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Post by M. Hawbaker on May 28, 2021 17:32:53 GMT
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, a group of Romanian nationals located in Florida stole $740,000 from hundreds of churches by stealing contribution checks from their mailboxes and cashing them. Authorities said the money was spent on automobiles, food, clothing and high-value wire transfers to Romania, Fox News reports. In what officials are dubbing "Operation Thou Shalt Not Steal," four people have been detained, and two more are wanted. According to police, the crew was located in Orlando but went around Florida and other states stealing checks. Authorities listed 636 churches as casualties, 355 of which were in Florida. In a news release, FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen stated, "This low-tech yet well-organized effort to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of mailed-in charitable donations — at a time when donations may have been most needed — has been stopped." www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/john-paluska/romanian-group-arrested-in-florida-for-stealing-over-740000-from-636-churches.html |
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Post by barb43 on Jun 3, 2021 14:49:37 GMT
I'm glad these people were caught.
Have to tell you - it sounds like early summer in Canton, OH in the early 1960s. Romanian gypsies would make a swing through the city and steal whatever they could get: bicycles, tools, the family silverware (people still had some amount of that), and any jewelry they could grab out of a bedroom near the back of a house. They'd distract whoever was at home - often having their young children get whoever was home to come out front for some reason. Then adults and/or teens would run in the garage & back of the house (kitchen, a bedroom or two) and be gone down the alleyway before they were caught. This happened enough times that the local news began stories with, "It's that time of year..." and tell people to be on the lookout, and be sure to keep their doors locked.
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Post by M. Hawbaker on Jun 3, 2021 15:08:47 GMT
Have to tell you - it sounds like early summer in Canton, OH in the early 1960s. Romanian gypsies would make a swing through the city and steal whatever they could get: bicycles, tools, the family silverware (people still had some amount of that), and any jewelry they could grab out of a bedroom near the back of a house. They'd distract whoever was at home - often having their young children get whoever was home to come out front for some reason. Then adults and/or teens would run in the garage & back of the house (kitchen, a bedroom or two) and be gone down the alleyway before they were caught. This happened enough times that the local news began stories with, "It's that time of year..." and tell people to be on the lookout, and be sure to keep their doors locked. I remember the Gypsie caravans coming through our area each Summer when I was a kid. We lived in a small rural town where everybody knew everybody, and Gypsy season was the only time that most people bothered to lock their doors.
Even the stores would bring in extra help so that a second employee could stand next to the cashiers and keep their eyes glued to the cash register's drawer at all times while the Gypsies were in the store.
I haven't heard of any big groups of them passing through these parts though for at least the last decade or so.
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Post by barb43 on Jun 3, 2021 15:16:25 GMT
Wow! Thanks for sharing your story, Mel! I don't know where those Gypsies came from or returned to, or how many of them there may have been. It's interesting to see that they weren't just in NE Ohio, but also in Pennsylvania. It would be interesting to know how many states they worked - New York? Indiana? Illinois?
Canton had a large immigrant population, but these Gypsies were not residents - they came and they left. We never heard any stories that they were staying with local relatives.
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Post by M. Hawbaker on Jun 3, 2021 15:39:21 GMT
Wow! Thanks for sharing your story, Mel! I don't know where those Gypsies came from or returned to, or how many of them there may have been. It's interesting to see that they weren't just in NE Ohio, but also in Pennsylvania. It would be interesting to know how many states they worked - New York? Indiana? Illinois? Canton had a large immigrant population, but these Gypsies were not residents - they came and they left. We never heard any stories that they were staying with local relatives. The ones who used to pass through here were basically nomads with no permanent home at all.
They had a regular route that moved around whole eastern eastern part of the US over the course of the year.
They would make a real nuisance of themselves for a week or two and then move on until the next year.
It's entirely possible that some of the ones you encountered could be some of the same ones that we had here.
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Post by barb43 on Jun 3, 2021 16:59:18 GMT
They would make a real nuisance of themselves for a week or two and then move on until the next year.
It's entirely possible that some of the ones you encountered could be some of the same ones that we had here.
That's typically how it was in Canton too - they'd stick around for a couple of weeks, unless they were getting too much attention from local law enforcement and then they might be gone after a week. That's an interesting thought, that your Gypsies and our Gypsies may have been at least some of the same people.  |
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