Dumb Jewel Thieves Get Caught By Bragging On Social Media

By Marie Lodi | July 31, 2015 | 12:45am

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A jewel thief is by far the sexiest type of criminal, but not when you act like a tool about it. Case in point: a group of men who successfully pulled off a series of jewelry store robberies were later caught when they showed off their baller status on social media.

Each of the five men played a distinctive role in the crime sprees, using Reservoir Dogs-type nicknames to refer to themselves, such as the “risk reducer,” the “runner” and the “hero stopper,” reports ABC News. During one robbery where two of the thieves managed to steal a ring worth $190K, they used jet skis to get away. Jet skis! This sounds like a movie waiting to happen. Like Ocean’s Eleven meets The Bling Ring.

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From December 2009 until May 2011, the team traveled throughout the country, stealing diamond jewelry worth millions of dollars. At one time, they even used a poor, innocent Chihuahua to help pull off a heist. In one year alone, the group managed to hit eleven different stores from Oregon to Florida. Victor Lupis, one of the runners, was identified and caught after one of the robberies. After confessing to the crime, he worked with authorities to take down the other thieves, who were still hitting more jewelry stores.

It was the crew’s social media habits that ultimately got them caught. Detectives spotted photos of the men wearing designer clothing, hanging out in fancy hotels and enjoying limo rides. One of them even pretended to use a stack of cash as a pillow.

“What got ‘em was greed. If they would have just stuck to the plan but not showed the money off publicly, we might still be trying to figure out who they are right now,” Portland Police Det. Eric McDaniel told 20/20. Sounds like they needed to take a cue from ol’ Doris.

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Image via Shutterstock.