Posted on 08/13/2019 10:52:35 AM PDT by Red Badger
HENRICO COUNTY, Virginia -- Residents living in a Virginia neighborhood woke up to find free televisions on their doorsteps. It sounds like a great gift until you see the older box sets left at the homes.
"He's committed to his trade," said homeowner, Jim Brooksbank.
No need to adjust that dial. Doorbell surveillance cameras captured the man with a TV set over his head, laying an older set down on someone's front porch and just walking off.
"He wants to be known as the TV Santa Claus. I don't know," Brooksbank told WTVR-TV.
The bizarre discovery happened Sunday morning in Henrico's Hampshire neighborhood. Outdated boxes were found at more than 50 homes.
"We got an old tube-style TV, 13 inch," said Brooksbank.
"I thought my son brought it home, but apparently not. They had way too much time on their hands if they had all these TV's and spread them all over the neighborhood," said homeowner, Michael Kroll.
Henrico Police are tuned into the situation. They have security camera video from multiple neighbors, but think it's only a prank targeting no one in particular.
"At most this seems to be more an inconvenience to the community," said one officer.
Officers and county workers spent Sunday morning picking up the old units and hauling them away.
"The police did a great job of coming up and collecting them all," said Brooksbank.
This is the second time the TV set mystery has played out in Glen Allen. The same thing happened in a different neighborhood last August.
"I think it's just a prank. Some college students who are just bored," said Kroll.
"It's summer, and people are getting ready to go back to school. Maybe TV man was just ready to strike and put a little humor in our lives," added Brooksbank.
In the absence of knowing the brains inside the box, these homeowners are left only to guess what it all means.
According to Henrico Police, the only real crime committed was illegal dumping.
Even local thrift shops, Goodwills and Salvation Army store stopped taking them a few years ago.... And tube type computer monitors as well.................
Just a crazy nut...................
There’s a computer recycle place a few miles away. I got rid of 3 TV’s and 2 CRT’s - free!
Yep! we did at one time!.................
When I was a kid we did not get a color TV set until Christmas, 1975.
My dad had 13 black-and-white TV sets people had given him squirreled away in our basement. With that plus his Air Force electronics training he thought he’s never have to buy another television set in his life.
My mom forced the issue when she got sick and tired of us kids begging her parents to come over and watch cartoons and holiday specials in color.
Later my dad learned that there was not ONE interchangeable part in those 13 sets.
What we had was an old cabinet console TV, a 36” color unit that had a bad tuner, the ‘channel selector’ part.
So, I had a 19” B&W TV that had a bad picture, so I took the Tuner from the 19 inch TV and wired / cabled it in place of the tuner in the cabinet TV.
So to change channels you changed the channel on the 19” TV and watched on the cabinet TV.
It worked for several months until we could afford a new TV...................This was early 80’s.............
Maybe the guy just didn’t want to throw away all those TV’s.
But, if I’d received one, I’d worry that a camera or recording device might be hidden in it.
they sure are picky!! “the needy have become greedy” imho.
Yeah nobody wants them. Amazing how quickly they lost all value. Not even collectible at this point in time.
The article said 50 TVs were left and a similar amount last year in August.
Where does one get that many old TVs?.................
I helped my parents clean out their basement about 20 years ago.
Heathkit color tv, with a wired “remote” - on/off, vhf channel incrementer.
The striking thing was the curve on the crt. Could have made a punch bowl out of it.
Bet the TV man is a chiropractor;-)
Even local thrift shops, Goodwills and Salvation Army store stopped taking them a few years ago.... And tube type computer monitors as well.................
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Gee. I hope this doesn’t mean they won’t take my old dot matrix printers or fax machines.
Old analog TVs can be used as monitors when hooked up to lipstick- sized spycams & VCRs or DVD recorders for home surveillance.
I have several smaller tabletop TV/ VCR setups in various rooms.
The spycams are aimed out the window, concealed in potted plants inside.
One has the wire running outside, with the spycam in a birdhouse.
That's an important question.
Also, if he handed them out to poor people, his good deed would make sense.
Instead, he's leaving them on doorstops in what looks like an upper-income neighborhood.
Maybe a fraternity is behind this: "If you want to join, you have to put this big TV on your head and drive around, dropping off free TV sets."
But the TVs are essentially worthless, since the TV signals have changed.......................
Probably not. They know what sells and what won’t....................
That sounds a bit complicated. It can all be done in one place and a flatscreen monitor will show all video inputs simultaneously................
I’ve never had television in my house and my entire adult life
my favorite bumper sticker: kill your television!
My kids are so well trained right now we’re at a resort in Lake Tahoe and there’s a giant flatscreen TVs and they have not been turned on once
Television is poison except for the very discerning mind
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