WINTER2022_SSCWN_1-68-3

Darwin
DARWIN at
the
CARWASH
The investment in security cameras pays off for carwash operators
(and the readers of SSCWN) with these mostly frustrating, sometimes funny -- and always cautionary
-- stories of Darwins Caught on Camera. Images of these criminals and/or their vehicles were given
to police and the press. Many have been caught thanks to the prowess of security cameras.
Two rules everyone needs to know:
A prank only really works if it’s funny. and, two,
don’t pull a prank on a self serve car wash owner.
In Tower, Minnesota, Tom Anderson, the owner of
Tower Car Wash, was sick and tired of a trespasser
putting a closed sign at the front of his car wash.
According to a November 4 Timberjay story, Anderson
said, “I got seven calls on Sunday morning,
asking me why the car wash was closed. That’s
seven customers I lost.” This apparently wasn’t the
first time the car wash was tampered with.
Increasingly frustrated by the loss of business, the
story said, and the impact on his business’s reputation,
Anderson finally got some answers after viewing
surveillance camera footage from a nearby business.
Video not only showed the suspect in action,
Anderson also recognized him as well.
Anderson consulted with the St. Louis County
Sheriff’s office, and sent a letter to the person involved,
notifying them that if they are seen in or
around the premises in the future, the sheriff or
state police will be notified and can arrest him for
trespassing, the story said.
Due to other theft and vandalism issues at his self
serve car wash the past summer, Anderson said he
is looking into adding further security measures at
the car wash, as well as moving to a credit-card only
system. The car wash will also be converted into a
gated self serve in which only members can enter.
“It will be like a gym membership,” Anderson
said in the story. “With a one-time membership
fee. Then I can track who is there and make sure it
is always left in good condition.”
Scrub a dub dub, one man’s now in
the jug.
A man is facing multiple charges after allegedly
crashing a stolen vehicle before attempting to carjack
another vehicle in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Kristoff from Frozen? Chris Pratt from his days on Parks and Recreation?
I’m trying to figure out who this lovely man
reminds me of…..Cousin Eddie from National
Lampoon’s?
Here’s the actual picture of a man caught
on camera breaking into the Palm Springs Car
wash in Ontario, Canada, on November 29:
According to a Simcoe.com story, the robbery
According to a November 15 Boston 25 News
story, around 2 a.m. on November 14 an officer
was flagged down by a woman who said she had
gotten into an altercation with a male suspect at a
Scrub-a-Dub car wash.
The woman said she had pulled over her car to
help a man who crashed a vehicle into the concrete
foundation of a business sign. She said she
took place at 3 a.m. An investigation found that
the ATM and vending machine were also broken
into. It also looks as if he is pointing his fists
into the security camera.
The guitarist from Foo Fighters? Mark Zuckerberg?..........Rutherford
B. Hayes? Ulysses S.
Grant?
approached the driver of the vehicle, later identified
as William Vasbinder, who then exited the
vehicle and tried to get into the woman’s car. The
woman said she tried to intervene, but an altercation
ensued. The man then allegedly punched her.
She somehow managed to stay focused enough
to pull the keys away (I personally would have
crumbled to the ground after getting punched and
WINTER 2022 • 59