[ Suspect #1, Zip Code 85020 ] It Appears That My Neighbors May Have Been Buying, Selling, and/or Trading Stolen Goods for Years, but Proving That They're Stolen is Tough.

My neighbor pointing at my security cameras to a friend of his.

A piece of furniture, suspected stolen, being brought home at almost 5 a.m.

His jaw-dropping discovery that I'd put up a home security camera.

Possibly an amplifier (suspected stolen) being brought back home at about 3 a.m.

A television, suspected stolen, being brought home on bicycle at about 3 a.m.

His current white bicycle may have been stolen as this was a white bike frame brought back from an area of the complex with vacancies at about 5 a.m. and in about 2 minutes. The yards have high walls which means there was probably some walking of walls or jumping of them to get the bike that had been delivered by a friend or put there previously.

His current white bicycle may have been stolen as this was a white bike frame brought back from an area of the complex with vacancies at about 5 a.m. and in about 2 minutes. The yards have high walls which means there was probably some walking of walls or jumping of them to get the bike that had been delivered by a friend or put there previously.

 (The actual date of this post was 2/28/2024, but it has been changed to pin this first post to the top of the list.)
A problem that I was unaware of and that much of the public may be unaware of is that the evidence suggests that there is a network of customers who buy stolen goods from the homeless and other thieves--some of whom have nice cars and clothes, are young, beautiful, healthy, and energetic so appear that they could and should be working instead of entertaining themselves with crime.

The customers may just want a bargain, or perhaps they think they're helping to improve the lives of the people who are bringing them stolen goods. But the truth is that they are creating the "demand"--a market--that is hurting everyone. They're encouraging people to ruin their lives with a life of crime (oftentimes including drug use and/or dealing), they're risking jail themselves, they're hurting businesses, and they're hurting everyone else with the inflation that comes from hurting businesses.

​If they really want to help the supremely poor, they should be aiding responsibility (building skills, working hard and honestly, etc.). The Bible gives great advice on this subject, too, which is to make enough money through good honest work to *give* to those with true need (and integrity). That way we don't encourage bad behavior by paying others to participate in it. We strengthen the hands of the poor the right way. This advice also encourages us to think of the many with true need (some don't even have safe drinking water) before we spend our money on countless entertainments. And that reminds me to say that I don't even like televisions and some of the other items that thieves like to steal. In fact, I abhor televisions and haven't owned one in about 12 years. So, it's not so much that I care that people lost their televisions but more the principle of the matter: theft is abominable.

A second problem is that it can be difficult to prove that it is stolen goods being brought back in the middle of the night and sometimes in the middle of the day. And that's the purpose of this free public resource for our Phoenix-area communities.

What I believe to be helpful for catching more crooks is corroborating video evidence. One camera may catch the theft while another camera knows the home location of the thief. It is my goal to help the public find matching evidence from other residential or store cameras. This resource will house two types of evidence--searchable from the right column Search bar and Categories.

1. Evidence of theft from a store or residential security camera along with locations, dates, times of day or night, and solid descriptions of the item(s) stolen as well as the thief. I will be giving each posted thief a number for for helping to match suspect and thief data. My neighbor who is a suspected thief has been named Suspect #1. If you have evidence of theft that matches his description, please let me know that you think your evidence matches Suspect #1.

2. The possible home base of the thief determined through matching suspects (faces, clothes, bicycles, cars, license plates), times, dates, and locations of the theft on camera, and matching goods (e.g., televisions or other objects brought back in the middle of the night and/or offered for sale to your neighbors). I will be giving each posted suspect a number for for helping to match suspect and thief data. My neighbor who is a suspected thief has been named Suspect #1. If you have evidence of theft that matches his description, please let me know that you think your evidence matches Suspect #1.