Theft of stage bottle at Ginnie

[adam0321]

Well I am only a intro cave diver but a full usmc scout sniper. Maybe I could trade my service for training? Over watch or guardian angel we call it in Iraq.

[adam0321]

I had a friend who had a deck bottle stolen at vortex. We were sitting there done with our dive and this idiot comes out with it saying " hey yall look what some one left down there" some people are a walking contradiction to darwinism.

[adam0321]

And yes I meant deco

[Al]

I was sitting a Dive Outpost one day and a guy shows up with a deco reg he wanted to sell. He said he had purchased a new setup and was trying to sell his old one. Well the guy was stupid enough to leave his real name and number incase someone wanted to buy it. Kathy was smart enough to write down the sn#, brand and model. When the guy left she called the cops and to no ones surprize it was reported stolen. She gave the info to the cops and they arrested the guy.

That has to one for the Dumb Crooks news. Of all of the diveshops in the Gainesville area, that has to be the worst choice for selling stolen stuff because it is pretty obvious when some doesn't quite fit right. Good for Kathy.

In an unrelated dumb crook incident, I was associated with a dive shop in Charlotte, and when we returned from a trip to Bonaire, one of our DM's equipment bag was missing. It was not found by the airline, and we assumed it had been stolen when we transferred in Miami. A week later, a teenager came into the shop with an Aladdin dive computer he wanted to sell, and had no idea what it was worth. We turned it on and scrolled through the dives in it, and they were the exact same dives we did in Bonaire. The owner told the kid to wait while he looked up the price of the computer in the back, where he called the cell phone of a cop who had been on the trip with us. Within minutes 2 uniformed cops came into the shop, took the kid out back for a few minutes, and got names and addresses that led to a major bust of a theft ring at Charlotte airport. Our guy got all of his gear back eventually.

Theft at Ginnie has been a problem for a long time, and my guess is that there is a local market for the stuff. Find out who it is and prosecute, and the theft may decrease. If a thief is caught, he must be "persuaded" to divulge where he sells the stuff and it must be followed up by the local LE people. I really doubt that it is bought by the cave shops that more or less know their customers.

As some else said, we can help each other by watching equipment while others exit or put it in the water prior to diving. Ginnie doesn't seem to have much interest in helping with his, so we just have to do it ourselves. Confronting thieves in the act will usually make them just go away, but we should watch where they go and report license plate numbers or boat registration numbers to LE. My guess is that there is only a small group doing this, and if one is caught, the rest of the chain can be discovered. Perhaps if signs are posted that state that felony law can be applied to theft of life support equipment it might slow it down a bit with seasoned criminals. What we really need is one solid felony prosecution. Let's catch one and see if he cooperates; if not, the second one goes to the hospital.

JMHO

al

This is a different issue from the theft of masks and fins that is also prevalent there - those are just opportunists looking for some cheap fun. You just have to watch your stuff there. Ginnie security is way more interested in catching people who try to avoid the entrance fees, and it just is what it is.

[AB8CD]

Cell Phone Cameras are a Cop's best friend... usually!

[deanme]

I have not attempted to read through all the comments in this post, but just wanted to make sure, someone on the Deco Stop posted that she found a stage bottle at Ginnie:

http://thedecostop.com/forums/showth...653#post471653



Deco bottle found turned in at Ginnie

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on Friday May 21 on platform near Little Devil's. It had been lying there all afternoon, so when I left around 7 pm, I turned it in at the office to avoid its being stolen.

It's a steel bottle with a Poseidon cyclon attached. If it's yours, ask for it at the Ginnie office.

Barbara

[xsikorsky]

At each set of steps: (2) cameras, each watching the steps and the other camera. Perhaps Ginnie would buy them. Or if there's 50 people,, each donates $40 & I'll get (4) at $500 each and install them with 110v but Ginnie will have to let us run conduit to power.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...box.jsp.form23

I keep a Memocam 'inside' my vehicle.. always on and uses very little power.
http://www.vdomain.com/products/memocam/MCZORRO_B.ASP

[saturation]

This has been an increasing problem for years. At Ginnie, Little River, Telford etc you simply cannot leave anything unsupervised for more than 10 seconds. It's not bad in the colder months when it's mostly cave or serious recreational divers.

Ask a fellow cave diver to watch your stuff for the few minutes it takes you to get out of (and lock up) your doubles. If everybody's willing to delay start or end of dive by a few minutes, we have a chance to eliminate these incidents.

This is increasingly sad.

What I've done but so far not used regularly, is I have a length of stainless steel cable and a brass combination lock. It works well at Ginnie, Little River and other sites were there is something to lock it too. Cost me about $10.

[Johnsreef]

One time I came out of Devils earlier than expected and found my O2 bottle missing. Glad i had no deco. Found the guy that had it, and got into it with him. He said it was just laying there(no it was clipped to the line) I asked if his car was just laying around in the the parking lot. I had him removed for the park. Idiots will always continue to reproduce LOL

Cave Diving with a disability, I felt that my crutches that were clipped to my guideline at little river was safe. NOT!!! soon found myself laying my doubles down in the spring, hopping on one leg, mad and screaming profanities at some inbreed he returned my crutches so I could get to my truck.

[DogDiver]

Again, never, never leave your gear unnattended......Post all the signs and cameras you want, but it won't stop the illiterate locals from stealing your stuff. This issue has been a real culture shock for me after moving down here from Michigan 5 years ago. They just don't get it! Stuff is thiers for the taking if it's laying around. No remorse...no guilt... I wish it were otherwise...but it just isn't.......