Man arrested for car robbery in San Francisco caught on video The crime was committed by a YouTuber who staged an elaborate prank, but an investigation revealed that he had recently been released by a judge on previous charges related to car theft.
Mark Rober, a YouTuber and former NASA engineer, lured car thieves by installing a camera in a car with a booby-trapped backpack inside. When the robber breaks the car window and steals the backpack, the backpack later emits a foul odor and signals a countdown to scare the robbers.
He also installed bulletproof glass on one car, only to see the robbers try helplessly to break the glass to get their hands on the loot.
Robber then went a step further and asked for help. From KGOTV Reporter Dan Noyes tried to identify the robbery suspect by checking the license plate of the car he drove. He found that most people were using stolen license plates to hide their identity, but one man was driving a car with a normal license plate and they were unable to identify him. was completed.
Charvel Augustin, 30, of San Francisco, was captured on video breaking the window of the robber bait truck and grabbing the backpack from inside. Another video taken from inside the backpack shows him opening it, looking inside, and abandoning his backpack after a foul odor spreads and a countdown begins.
“Fire the fart spray cannon!” reads the message automatically sent from the bag.
An hour later, Augustin was caught on video allegedly stealing a second backpack from another of Robar's decoy vehicles.
Noise looked into Augustine's past and found that the man had been released by a judge a few days earlier on charges related to a car robbery. After he failed to appear in court, the judge issued a $35,000 bench warrant. He was charged with second-degree vehicle theft and possession of burglary tools.
Police said they recovered US, Indian and euro currency from the suspect's car, as well as a watch and jewelry.
Nevertheless, the judge released him on his own reconnaissance.
“The judge is showing bad judgment there.”
“It seems like an easy solution,” Judge Loretta Giorgi said on Oct. 9 when she dismissed the bench warrant.
Three days later, Augustine was captured by Rober's decoy car and was also videotaped by police as he allegedly robbed two other cars.
Frank Noto with Stop Crime SF told KGO that this incident is not uncommon in courtrooms.
“It's really crazy,” Noto said. “The judge has poor judgment there. This criminal says he doesn't intend to commit a crime, at least not during the trial. But they're completely wrong.”
Noyes noted that Augustine appeared to be wearing designer jeans similar to those worn during the alleged car robbery in court.
He has pleaded not guilty, and his public defender told KGO that he was “loving and kind” and caring for his sick grandmother. She also claimed that confinement did nothing to deter car burglaries.
Robar's various videos on YouTube have been viewed over 4.6 billion times.
Here is the news report:
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