Fountain Pen Crime In Berkeley, Ca

[FarmBoy]

I will provide you with free admission to the SF Pen Show for the weekend; a) to look for your pens, to buy replacements. You can send me a PM or email.

Edited June 7, 2014 by FarmBoy

[elysee]

I will provide you with free admission to the SF Pen Show for the weekend; a) to look for your pens, to buy replacements. You can send me a PM or email.

That is nice of you! : )

[pen2paper]

Nice returning to find other positive suggestions..

There's basic good humor in the fountain pen community. But, refraining from teasing about the facilitator effect ; )

Really liked the starting fresh offer via Farmboy.

 

Ran across something recently, Don't know who to attribute the saying/motto.

Happiness is the journey, not a destination.

Do-overs, not really possible, and may remain associated with negative reminders. (even If those pens may be found).

Sometimes a fresh start making new memories adds a special spark.

 

I'm busy simplifying life, so don't know what I would do, but Farmboy's offer, and opportunity to spend time with pleasant pen folks sounds like a worthy event.

[Gloucesterman]

I can't imagine how you might feel about your loss or how long it might take to get over the painful parts of the loss - the loss itself as well as the experience of being violated, etc.

 

Please know that the following is not said in a flippant manner:

 

"Live and learn. Then get back to living again so we can apply what we learned"

 

Just think, on the upside, you get to do, at least, a partial "do-over"!

[amberleadavis]

You do not have to take an insurance company's offer. Many companies "low-ball" as a matter of course. There are private adjusters who can argue on your behalf. Probably adjusters that are local to you! Good luck!

 

 

Don't accept a number with depreciation. Check the policy for replacement value.

[vicki92]

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss, and I do hope they find your pens, especially those of sentimental value! Keep us all posted!

[Chi Town]

An Open Letter to the Fountain Pen Community:

 

Dear Fountain Pen Afficianados:

 

It is a very sad day for me. I am a professor at UC Berkeley who loves fountain pens. I was upset to find my office broken into and my fountain pen collection, consisting of more than 50 pens, stolen. The thieves seemed to know what they were doing as they located some pens in rather non-obvious places.

 

Some highlights of the collection at a Namiki Owl limited edition, a wide array of Pelikans from the 50s and 60s, and a Lamy Persona, a long discontinued model of wonderful design. Also in the collection were a Sheaffer Legacy with touchdown filler, a Sheaffer Intrigue in whale shark, and some lovely Omas Arco pens. Another unusual item is a Waterman Opera pen, a 1990 version of the Man 100 with lovely chasing. One item of strong sentimental value is a 1989 Montblanc 146.

 

 

If you see such items suddenly turn up on eBay or offered for sale at a retail store, please alert the police. The theft is UCPD case #14-01720 and the phone # is 510-642-6760.

 

I miss my collection greatly and will pay a handsome reward for its return. Please help me recover it.

 

Sincerely,

 

John Morgan

 

 

John, my heart goes out to you for your GREAT loss! I have a pen Club here in New Mexico and one of my members went thru a loss not as great as yours! but a loss similar non the less.....My heart and prayers are with you!

[Mister John]

First, I continue to be amazed at the outpouring of sympathy and assistance from the FP community. After experiencing the worst of humanity with the theft of my pens, it renews my spirit to experience some of the best of humanity from the responses. My plan now is to rebuild my collection with the insurance proceeds and with the kind donations from several of you. While I'll never be able to re-create the old memories from my stolen collection, I can at least create new ones. (Actually, the hardest blow is the MB 146. My wife gave me this pen for my birthday marking our first whole year of living together in NYC. Finances were tight, so she really had to scrape to afford it. I miss that pen the most.)

 

For those still interested, here is the latest news on the case (none of it good unfortunately): It turns out that the break-in of my office is the 4th in a series occurring at the business school in the preceding weeks. The thefts all had the same MO. The thief removed the wooden frame holding in the lower right window in the door, He then carefully removed the pane of glass, and then reached through to open the door from the inside. The previous thefts were all of large screen Apple all-in-one computers plus incidentals. These computers are big and bulky, suggesting something more professional than move-out theft. The offices that were hit all had closed blinds, so there was no way to see inside. Nonetheless, the thief only hit offices with the big Apple machines and my office with the pens. He seemed to know the contents of each office, including mine, before entering, suggesting inside help. We do not have video surveillance in the faculty wing where all of the thefts took place, so no help there.

 

One thing that annoys me is that the School did not alert other faculty while this crime wave was underway. Had I known that 3 other offices were hit in this fashion, I would have evacuated my pen collection to my house. The reason, supposedly, is that the university administrators do not want people to be "scared" about crime.

 

Attached is a list of the items that were stolen. So far, my eBay and Craigslist searches have come up empty. List of pen losses.pdf

Edited June 11, 2014 by Mister John

[sargetalon]

One thing that annoys me is that the School did not alert other faculty while this crime wave was underway.

 

That is not cool at all. Once the second theft occurred, a notice should have gone out. How else do you expect to curb such thievery if nobody knows to be on alert for it. It might have even served to discourage the thief from further activity.

[Tasmith]

One thing that annoys me is that the School did not alert other faculty while this crime wave was underway. Had I known that 3 other offices were hit in this fashion, I would have evacuated my pen collection to my house. The reason, supposedly, is that the university administrators do not want people to be "scared" about crime.

 

Attached is a list of the items that were stolen. So far, my eBay and Craigslist searches have come up empty. List of pen losses.pdf

 

Schools are notorious for under reporting crime on campus. They want to appear "safe" for the parents and alumni donors.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Tasmith

[GTOZack]

 

One thing that annoys me is that the School did not alert other faculty while this crime wave was underway. Had I known that 3 other offices were hit in this fashion, I would have evacuated my pen collection to my house. The reason, supposedly, is that the university administrators do not want people to be "scared" about crime.

 

Attached is a list of the items that were stolen. So far, my eBay and Craigslist searches have come up empty. List of pen losses.pdf

 

Schools are notorious for under reporting crime on campus. They want to appear "safe" for the parents and alumni donors.

 

too true,

[Sasha Royale]

Find him. Kill him. I'll be your alibi .

[penrivers]

This is extremely disturbing... All signs indicate that a fountain pen enthusiast stole the fountain pens. What is the world coming to?

And that's the worst scenario: a sophisticated, highly erudite in and lover of fountain pens, a really intelligent person belonging to the universitary community wont show those pens in public in years or maybe forever, any how i hope sombody finds him-her.

[penrivers]

I will provide you with free admission to the SF Pen Show for the weekend; a) to look for your pens, to buy replacements. You can send me a PM or email.

With all my respect, I woulndt recommend that in public, I hope the thief didnt read it but I dont think so.

Edited June 11, 2014 by penrivers

[GTOZack]

hide mini gps in blindcaps from now on. i should devise a system

 

a friend puts minigps in his chef knives his knives are 4k each, custom ken onion chef knives

[OcalaFlGuy]

Find him. Kill him. I'll be your alibi .

 

Just some friendly words of advice.

 

BUY the woodchipper. Don't Rent it.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[TheModernGent]

 

Just some friendly words of advice.

 

BUY the woodchipper. Don't Rent it.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

and pay with cash

[LWJ2]

 

Just some friendly words of advice.

 

BUY the woodchipper. Don't Rent it.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

 

Forget the woodchipper, use a good-quality spoon so it won't bend as you gouge the thief.

[sotto2]

This just popped into my memory. About 10 years ago here, several computers were stolen, all with special biomedical software from a specific manufacturer and used for a specific purpose. A visiting scholar had done some work using that software and one or two of those computers. It turned out that he had professional ties with a competing biomedical company, and had just returned to his job in Europe. I don't know if that had anything to do with the theft of those computers, but when the security videos were reviewed of the night the computers were taken, it turns out that the thief was our relatively new night security guard.

Edited June 12, 2014 by sotto2

[AHodnik]

I am relatively new to the regal world of fountain pens; so the two in my "collection" would come as a blistering shock if lost or stolen. I will scour eBay and Craigslist in the Pacific Northwest, I am in Alaska, and do what I can. Rotten, pure and simple, much sympathy.

Andrew