This is a fun story...

http://www.evanwashere.com/StolenSidekick/

Scott,
Thanks for linking this story, I just spent an hour reading it (very long). It was the best read I've had in a long time!! Very entertaining!! What a way to "get back" at someone! A very tenacious individual. Hope it all works out for him.

That is a long story.

I had a phone taken from my yard last year (wife dropped it when getting out of her car) and someone took it. The guy that had it called me the next day and said I could have it back for 20.00. I said, "Ok, where do I go." he gave me the address, and I called the cops. They came to my house (three cars) and picked me up, and away we went. The guy was standing there (actually using the phone) when we pulled up. The cops grabbed the phone, told him he should have known better (they knew him, and said he was a "garbage picker, which is how he found the phone..near where we put out our garbage for pickup, and was pretty harmless) and gave me back the phone. He got no money, and no penalty for taking my phone from my yard.

Had I gone alone, I would likely have been beaten up, or worse. There were about 6 guys there on two street corners, and it looked like a bad place for a guy like me to be found in. :)

I too have found phones and wallets, and always return them. People always offer rewards, which I have never accepted. I own a cleaning service, and many of our customers are banks and other public places. (doctors offices, accounting offices, etc..) People set their phones, wallets and checkbooks down, and walk off without them all the time.

I once even left my own wallet in a shopping cart, with 550.00 in it..in cash. We went to the next store...and no wallet. Went back to previous store, wallet was in lost/found. Every dollar was there. Never got to thank anyone for that.

Sometimes, "back dooring" a person is more satisfying than following the traditional methods. The guy has BALLS!

I wish I could do something like this to the girl (a fellow employee) that stole my $3,000.00 laptop last month. I still haven't gotten it back and it doesn't look like I will.