraph tests to see if they are stealing.

Do you remember the band the Backstreet Boys? I sure do. They were the first, and only “boy-band” I ever felt had true musical talent. Talent aside, who can get robbed away from home and have $120,000 worth of jewelry stolen? Who goes out with such bling?

While I do not remember him personally, Brian Littrell and his wife were ripped off to the tune of $120K at a hotel in Stone Mountain, Georgia. This according to the Sacramento Bee.

How was the jewelry stolen? Get this – they left it on the nightstand after checking it only to find it gone when they returned for it. His wife, Leighann, left her $110,000 engagement ring as well as another $10K worth of jewelry behind. The pair did not realize they had forgotten the items until they were almost to Atlanta.

While I do not condone theft in any manner, you can’t leave anything behind at a hotel and expect to retrieve it. You have to take care of your valuables so that thieves are not tempted. Too bad that thief didn't take a Georgia Theft Class!

There have been many cases of celebrities involved in theft. From Wynona Ryder and Lindsay Lohan to Mike Leake and Lenny Dykstra, celebrities are known to have been involved in theft. You might be asking yourself who exactly are the last two guys. Both are professional baseball players.

Leake was arrested for shoplifting T-shirts from a K-Mart and Dykstra, well his life turned south after he left The Show!

Dykstra Going to Jail

The disgraced ex-New York Mets outfielder was sentenced to three years in a California state prison after pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. This according to the Washington Post.

The judge refused to allow Dykstra to withdraw his plea and said the scam to lease high-end automobiles from dealerships by providing fraudulent information and claiming credit through a phony business showed sophistication and extensive planning.

The 49-year-old former MLB star has had a series of recent legal troubles and the prison sentence is part of a post-career downward spiral for the stocky slugger known as “Nails” that has included a stint at a sober living facility.

In a rambling and impassioned plea for probation, Dykstra said he has tried to make amends for his past transgressions and said he would be cleared of any wrongdoing had his motion to withdraw his plea been granted.

Car Theft, Cocaine and Ecstasy

Dykstra initially pleaded not guilty to 25 counts after police arrested him and found cocaine, Ecstasy and synthetic human growth hormone at his Los Angeles home last April. He changed his plea in October to no contest and in exchange prosecutors dropped 21 counts.

At one auto dealer Dykstra and Christopher Gavanis, 30, a friend of Dykstra’s, were able to drive off with three cars by providing fraudulent information to the dealer.

Dykstra had previously tried twice to fraudulently lease cars but the leases were not approved. He wasn’t dissuaded the first two times with the scam and “hit a home run” the third time. Those cars were later returned and only depreciated in value.

The Long, Steep Fall

This is yet another sad case of a player who made and squandered millions of dollars. Drugs and alcohol are the foundation for his failings!

Dykstra still faces federal bankruptcy charges and is scheduled to stand trial this summer. He filed for bankruptcy a few years ago, claiming he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets. Federal prosecutors said that after filing, Dykstra hid, sold or destroyed more than $400,000 worth of items from the $18.5 million mansion without permission of a bankruptcy trustee.

Dykstra, who spent his 12-year career with the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, also has pleaded not guilty to indecent exposure charges for allegedly exposing himself to women he met on Craigslist.

I remember “Nails” as a gritty player. The kind of guy you might want to emulate, except for the huge wad of tobacco he is known for having in his cheek. It saddens me to see him fall to such lows. Perhaps with a drug and stop theft class and some time to consider his previous poor decisions, Dykstra will once again use his gritty, hard-working nature to overcome this huge setback. Perhaps when he gets out of jail he could benefit from a Califorina Theft Class

Let’s face it the theft of copper and other precious metals are beginning to have a serious impact on the American and global economy. Although it may not be the most talked about topic on network news, copper theft is on the rise, and its implications for insurers, the public and our government are huge.

A new report from the nonprofit organization National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), which provides statistics on overall metal theft claims from Jan. 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2011, tells the tale. This according to www.insurancenetworking.com. Today’s report identified 25,083 insurance claims compared with only 13,861 identified from the 2006-2008 report—an 81 percent increase.

The top five states generating the most metal theft claims are:

• Ohio
• Texas
• Georgia
• California 
• Illinois 

In particular, since August 2009 thefts steadily increased across the nation as a result of rising prices for base metals—especially copper.

Copper thieves are threatening U.S. critical infrastructure and present a risk to both public safety and national security.

A recent theft of copper wiring, which blacked out runway approach lights, at the Modesto, Calif., regional airport along with similar incidents elsewhere have rendered traffic controls at busy intersections inoperative.

Thieves target copper in vacant buildings or difficult to secure areas, often without power or communication lines, including:

• Construction Sites - theft of copper plumbing, wiring, generators and materials.
• Vacant Buildings - theft of copper plumbing, wiring and air conditioners.
• Communications Towers - theft of copper busbars, wiring and cables.
• Electrical Sub-stations - theft of copper grounding bars and cables.
• Foreclosed Properties - theft of copper plumbing, wires, sprinkler systems and cooling systems.

In one of the largest copper thefts in history, in Tulsa, Oklahoma thieves made off with 50 tons of copper.

Theft damages the economy. The current rampage of metal theft is beginning to affect things on a larger scale. Millions of dollars in stolen metal is resulting in billions of dollars in losses for companies and insurance carriers. Definitely theft classes are needed, especially Ohio theft classes where the problem is at its worst.

The music industry has always been a prime target for thieves. With blank tapes and CDs people made copies for their friends and family. Ten came Napster and everyone was sharing their music with people they did not even know.

Two Michael Jackson fans accused of stealing unreleased music by the late King of Pop from Sony’s computers are confident they can prove their innocence.

According to Boston.com, James Marks and Jamie McCormick claim they are eager to point out to Michael Jackson’s fans and family that they would never do anything to harm the legacy that is Michael Jackson’s music.’

The two British men were arrested last year after Sony Music Entertainment noticed a breach of its systems.

The entertainment company has a seven-year deal, worth up to $250 million, to sell unreleased recordings by Jackson, who died in 2009 at the age of 50.

Sony says no customer data were compromised in the attack on the company’s internal music-sharing system.

Marks, 26, and McCormick, 25, pleaded not guilty last week at Leicester Crown Court in central England to computer misuse and copyright offenses. They were freed on bail and are due to stand trial in January.

The case is not believed to be linked to Anonymous or Lulz Security, loose-knit hackers’ collectives, broadly sympathetic to the WikiLeaks’ secret-spilling site, who have targeted government and corporate websites around the world.

One of the problems with modern technology, with everything electronically available, is the possibility of hackers stealing the information. While people always are innocent until proven guilty, my gut asks the question how they obtained these unreleased recordings if they did not steal them. What do you think?

It's always gratifying when a customer is happy about the experience with one of our classes. Here's just one such theft class customer from California:

Thanks so much! I have had a great experience with this course. You guys have been fabulous! Thanks for your quick response. Its nice to know that you're there for me. Nothings worse than asking a question and days, if at all, they reply! But you guys were on it! IMMEDIATELY!!! I like that!

Anyways, thanks again.

Sincerly, A very pleased student,
Sara S.

Perhaps it is because it is America’s largest company with respect to sales dollars per year, but it seems like a day does not go by there something does not happen at a Walmart. From the crazy photos you get spammed with, to stories of shoplifting to the bank robbery in a store in Longmont, Colorado, things happen at Walmart.

In this incident, 29-year-old Lori Michelle Presley was charged with theft of property, simple possession of drugs, and public intoxication.

Clerks called police after allegedly seeing Presley take perfume and cosmetics out of their packaging and conceal them in her purse. This is a form of shoplifting, pure and simple.

Officers found Presley to have slurred speech and noticed that she "kept nodding off." Allegedly, Presley admitted to being under the influence of various drugs, including Xanax pills.

In another case, a New Hampshire woman was accused of stealing. Pamela Lynn Lawrence, 26, of Nottingham, New Hampshire, was charged with shoplifting and trespassing. Store officials called police after allegedly observing Lawrence take several edible items and conceal them in her purse.

A loss prevention worker stopped Lawrence as she was trying to exit the store through the lawn and garden center.

After entering Lawrence's name into a Walmart database, the store official learned that Lawrence had been charged with shoplifting at a Walmart in Nottingham, New Hampshire on August 25 last year and had been banned from entering any Walmart store for one year.

Adding insult to injury, the food she attempted to steal was valued at $7.36. Shameful behavior by American citizens. Do these culprits need drug and alcohol classes, theft classes or both.

Source: Herald Citizen

Talk about needing a theft class. Three residents from Pineville, Louisiana face 612 counts of theft relating to their pillaging of a cemetery. The majority of items stolen were vases.

Kimberly Deville, 35, Billy Johnson, 19, and Deborah Price, 55 were each charged this week with 612 counts of theft from a religious building, cemetery or graveyard and criminal conspiracy in connection with the theft of vases from Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Ball.

The stolen vases are ones that hold flowers and are placed at gravesites.

Deville had been previously arrested on other charges in the case before being arrested again on the hundreds of new charges. She was charged with five counts of possession of stolen goods, offenses punishable by up to five years in prison.

With the more than 600 charges against them, the three suspects have had their bonds set at $300,500 each. Looks like they will be spending plenty of time in the pokey.

Fitzgerald and Deville were selling the vases to local scrap yards for profit. When Deville was arrested the first time, detectives found 22 vases in his vehicle, and those vases had been cut into pieces.

The value of the vases is estimated at $575 each but some cost more than $1,000 each. The total value of the stolen vases has been estimated at more than $250,000.

Do you believe in karma? If so I would not want the negative blowback from stealing from a cemetery. These three are in need of serious counseling and need a Louisiana theft class in addition to the jail time.

Source: http://www.thetowntalk.com