From the Annals of Really Petty Crime: Doing dad a favor

Your dad’s away.

You want to do him a favor, take advantage of his absence to clean his apartment. Which it needs. Things have been piling up in there.

But you get this idea.

Instead of doing the work yourself, you figure a way to get someone else to do it and make a little money for yourself while you’re at it.

By clean his apartment, you mean clean out.

You go to a local thrift shop, tell the owner your dad isn’t away. He’s dead. Invite the thrift shop owner to come in, take whatever she thinks she can sell, work out a price.

What’s there a problem?

Dad’s going to be surprised when he gets home, sure, assuming he can come home, assuming he has a home to come home to, assuming his landlord hasn’t evicted him, thrown out all his stuff or sold it himself. See, dad’s not likely going to be sending the rent check while he's away.

Away here means he’s in jail.

So if it’s all just going in the dumpster with whatever’s to be made off whatever can be sold going into somebody else’s pocket, that somebody might as well be you, right? His loving daughter?

Good plan.

But you do this? Make sure you get all the money up front. Don’t agree to half now, half later. Because if the thrift shop owner starts to have some doubts, say someone tips her off your dad’s not dead, the stuff isn’t yours to sell? Then when you and your “companion” show up at the McDonald’s where you agreed to meet with the thrift shop owner to settle the balance, you might find there are other people there with her to greet you.

People in uniforms.

With badges.

And cars with lights on the roof waiting to take you and your companion on a ride to where you can say hi to dad and explain to him how you just wanted to do him that favor.

___________________________

This is based on a true story reported by Pauline Liu in the Times Herald-Record, Middletown woman and her companion charged with fencing her dad’s possessions. I just wish the paper said what the father was in jail for.

Comments

[Redbeard]

The woman who is referenced at this link has the same name and age. And can't be a nurse anymore.

This could a be a little part of an Elmore Leonard novel.

[Lance Mannion]

Redbeard, it's almost certainly her. The newspaper published her mug shot and I found a Florida mugshot from 2007 online and they match. She was arrested down there for check kiting. Thanks for the detective work. And, you're right, definitely an Elmore Leonard novel in this.

[Kaleberg]

This is a good way to wind up in jail, unless, of course, you are a bank. Banks are governmnet recognized criminal and racketeering organizations, so they can break into your house, steal all your stuff and then tell you it's your problem.