“Serial” no longer applies to just killer, monogamy or numbers: the man South Florida’s dubbed as a “serial iPhone thief” has finally been caught after robbing 19 AT&T cell phone stores. Yes, tattoos have long been used by law enforcement in identifying criminals—but where other criminals might be able to argue misidentification due to a similar tat, “I M ME”, tatooed on your forehead, pretty much cinches the deal.
Stating the obvious usually just makes people look stupid—stating the obvious, in permanent ink on a prominent location, can apparently land your ass in jail.
Broward Sheriff’s Office, in Florida, arrested 19-year-old Joseph Eric Williams after identifying him through the “I M ME” tat on Williams' forehead. A $1,000 Crime Stoppers reward led to a telephone tip. It’s still unclear whether the reward is headed to the hands of the tattoo artist responsible for Williams’ “artwork”.
The iPhone crime spree started about two months ago on August 20, turning into what police call a serial iPhone thief. Approximately 19 Florida state AT&T cell phone stores have been robbed over the past couple of months—the thief looting available iPhone stock that’s been out in the open, simply yanking off the phones’ security cords, then taking off on foot.
The robber had successfully and simply walked into AT&T stores, grabbing two to three iPhones from the cell phone store’s display area. With the iPhones estimated at up to $600 apiece, each cellular robbery garnered about two grand worth of cellular phones stolen from each AT&T location.
At just under forty grand in loot, the "I M ME" robber didn’t seem to be lacking in math skills.
The “serial” scenario does raise the question as to which party might be stupider: the iPhone thief continued to rob AT&T cell phone stores for months, throughout Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties in Florida. Despite no changes in pattern or locale, Florida state AT&T stores didn’t seem to feel the need or desire to make the iPhones less easier to ‘obtain’. AT&T cellular stores—in locations already identified as a target for the ongoing robberies—continued to leave actual iPhone models out in the open, rather than caging merchandise or using “dummy phones” until the robberies stopped.
Even UPS won’t leave a package, out in the open, in known crime areas.
Adding stupidity to stupidity: media outlets continue to describe the “serial iPhone thief’s” tattoo as reading “I M ME”.some wishful thinking for those appreciating grammar. The actual forehead tattoo: “I M ME”.
Maybe he’s hoping for an instant message.