Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion stolen globe question?

Need some help here. I bought a globe last Oct. off ebay. I got a call in May of this year the globe might be stolen. I worked with the State police in getting the info. they needed to help put this guy away. I got a call this monday from the state police and he told me the guy got 1 year and $8000 in fines.
Here is were i need your help... the police said the farmer wants to buy the globe back because it has family history. They gave the farmer my number and he called and i told him i have $300 in it. He wants to give me $150 and me take a loss of $150 and he wants the globe. What should i do? This really sucks in a bad way!

JJ in my opinion , I think you have gone above and beyond the call of duty, you did everything morally right and now your willing to let this guy buy back the globe , if this guy says theres family history then it should be worth what you payed for it to get it back,lets face it, if you payed 300 for my property then it should be worth at LEAST the same price if I want to buy it back , a lesser of a person would of said to bad your not getting it back or told the guy a lie and said I payed 500.00 for it and if you want it thats the price.Also did his Insurence pay him off, the globe must have been stolen with a lot of other stuff because nobody go's to Jail for a year for stealing a 300.00 globe . I think this man is trying to take advantage of your sympathy. You've done the right thing all along hold to your price. stiffing you for 150.00 is the same thing as stealing , again this is my opinion . One things for sure This guy could take a lesson from you on being Honorable.

Here's my worthless opinion: The guy who stole it should pay you 300.00 or whatever value you put on it. In other words, he should buy it back from you and return it to the rightful owner.

Chris, He stole lighting rod and weather vanes from many farms. It was him and a cousin i think. I have put a call into the Michigan State police and see if he got paid... from the $8000 fines or insurance. I have $280 in it right now as we speak. one part of me says yes it's stolen and it belongs to him but the other part says i bought it not knowing it was stolen and had to buy a new capco body for it and cleaned it and have had it for almost a year now and i should keep it.

John,

I would say that you have done alot above the call of duty also. If the guy wants it back and says it has family value then it should be worth what you have in it. It is a bad situtation but if someone stole something from me, sold it and I actually found the guy that bought it I would be glad to buy it back at the price that was paid for. Most of these cases go unresolved and everyone loses all involved. If it were I and he wanted it back for what I had in it I would consider. I would not take the loss on it. Just my 2 cents worth.

Thanks, Phil

Wow, you last line of the original post sums it up I'd say.

I don't want to sound like a ??? here but I'm surprised the call was not like "we have found that you are in the possession of property previously stolen from Mr. X. by soon to be inmate # X. You must return it to the original owner" and nobody would care if you paid $1000 for it or found it along the road, you would be S.O.L.

I thought that's the way the law worked in this situation. I'm glad it did not go down that way for your sake, please don't take this the wrong way and I'm not saying that's what's fair or anything, I'm just saying.
Good luck

That SUCKS Jarvis, you finally got a globe that wasn't broken... LOL. As much as I feel that the globe should be returned to the rightfull owner, I also feel, even more strongly, that you should NOT take a loss for doing the right thing by returning it...

I think that I'm with Chris Holt...

JM2C....

John, I believe you have done what is right and have the right idea regarding the insurance. I would want to get accurate info from the ins co as to what they paid him for the loss of the globe. It could be more than you paid. He may be trying to win and win again. At your expense. Good luck. George

Hi Jarvis, here's my 2 cents worth.
First, we all know what a nice guy you are and it shows in your effort to help put the thief away. I started thinking, if it had been something of mine that had sentimental value, what would I do? I don't think I would be trying to negotiate a price or trying to put you at a loss. I'd be happy to get it back. Then I thought maybe the person doesn't have that kind of money to pay out. I'd offer the globe for what I paid for it, which you already did. If they don't have the money right now, I'd hold it for them for a set period of time. If they didn't come up with the money, maybe it wasn't that that important. Bottom line, I'd go above and beyond, but fair is fair. And again, like everyone else here I give you a pat on the back for being a decent and honest person.

Yep, it sucks, but all the dealings i've heard of in a matter like this is as tokheim stated. The fact that you could cut your loss by half by taking the $150 may indeed be a win concidering that the law could make you fork it over.........period!

As someone else replied,
I would contact the ins. agent, to find out IF he was paid for the globe loss. IF he was compensated, the globe now belongs to the ins. co.
db

...sounds like you helped put the guy away - rare enough in this day and age of 'I don't want to get involved'...now the farmer expects you to share his pain? Seems like he ought to be thanking you for helping to catch the creep - not trying to shake you down for $150...Tokheim might be right regarding Johnny Law, but fair's fair - and you losing $150 for being honest ain't it...

I'm with Chris, tokheim and db on this.
How come it is the original owner and not the insurance co. your in contact with. If the guy has any kind of insurance at all the globe should have been covered. [was the globe the only thing he lost?] If the authorities have been in contact with you because of the globe, how come you still have it? Didn't anyone verify it was indeed the globe in question?
I'd say deal only with the insurance co. about it and last but not least, you aren't the crook here so don't take the loss.

------------------
ROD [Mich.]

Well, I called the Michigan State police and a message with the officer that was handling the case to call me which looks like it might be Tuesday. You asked did anyone verify it was indeed the globe in question... yes and no! I sent the pictures to the state police but the farmer said he never saw the pictures. When I bought the globe it was on an original body that was trashed so I replaced it with a new one and cleaned it the lenses. If he wants it he will get lenses only and no body and it will come C.O.D. so he can pay the freight.
I was wondering the same question is to why I still have the globe when the trooper called me 4 or 5 months ago when this all started. I bought this last year in October.

He tells me that we both are at loss and would be out $150 each... but he forgets he will have the $300 globe.

Here is the globe.

IF,
It had been a MUSGO or CHIMNEY CAP TEXACO. Then you would know he was watching auction results !

On the other hand. IF, he valued it, WHY was it not in a good body ?
WHY was it NOT IN THE HOUSE ?
db