Craigslist Camera Thief Caught Red-Handed

You hear the horror stories again and again: "Someone stole my camera! What can I do?" In most cases there isn't much you can other than keep a look out for it on craigslist. One photographer did just this..and when they found their camera up for grabs they asked the internet for advice.

My DSLR was stolen from my apartment and now i found my camera on craigslist, i am positive it is mine. I have already filed a police report and am currently on hold with an investigator, but i would like to ask you guys what you think i could do to get the camera back safely. Any suggestions?

Suggestions ranged from "play it safe/let the cops handle it" to "TAKE NO PRISONERS!!!1". Positive that this was the guy, the victim set up what would become an epic sting straight out of a vice cop drama.

Like the reddit user said "s!@# got real!"

I setup a meeting with the guy, got his phone number and a description of him. He used an email with his real name. He left his name on Facebook with an open profile. I saw that guy before and knew he had to have been the one to steal it so i printed out his photograph for cops. Then I filed a police report with his name and reported the serial of my camera from a very nifty website that scans any of your pics for serials. This was to ensure that I had prior knowledge of the serial when they would recover the camera, so it had to be mine. I then arranged a meeting at a coffee shop a block frm the police station and had a friend lookout for when he arrived at the shop. The police department lent me two awesome undercover cops to wait near the coffee shop in an undercover car. I was hiding in the back of the car and letting them know when I would get a text from a friend informing me of perpetrator's arrival. I let the perp know I was gonna be late and that he should get a coffee or something, and to tell me how I would recognize Him. He obliges and I get an easy description of him for the cops and a text saying he had arrived. I then tell the cops " book em boys", (kinda, exaggerating), they roll in, arrest him, find a Gun on him!(turns out to be fake) and find out there is a warrant out for his arrest, under a different name. Friends and I feel like complete badasses. I got my camera back, and a crazy story to boot. Thanks for any advice guys! Thought this s!@# only works out in the movies!

Well there you have it: A happy ending to a potentially ugly situation. The camera was returned to its rightful owner and we got a good story out of it. Justice is served.

Just give me back the camera...you can keep swag.