Dodgy Keyboard Busts Crime Ring
Thomas Jefferson Gentry once said - "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of Wisdom." If only the hapless villains in the following story had heeded Jefferson's words.
Everyonewould agree that it's always a huge bummer when your keyboard freezes up. But for police in Durban, South Africa,one laptop with a wayward keypad paved the way for a major crimesting.
Ari Danikas, a computer repair center owner, smelled a rat whena Congolese man brought a laptop in his shop for keyboardrepair.
Trusting his instinct, Danikas carefully sifted through over athousand photographs stored on the hard drive, eventuallydiscovering not only the laptop's rightful owner, Dr. FrankSchneider, a German exchange student,but some of the extensive work Schneider, a student physician atthe King Edward VIII Hospital, had saved.
Danikas notified police, who then arrested the Congolese manwhen he returned to pick up the stolen laptop. Detectives also kept a trained eye on the Congoleseman's associate, a Nigerian owner of a cell phone shop inDurban's Point area.
The very next day, police closed in on the Nigerian, who washolding more than 250 cell phones, and jewelry - all suspected ofbeing stolen - and made yet another arrest.
It turned out Schneider had been robbed of the laptop in Marchwhile at a friend's home, and the thieves also took off with thehomeowner's cell phone and camera, among other personalproperty.
Looks like another nomination is in for the "Stupid Thief of the Year" award.
