French thief steals television, returns for remote
by Cyrus Farivar 
posted Nov 16th 2006 at 2:02PM
Welcome back for another episode of Stupid Gadget Criminals. For today's edition, we take you to France, where in the village of Mussidan in the southwestern part of the country, a malefactor stole a television along with a set of hunting rifles, according to local police. So where does the stupidity come in? Well, messieurs et mesdames, it appears that this ruffian didn't make it back to his evil lair with the remote control -- and upon so realizing, returned to the scene of the crime to retrieve the last of the loot. The neighbors caught him doing the dastardly deed, and he was turned over to the proper authorities. So remember kids, you can always pick up a replacement remote at your local Best Buy, or in his case, Fnac.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Arnie @ Nov 16th 2006 3:48PM
Well if he wanted to BUY stuff he wouldn't have stolen it in the first place!!
So yeah he's dumb but that is not shocking
Anthony @ Nov 16th 2006 3:48PM
That's so funny because I grew up in Paris (Texas) & the exact same thing happened there: locals highschoolers stole a television & got caught coming back for the remote. These guys were even more stupid, however, as it wasn't neighbors that caught them, but the police who showed up as the house the broke into had an alarm system- which they heard!
Something about the French or French named towns & stupid criminals who are too lazy to flip the channels by hand or buy the 880 Universal remote.
Shadowfax @ Nov 16th 2006 3:53PM
Paris, Texas, neh? How convenient.
Anthony @ Nov 16th 2006 6:00PM
To Shadowfax: Indeed. 2 hrs N/E of Dallas, TX. Population roughly 25k. County seat of Lamar.
NoneMoreBlack @ Nov 16th 2006 4:47PM
The correct formal 2nd person plural address is "Messieursetdames"
Fun word.
Jean-Michel Decombe @ Nov 16th 2006 6:28PM
Actually, "Messieurs et mesdames" is quite correct, except that you could do even better by saying "Mesdames et messieurs", addressing the ladies first out of gallantry.
retro @ Nov 16th 2006 6:36PM
Why are you guys misspelling monsieurs et madames?
Jean-Michel Decombe @ Nov 16th 2006 7:22PM
Monsieur is singular, Messieurs is plural, Madame is singular, Mesdames is plural. Madame and Mesdames are only used when addressing one or several women, but when talking about them, Dame or Dames are used. Monsieur and Messieurs are used in both cases. Shall I continue the french lesson here or do we open a Ning-based social network to that effect? ;-)
Leo @ Nov 19th 2006 6:14AM
comment ca fait que tu es la ! et tu ne me donne pas de tes nouvelles ... Ah !
kerunt @ Nov 16th 2006 7:27PM
France? What the... ?
I read in a local paper today about this exact event... except it took place over here in Vancouver...
Nathan @ Nov 16th 2006 9:26PM
I smell Urban Legend.
Julien @ Nov 17th 2006 4:08AM
From http://www.7sur7.be/hlns/cache/fr/det/art_300186.html?wt.bron=homeArt15
Un cambrioleur tourdi a t pris la main dans le sac Mussidan (Dordogne, France) alors qu'il tait revenu sur les lieux pour rparer un oubli et prendre la tlcommande du tlviseur dj drob.
Le voleur, g de 26 ans, s'tait introduit dans la maison par effraction, lundi midi en l'absence du propritaire, un retrait, et avait emport des fusils de chasse, une lampe ptrole, des petits objets de collection et le tlviseur.
En rentrant, la victime avait dcouvert les faits et s'tait aussitt rendue la gendarmerie pour y dposer plainte. Alors que le retrait se trouvait encore dans les locaux de la gendarmerie, un voisin l'avait appel pour lui signaler le retour de l'intrus.
Le propritaire et des gendarmes se sont alors aussitt rendus sur les lieux o le voleur a t interpell. Ce dernier a expliqu qu'il avait simplement oubli de prendre la tlcommande du tlviseur. Il a t brivement plac en garde vue et convoqu une audience du tribunal correctionnel.
Translation in English:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.7sur7.be%2Fhlns%2Fcache%2Ffr%2Fdet%2Fart_300186.html%3Fwt.bron%3DhomeArt15&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools
A thoughtless burglar was caught red-handed in Mussidan (the Dordogne, France) whereas it had reconsidered the spot to repair a lapse of memory and to take the remote control of the already catch television set.
The robber, 26 years old, had been introduced into the house by effraction, Monday midday in the absence of owner, a pensioner, and had carried shotguns, an oil lamp, small objects of collection and the television set.
While returning, the victim had discovered the facts and had gone at once to the gendarmerie to deposit there felt sorry for. Whereas the pensioner was still in the buildings of the gendarmerie, a neighbor had invited it to announce the return of the intruder to him.
The owner and of the gendarmes then went at once on the spot where the robber was challenged. This last explained why it had simply forgotten to take the remote control of the television set. It briefly was placed in police custody and was convened with an audience of the correctional court.
Jean-Michel Decombe @ Nov 19th 2006 10:05PM
Envoie-moi un email (jm at decombe point com).