DALLAS — Holiday shopping is just around the corner, which means thieves of all gifts and goodies will no doubt be looking to steal Christmas.
Archived WFAA stories from the SMU Jones Film Library show the ever-changing methods and targets of thievery. Some schemes of the 1970s were the common copping of hub caps and CB radios. However, a 1973 story examined a form of theft which had thieves literally digging lower than they ever have before.
Crooks were turning their eyes towards potted plants as loot and the uptick had police at a loss for how to defend against it.
“A lot of plants stolen are actually dug up out of the yard so there is not much prevention work that can be done by the individual person,” said a Dallas police spokesman.
That explanation did not suffice for one victim who promised a lot more than prevention if she caught the culprit.
“I would have grabbed my butcher knife if I had seen them and then you would be calling the homicide department.”
But a 1972 investigation tried to catch thieves in a less violent way. The WFAA crew left a shopping bag filled with packages sitting by itself on the concourse of the Town East Mall to see how many shoppers would stop to pick it up and, more importantly, what they did with it.
To the surprise of the reporter, most were good, honest people who took the bag to the information desk. However, the same could not be said for a young boy who picked up the bag and left the mall with two women.
But the joke was on them, the packages contained only placards telling them to “Watch Channel 8.”