Hopefully you're not the sort to risk things by gunning it when the light turns yellow, pushing your (and our) luck, saving yourself a few seconds on the race to the next intersection, and sneering red light cameras. Maybe if you knew the kind of hardware in there you'd have more respect: Nikon's
D2X digital SLR. We had no idea there were pro-level shooters in there, but a New York City couple certainly did, running around the city with a cherry picker and pilfering 22 of the things, all sold at pawn shops for a total of
$88,000 $6,600 -- money that was promptly spent to further their heroin habit. These two channel swimmers, 45-year-old Anthony Cintorrino and 29-year-old Tara LaBurt, got away with this for a full month before the authorities finally caught up with them. When they were approached they said they were with the DoT... then promptly started running. They didn't get far. Crime doesn't pay, folks, even if it's for a sweet body like that.
Update: The cameras were
worth $88,000, but the couple pawned them off for a measly $300 apiece, netting a total of under seven grand. That's a crying shame.
[Via
Gizmodo]
posted Jul 27th 2009 5:23AM
Man, I thought it would be on the next Engadget's recession antidote. LOL.
yeh fack you too...
anyways how easy are these things to pry open?? any chance of having these in Australian speed camera's? ---- two birds one stone scenario.!
What I want to know is how they got $88,000 for 22 used cameras when the same ones are on eBay for $1,000 or so?
Rocky, that is how the government works. It costs them ten or 20 times the norrmal amount to do anything that normal people would do.
I think Rocky was confused as to how much they pawned them for. They sold them for less than 7 grand. Thus, it wasn't a comment on how much the government got them for.
Rocky please don't make another movie.
rawky you are saggy
that's why there is a trillion dollar budget projected by the OhBahMa Admin and CA is in a severe budget deficit because of over inflated prices and certainly most IT and Construction pet projects are not lowest bid...
@xconan
Yes, it's Obama's fault the government has wasted money since the beginning of time.
they didn't sell them for $88,000 total, that was what they were 'worth'. if you actually read the original article (and if the so called 'editors' did here too), it says they sold each camera for $300.
Ah... ok. Thanks for clearing that up.
also depending on the lens that is used, that could double or triple the camera's value.
You're clearly not a photographer, or an enthusiast. This camera originally sold for $5000, MSRP. The largest lens you could stick in that box (70-200 2.8) costs $1899. In all likelyhood, the lens they'd be using would be a 50mm prime. The cheap ones (adequate for traffic camera use) cost less than $100.
And who in their right mind would sell those cameras for $300 each? That has "crackhead seller" written all over it.
Would you buy a stolen traffic camera knowing you can't re-sell it for more than $300 from the one who stole it knowing police might come and take it away with no compensation?
Wow Noah, did he deserve the sparky response? What's with the anger around here. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
"Unfortunately for any New York drivers out there, everything was recovered, and the camera rigs were put back into place a mere 48 hours after the crimes were committed."
Dumb. Asses. They stole them far too quickly. Who's going to believe that 22 red light cams went down in such a short span of time?
They were begging to be caught.
Wait...something in this story doesn't add up:
"45-year-old Anthony Cintorrino and 29-year-old Tara LaBurt, got away with this for a full month before the authorities finally caught up with them"
If they were doing this for a month how were the cameras put back in 48 hours from the first crime?
They replaced the cameras with a new one, not replaced it with the one that was stolen.
@Tes : They meant to say - "cameras put back in 48 hours AFTER the first crime was detected".. :)
they probably only had the cherry picker rented for a day or something
Ah, the oldest security problem in the world: who's going to keep an eye on the security camera?
jesus... I never thought it :)
yo dawg, we heard you like security cameras so we put security camera on your security camera so you could... (ok, i'll shut up now)
Who watches the watchmen?????
@Arsenal27: Precisely.
Beware?? ALERT!! Cheap Nikon's Available on eBay! Limited Stocks! :p
Looks like Engadget should watch more MythBusters.
-so you're imagining that they're mounting consumer-grade digital point and shoot cameras up in those things?
Good luck with that.
I think they ought to be given a medal...and a Kindle with an authentic copy of 1984
The D2x dropped massively in value when the D3 came out, I was lucky to get about AU$1500 for mine around 18months ago now. The D700 makes them worth even less. US$300 is low, but not totally suprising for quick sales.
Also, you don't have to be in the business to know that these speed cams have D2x's in them, it was made quite clear a few years ago in an episode of Mythbusters when they testest myths relating to how to beat speed cameras...
Indeed mythbusters...
We had no idea there were pro-level shooters in there, but a New York City couple certainly did...
45-year-old Anthony Cintorrino and 29-year-old Tara LaBurt
Am I the only one that sees a problem here o_O
Yep, the problem is that a pair of crackheads knew more! :)
New York City couple.....
45-year-old.....and 29-year-old
Two heroin addict thieves steal police cameras and the fact their ages are far apart is what you see a problem with? Too funny.
Hey it's new york everybody steals EVERYTHING
They're both adults. I don't see why you would/should have issue with that. It's not like he's 30 and she is 14.
@Agent ...at one point they were...at one point...
The question is who got who hooked? The older guy with the impressionable younger woman, or the vivacious younger woman with the older guy trying to keep up? *raises eyebrow*
Why does it matter?
because it's fun to analyze how f'ed up society is?
Yea man, at one point. Are you truly that dumb to believe, or to continue arguing this, basing that they were together 16 years ago???? FFS man find something worthwhile to obsess upon. Even if these two had been together for, say 6 years, they were still both adults. And 6 years is a long time for a heroine induced street love affair.
Chances are she was a street whore addicted to heroine. Along comes Mr Initiative, the rest is all happily ever after.
well "happily ever after" they are probably in prison now..
Yup, prison. 3 squares a day, reading material, access to internet, TV, rec rooms. Yea, they are way* worse off now than before. Oh, and they will keep them full of Methadone as well, to curb the addiction. Life sux for them.
Is it society that's fucked up or is it your morals?
Now that everyone now knows they are pro levedl cameras, this will only continue.
One can only hope...
Take that Big Brother.
These two heroin addicts are heros.
Those red light cameras are the worst thing to happen to NYC in years...terrible idea...
Isn't a Nikon D2X a bit...overkill? Why such a beefy/expensive camera?
Well, that's government for you.
I would assume it is because they have to insure that the picture of the car, regardless of the speed it is driving, is clear enough to read the license plate beyond a shadow of a doubt. The more people they catch, the more money they make, and the faster the camera is paid off... oh and it makes the streets safer too
Part of it because this camera has 802.11 capability most likely. The photos can be wirelessly downloaded as they are taken. Do a YouTube search and see what they to to traffic cameras.
Good for them!! Come steal some of the ones here in Atlanta. Death to "Big Brother"
When are they getting the medal of honor?
"Update: The cameras were worth $88,000, but the couple pawned them off for a measly $300 apiece, netting a total of under seven grand. That's a crying shame."
That was the actual crime!
__
Um - so let em get this straight - the D2Xs were unmodified - off the shelf - stock bodies slapped into those "boxes on sticks"?
In my town if they were/ are D2Xs - then they've been modified. Ours have this Tube apparatus that looks like a long fixed-lense housing at the top of a skinny pole and I assume that if it's opened up there'll be some wiring and chip "guts" with a couple of lenses and mirrors - but no hand-hled style bodies that can be hocked.
As far as a criminal life-style goes that's rather ingenious to figure that out and that's rather stupid of NYC to implement that in the first place simply to cut costs? High Re3s imaging great but better security to lock them down a must.
good for them, those red light cams are horrible and need to be disabled.
And if you read the whole article you would know that all of the cameras were recovered.
Actually you guys prove that crime DOES pay. Just not for those who are overly greedy. At any rate I'll stick with my boring job. Not worth the chance, AND there are hardly any traffic cameras in MN, after a court struck down the law.
They didn't sell the lenses to a pawn shop. They sold them to B&H Photo's used department. They got caught because we copied their IDs. When the detectives came, we gave them the info (and gave back all the cameras).
By the way, it was Tamron 28-75 F/2.8 lenses the NYC DOT used.
Wow, why would anyone in his right mind sell to a used department that redefines the term "lowball?"
I remember B&H wanted $300 for a Leica that later I eBayed for $2500.