June 8, 2006
Stolen Sidekick Soap Opera Continues
Two days ago, EvanWasHere posted a story in the Gothamist Forums about his friend's stolen Sidekick. His friend left the Sidekick in a cab, and somehow, it ended up in the hands of some other people who decided to enjoy it. Little did the, er, "new owners" of the Sidekick realize that any information they sent would still be recorded and captured by the T-Mobile servers So Evan posted the photographs, AOL name and some MySpace accounts he connected onto How NOT to steal a SideKick II, and has been updating it. Here's a quick rundown:
- He's threatened by the "new owner"'s brother (we think - the story is very complicated)Ah, technology. As our friend Dan points out, this is a good counterpoint to the "OH MY GOD THE SIDEKICK IS INSECURE EVERYTHING IS BACKED UP ON THE WEB SERVER" freak-out after Paris Hilton's Sidekick was hacked. And let this be a lesson to you: Make sure you have your belongings with you when you leave your cab. And that your info is synced up. Or something.
- The new owner claims she bought it from a cabbie and refuses to give it back, because then she'd be losing money
- Interns from news services have been contacting Evan about interviews
- People have crashing his forums, leading him to accept Paypal donations to keep a brand new forum up and running
- Evan is getting very little sleep, as he updates the saga very regularly
|
Advertisement: Gothamist Continues Below!
Post a comment (Comment Policy)
fuck this asshole, his sidekick wasn't "stolen," he fucking lost it, it's his fault, and he should have cancelled the service immediately. it's 100% possible that the cabbie DID sell it to someone, which sucks, but that makes him the bad guy (the cabbie)...
and they say minorities bitch and whine the most,
all I know is the next time I find a celly (ain't I cute?) I'm just going to chuck it in the river.
it's going to be a long hot summer, folks
and I ain't got no ac (actually, I do)
oh, I think you know where I'm from, hint: under the bridge.
I think the most entertaining thing about this whole rigmarole is that dude's photography, which can be found by going to his homepage after skipping the weird intro. The links are located in the center of the page...classssssy.
The owner should report it stolen and be done with it. Regardless of "Finding" it or not using Stolen property is a crime...
what's this world coming to?
it's just an item, big deal.
sad sad sad
oh, I hope it's a long hot summer, too.
I left my cell phone a cab once. What happened? the Cabbie left it at his dispatch center in harlem, I met him and he refused payment for it (i was like, here's $20, you saved me a lot of grief). He falls into the category of a good person.
T-Bone, I don't know why you would think this guy is an asshole. Of course you can blame the cabbie for this (it isn't his property if its left in a cab), but you can also blame the purchaser if they knew it was stolen.
The fact that they now KNOW it was stolen and won't return it is ridiculous.
I greatly enjoyed reading about how this guy is basically on a mission to make this public. Its great. Its all fair play.
In my opinion, the two posters at the top are idiots, and bad people to boot.
I'm glad the only Sidekicks I know about are Sancho Panza, Watson, and Boo Boo.
www.forgotten-ny.com
I'm glad the only Sidekicks I know about are Sancho Panza, Watson and Boo Boo.
www.forgotten-ny.com
yeah, it's all fair play,
till you do your private detective stuff to the wrong family and get killed.
oh, what are you going to do? shoot me?
remember that?
it's going to be hot alright, only hot lead.
ouchie.
I'm on a mission too.
It was lost not stolen. Cancel the service and get a new phone.
I LOST my phone in a cab one day after 9/11. Thankfully someone picked up after I called. I met her at Penn Station and gave her what was in my pocket, a $10.
I also lost my phone once in a cab near Grand Central. I called it the cabbie answered and demanded a large reward. Just for that I devised a plan to get the phone and give him a reward, but not a handsome reward like he DEMANDED. sure enough, about an hour later he came with the phone and I had a cop there. Needless to say I got the phone and he got his $1.
Stop yer bitchin' and get a new phone or pack some heat and go out to Corona.
When I first heard about this, I was like "Good for that guy!"
Then as I kept scrolling down the site, with him logging in times like "4:59 a.m., just replied to 450 e-mails, can't sleep", it took a creepy, psycho "Die Marino Die" twist that I've yet to recover from.
According to most cell phone contracts any calls made before you report your phone lost or stolen are your responsibility. A friend of a friend left her phone in a cab and $800 of calls were made to Africa before she the next morning.
you're not kidding, it's not even HIS phone.
he's a creepy weirdo, like the fat guys in PeeJ.
(that's dateline to you novices)
"yeah, it's all fair play,
till you do your private detective stuff to the wrong family and get killed."
Are you kidding? This dude is the safest guy in New York right now. Anything happens to him and the cops are going straight to Corona. Though these kids are pretty stupid.
This is just crasy!!!!
I'm not kidding, sure he's in his car but with 9/11
everyone is antsy, it's shoot first ask questions later.
and, if you're in a minority, you always watch your back. there's a reason why some people don't participate in direct deposit.
now, I know you people with good credit and no criminal record won't understand that.
and since it's a public blog, it's all out in the open, a neighborhood watch group could snap the guys picture too and can do worse that just that.
Oh, what good is the cops when they arrive after the fact. (that's if the family killed him already)
^are you retarded?
not as retarded as you
mr. clean your gun every 3 mags.
Having lost my phone a handful of times, I've always rewarded folks generously for its return. The one time I didn't get it back I ended up stuck with a couple hundred in charges for multi-media downloads. I was responsible for the charges. I did call the phone numerous times. I txt significant reward offers but to no avail. The folks keeping an obviously stolen phone, going out of their way to flaunt it and taunt those who own it, are rather sad. No one likes to lose stuff and I would imagine if any of them lost something of value, they too would demand it back -- especially when the other person admits to having the illegally gained property.
"A friend of a friend left her phone in a cab and $800 of calls were made to Africa before she the next morning."
Why's it gotta be Africa huh?
"Why's it gotta be Africa huh?"
I ask myself the same thing every time I gat another offer from Nigeria to help me get $16 million out of the country and get to share half, just by sending a few checks from my bank account and signing a power of attorney.
Sometimes it's Africa because it is. Sometimes the bad guy is one of "us".
I hope they make their lives a living hell. But he should be ashamed for buying such a shitty phone. The man wouldn’t have gone this far if he didn’t act like an asshole to him.
In the end somebody's gonna get arrested. Just give the damn phone back.
this is what happens when THOSE people from public housing find your phone.
I hope there's a mossberg 12 gauge waiting for him.
now all the internet sickos are out hanging on this stupid shit.
oh yeah, I forgot,
it's going to be a cruel, cruel summer.
molon labe
One of the posters mentioned the links in this guy's site. Real classy is not something I describe it as.
Do Not Click on them!
I repeat, Do Not Click on the last link.
\"Why\'s it gotta be Africa huh?\"
Because it was Africa?
Probably because Africa is one of the most expensive places to call from the US. And the phone company is unlikely going to track down who in Africa was called and if they did, that person is more likely to hang up than rat out the caller. Nobody is going to take a found cell phone and call their girlfriend in Queens. Well, maybe they would but the payoff isn\'t nearly as great.
I do hope that when I have my 15 minutes of fame it doesn\'t involve such negative pretenses. Did you happen to notice that he was Slashdotted? Did he make that clear enough? Do you care? What\'s wrong with this person?
The whole story is oddly captivating in that \"I\'m a duchebag rubbernecker\" way. I feel like a duchebag for even reading his site. I feel like a duchebag for leaving this comment.
We\'re all a sorry bunch of monkeys.
it\'s going to be on Snopes soon.
the guy states he didn\'t get a \"case\" number because it wasn\'t assigned to a detective.
Any New Yorker who has been a victim of a crime knows the NYPD gives you a \"Complaint\" number and a tel number to follow your case right away.
They\'ll also give you a police report or any other myriad of documents needed for Insurance. Especially showing theft.
Okay, this looked like fun for a minute. Then you check out the guy\'s site. He\'s a tool. A serious, serious tool. An a**whipping is only the beginning of what might help.
On the other hand, if he really *has* been up all night, and if he really *is* watching stats, then maybe pity is the only appropriate response.
(Next time maybe we\'ll get lucky and someone will steal his computer.)
Jumping Gentle Jesus Christ, What The Hell Is Wrong With (most of) You Poeple?! "fuck this asshole", "and they say minorities bitch and whine the most". Please record for me, in kilograms, exactly how much crack cocaine you've been using to make you think it's right to say things like that about this guy. All you people who said this guy is an asshole, or that he's creepy, or that he's just bitching, you're probably just glad no one like him was around the last time you had a moral brain-fart. The only reason the situation with the sidekick has turned into such a clusterfuck is because of a long line of moral degenerates with less concience than they have brains, starting with the Corona individuals, then to the string of officers in the NYPD who gave him the run-around. The hypocrisy in these comments astounds me. I can't believe you people have the audacity to scorn what this man is doing, and in the same breath, recount stories of you yourself using similar tactics(for the protection of your own personal investments rather than someone elses, of course). This world would likely not be so morally bereft if there were more people like him around to put the kaibosh on such immoral activities.
You all have to much time on your hands. Wait.........me to.
It's funny how so many people support what this guy did because it turned out he got his little toy back. But, how many people recognize the laws that he broke when doing all of this?
How about Child Endangerment? Being that this girl is a minor, yes a minor, he had absolutely no right to post her pictures online regardless of how he obtained them. It's a funny thing about children's rights. Even if they did commit a crime, THEY ARE STILL PROTECTED UNDER THE LAW.
How about Criminal Negligence? It's funny how this guy quickly absolves himself in the court of public opinion by trying to blame the girl. But he's the one who directed the traffic to the minor. He knowingly meant to cause her emotional stress. He expected that others would help in doing so. And others did help! They drove by her home, called her, threatened her, and so on. What if someone decided to hurt, rape or even kill her? You think it would be her fault then? Some might think that's going too far. Do you forget the world we live in? Yeah so public opinion doesn't make a difference.
While this idiot is yapping about morality and doing the right thing, he seemed to forget he just terrorized a minor and broken a few laws himself over a damn device that wasn't even his own and the woman was able to purchase a new one days later. Then they talk about posting the item on ebay to make some money! That's a real class act. Oh yeah, they're giving a third to charity? GREAT FOR THE MORALITY OF AMERICA.
That girl might have done wrong or wasn't the best citizen but she didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve to be placed in harm's way like that. I hope the NYPD does the right thing instead of just letting it go. Since when is it ok to use the internet to terrorize a minor in the USA.
And for the record, neither one of them can put a decent sentence together. How pitiful is it for an educated white male to be comparable to teenage hispanic girl insofar as grammar and syntax. Just plain old pitiful from day one!
Anthony, if anyone had physically harmed/attacked the girl, it would be the person who physically harmed/attacked the girl's fault. Not her fault, not Evan's (unless he did the harming/attacking). It's a little thing called PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
As for her public shaming, that's partially her own fault and since she's a minor, mostly the fault of the adults who are supposed to be "guiding her". She made the mistake of keeping something that WASN'T HERS. She & the family unit got belligerent when offered the chance to do the right thing. Again, it's called PERSONAL RESPONSIBLITY. Btw, if you read the background on Evan on the website, the guy was (at least according to his accounts) homeless for awhile as a teen/young adult.
Personally, I grew up w/alcoholic, cocaine addicted parents, but when I found a wallet in Duane Reade in my early 20s, I turned it in, w/out even looking at the amount in the wallet. Didn't get a reward for it, but it wasn't my property to start with and I believe in the Golden Rule and Karma.
About a month ago, found a cell phone in the nail salon. Again, turned it in. Not my property. Though it did look like a more modern model than the one I have, I'll hang onto my old one it until I want to upgrade. In which case, I'll spend the money I earn to upgrade it.
Furthermore, I think Social Services should thoroughly investigate that home as the family's lack of values are endangering not only the 16 year old, but her kid as well.
I think Evan had every right to post the pics the Theif took while in possession of the sidekick, minor or not the pics were never the girls possesion, afterall the pics belong to his friend Ivana (who the phone belonged to) and you can do anything you want with your property (I say the pics are Ivana's property because the phone and account the phone/device belonged legally to her not the girls who stole it) I also wonder what kind of child this girls parents are trying to raise they were in the wrong too along with their daughter because when they found out she stole (I say stole because whether or not she bought it from the cabbie or just found it on the seat once she found out who the rightful owner was and refused to return the phone it was theft)the sidekick from the taxi they refused to give it back also what a friggin' sorry excuse for parental authority.........