We just got this disturbing email, complete with a photo and video from Craig about a flower thief who was caught red-handed on his security camera:
My wife has a pretty great garden, it is just getting started this year since the spring hasn’t been that warm (yet). We have had a number of odd incidents in our yard with flowers mysteriously being cut over the past few years. I’ve been perplexed as to who would go and take flowers in full bloom from a stranger’s year, so I decided to install a few security camera and see what I could see. I have caught some interesting activity to say the least. Most recently, ten minutes after leaving our house on Saturday the 7th at 4:30, this young lady came up to one of our gardens, looked straight at the cameras for a few seconds and decided to go ahead and snip 4 of our prized tulips. If anyone can identify the perpetrator in this picture, please let us know. We would appreciate an apology for stealing the small bits of color we have managed to bring to life so far this year.
You can view the video of the flower thief here.
My husband and I could not believe our eyes when we saw this! We have a problem with owners not picking up their dog poop and would love to know what kind of video camera you use. Thanks for posting, awareness is a great thing.
http://www.wallyhood.org/forums/topic.php?id=708&replies=3#post-2164
We lost a tree this week. May have been the same culprit. Thing is, that woman is SUPER easy to identify. I bet somebody knows her.
I’m so sorry this happened! What a bummer. I have to say, I got a thrill out of seeing her caught on tape. That kicks ass. Nice–I hope this can be resolved and you get an apology!
The parking strip land belongs to the city, although they leave all maintenance up to the residents. So while I think it’s really lame to steal from your hard work, I would think it would be tough to prosecute as a crime given it’s city property.
That camera seems to do a great job, I’d like to know what make/model it is too please. Thanks and good luck finding the perp.
It is hard for me to tell much as I’m watching the video on my phone. Is that clearly an adult or a child?
The post doesn’t say what area you are in, could you give us a hint, might help narrow it down.
Same thing on the camera as requested, what make/model would be appreciated.
This is giving me the creeps. Big Video Camera Brother and now a growing righteous mob. And I assume you would have given her some tulips if she had asked nicely . . . it’s tulips. She looks to me to be underage and you posted her image without her permission. Or her parents. Why not post a big sign that asks people not to pluck your posies (since this appears to happen a lot). (I am writing about cutting 4 tulips, not stealing landscape plants).
Don’t throw me on the righteous mob bandwagon. Identifying the person doesn’t mean hanging them by their toenails…it should mean a conversation. Given the 7th at 4:30 was the night before mother’s day, my guess is it was a child cutting flowers for mom. My son picks flowers for me on the way home from the school bus some days but we have given him very specific guidelines about it and would hope that whenever this person is identified a polite and civil conversation could take place to provide some guidance to this person of reasonable expectations. My guess is it is a simple misunderstanding.
As far as why I asked about the camera model, I sometimes would like to know who is at the door before I go answer it, call me lazy 😉
BURN HER!!! lol… I will keep in mind you all have cameras next time… 😉
What was the purpose of posting a photo and video of whoever took your precious flowers on a website viewed by hundreds of people? It doesn’t seem like you want an apology regarding a private dispute but rather a public shaming. And if the “perp” were to be identified from this post, how is a dialogue supposed to result when the person who committed this minor offense has now been humiliated? The contrast between planting flowers to beautify the neighborhood and this sort of ugly spite is poetic.
Luddite- I couldn’t agree more. Thank you for sharing your viewpoint!
I will say that while I do think it’s pretty shitty that someone would do this, homeowners do need to recognize they plant at their own risk because they don’t own the parking strip. Even if you bust your butt maintaining it, plant vegetables, and what not, she could do this all day, in front of you or your cameras and you have no recourse, because it’s not your land.
I agree with Keisha. You boys need to grow up and stop being so passive aggressive..
Do you sit around and watch your flower cam all day? Perhaps you should be doing housework or laundry if you have so much free time.
Leave the poor girl alone and grow up.
Look, I don’t care about four tulips personally, but the “girl” looks to be in her twenties, and is acting exactly like she’s stealing the flowers. She’s approaching from one direction, casing the place, making sure nobody is watching, then stealing the flowers and hiding them in her bag.
If it was a ten year old girl picking some daisies, sure, but it’s a petty act of theft and the homeowner has every right to be pissed. And besides, all he asked for was an apology.
If you don’t want to be embarrassed on a website, don’t swipe flowers from people’s gardens. Or if you do, look all casual and cool and carry them off, sniffing them like a badass. Don’t stand around looking shifty like a burglar.
guilty until proven innocent. nice.
Her mother probably appreciated the flowers.
god bless her.
I am in no way interested in prosecuting the flower cutter, but what was done was rude and disrespectful. I would like a simply apology, as I stated, and an agreement not to do it again. For those who state that the city owns the parking strip and street, its my problem, I bet some of you might mind if I borrowed you carelessly parked on a public street?
I know this is a mixed neighborhood with lots of renters, and not everyone maintains their property, but my family works hard and puts a lot of time and money into maintaining the appearance of our home and super small yard. One of the most beautiful thing about flowers is that everyone can enjoy them, we all win…as long as they are not cut and removed. This is particularly problematic with bulb flowers (like tulips), whose gift is singular for the year and short lived.
For those who asked these are Logitech Alert cameras, they have indoor and outdoor models, can record motion events that happen (so I don’t have to sit around and watch a camera all the time) The can send me email when something moves in an area I am not expecting movement, they can record at night and I can go back and review things that have happened in the past…like why have ½ our tulips been cut off, and I can view them from my phone. I have them around my house because, as we all know, there are break-ins from time to time, I believe these are a good deterrent. I have rally nothing inside my house to steal, but I don’t want my family feeling threatened or insecure in our own home. if my house has cameras, and another doesn’t, where is a burglar more likely to go?
And Linda, I have done lots of growing up and plenty more to do, as I believe none of us are ever really done with that. I, however, I am not the only one who could use a lesson from this incident. Had I been asked, I might have agreed to donate a few flowers to her bouquet, but I was not asked. If they were for a Mother’s day gift, I might even have proposed an better idea, perhaps drawing a map where there are beautiful gardens or flowers are in the neighborhood and taking mom on a walk to see these beautiful spots. This would have been much more memorable and special to a parent than a bouquet of stolen flowers.
The last sentence of the first paragraph above should read…
For those who state that the city owns the parking strip and street, its my problem, I bet some of you might mind if I borrowed your car you carelessly parked on a public street?
Here is a link to the cameras:
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/video-security-systems
Hi Craig,
I really liked what you wrote and I agree with you 100%. Thank you for sharing the video camera system you use. I think you are being completely justified and rational. IMHO, it looks like the young woman (she does not look like a little girl to me) was looking up at your house to see if anyone was watching her. I don’t know if the video cameras are in plain sight or not.
Good points about the parking strips. I wish the city would maintain ours.
p.s. I would try posting a sign asking folks to please refrain from picking the flowers.
p.p.s. We are lucky we live where we live. In my old hood Capitol Hill, my immediate next door neighbors were arrested for meth use and they abused and neglected their cats (locked them in their car then drove their car in a windowless brick garage, locked them in their basement, etc). My car window was shattered, my interior door (we shared a hallway to the basement w/our unstable/terrible neighbor) was broken, my large ceramic planter was destroyed, my cool Rejuvenation iron fish was stolen, a convicted burglar tried to break in, etc.
I don’t have any sympathy for the thief either, and I also find her apologists who seem to want to blame the victims very frustrating as well. The homeowners have her on video and want to find out who she is to have some sort of resolution. What’s the difference in that versus seeing her steal while they were looking out the window and going out and confronting her?
Anyway the city has some rules, and in some cases you apparently need a permit (which it seems is free), but planting in the parking strips is perfectly legal and encouraged.
http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Yard/Natural_Lawn_&_Garden_Care/GrowingFoodintheCity/PlantingStrips/
Agree with #21, I’m with the homeowners here.
I’m with Craig and Rob.
I love that this is now Wallyhood’s most contentious issue!
I’m with the NIMFY’s, based on the miscreant’s poise and attitude – she came there to steal flowers – she approaches from the east, looks around shiftily for a long time, grabs the flowers, hides them in a bag and walks back the way she came. That’s a deliberate act, not an impulsive picking of a couple of flowers.
Like the homeowner, I don’t think it’s the end of the world. It’s just irritating.
But this will be the schism that splits Wallyhood down the middle. It will be like the Civil War, with brother turning against brother, barista against barista.
I think the Mason Dixon line should be 43rd, because 40th and 45th are too busy.
LOL, love it, Frankie!
We were just having an interesting convo here at home about this based on the number of responses this has gotten. Interestingly, I watched the video on my phone and would have sworn the person was a child/teen as stated above. My partner said that I must be blind as it isn’t. Having now watched it on a full size screen I am surprised at the difference in what I see.
Lesson learned for me!
I’m sorry the flowers were taken and I am really sorry there is posted video footage. It was 4 flowers on a planting strip, not a UPS package on the porch or dug-up landscape plants or a drug deal (all three have happened recently), probably not a “gateway” theft. I would be disappointed in humanity too, sad, but I would figure out a way to deal with it in a way that turned it around like actually talking to the flower child or flower adult, your side, their side.
Aa for other incidents, in the past, lots of plant clipping was by someone who didn’t like being whipped in the face with wet overhanging plants; this was below 40th. I wonder if that was a factor leading up to the camera installation. The Municipal Code rule is that there be 8 feet of clearance over the sidewalk.
Attention all visitors to and residents of Wallingford Estates: this place has surveillance cameras and people view the planting strip as private property.
At Craig #17… I’m a renter, and I respect other people’s property more than I think they respect my space. Please don’t group us all together or stigmatize the renters as irresponsible frat kids (see what I did there?). Thanks!
First 4 tulips. Next some eggs from you chicken coup. Next some mail from your mailbox. Next the UPS package from your porch. Next your bicycle from the front yard. Next your car from the driveway. Next your children from their treehouse. Where is the internal moral compass these days? Have we no respect for others? What’s the B.F.D. you ask? If you keep bending over, you’ll keep getting it up the rear because the one giving it to you doesn’t know better and the one looking on doesn’t find it to be a B.F.D. I’d consider posting an NRA sign for those that have trouble respecting others time, efforts and property no matter where it resides.
Yes, put a sign alerting people to your gun possession next to the pretty flowers that aren’t even on your property. Four filched tulips (or, for that matter, someone cutting through your backyard or standing on the sidewalk with no apparent purpose) is just a couple steps away from car theft, child abduction and general moral disintegration.
Love that Wallingford community spirit!
Looks like an adult to me (she looks short because of the camera angle).
Even if she were a child, any child old enough to walk down the street by herself is old enough to know that you don’t take other peoples’ flowers.
I would not want a mother’s day bouquet of flowers that looked fresh-plucked, unless it was just dandelions and bluebells and other weeds. And my child knows this. (A nod to Karla @ #8, for teaching what I would imagine are similar guidelines.)
You miss my point. It’s a sad state of affairs these days that the only deterants are club; whip; club; cane; gun; signs: beware of dog, no loitering, no trespassing, closed circuit camera, stay off the grass, scoop your poop, stay out, no public access, stay on the path, I don’t call the police; NRA sticker in the window; club on the steering wheel; chain lock on trailer; padlock on the garbage dumpster. Please, really? Where is the the internal moral conscience. The flower thief is just the tip of the ice berg of much of today’s society. Do you think if you dropped an item with some value out on the sidewalk the finder would read your name and phone number and give you a ring. I hold out faith that there are still some that may.
Where is the outrage over Hamilton Middle School students using the public park when there are Field Closed signs up? The “community “process” such as it was PROMISED that the park would remain for everyone to use, especially the Walking Path in the west playfield area, now trashed from track and field use . . . what example does that set for all of us.
Maybe it starts in the schools in an apparently system-wide unethical culture. “What matters is what is enforced” seems to be the mantra.
33 comments. Massive outrage. Is it OK to officially call this “Flowergate?”
If there can be Wars of the Roses, why not some kind of Clash for the Tulips? Even irises are tough enough to get the Fleur-de-lis on coats of arms.
Make it #34.
Not sure how relevant this is but I’d sure hate to be the one who posted this video if something happened to the girl as a result.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/nyregion/roommate-arraigned-in-rutgers-spy-suicide-case.html
IMHO, it’s 0% relevant…until I clicked on your link, I thought you were thinking she could be kidnapped, whipped with noodles, etc. I hope she has higher self esteem than to kill herself because she was ‘outed’ stealing some flowers. With less than 200 hits, it’s not likely to go viral. I think you’re safe Craig.
The rule for posting photos / videos of someone without their permission hinges on whether they ought to have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” at the time the images were taken. Filming someone in their dorm room or a dressing room is a big no. Walking down a public street is fair game, based on my understanding (but I’m no lawyer). At Wallyhood, we ask permission as a courtesy, but my understanding is that it’s not required.
Like I said – I wouldn’t want to be the one who posted the video if something happened to the girl. I’m pretty sure I know who the police would be visiting.
Even if posting the video is fair game, I think the original poster would feel pretty bad if the girl did commit suicide as a result.
I know – highly unlikely – just something to think about.
One of the videos is of someone swiping a couple of flowers, on a security cam. The other, is a hidden camera recording a young man having intercourse, then releasing that video on social networks and outing him as gay in the process to his entire school, family and friends.
One of these things is not like the other.
I am sure the flower thief is not suicidal.