10.08.2006
A Terrorist Purse Snatcher?
Check the police log in the daily Plattsburgh paper for Thursday, October 5th, 2006. Look for the item entitled LARCENY INVESTIGATION, dateline Plattsburgh.
The item explains that the City Police are searching for an alleged purse thief who struck Tuesday night at a “laundromat” [sic]. According to the police report, a woman was taking care of her laundry when she noticed a man leaving, her purse in his possession.
OK, what’s so interesting about that? Some guy is accused of grabbing a handbag. Yes, it’s unfortunate that the woman had to lose her IDs and everything else in her purse, but such things happen all the time. Why am I pointing out this article?
The police log goes on to describe the manhunt for the thief, including this detail:
“A Homeland Security helicopter was in the area on unrelated matters and assisted police with the search.”
Now that fact I find interesting. It leads to some questions.
What were the “unrelated matters” that the Homeland Security was handling before it joined the hunt for the purse snatcher? Obviously, those matters weren’t that important: they were quickly dropped so that the helicopter crew could fly around, looking for a petty thief.
I thought Homeland Security was mainly concerned about our border to the north with Canada. Shouldn’t that helicopter be occupied with flying along there, trying to detect any enemies trying to sneak into the US of A?
How much does it cost to run and maintain that helicopter? Gee, that helicopter couldn’t be a big chunk of flying pork, could it? You know, those guys are up there, circling around, looking for something to do. They listen to the police scanner, ready to swing into action when a dangerous purse snatcher is on the loose.
But I could be wrong. Maybe the terrorists, dedicated to blowing up these United States, are trying to raise money by stealing purses. There might be enough loose bills in one purse to buy some firecrackers. And maybe some sparklers, too.
# posted by Stan Spire @ 3:13 AM 
