Video Vigilantes

Parents Use Video Camera to Catch Peeping Tom

2007-05-27T16:55:00.000-06:00

5/27/07 -- Independence, KY - Nothing gets a parent's blood boiling like knowing some creep is spying on their child in a sexual way. And nothing is more empowering than knowing you put that creep behind bars!

That is exactly what happened to a family who learned a man had been seen peeping into their 15-year old daughter's bedroom window.

The parents first contacted police, who in turn stepped up patrols in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, the peeping tom was sporadic and unpredictable in his ways.

That is when the parents purchased a simple home security video camera with night vision capability.

Within days the pervert returns and is caught on tape. Though the parents have proof of the peeping, the man never looks at the camera, so he can't be identified by police.

The parents remained vigilant and two months later the man returned.

Luckily, the parents were able to monitor what the video camera was taping on a television in their home. When the mother sees the peeping tom she calls police. As luck would have it, the peeper looks directly into the camera on this visit and even tries to steal it. Unable to remove the camera, the peeper flees before police arrive.

The peeper left something behind even better than an image of his face - a fresh scent for K-9 police dogs to follow.

A police dog follows the man's scent, several blocks, all the way to his home. There, the man was matched to the video evidence and arrested.

The peeper is identified as 28-year old Jonathan Morgan.

Reportedly, Morgan tries to deny any involvement. That is until he was confronted with the video evidence.

Facing a trial centered around the video, Morgan pled guilty to criminal trespassing and attempted voyeurism.

Morgan was sentenced to 90-days in jail, two years of probation and ordered to move out of the community.

Wisconsin Video Vigilante Captures Campaign Sign Thieves

2007-04-18T14:28:00.000-06:00

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Marc Tasman simply wanted to support his favorite candidate in the 2004 election by putting campaign signs in his front yard. The problem? Local political pranksters kept stealing them.

Tasman thought to himself, "what's a guy to do?"

His solution was to construct a video booby trap.

Tasman attached a length of wire to a "Kerry/Edwards" sign. The other end he attached to an audio alarm. Tasman also utilized a porch light controlled by a motion sensor and of course a video camera to catch the pilfering on tape.

When the trap proved to be a successful deterrent, Tasman was deemed a Video Vigilante by local news media.

The resulting video tapes of the would-be thieves and their often humorous reactions were posted online.

Take a look for yourselves and see real video vigilantism in action!

Resources:

Go to Marc Tasman's website (videos)

Principal Caught Having Sex in His Office

2007-04-17T17:33:00.000-06:00

Lynwood, Ill - Sandridge Elementary School principal, Leroy Coleman, was caught on tape having sex in his office with another school staffer.

A covert video camera caught the sex act between Coleman and a teacher, Janet Lofton.

The tape also reportedly caught alleged inappropriate behavior between Coleman and teacher's aide Anjala Reed.

All three resigned after copies of the tape were sent to parents in the district.

It is not known who placed the spy-cam in the principal's office or who copied the resulting tape and distributed it on DVD.

Arcles:

Cop Maces Cashier

2007-04-15T07:28:00.000-06:00

Dayton, OH - An on-duty police officer probably had no idea his decision to go through a local Wendy's drive-thru could lead to a really bad day. And of course, it was all caught on tape!

Seems officer Michael McDonald placed an order that totaled $3.64. McDonald is seen on the security video paying for his order and driving away .

A few minutes later the officer, under the impression he was short changed by the 17-year-old female working the register, has parked his patrol car and is inside the Wendy's and not in a good mood.

McDonald swears he paid with a 20-dollar bill and was given change for a 10-dollar bill.

The cashier and store manager look in the register and notice there are no 20-dollar bills. They tell officer McDonald he must be mistaken. Normally that would be the end of it, but, McDonald isn't exactly in a understanding mood - and of course cops never make mistakes.

When the cashier refuses to be placed under arrest, McDonald proceeds to mace her in the restaurant as patrons watch.

The teen reportedly has to be taken to the hospital for breathing problems.

The security video later proves McDonald was wrong and the cashier had given him the correct change.

Police investigate the incident and rule officer McDonald did nothing wrong (business as usual in Dayton, Ohio).

The teen however was reportedly awarded $50,000 by a court when she sued.

See the Video.

Jiffy Lube Scam Caught on Tape

2007-04-14T16:28:00.000-06:00

Los Angeles, CA - KNBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles sent reporter Joel Grover undercover to see if you are really getting what you pay for when you hand over your hard earned money to Jiffy Lube.

Jiffy Lube is a national franchise of oil change shops that also offer filter changes, transmission flushes and other related services.

KNBC wired several cars with hidden cameras to monitor work done by mechanics. They also marked items such as fuel filters to see if they were changed as instructed.

After visiting several Jiffy Lube locations, KNBC reported that 5 out of the 9 scammed them in some way.

The report found that high dollar services such as transmission flushes were never done even though the cutomers were charged. In some cases, new fuel filters were paid for and never installed.

Because of the high tech investigative story, Jiffy Lube closed down several of their locations so they could "retrain" employees.

Now this is Video Vigilantism that really pays off!

See the video for yourself:

As posted on YouTube.
KNBC NBC Ch4 Los Angeles - Web page about their investigation.

Cigarette Butt Hero a Fake!

2007-04-08T12:02:00.000-06:00

Montreal, Canada - Previously lauded for his supposed impromptu video vigilantism against a litterbug, a Montreal citizen has now admitted his video and accompanying account to be a fake.

As Montreal officials threaten to fine people who don't pick up after themselves on the streets, one man produced (literally) a video that seemed to embody the frustrations of the community For his efforts he was deemed the "Cigarette Butt Here."

The video (in French) appeared to show two men walking down the street as a third was seen to be emptying his vehicles ashtray unto the sidewalk.

One of the two men then approaches the litterbug, scoops up the discarded butts and ash and promptly dumps them into the litterbugs lap.

The video soon became a sensation beyond the borders of Montreal when it was published to YouTube.com.

This past Friday however, the authors of the video, Claude Landry (47) and Martin Thibaudeau, admitted it all to be a staged event meant to recreate an experience one of the authors claims to have had some 15-years ago and to highlight the city's growing litter problem.

We could no longer find the video on YouTube, but did find it here.

If you have a YouTube link to the video, please post it here.

See the video here.

See videos from Oklahoma's own Video Vigilante on YouTube.

Woman Catches Roommate Pilfering

2007-03-23T13:06:00.000-06:00

Buffalo, NY - A woman sets up a video camera to catch her roommate stealing from her. The roommate is allegedly arrested when police review the resulting tape.

According to the YouTube author of this video, she became suspicious that her roommate, or someone else, had been going into her room to take money and other items.

The woman, identified as Lori, aka SatanlnPanties, set her web cam up to record whenever motion was detected in her bedroom.

It wasn't long before her fears were realized.

Captured on tape was her roommate repeatedly going into her room and stealing cash, cigarettes and other items of value.

According to Lori, she showed the video to police, who confronted the roommate (who was still wearing the same clothes in the video). The roommate reportedly denied the burglary and was taken to jail.

Lori says that her now ex-roommate was ordered to repay her and not to have any further contact with the victim.

Way to go Buffalo Video Vigilante!

See the video.

Chicago Cop Attacks Female Bartender - Police Attempt Coverup

2007-03-22T19:34:00.000-06:00

Chicago, IL - An off-duty Chicago police officer is caught on video beating a female bartender after she tried to stop him from attacking another patron.

Prosecutors say that on February 19th, Anthony Abbate, 38, a 12-year police veteran, brutally beat the female bartender.

The bartender, Karolina, was working at Jessie's Shortstop Inn Tavern on Chicago's northwest side.

The entire ordeal was recorded on the tavern's security camera.

According to Karolina, Abbate was drunk and tried to attack another patron. Karolina intervened and refused to serve Abbate anymore alcohol. Karoline said that was when Abbate walked behind the bar and began savagely beating her.

The tape shows Abbate punching and kicking the woman several times.

Almost as shocking as the attack is the fact that other men in the tavern literally did nothing as Karolina was being thrown about the bar. Not until the fight had virtually ended did other customers come to Karolina's aid.

To add insult to injury, it was widely reported that Chicago police administrators tried to coverup the attack by initially attempting to only charge the officer with a city misdemeanor.

However, when State's Attorney's Office learned of the incident they took over prosecution and filed felony aggravated battery charges against Abbate.

Prosecutors are reportedly also investigating possible obstruction and intimidating a witness charges after the tape revealed someone offering the bartender money not to file charges.

Abbat is no stranger to being on the other side of the law.

Records show that Abbat was hired as a Chicago police officer despite having prior arrests for alcohol related driving offenses.

See the video