The WFFC Thief.

A young skydiver (edited by chuck) was arrested in the Load Organizing tent (LO#1) in Rantoul this year after being observed stealing from jumpers gear bags. I have followed the thread in the Spanish forum, but not noticed it here. I have posted a few pictures of him and some of his stolen merchandise. He later confessed to stealing from other dropzones.

Does anyone have an update, or what became of this person (another edit by chuck to clean it up a bit, but allow the gist of the post to remain)

Ha, that guy was weird. I met him one night at the beer tent and he freaked me out. The next morning a friend says "Hey, remember that weirdo from the beer tent last night? He just got arrested for stealing wallets and gear."

Was he a jumper?? Karma dude, Karma...

Hey, that dude looks a bit like Elton John

Edited to add pic of Elton John for comparison

That's well huge. I was permanently worried about all the stuff that was in my tent when i was out there last year (no car) but i didn't hear anything about theft. At least he had good taste in gear

No name?

or

Was that really Elton living his secret life?

Scott Campos posted his name in another forum. I don't remember which.

What day was he arrested? I got therre Wednesday night (was in the tent Thursday-Saturday) and didn't hear about this.

Thanks.

B.

It happened pretty early in the week I think. I was there the 5th-14th and I think it happened in the first couple days. I can't remember his name. Eric, or Ed maybe... could be way off.

Sorta makes ya wish some past punishments from certain middle east countries were in effect..lop his hands off.

And he looks kinda like Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys

Thanks Chuck...I did several searches and couldn't find it.

Which brings me to this (off topic)
Wouldn't it be great to be able to sort seach results by one or each of the columns listed?

Back to topic....

According to the police there was another incident involving some of the Lincoln center kids as well.

From my recollection there was also two guys caught using stolen passes later in the week. I don't think they were arrested but they were escorted off the premises

Moral: secure your stuff or others will.

>>Was this guy a jumper<<
I specifically remember being on a casa load with this guy. Very weird vibe. Nice gear though. He was doing solos.

I don't mean to justify what was done, but there's more involved than just an ass stealing stuff. This guy is not well, and is working really hard to overcome his illness. He's a great guy, and someone I feel lucky to call a friend.

No debate needed, I understand it was shitty what he did, and obviously questionable why he would put himself in a stressful situation like Rantoul. I just wanted to, I don't know. It hurts that he is going through such rough times, and that people understandably feel horrible things towards him.

I don't know what I hope to accomplish with this post, but a little understanding of the situation might go a long way. He's a fellow skydiver on some hard times, and like all of us, deserves some respect and compassion, regardless of the terrible things he's done.

Lara

OMG!!!!!!

that is the dude that stole the golf cart keys from us on the first saturday night!!!!

we saw him the next day but he was gone before we realized that was him and then we couldnt find him

what a fuckin wierdo, seriously he creeped us all out! he was following us around all ngiht and trailing behind us on his bike while we were all on the golf cart! then somehow he got the golf cart key... luckily we had a spare set somewhere!

ew

Can I say again, that this guy is not just a 'fuckin wierdo' or nameless asshole, he is a good friend to many, but unfortunately, he is very, very sick. Please, can we have some understanding here, and less silly name calling?

Lara

Quote

he is a good friend to many...

Quote

Friends don't let friends steal from friends.

Sick or not, if he was there with people that knew he has a problem, he should have been better supervised...or let EVERYONE know there could be a problem with him.

Quote

Can I say again, that this guy is not just a 'fuckin wierdo' or nameless asshole, he is a good friend to many, but unfortunately, he is very, very sick. Please, can we have some understanding here, and less silly name calling?

Lara

Sparky

While he may be a "good friend to many" he is also a thief. If he is sick, as a "good" friend you should see that he gets treatment. In the mean time he is running around acting like a "fuckin weirdo". (spelling corrected)

Understanding goes both ways.

Sparky

I don't disagree with you at all. I'm not saying he did the right thing, or that he shouldn't be held accountable. I also didn't say that he wasn't getting help, or that his friends haven't been helping him. I don't know what happened in this situation.

All I know is that the name calling and demanding that he's burned at the stake aren't okay with me. Does he need more help? Yes. Does he need friends to be there for him? Definitely. Does life always go the way you think it should? Not so much.

All I'm saying is that if these were the actions of a healthy guy who woke up one morning and thought, 'hey, it's a good day to be a dick and steal from fellow skydivers,' then by all means, carry on with the name calling and personal insults. But they weren't. Like I said, I don't have a clue what I'd like to accomplish by responding here. But I can't leave it if people trash my friends when they're not well enough to respond for themselves.

Lara

Okay, last post and I promise to leave this alone

I completely agree, Bill. Like I said, I don't know what happened at Rantoul. And I realize that the initial reaction to this situation is disgust, horror, mocking, etc. Mine would be, too, if I hadn't known him.

I'd never ask for apologies, nor do I think earlier posters didn't have a right to be upset and call names. Just put yourself in my position, being a friend who's far away, seeing this thread and knowing the little I do know. Knee jerk reaction is to stick up for your friends, and that's what I did. I'm not saying he did anything right, from even being in a place as stressful as Rantoul, to stealing, to not depending on the people who care about him more, to whatever. All I'm saying is that it hurts me to see a friend's name dragged through the mud when he's already in a rough spot.

And that's about all I have to say, so thanks for listening, and maybe being a little more understanding of a guy in need of obviously more help than he's accepting.

Lara

it is not our place to decide but

a thief is a thief

sick ?? stay home

a real friend would have kept him away or under control.

take my stuff or my friends stuff and let me catch you ..call an ambulance for him or me but one of us will need it.

this great sport deserves respect between jumpers
we should be able to trust each outher .



..

Just to clarify, the pictures of the equipment at the beginning of this thread are not of stolen gear from the convention but gear that he owned and has been jumping all season. I jump at his home DZ and I know this kid. Lara is right, he is sick and needs care and those of us that know him really hope he gets well, can fix the mistakes he made and can get back to a healthy life.

Sorry your friend has problems, but it still doesn't mean he will get sympathy from the masses.

The best thing for him would be to stay far away from Dz's for awhile. People don't care for that kind of thing.

I commend you for sticking by your friend. If he is truely sick he needs to get help, but if I where him I woudln't go to any DZ that people don't know me at.

What "illness" does he have? Is he possessed? Does he have multiple personality disorder? Bi-Polar? If he was ill and you are his friends why would you let him jump in his so-called "condition"?....and why wouldn't you warn others that he is a clepto.

Blaming it on "illness" or a "disease" is bullshit, he stole from his fellow brothers and sisters and that's that. Whatever problems he has you need to tell him to suck it up and be a fucking man and take responsibility. We all have bad days/months/years but some of us deal with our problems the right way and dig out of it while still keeping our dignity, respect, character, and friendships. I don't care how well I know someone or how "sick" they are, I have no respect for people that can't take responsibility for what they've done and point their finger anywhere but at themselves.

Ok, I've been following this thread for a while.
First off, I'd like to thank the ladies in manifest for quickly identifying him as a problem. Then I would like to thank the security persons who decided to question him immediately, and who managed to ask the correct questions to find out that he had been stealing all of the way from his home DZ to us.
Thirdly, I would like to thank the Rantoul PD, who watched over this whole process, and let us handle it in house.
Lastly, I would like to thank the skydivers and vendors who had had gear, cash and tickets stolen by him, who showed tremendous.
If those who posted really are friends to this young man, he has a lot of 'splainin' to do if he wants to ever be welcomed back into this community again. I think he will be serving some time as he was found to have more than just skydiving gear as stolen goods.....
When your friend gets out, make sure he has had, or gets, some serious counseling, or a major pox will be on him if he ever sets foot into a jump plane again..