robbery news stories on Newser

Pit Bull Survives Shot in Head After Saving Owner

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:10:55 CDT

A courageous dog saved the day in Staten Island when he helped scare off a home invader and survived a bullet to the head, reports the New York Post . The drama began when a burglar disguised as a FedEx deliveryman tried to break into Justin Becker's apartment. Becker threw the...

Girls, 16, Face Life for Fatal $39 Cabbie Robbery

Rob Quinn — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 04:26:15 CDT

Five young people in North Carolina may be spending the rest of their lives in prison for a robbery that made them less than $8 each. Police have charged two 16-year-old girls with the murder of a taxi driver who was stabbed to death and robbed of $39 last summer....

Medical Pot Delivery Guy: 2 Ninjas Robbed Me

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 08:31:05 CDT

Police in California are on the hunt for two men dressed as ninjas who allegedly robbed a medical marijuana delivery man on Friday, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports. The man says he was set upon by the ninjas-slash-robbers while walking back to his car after making a delivery, and,...

Justice Breyer Robbed at Machete-Point

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:58:41 CST

A machete-wielding intruder robbed Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer at his Caribbean vacation home last week, the AP reports. Breyer, 73, his wife Joanna, and guests were surprised to see the robber in their house on the island of Nevis at about 9pm last Thursday. The robber snatched about $1,...

Cops: Remote Shutdowns Would Curb Phone Thefts

Mark Russell — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 06:16:30 CST

With smartphone robberies soaring, frustrated police are calling for regulators and service providers to shut down stolen phones remotely to reduce their value, reports the Washington Post . About 40% of robberies in Washington in 2011 involved smartphones, iPods, or tablets, while in New York City the figure was nearly 50%....

Man Shot Stopping LA Robbery

Rob Quinn — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:00:00 CST

A restaurant worker who tried to foil an armed robbery at a Los Angeles meat market is clinging to life after being shot in the head. After a cashier at the market fled to the restaurant next door, two workers confronted the robber. One dodged a bullet and stabbed the...

Barbour's Pardoned Convicts Go Missing

Matt Cantor — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:32:05 CST

First, Haley Barbour issued a spate of controversial last-minute pardons ; then, a judge rejected a number of them , calling back five men who'd been released from prison. But the dust still hasn't settled: Those five men, convicted of murder and robbery, are nowhere to be found. The Mississippi attorney general's...

Cops: Google Maps Helped Burglar Case Homes

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:50:33 CDT

So you want to rob some houses, but you’re not sure where to start? Well, Samuel A. Watson came up with the idea to use Google Maps, he admits to Chicago police. Watson, suspected of breaking into as many as nine homes since March, “said he Googled ‘expensive homes along...

California's Newest Threat: Highway Robbers

Kevin Spak — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:45:17 CDT

California cops have created a new task force to deal with an unlikely threat: highway robbers. At least seven drivers reported being set upon by armed robbers while their cars were disabled on the side of the road in the wee hours of Sept. 18-19, the LA Times reports. “There...