Posted on 08/13/2011 1:10:57 AM PDT by OneLoyalAmerican
MOULTRIE, Ga. (WLS) - Newspaper thefts are on the rise, thanks to extreme savers who want more coupons.
"There is like a coupon ring that they're doing. They want the coupons and get very obsessive with them," said newspaper carrier Michaelyn Blackwell who believes popular TV shows such as Extreme Couponing are to blame for the recent thefts.
Some thieves, she says, have started taking the entire newspaper vending machines that can each weigh as much as 100 pounds. Blackwell says she now chains the machines together to make them tougher to steal.
The report of rising newspaper thefts follows the arrest of an Arkansas woman on August 7, who stole approximately 185 newspapers, worth $231.25, to feed her coupon habit. Jamie VanSickler was charged with misdemeanor theft. She told officers she is part of a coupon club and that she did not know she was doing anything illegal, according to her statement on August 5. She claimed she was just trying to save money.
Extreme couponers behind the thefts who are preoccupied with price may want to consider the hefty cost of the crime. If caught stealing a newspaper, violators can face fines up to $1,000 over a paper that might have cost them 50 cents.
ABC News Radio contributed to this report.
(Excerpt) Read more at wlsam.com ...
Hmmm.
What’s a “newspaper?”
What’s a “newspaper?”
Thinking it's some sort of wrapper for coupons.
Cheers,
OLA
I would like to see a coupon carry off a newspaper stand.
Apparently chains prevent that from happening.
Cheers,
OLA
The weekend paper here is the one with all the coupons in it, and they advertise it that way, ie, “Save up to $185.00 with offers this week” etc. The weekend paper is $2.00.
I’ve seen people looking through the ads inside, and I wonder how many of them are pulling out the coupons when no one is looking.
A dinosaur. Very nasty and smelly. Look away at all costs.
Sounds more like scrap metal thieves.
Coupons were the resistance to stopping the newspaper - I finally convinced my wife that supporting the McClatchy (SIC) commie rag was too much. She now uses the paper her work has delivered for her coupons....
Most couponers can figure out that the newspaper box isn't a magical machine which produces newspapers after you bring it home. I'd bet the stolen boxes were hauled off to unscrupulous scrapyards.
I dropped my subscription for a while and just bought the Sunday paper from the box. It seems like they skimp on ads and coupons in those papers, so I went back to a Sunday subscription.
Jamie VanSickler was charged with misdemeanor theft. She told officers she is part of a coupon club and that she did not know she was doing anything illegal, according to her statement on August 5. She claimed she was just trying to save money
Even my 3 year old grand daughter could come up with a better excuse that that.
A little factoid: WLS am 890 is a Chicago talk station. It must have been an ABC feed out of Georgia.
You’d be surprised. My hubby has to check the newspapers he buys for coupons first now. He’s gotten home and found they’ve been filched before. We’re ‘normal’ people. He buys 3 or 4 papers per week. Coupons get used and the newspapers are mulch in the garden. The lady stealing the newspapers was either ‘sick’ (who needs 150+ jars of mustard?) or part of a clipping service that sells clipped coupons.
Occasionally I buy a weekend paper for the coupons, and I never get the one off the top of the stack, I always go down to the middle and pull one out that hasn’t been messed with.
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