User:Evanx/Backup
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[edit] The Incident
How NOT to steal a SideKick II refers to an Internet meme that emerged on 6 June 2006. A web page was started in response to an alleged theft of a T-Mobile Sidekick II. In early June 2006, an unnamed woman left her Sidekick II in a New York taxi. When she realized this, she sent a text message to the phone offering a reward but received no response. After a day of waiting, she purchased a new Sidekick II. Upon inserting her new SIM card, she saw that the person(s) who were in possession of the phone had signed on to AOL, leaving their name and password in the phone, and had also taken pictures of themselves.
A friend of the woman, Evan Guttman, a New York based photographer/computer consultant, immediately contacted the America Online account and requested that the Sidekick II be returned but was allegedly rebutted with racist remarks and threats of violence. He responded by a posting the email addresses and photographs on his personal web site in order to embarrass the current holders and elicit the return as well as an apology. To date, there has been no resolution.
[edit] Response
Since the website's conception, the page has been mentioned on Digg, Slashdot, an MSNBC blog, The New York Times, CNET and many other online journals. Discussion boards devoted to this event received so much traffic that the servers on which they were hosted were briefly overloaded.
Guttman received offers from site and forum visitors for free web hosting, and briefly added a donation button to his main page to allow visitors to help with web hosting costs, which he said were quickly increasing. He removed the donation button a short time later due to criticism which included the assertions that his motives were commercial and that the whole issue was a hoax. Evan's justification for the removal is that he did not wish the allegations to distract from the real issue at hand, therefore he will be bearing all costs henceforth.
It has been revealed that the report made to the NYPD was erroneous and filed under lost property instead of theft. Allegedly, an unnamed NYPD officer read the website and set up a meeting with Evan to assist him with instructions to file the entire incident again to the proper channels. The report was made available on the website with crucial information removed.
On 11 June 2006, Guttman attempted to correct the erroneous complaint at the 9th precinct by explaining the situation to another unnamed NYPD officer. Allegedly, this officer insisted on keeping the case closed without regard to Guttman's arguments to the contrary. This officer also purportedly noticed that Guttman had the previously mentioned complaint report with him and asked what officer provided the report to him, suggesting that both him and the providing officer would be in trouble. Guttman refused to give a name and was thereafter referred to another precinct to further pursue his claim.
In response to this incident, Guttman has agreed to interviews with several radio shows: 98Rock (Tampa, Florida), The Mikey Show (San Diego) and 1010 WINS (Manhattan).
On 13 June 2006, Guttman revealed information about the Sidekick's owner after receiving her permission to do so. The owner was getting married and was engaged in correspondence with US and Russian consulates with her Sidekick in order for her sister in Russia to obtain a visa. The loss of the Sidekick led to a lack of communication with Russian consulates and consequently to the denial of a visa for her sister, who was set to be the maid of honor at the wedding.
The same day, Guttman was informed of a possible reason for the refusal to return the Sidekick by the alleged thief via an e-mail from an anonymous person under the name "Khisanth". This person claimed that the alleged thief had already resold the phone and was therefore unable to return it. According to this person, the family of the alleged thief had since demanded to be reimbursed for the money they paid the taxi driver for the Sidekick (claiming many times to have bought the Sidekick from the driver, but it is unconfirmed who exactly "bought" it as the family members had not yet kept their story straight) and threatened to counter-sue for harassment. Since these developments, Guttman has withdrawn all offers of reimbursement or reward for the phone's return by this family.
[edit] Sidekick Owner
The stolen or lost sidekick's owner has been named as an American citizen from Russia. The owner urgently needed emails and addresses to correspond with the U.S. consulate in Yekaterinburg, Russia to arrange a visa for her sister, Elena Kurepina, who lives in Omsk. The owner is getting married in the United States in June and sought to gain a visa so her sister could attend. Without the emails and addresses, the visa request was denied.
[edit] Resolution
After a surprise call for a re-appointment on 15 June 2006 from the NYPD, detectives confirmed they were on the case.
On 20 June 2006, the NYPD picked up the alleged thief and retrieved the Sidekick. Guttman and the owner did not press charges against the minor as they felt she had learnt her lesson.
The New York Times picked up on the story with a full page article for their 21 June 2006 publishing.
[edit] Consequences
The incident and response brought into question the morality and actions of the alleged thief, Evan Guttman and the Internet community at large. While many have condemned the moral actions of the accused, some have spoken in defence of her young age and seemingly poor environment. Some Internet users are skeptical of Evan Guttman's motives as well as the extent to which he is bringing the issue to, although others have praised him for being honourable and helping to uphold the basic tenets of society which they believe has become eroded. A minority blames the Internet community involved for blowing the entire issue out of proportion and that this was merely a simple theft case which does not require public attention.
Recent updates have had alleged implications that the NYPD is tied up with too much bureaucratic tape. Conversely, it has been suggested that the NYPD has limited resources and cannot investigate every report of theft or lost property. The professionalism of the unnamed NYPD officer who assisted Evan Guttman as well as the unnamed one who referred him to a different precinct clashes with the personal values and morals that these officers hold, which led to their respective decisions.
