stealing is stealing and excuses are excuses.. I am sure if he swallowed his pride and asked for help he would have received it and then instead of knocking stacks over.. could have stacked some more... or some other help then all could have held their heads high!
Another good reason to have an OWB! Keep the largest pieces stacked on the top of the pile and find out if that thief can lift them over the fence without dropping them on himself! Or... Keep the wettest greenest most moisture laden wood within reach of the thief. And...Put up a large sign stating- Warning...person behind this fence was caught in the act of stealing!
My response might be: I can help you with some wood. But stealing and deliberately making a mess is never acceptable. If i work with you to get more wood, will this be the last time my trust is betrayed? Because the second time i will let loose hell. I am confident you would do the same. On a bad day my response might be different.
Thieves steal, it's what they do. A person who will steal a small thing will steal anything if they think they can get by with it. Some people are besterd coated besterds with besterd filling.
Well said, especially by an excellent member, Firewood Bandit, who coincidentally happens to have "bandit" as part of his username
Not firewood but a few years ago my daughter woke us up saying someone was in our Suburban out front. We have a circular drive so the Sub was six feet from our bedroom window, I look out the window and sure enough the dome light is on, doors open and a pair of legs are visible. Just as I was going outside to help gently close the door on this thief, my wife yells "Get out of our car" from the window. Police are called etc, they told me I could have fired from the window to keep my property from leaving.
I work hard for what I have, and I believe you should be able to do what needs to be done to keep your stuff.
They busted the drivers side window in the Suburban, but our Lincoln was unlocked so I only had to replace one window that night. I've had a few situations where I could have used deadly force but choose not to, both times they ran as I was moving towards them. If they close to gap towards me, that's a whole different story.
Works that way in Texas but not every where, do you remember the one person who shot a person doing a repo on his vehicle and was not found guilty of the murder?
If he is on a fixed income why not cut his own wood. Its free to do so other than a small amount of gas.
None taken. Actually if you want to know here is how the term Firewood Bandit happened: A few years ago a tree service was taking down a huge black walnut about 1 mile down the road from my house. I stopped and asked for the wood? The guy looks at me and says, "Hmm... You are one of them Firewood Bandits". I shrugged and said, "I guess so". He laughed and let me have it and they dumped it in the road ditch in front of my house. It was over 30" in diameter. Made it all into firewood.
Man, I would have covered the top of my pile with mouse traps or sat out there all night. A stack being pushed down is more annoying than the wood disappearing.
With kids moving on to school and some development in the area, I installed cameras. To get to my place and gear, you have to cross a small culvert. So put motion detectors on barn and house floods and pointed the cameras to cover those areas. Cool thing is that the cameras have an iphone app that's real time, so while at work or away, I can check out the homestead, or more likely can direct someone to the right woodpile or tool they have asked to borrow from. So far I like it a lot. They are set to record only motion, so they estimate I will get 2 months recording before it starts recording over. Hoping just having lights come on would be enough. Mainly worried about the gear than the wood, but would prefer to lose neither!
