“They started this with the idea of thinking of themselves as recyclers. Why? Henry said he’s taken the measure of the people behind ecoATM and “I’ve detected a hint of the zeal of activists in them.” He has been working on amendments to his “ban” that could allow the kiosks to come into Baltimore, provided they conform to existing city laws governing pawn shops. ![]() Something else has happened over the summer as well: Councilman Henry modified his stance against the kiosks. O’Malley, listens to testimony by his client, ecoATM, at the City Council committee hearing. Sean Malone (far right), a lobbyist with strong ties to Mayor Rawlings-Blake as well as Gov. Belvedere Avenue, pushed him down and made off with cash and his iPhone. A thief who, on August 23, pointed a handgun at a man walking in the 800 block of E.The August 18 incident in a Dundalk alley in which two men jumped out of car, put a cord around a pedestrian’s neck and demanded his cellphone.An August 14 incident in which two men trying to steal a phone from a woman on Roland Avenue shot and critically wounded the 36-year-old man who came to her aid.The July 21 beating of a man in Little Italy, attacked by youths who broke his jaw, knocked out his teeth and took his Samsung Galaxy III.Since then, Baltimore’s already-spiking cellphone theft problem has continued – taking a violent turn in some cases, with walkers and joggers targeted in neighborhoods across the city. (Eleven other Council members are listed as bill co-sponsors, together with Council President Bernard C. In June, Councilman Bill Henry introduced a bill (13-0237) banning the kiosks, which Kleine’s memo was written in support of. Their availability “has provided an easy and efficient means of selling stolen goods, which in turn has resulted in an increase in the theft of devices,” says City Budget Chief Andrew Kleine. ![]() Green, director of government affairs for the Baltimore Police Department. About 50% of thefts in the city now involve cellphones and there is also concern here that ecoATMs could potentially be stoking it, according to James H. Meanwhile in Baltimore, street crime is up 6%. She told the Washington Post about a person who recently “dropped 22 phones in 30 days” at an ecoATM kiosk outside Washington, and got about $2,000 in cash. I’m sure it’s increasing the problem,” Lanier said on WTOP radio in February. PART 2: “Guns, fists, rope – tools of the trade for cellphone thieves” She has flat-out blamed so-called “reverse vending machines,” made by San Diego-based ecoATM, for doing just that in her city. There are now 16 of the ATM-sized kiosks in area shopping malls, with many just outside the city line.ĭo these automated stations, billed as “green” because they keep trashed electronics out of landfills, encourage cell phone theft by giving criminals an easy way to unload stolen mobile devices?ĭ.C. ![]() Machines that let people trade in used cellphones, iPods, tablets and other mobile devices for instant cash – spitting out hundreds of dollars for newer models – sprang up all over the Baltimore area this past year.
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