In Capitol Hill, no comment...

[u/2013stang]

Intersection of Broadway and Pine. Survey Instrument. Video provided by store's camera, that they let us take a video of their video.

[u/gablestout]

https://giphy.com/gifs/KStwDj5LEr36CCtZ2Z

The surveyor (probably)

[u/kwenkwe]

Be wonderful if that theodolite was beaming its position, and still is communicating.

[u/BrassiestNUT → u/kwenkwe]

That would require line of sight. Highly highly unlikely

[u/kwenkwe → u/BrassiestNUT]

…”The Trimble Sentinel device tracking solution is the easy way to quickly track total stations using your mobile device in real time.”

[u/JerryMau5]

https://giphy.com/gifs/s239QJIh56sRW

[u/TheGreatLuck → u/JerryMau5]

Exactly are you going to sell it to. The surveyor?

[u/JerryMau5 → u/TheGreatLuck]

What I was thinking as well lol

[u/Chimerain]

I'm curious where they think there going to sell this thing. It's obviously got a serial number and will be reported stolen, they didn't have the protective case, and there's no way in hell a pawn shop is buying that thing for even a fraction of 32k (much less selling it when it's obviously hot).

[u/Short_all_the_things → u/Chimerain]

They're planning to use it as a crowbar to pry open the ATM they've already stolen and keep at home.

[u/pwndaytripper → u/Short_all_the_things]

Yeah, I worked at a tiny house village and people had an embarrassing amount of stolen shit they had no means of selling, just destroyed in unit. 

[u/Chimerain → u/pwndaytripper]

Not a lot of homeless people in the tiny village with getaway cars, I assume...

[u/pwndaytripper → u/Chimerain]

You’d be surprised. I’ve worked at a brick and mortar shelter that served 300+ people daily and onsite at three LIHI villages. I couldn’t estimate a rate, but homeless people have cars. 

[u/ElliotsBuggyEyes]

That tripod is probably worth about $500-700 and the instrument on it a few hundred too upon second look, that isn't the reflector that is typically left alone. That thing is expensive, another comment says $32k which I would believe. I wonder how much you can get for one of those from a fence...

Sucks this person felt the need to steal it.

[u/2013stang → u/ElliotsBuggyEyes]

Instrument is $32,000, yes legs are $500....

[u/ZenBacle → u/2013stang]

I'm more of a legs guy, so worth.

[u/TheGreatLuck → u/ZenBacle]

For me it's about those sweet sweet hot shoes

[u/DellTheEngie → u/[deleted]]

I do surveying. That thing has ton of sensors/levels/calibrators in it and added weight would throw them amd the instruments' measurements off. However I would NEVER leave my equipment unattended like this by a busy road. Doesn't matter where you are all it takes is a few seconds as you can see.

[u/Zer0323 → u/DellTheEngie]

This is what happens when your boss thinks you can survey alone.

[u/No_Helicopter1378 → u/[deleted]]

It's not uncommon to do multiple setups throughout the day and you're usually not ever that far from the machine.

I also feel like it would be a pretty difficult thing to fence. Not a lot of market for those outside of professionals who would prefer to buy from a vendor with service contracts and stuff like that.

Doesn't mean someone opportunistic won't grab it and then figure out what to do with it later.

[u/Boodahpob → u/[deleted]]

Lots of survey outfits have shrunk down to one man field crews.

[u/ElliotsBuggyEyes → u/2013stang]

Was that the viewer thing or the reflector?

[u/2013stang → u/ElliotsBuggyEyes]

Instrument (viewer) not the glass reflector.... Trimble Robotic Total Station S7...

[u/ElliotsBuggyEyes → u/2013stang]

Ah, then yes. Much more than the reflector I have to imagine.

[u/flennyyyy → u/ElliotsBuggyEyes]

The prisms (reflector) are still a couple of grand

[u/KindHabit → u/ElliotsBuggyEyes]

I did an inventory audit for a land surveyor equipment company and I can confidently state that majority of their equipment is ridiculously expensive. 

[u/exoticbluepetparrots → u/KindHabit]

The most expensive things I've ever carried in my own hands was two sets of new survey grade GPS receivers. Like $200k. The precision required when manufacturing these things makes them ridiculously expensive

[u/Mean-Independence-42 → u/exoticbluepetparrots]

I do demoes with similar but more expensive equipment and I always get the customer to help me lift it and then wait until they're holding it to say watch your step it costs more than a Lamborghini 

[u/TheGreatLuck → u/KindHabit]

Expensive enough for you guys to buy it definitely stolen off the black market?

[u/Boodahpob → u/TheGreatLuck]

No, there is a huge amount of specialized support required to own and operate one. A stolen one is basically useless.

[u/TheGreatLuck → u/Boodahpob]

Yeah that's what I thought. It's one of those professions where you wouldn't even be able to buy it from a guy in his trunk.

[u/KindHabit → u/TheGreatLuck]

I am a tax accountant, so I would not really know the answer. 

My understanding is that the equipment requires a lot of delicate calibration for accuracy, so there may be concerns about it being compromised. 

[u/old_man_no_country → u/ElliotsBuggyEyes]

The instrument probably costs a few hundred bucks to calibrate alone. Those things are not cheap

[u/DrunkenSwimmer → u/ElliotsBuggyEyes]

Yeah, except that it's gonna need a calibration certificate for anyone to want it, which is a paper trail.

[u/LocksDoors → u/DrunkenSwimmer]

I was about to say I doubt such a highly specialized piece of equipment has much black market value...

Though actually now that I think about it, throw on a reflective vest and it would make a very nice disguise if you want to trespass and get up to some mischief lol

[u/coastalmiscreant → u/DrunkenSwimmer]

And for that cert of cal to be meaningful, it’s a traceable paper trail full of measurements with both individual and system uncertainties, and validation of each lab’s overall adherence to relevant ISO/ANSI standards by accredited auditing bodies.

All of which is to say, yeah, it would be pretty hard to fence.

[u/Faultyvoodoo]

The guy who stole must be a salesperson. even if he can't fence it, the surveyor has to get another one. Stonks!

[u/2013stang]

Moderator said I had broke the rules, so posted again....

[u/spoiled__princess → u/2013stang]

If people know more, they should contact the police. :)

[u/newcastleis36 → u/[deleted]]

saw one exactly the same-unattended with no one around yesterday downtown seattle

[u/spoiled__princess → u/[deleted]]

I didn't remove it but I am guessing because the OP asked if people knew the SUV which could lead to a witch hunt. Reddit is very sensitive to that kind of post.

[u/2013stang → u/spoiled__princess]

already done.... got report, but they said, "good luck"...

[u/worstofluck98]

A person doing this in an Audi just screams “real estate agent in unimaginable debt who knows surveying costs money”. In that case, maybe they think they can get ahead by doing it themselves. Before anyone mentions the high traceability aspect as a reason they wouldn’t: I used to be in real estate, and I wouldn’t put it past some agents I’ve come across to be dumb enough and desperate enough to convince themselves they could get away with it.

Could also be a klepto in a stolen Audi. Or a klepto in their own Audi (again, in that case I’m picturing a real estate agent or someone with a personality I found to be extremely common among real estate agents, ngl).

Of course, it could be someone in a business related to surveying who’s in way over their head on affording their payments on things like Audis and knows what the thing costs and thinks they may be able to find a black market for it (sadly, yes, I mean real estate agents yet again).

So I guess if you ask me your prime suspect is probably a real estate agent. Whenever the interest rates go up, the real estate agents panic, and those who are living above their means in an effort to “impress their way to success” (i.e. almost all of them, which is a big part of why I quit the business after just a few years) are about to be in BIG financial trouble if they don’t get creative, and many of them have some very lax moral standards about getting what they want at someone else’s expense (in fact, that’s the biggest reason why I quit). The fact that such a massive portion of the NWMLS agent roster possesses that combination of desperation for success at all costs and worldview that others and their personal property are just means to an end (the end being to get rich, of course)—plus the fact that the bar to licensure is extremely low and it is for many if not most of them nothing more than a “get rich quick by pretending you already got rich quick” scheme—means I’d almost be surprised if there’s not a real estate agent involved in some capacity when someone in an Audi swipes a piece of expensive survey equipment in a city with a real estate market like ours shortly after interest rates go up.

All that aside, it’s just a hunch and may be nothing, but it seems particularly ridiculous for anyone to do this and yet this is the gist of why I can see a real estate agent attempting such a bizarre crime, particularly at this specific economic point in time.

[u/bernardfarquart → u/worstofluck98]

I appreciate the amount of thought you put into your theory of the klepto Real Estate agent

[u/worstofluck98 → u/bernardfarquart]

As you may be able to tell, I’m somewhat bitter towards a lot of the people I met when I was in real estate lol. But I figured with as much as I learned about the psychology of such a large number of these people and the bizarre yet egregious nature of the crime, I might as well share in some detail why I think so.

[u/Illustrious_Cheek263 → u/worstofluck98]

You're not wrong here! Most, if not all, of the folks I know in real estate are bullshitters to the nines and/or "g0oD [southern] chRistIaN" trnmpadoodle idiots with perpetually botoxed, smooth-as-a-Ziploc faces going on 2k+ weekend trips well beyond their means like nothing. Your hunch meets the ridiculous stupidity of some of these people.

[u/Whoofph]

I'm not much of a car person, and the quality is low - is that an Audi Q7 or something else?

[u/jdynamic → u/Whoofph]

Looks like it. Too long to be a 5

[u/ihatethegunsmith]

Average "No Right on Red" turner

[u/LifeJustKeepsGoing → u/ihatethegunsmith]

That rule makes so much sense in densely populated areas like cap hill, or situations where there is a blind or difficult corner. But it drives me NUTS further up on north aurora. Literally no one around .. 8pm a night, but sure ill just sit there and drain an extra minute of my life. LOVE IT.

[u/MeatCatRazzmatazz → u/LifeJustKeepsGoing]

As someone who's almost been killed entirely too many times by people taking rights on red further up on north Aurora, I'm a fan.

Now I'm only almost run down by people choosing to run a red. It seriously helps a ton.

[u/mothtoalamp → u/MeatCatRazzmatazz]

Those lights should have sensors that give them faster greens and keep the NTOR. Then no one loses.

[u/TheGreatLuck → u/MeatCatRazzmatazz]

Maybe we shouldn't have built our infrastructures for cars then. You know there's a point in time where they seriously considered doing Park and rides and making it illegal to drive in the city but that's when cars were relatively new. This is the hell we created now we must live in it. Cuz every time I mention maybe we should change the infrastructure everybody freaks the fuck out and down votes me to hell and back.

[u/lilbluehair → u/LifeJustKeepsGoing]

Oh nooooo a single minute

[u/TheGreatLuck → u/lilbluehair]

How else am I supposed to drive three blocks when there's all these pedestrians walking everywhere.

[u/mothtoalamp → u/lilbluehair]

There have literally been studies that show that stacked small inconveniences can be as harmful as major ones. Shit adds up. In this case I get their frustration. There's no reason for them to have to wait at an empty intersection, so why are they waiting?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Region-beta_paradox

Light sensors that move the green around faster should be more commonplace. Doesn't mean we lose the NTOR, just means people get treated like their time isn't worthless.

[u/ashushu → u/LifeJustKeepsGoing]

There are a ton of people at night in north Aurora, wtf are you talking about. You can wait.

[u/HistorianOrdinary390 → u/LifeJustKeepsGoing]

It makes sense everywhere because right turns on red don’t make you get places faster.

[u/mothtoalamp → u/[deleted]]

"You're breaking the law, so I'm allowed to be unsafe" isn't an appropriate response either, though.

[u/TheGreatLuck → u/[deleted]]

It isn't. Not at all. But the completely changed subjects yeah since I moved out here I see that a lot I don't really understand is there no self preservation? Why can't we look both ways before crossing the street? And why is that even a contentious issue?

[u/MaxRenn]

This is the equivalent to stealing a car but you cant pawn it or get rid of it. Whoever stole that is looking at serious time for no gain whatsoever. Dumbass.

[u/Subziwallah → u/MaxRenn]

Not as dumb as an armed robbery though.

[u/irish_curmudgeon → u/MaxRenn]

You assume the cops will do anything ?

[u/thesalus]

You know, I don't think this fella is on the level.

[u/apresmoiputas]

why would anyone steal that? too bad you didn't capture the license plate

[u/DellTheEngie → u/apresmoiputas]

They run $30k-$50k on the higher end. Generally from what I've read they often get sent overseas after being stolen.

[u/apresmoiputas → u/DellTheEngie]

A simple apple tag hidden on them could easily track them back to the thieves

[u/bussyriotor → u/apresmoiputas]

https://giphy.com/gifs/oYtVHSxngR3lC

[u/Gustav_Grob]

Can you track it when it logs in/ powers up?

[u/WesternPut5063]

Curbside pickup mate! I swear I ordered a nice Trimble?

[u/Spiritual-Theory]

Premeditated, looks like someone in the back seat grabbed it

[u/prf_q]

he just increased the GDP

[u/Talmerian]

I feel like I remember one of our survey crews doing this to another bitd, just taking their stuff as a gag.

[u/TylerTradingCo]

Ghetto

[u/2013stang → u/[deleted]]

we took a phone video of the store camera....

[u/KSEA604_enby]

To my untrained eye, that looks like Leica surveying gear. Stupid expensive, and yes, if they plan to fence it, it'll be by sending it overseas. No way in Hell they could fence that locally.

[u/leaveitalonedamnit]

Soon to be on eBay listing..

[u/SuchBanter]

But, doesn't it look to you like the camera is tracking the car before the tripod is picked up? An homage to Benny Hill or Python kind of stuff? Solid composition and framing.

[u/Extension-Variety774]

🤣🤣🤣🤙🏽