Video Released of $150K Coin Theft in PA

I was going to post the same thing about going through a drive-through, but I also read the previous post and thought the same thing about that one. What if the thieves would have followed them home and broke in while they slept and shot them? If I was carrying that much I think I'd have a hired guard with me and from the show I'd go straight to a safe deposit box in a bank or to his own safe if he had one.

 

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Pulling off to the side of the freeway just before an exit might shake a tail. Waiting 5 minutes for traffic to pass and then actually take the exit. Drive back to another exit and then re-enter the freeway.

Of course, paying attention if you're being followed is the real clue here.

Unfortunately until most folks actually get robbed, few take preventative measures to insure their safety thinking it would never happen to them. Carrying fully negotiable bullion at $150,000, I think I'd pay better attention since thats what the thieves are doing.

 

While having a full grown German Shephard in your car sounds very intimidating, I just do not see this happening for a coin show. I don;t think they allow big dogs on the bourse which means she'd have to wait in the car. On a hot day, it would never work for hours on end. Heck, even on a cool day you'd still have to let her out to do her business.

Small trips around town, no problem. All day or two days in a car, presents its own problems which would have to be overcome.

The best bet for any dealer is to PAY ATTENTION!

Two car follow? No problem, as suggested, pull over then PAY ATTENTION. Use defensive driving techniques and either learn the drill or pay for security.

Too often, these big heists happen when a dealer stops for dinner or lunch. These stories are well published and you'd THINK that they'd learn.

Now, I'm not blaming the dealer but I do believe that this particular robbery could have been prevented. AND, the more times that this successfully happens, the more often its going to occur. These thieves might be incredible scum bags BUT they are not stupid and the only precaution which can be taken is to prepare and pay attention.

 

That is really good advice except that once they follow you to the bank, its a quick trip to simply follow you home.

It is imperative that they NOT know where you live! I'm of the opinion that PAYING ATTENTION and Driving with Defensive maneuvers is the only solution.

 

Yeah...uh...this'd kinda be why I used the concept as an example of "unknown value vs unknown risk", as opposed to suggesting that I, or anyone else, should ever take a dog to a coin show and leave it in the car.

 

I was just sayin..........all very good examples (if you have a trunk which this fellow didn't have) which hopefully folks will read and absorb.

Safety needs to be considered and planned.

 

At first I was wondering how long of a drive these folks had. I think not stopping to eat would be good, if possible. Then again, maybe they (And other dealers we hear about being robbed in this manner) thought it would be better to find out if they had a tail and were targeted for a robbery, while they were in a public place. Like others have said, it could have been alot worse if they had gotten home first, and had thieves try to strongarm them or pull a gun on them.

 

There 150k out the window. Thats terrible.

 

So they have not caught the guys yet? You can clearly see where the finger prints were left.

 

I know I'm paranoid when I pick up a lot of coins and drive home, I always make sure there is no one in sight, never drive directly home, and make a few stops... especially if I have $2-3k of halves or dimes in my car. I can't even imagine having $150k worth of valuable coins in my car and leaving it.

 

If the person leaving the fingerprints isn't already in the data base, it won't help much untill they hone in on a suspect through other methods first.

 

I don't think these thieves were pros or even semi pros because of how and where they committed this crime. But a few things are for sure and one is they scouted out the coin show. Then decided on who to rob. They followed the dealer to the eatery/pit stop and decided to pull it off right then and there probably there was an easy way to exit. They also might have been getting out of their stomping grounds. Who knows, they might have thought that the dealer might be getting suspicious of them. Rather than follow the dealer for, maybe, another 50 to 100 or more miles and find a more secluded area they took their chances right out in the open. Hoo-rah for getting them on security video/s.