You were correct in your initial observation, they were "morons".
As for the manager involved, he definitely wasn't/isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. However, without going in to details, the bulk of the blame really falls on two other individuals. This was just a very public example of a stupidity that is rooted higher up; and by no means the only example.
Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 08-25-2008, 09:40 AM:
In the couple of occasions that plain clothes officers have come to this theatre, the FIRST thing they presented was their police dept. photo I.D. They left business cards so we would have contact information to follow up with.
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 08-25-2008, 08:21 PM:
It IS easy for something like this to happen.
How many of us service guys experience this: you walk throughout a theatre you've never been to before, go right past the ticket-taker, in and out of auditoriums, up to the booth... without anyone stopping you or saying a word?
Granted, a lot of us have that "look" that we are supposed to be there, or that we're in-charge... but the theatre personnel don't really know that.
Posted by Mark Hajducki (Member # 1732) on 08-26-2008, 06:04 PM:
A lot of the multiplexes have such high staff turnover that it can be hard to know if somebody is a member of staff or not, so the door staff will often take it on trust.
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The use of deposit only safes would have reduced the amount stolen in the case mentioned. (Only the cash in transit people have access to the contents of the safe, with a smaller safe for storing change/floats).
Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 04-01-2011, 04:47 AM:
It has been 947 days since the last post.
Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 04-01-2011, 04:47 AM:
Three years later and the robbery appears to have been solved. Back in February, Fernando Ruiz, age 38, was arrested on charges of "impersonating an officer, second degree robbery, and false imprisonment by violence or deceit" in relation to the 2008 theatre hold-up. Mr. Ruiz was apprehended after his DNA was matched through a sample that was submitted for an unrelated case. If convicted, he faces up to twenty years and four months in prison for the crimes. It has also now been released that his take was $15,000 in the robbery.
Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 04-01-2011, 02:42 PM:
Damn, 15 grand could almost make one consider crime as a job. That's probably about $5,000 a minute. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 04-03-2011, 12:45 AM:
Reminds me of the infamous story of the thief who went into a theatre in NYC -- I believe it was the Kips Bay Theatre -- that was playing 2001 on the last day of the run and handed the manager a letter, supposedly on MGM stationary and signed, supposedly, by the New York MGM District Office Manager, advising that the print was to be handed to the carrier rather than returned to the depot.
The guy showed a picture ID badge to the theatre manager, again, supposedly from MGM. The manager duely check his face carefully against the ID and then handed over the print no questions asked. And of course it wasn't an MGM personnel but a con. They never caught the guy. It's not a difficult thing to do. The majority of the sheeple are conditioned to submit to authority figures more readily than you would think as the "You have to continue; shock him again" experiments proved.
Posted by Todd Cornwall (Member # 2205) on 05-02-2011, 12:27 AM:
I can't imagine handing over a print to someone who walks in and shows a business card or letterhead. If someone was coming to pick up a movie, we usually know about way ahead of time. That theater obviously didn't have any type of procedure in place.
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-04-2011, 12:49 AM:
This had to be 25, maybe 30 years ago. It was BV -- Before Video. It was a different time. Piracy was much less an issue back then. Hell, at this theatre I worked at in rural Texas, they used to leave the film cans on Monday night in the theatre lobby, right on the inside of the glass lobby doors. No alarm system, no security other than the lock on the door that could be picked in about 60 seconds.
One night some drunk Aggies broke the glass and obsconded with a 1000ft cartoon reel. We found it down half a mile away with about 500 feet unraveled and spooled along the highway. But other than that, prints were picked up and left there once a week for years without incident. It was a different time. Video ruined everything. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-04-2011, 12:51 AM:
This had to be 25, maybe 30 years ago. It was BV (Before Video)and it was a different time. Piracy was much less an issue back then. Hell, at this theatre where I worked in rural Texas, they used to leave the film cans in the theatre lobby on Monday nights, right on the inside of the glass lobby doors. No alarm system, no security other than the lock on the door that could be picked in about 60 seconds.
One night some drunk Aggies broke the glass and obsconded with a 1000ft cartoon reel. We found it down half a mile away with about 500 feet unraveled and spooled along the highway. But other than that, prints were picked up and left there once a week for years without incident. It was a different time. Video ruined everything.
Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 05-04-2011, 10:49 AM:
We heard you the first time.
![[Confused]](confused.gif)