FSU Gets their National Championship Trophies Back

[tedginn05]

FSU recovers stolen national championship trophies

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><!-- begin leftcol --><!-- template inline -->TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A pair of $30,000 national football championship trophies stolen last year from a locked case at Florida State University have been recovered.


John Piowaty, a 25-year-old self-described boat captain from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., was being held on burglary and grand theft charges, university spokeswoman Browning Brooks said Wednesday.

Jason Rojas, a public service commission staff attorney, was booked on a felony charge of possessing stolen property after he returned the second crystal football to authorities.

Florida State police said both men are graduates of the University of Florida and neither had any previous criminal record.

One of the trophies was recovered in Fort Walton Beach in the western Florida Panhandle, about 150 miles west of Tallahassee. The second was recovered in the capital city.

Neither were students or employees at the university, Brooks said.

The Waterford Crystal trophies, awarded at the time by Sears in recognition of the 1993 and 1999 national championships based on the final coaches poll, were removed from a locked wooden-and-glass case outside coach Bobby Bowden's office on June 23, 2004, during renovation work in the area.

"I always felt like we would [get them back] because what are you going to do with them?" Bowden said Wednesday night.

There were no surveillance cameras in that area and the trophies were not insured, but university president T.K. Wetherell said security has since been beefed up significantly.

"I thought it was just a matter of time," Wetherell said. "You can't have something like that and somebody's not going to say something to somebody."

Wetherell says he would consider reducing the charges if the men are prepared to make restitution to the university for the replacement trophies and investigation expenses.
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[scooter1369]

Just no honor among theives these days...

[Dryden]

Originally Posted by scooter1369

Just no honor among theives these days...

I know. You'd think Fat Phil Fulmer would return our 1998 trophy already.

[smith288]

What does one expect to do with one of these trophies? You cant sell it anywhere. You cant display it... must have been one of those "in the moment" things i suppose.

[daddyphatsacs]

Originally Posted by smith288

What does one expect to do with one of these trophies? You cant sell it anywhere. You cant display it... must have been one of those "in the moment" things i suppose.

It's kind of the same concept as when one feels inclined to steal Big Boy.

Cops solve case of missing Big Boy
Police recover stolen restaurant statue in Clarkston garage

By Mike Martindale / The Detroit News

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TROY -- The case of the missing Big Boy has been solved with the help of an alert meter reader.
The chubby, blue-eyed Big Boy, all 6-foot-4-inches of him, was reported stolen from a restaurant at Long Lake and Dequindre on Aug. 21. The fiberglass statue of the smiling, wavy-haired trademark, decked out in his T-shirt and bright red-checkered overalls, was torn from its pedestal.
"We got a tip last Friday from a meter reader who saw him standing inside an open garage in the Clarkston area," Lt. Steve Zavislak said. "We sent some detectives out to talk to the homeowner and it was our guy."
A 17-year-old girl who lives at the address has told police that she and two male friends, 16 and 18, took the statue earlier this month as part of a prank.
"They backed a pickup truck to the statue and knocked him right off the pedestal," said Zavislak. "Then, they tossed him into the back of the truck and took him."
The statue, which is hollow, weighs about 80 pounds, Zavislak said. The theft was reported when restaurant employees arrived for work.
The restaurant reported the missing statue's value at about $1,000. It is not known what, if any, damage was caused to it. Zavislak said the 17-year-old girl and the 18-year-old male will be charged under the city's larceny ordinance, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine.
"The homeowner knew Big Boy was out in the garage, but didn't know what to do with him," Zavislak said. "They apparently had heard the media reports that he was missing."
The purpose of the theft? Apparently a well-executed but poorly planned high school prank, Zavislak said.
"The girl and her friends had a plan to sneak him on to school property and somehow get him on top of the roof so that everyone would see him there on the first day of this school year."
Monday was the first day of classes at many area schools, including at Waterford Kettering High School, the statue's planned destination.
"It's the first time this statue has been stolen -- from this restaurant," said Zavislak. "One at another Big Boy restaurant at 16 Mile and Rochester has been stolen twice. Once, it ended up at an area high school. Another time, it showed up at a church."

[jlb1705]

In related news, Pee Wee got his bike back...

[tedginn05]

Originally Posted by daddyphatsacs

Cops solve case of missing Big Boy
Police recover stolen restaurant statue in Clarkston garage

By Mike Martindale / The Detroit News

Comment on this story
Send this story to a friend
Get Home Delivery

TROY -- The case of the missing Big Boy has been solved with the help of an alert meter reader.
The chubby, blue-eyed Big Boy, all 6-foot-4-inches of him, was reported stolen from a restaurant at Long Lake and Dequindre on Aug. 21. The fiberglass statue of the smiling, wavy-haired trademark, decked out in his T-shirt and bright red-checkered overalls, was torn from its pedestal.
"We got a tip last Friday from a meter reader who saw him standing inside an open garage in the Clarkston area," Lt. Steve Zavislak said. "We sent some detectives out to talk to the homeowner and it was our guy."
A 17-year-old girl who lives at the address has told police that she and two male friends, 16 and 18, took the statue earlier this month as part of a prank.
"They backed a pickup truck to the statue and knocked him right off the pedestal," said Zavislak. "Then, they tossed him into the back of the truck and took him."
The statue, which is hollow, weighs about 80 pounds, Zavislak said. The theft was reported when restaurant employees arrived for work.
The restaurant reported the missing statue's value at about $1,000. It is not known what, if any, damage was caused to it. Zavislak said the 17-year-old girl and the 18-year-old male will be charged under the city's larceny ordinance, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine.
"The homeowner knew Big Boy was out in the garage, but didn't know what to do with him," Zavislak said. "They apparently had heard the media reports that he was missing."
The purpose of the theft? Apparently a well-executed but poorly planned high school prank, Zavislak said.
"The girl and her friends had a plan to sneak him on to school property and somehow get him on top of the roof so that everyone would see him there on the first day of this school year."
Monday was the first day of classes at many area schools, including at Waterford Kettering High School, the statue's planned destination.
"It's the first time this statue has been stolen -- from this restaurant," said Zavislak. "One at another Big Boy restaurant at 16 Mile and Rochester has been stolen twice. Once, it ended up at an area high school. Another time, it showed up at a church."

How exactly do you get a "tip" on something like this, also I didn't know Big Boy had "detectives", well I guess they found their "guy".

Anybody else find that funny?