10 August 2013

Criminals with a conscience


I’m catching up with the news that I missed while I was out of the country and this one made me smile. As you may have heard, some thieves broke into the San Bernardino (Calif.) Sexual Assault Services offices and stole computers and monitors, according to NPR.

The next night, they returned everything (the story doesn’t say if they broke back in again to do so) and left a note apologizing for stealing the equipment. Here’s the note  (the "God bless" is a nice touch): 






Following the robbery, the police talked to the homeless people around the shelter and explained the good work the center does. The Center’s director, Candy Stallings, thinks the police spreading the word led to the computers’ return. 

It’s a sweet story. I wonder what made the thieves return the merchandise? If the fact that it was a city agency that helped people who had been hurt played in it? I’m sure the facility had a sign on it, so they had to know who they robbing in the first place, or maybe they broke in a back door that didn’t have a sign on it since they apparently were unaware.  Would they have returned their haul if it has been for some company doing work they had no empathy for? 

San Bernadino Sexual Assault Services has set up a site to raise $10,000 to pay for the damage the computers incurred and to get them set back up properly. So today’s $10 goes to help with that. As of Saturday night, the fund was at $8970, so they will have no trouble meeting their goal. In fact, donations are rolling in from as far away as India and London. Maybe even the thieves pitched in. 




Click here to get “Causes and Effects” delivered every day to your email inbox (the subscription link now works) or enter your email in the top right corner.


No comments:

Post a Comment