Several years ago, Southern California had a shell thief, an art teacher
from Los Angeles City Schools. I had met him at a Long Beach Shell Club
meeting and he tried to sell me some ancient coins. (I too collect ancient
coins). A few weeks later, while visiting several shell shops in Los
Angeles and Orange counties, I was told that in each place a shell thief
had stolen some valuable shells by bringing in cheap shells, asking to see
expensive shells, and when the clerk turned away, the shells were switched.
Thousands of dollars.
A couple of months after that, while planning a shell show for
Pacific Shell Club, the topic of the shell thief came up again and I
remembered the man who tried to sell me the coins. So, when the shell show
started I warned all the dealers, exhibitors and others involved in the
show that, if the guy showed up, I would signal them and several of us
would "tail him" while he was there. As I was photographing the show, I
took many shots of this guy so that we would be able to identify him to the
police. When he left, he offered to sell me a beautiful, cheap,large Conus
gloriamaris. I told him that I was interested and he led me to his car (I
wrote down his license plate number, got his name) but when I saw the shell
and the data tag, it had come from my friend's shell shop.
The club sent about 2-3 dozen photos to the shops in California to
warn them of the shell thief. 6 replid that they had had shells stolen and
this guy was in the shop when the shells were taken.
A few weeks later, the police arrested the man, who still had some
of the stolen shells in his home and the rest were found in a Santa Barbara
dealer's warehouse. (Dealer didn't know of the case). Los Angeles and
Orange Counties took him to court, slapped a small fine on him and told him
that he was NEVER to enter shell, butterfly, coin, or any other collector
shops. Unfortunately he didn't lose his teaching credential but his mother
pleaded for mercy for her son. (45-50 years old)
Now that the man was caught we haven't seen hide nore hair of "Mr.
Shell Thief.
Beware!!! Some thieves are good at theft but dumb in hiding it.
Dan
>Dear Conch-L ers,
>At the most recent shell show some very expensive shells were stolen. The one
>shell I know of, was sitting out unprotected on a table. Whether it had the
>price listed on it or not I don't know. My first thoughts were, what kind of
>mental state induced a dealer to leave an expensive shell unprotected? After
>pondering for a while, I realized the dealer came a long distance and did not
>have the ability to carry cases with him.
> I am proposing this thought, if a dealer needs one or two cases to protect
>a few valuable shells, he/she should let the show chairman know and perhaps a
>case of some type could be found. Each club that has a show has some members
>with extra cases not being used. The show chairman, if notified of the
>problem, could find a case or two, even if they were the type of cases that
>exhibitors use, at least there would be an extra step involved in someone
>stealing a shell, if they were going to do so and that extra step might
>prevent a shell from being taken.
> It is a shame this is not a perfect world and we could leave our things
>unprotected and they would stay with us, but obviously it is not.
> My club, The Broward Shell Club will be having it's show soon, Dealers, if
>you need to borrow a case or two, please let Wayne Harland know, or let me
>know and I can loan you a case or two for the show, as I am not exhibiting
>this year. Next time you go to a show, ask the show chairman if there is the
>possibility of borrowing a case and please do not leave expensive shells
>unattended. Theft from one affects us all in a negative manner.
> Carole Marshall
>
><HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT COLOR="#000040" SIZE=2
>FAMILY="SCRIPT" FACE="Lucida Calligraphy" LANG="0">Dear Conch-L ers,
><BR>At the most recent shell show some very expensive shells were stolen.
>The one shell I know of, was sitting out unprotected on a table. Whether
>it had the price listed on it or not I don't know. My first thoughts were,
>what kind of mental state induced a dealer to leave an expensive shell
>unprotected? After pondering for a while, I realized the dealer came a
>long distance and did not have the ability to carry cases with him.
><BR> I am proposing this thought, if a dealer needs one or two cases
>to protect a few valuable shells, he/she should let the show chairman know
>and perhaps a case of some type could be found. Each club that has a show
>has some members with extra cases not being used. The show chairman, if
>notified of the problem, could find a case or two, even if they were the
>type of cases that exhibitors use, at least there would be an extra step
>involved in someone stealing a shell, if they were going to do so and that
>extra step might prevent a shell from being taken.
><BR> It is a shame this is not a perfect world and we could leave
>our things unprotected and they would stay with us, but obviously it is
>not.
><BR> My club, The Broward Shell Club will be having it's show soon,
>Dealers, if you need to borrow a case or two, please let Wayne Harland
>know, or let me know and I can loan you a case or two for the show, as I
>am not exhibiting this year. Next time you go to a show, ask the show
>chairman if there is the possibility of borrowing a case and please do not
>leave expensive shells unattended. Theft from one affects us all in a
>negative manner.
><BR> Carole
>Marshall</FONT></HTML>
Dan & Hiromi Yoshimoto
1164 Vista Dr.
Eureka, California
95503-6018
U.S.A.
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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