A message on Facebook from the Riverside Police Department. (You'll have to look at the picture there.)
It's not your classic facial composite by a police artist — not this sort of thing:
That's D.B. Cooper. Seen him around?
It's a bit strange to see a street-artist caricature as the depiction of a suspect, with those "exaggerated characteristics and features." Some people might even feel offended to see a black person's features exaggerated like that. But how awful to extract that work out of an artist and then not pay, not care enough to want the portrait you sat for. Maybe the man was hurt to see how he was caricatured, and if he didn't want the drawing, he didn't want to pay for it, and if he didn't pay for it, he was already stealing, so perhaps he thought, might as well take all his money, and he deserves this, for drawing me like that. Art is dangerous. It's a miracle people want caricatures of themselves, but they do. That's why the artist had $500. And now the thief is humiliated by having his caricature displayed to the world. Chances are, he will be caught. That's quite a distinguishing feature, being only 5'1".
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23 comments:
I thought I read our good friends out in California had essentially decriminalized theft under $950 there.
So, the racist Riverside police may catch the thief, and then write him a notice to appear.
Another good reason not to visit Cali.
I turned Nancy Pelosi in.
Caricaturist with $500? How do you explain that?
DB was Ross Perot.
>>I thought I read our good friends out in California had essentially decriminalized theft under $950 there.
True. And the value of the artwork would be added to the value of the cash, which could bump it over 950. On the other hand, leaving the drawing with the victim increases the suspect's likelihood of getting caught.
I can't say I envy anyone having to make a tough calculation like that. Take the caricature, or not. Vote "present" or "nay"..
>>>DB was Ross Perot.
It's like T. Boone Pickens said: "The first billion is the hardest"
Ann Althosue said...Maybe the man was hurt to see how he was caricatured, and if he didn't want the drawing, he didn't want to pay for it, and if he didn't pay for it, he was already stealing, so perhaps he thought, might as well take all his money, and he deserves this, for drawing me like that.
I understand this is (probably!) meant to be humorous, but, ah, wow.
The racism angle is a good bet, though--the thief should 100% say he was offended by a racist exaggeration of his features and that's why he committed the crime. Instant acquittal.
If the artist had refused to draw the caricature (because to do so would mean exaggerating the features of a nonwhite person, which is de facto racist) that'd be unlawful racial discrimination, of course. So really he's screwed either way--the artist's only hope would be to set up shop in neighborhoods with no non-white people...but I guess that'd be racial discrimination too. Dang.
Anyway I agree: by lunch tomorrow the line will be that this artist had it coming.
Mr. Forward said... Caricaturist with $500? How do you explain that?
He's Really a drug dealer, and the drawing shit is just a cover.
"So you sit here all night making these drawings?"
"Yeah."
"Man...how much you make doing this?"
"Well it varies, but tonight I made five hundred bucks already."
"Oh really....?"
Maybe the man was hurt to see how he was caricatured, and if he didn't want the drawing, he didn't want to pay for it, and if he didn't pay for it, he was already stealing, so perhaps he thought, might as well take all his money, and he deserves this, for drawing me like that. Art is dangerous.
Repeal the 19th.
Chances are, he will be caught.
Here in California they wouldn't even arrest him if he walked into a police station and turned himself in. Not for just $500.
This reminds me of Agatha Christie's Five Little Pigs.
SPOILER ALERT
In the novel, an artist is murdered. His wife is accused, convicted, and executed. Their daughter hires Poirot to re-open the case.
In a nutshell, the murderer turned out to be the subject of his last painting. He was having an affair with her, but breaking it off. So she poisoned him. As she posed for him, she watched him die. His last unfinished painting was of his murderer.
If you've never seen the Poirot episode (David Suchet) of Five Little Pigs, it's one of the best. Watch it even if you know the ending.
Is the caricature "artist" was actually skilled at drawing he could have produced a more accurate image.
I thought the caricature looks like a plump Rick James.
So does Seinfeld: Super Freak?!
"What the Hell, what the Heck."
Althouse said...
That's quite a distinguishing feature, being only 5'1".
"Be on the look-out for someone with a 'pain in their neck'".
I wish life could be... Swedes on TIME magazine!
Exaggeration is the soul of caricaturization. Remember Nixon’s nose? Carter’s teeth? Bush’s (the chimpyBushMcHitler one) ears?
"Chances are, he will be caught. That's quite a distinguishing feature, being only 5'1"."
Hope Meade has an alibi.
This guy looked like a caricature to begin with-
"The hand drawn cartoon-like picture managed to jog the memories of cops who immediately issued a search warrant for the suspect"
Maybe the man was hurt to see how he was caricatured, and if he didn't want the drawing, he didn't want to pay for it, and if he didn't pay for it, he was already stealing, so perhaps he thought, might as well take all his money, and he deserves this, for drawing me like that.
LOL!
Meade- has anyone ever told you look kinda like DB Cooper?
Of course, it’s just an artist’s creation— you could look a LOT like him.
I wonder if those FBI artists are better than their profilers— or their in-house lawyers.
Has Chuck given us his considered opinion on the quality of counsel at the FBI? I bet he thinks it’s terrible but how could Trump work with a creep like Michael Cohen? It’s just terrible! The Oval Office will need to be fumigated. Yeah, the FBI is terrible but Trump is worse. Thank god for people like Debbie Dingell! She respects the proprieties.
It's better to just not deal with those people EVER.
Yep, I'm shocked. Looks like a perp to me, though.
AA: "But how awful to extract that work out of an artist and then not pay, not care enough to want the portrait you sat for. Maybe the man was hurt to see how he was caricatured, and if he didn't want the drawing, he didn't want to pay for it, and if he didn't pay for it, he was already stealing, so perhaps he thought, might as well take all his money, and he deserves this, for drawing me like that."
Emerita, sometimes your Midwest, upper-middle class naivete is almost charming. Did the possibility occur to you that (1) during the process of being sketched, he caught sight of the cash, and (2) he grabbed it and fled, being too inexperienced in this sort of crime and too dim to realize that he just left a very good image of himself with the victim?
Well look at the bright side. At least he didn't cold-clock the artist and kick him or her in the kidneys first a few times before taking off. He'll know to do that next time when he gets out of prison next spring.
Maybe he's from the Midwest.
Maybe the man was hurt to see how he was caricatured
In the mirror he looks a lot like a younger Michael Jordan, and is just about as tall.
So D. B. Cooper is Richard McCoy, Jr.
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