Tag: crimes

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Just Be Happy You're Not Flying into Nigeria's Lagos Airport

Where: Lagos, Nigeria
May 2, 2012 at 2:46 PM | by | Comments (0)

A few years ago we did a Nigeria Travel post on how Lagos was becoming a vacation spot for the uber-wealthy. We're not sure how they're getting in and out of the country, but, after reading this article on the sad state of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, we're guessing it's not by commercial air.

We complain about domestic airports all the time, and sometimes we do so with some enthusiasm, but even we have never described one as "the shame of a nation." Ouch!

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Man Causes Newark Airport Security Breach to Wait for Family Member's Flight

April 9, 2012 at 10:45 AM | by | Comments (0)

Well, it was a good run and now the streak has been broken. Up until last week, the last time some guy walked the wrong way through security at Newark-Liberty Airport was January 2010. In that case, the airport was evacuated and all passengers re-screened just because some guy had gone too far to get a goodbye kiss.

This time around, it was a 64-old British man who made it past a "distracted" TSA agent and "do not enter" signs to wait at the gate for a family member's arriving flight. Airport personnel didn't even figure out he wasn't where he was supposed to be until a gate agent he had talked to realized he wasn't a departing passenger. Thanks, security cameras.

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Better Turn Off Those Electronic Devices, as NYC May Be Cracking Down

April 4, 2012 at 8:50 AM | by | Comment (1)

At this point we all know that Alec Baldwin isn’t really besties with flight attendants due to his love with Words With Friends, and if you didn’t know that, his latest Capital One commercial reminds us about no games on the runway. Of course we’d love to utilize our electronic do-dads as much as possible, but we’re definitely going to pay attention for the need to turn them off now more than ever. That’s because it looks like ignoring the flight attendants might just get you something a little bit worse than a stern warning.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey—they’re in charge of the city’s airports—are sick and tired of dealing with passengers refusing to turn off their cell phones. So what they’re going to do is send those offenders from the airport directly to court. Nothing is official just yet, but it sounds like they’re exploring the idea of suing the worst offending passengers. Last year airport police had to respond to over 400 different cases of passengers behaving badly on the runway, and it sounds like they’re sick and tired of the delays.

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Remember, Illegal Airport Taxis are Bad, Bad Things

March 26, 2012 at 10:51 AM | by | Comments (0)

"Be careful of pickpockets." "Avoid unmarked taxis." "Do not leave the airport with anyone approaching you about accommodation." All of these are common warnings you typically hear for international airports, but they really do apply for any airport (or train or bus stations), even domestic ones in the middle of a big US city.

For the moment, we'd like to focus on unmarked or illegal cab companies and the danger of them because a friend of ours, someone who travels only every so often and does not live in NYC, nearly fell into a bad situation with one this weekend, after arrival at NYC's LaGuardia Airport. This, despite the city's recent huge efforts to crack down on illegal cabs at airports and harrowing tales of tourists escaping a potential hostage situation.

Her story:

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Eight Travel Safety Lessons We Learned the Hard Way, After Getting Robbed

February 27, 2012 at 4:07 PM | by | Comments (2)

Only a few days ago, while bicycling around Argentina's wine country, we were robbed [read the full story here]. The banditos only got away with our Nikon DSLR camera, and it could have been much worse, but regardless we've come away with a slew of lessons learned the hard way.

While the "what ifs" stream through our mind, here's eight tips to avoid being a victim:

· Keep moving. Even if you're lost, try to keep moving and look alert (maybe go around the same block) or head towards a busier area to ask at a major business for help with directions.

· Always read about crime and safety considerations when you travel to an unfamiliar city. In this case, we had actually read about the snatchings on WikiTravel, so we knew immediately what was happening as soon as the man surprised us by putting his hands on the camera in our bike basket. Alas, it was because of this warning that we had wound the straps around the handlebars, which prevented him from taking off with our backpack as well.

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Robbed While Biking the Argentina Wine Trail: Our Firsthand Account

February 23, 2012 at 3:20 PM | by | Comments (2)


Policia truck in which we rode

Me robaron. Me robaron. ME ROBARON. I was robbed.

I've gotten very good at saying this in Spanish in the last 20 hours, as yesterday around 3pm local time in the wine tourism town of Maipú, Argentina, a man reached into the basket of the bicycle I was riding, and stole my Nikon DSLR camera. That's the simple way of explaining what went down; the full explanation is far more harrowing, and you can guarantee that I've spent every waking moment since then replaying the events in my mind, wondering how a nice day of biking to vineyards turned into an ordeal involving 17 bulletproof vest-wearing members of the local Policia.

Here we go.

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Jeremy Renner's Latest Action Scene? A Bar Brawl in Phuket, Thailand

Where: Thailand
January 5, 2012 at 1:29 PM | by | Comments (0)

Action star Jeremy Renner had to fight off a real-life attack last night during a bar brawl in Thailand, one that sent two men to the hospital.

Jeremy was drinking with friends at Rachada Pub in Phuket Town around 4:30am when, according to the police, one of Renner's friends, Vorasit Issar (GM of the luxurious Sri Panwa Resort), dropped a glass on the floor which started an argument with the staff.

As the disagreement escalated, six men, who worked at the bar and the Canara restaurant next door, started attacking Renner and Issar with a a rotor axe, metal pipes, and a wooden club.

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Maine's Famous Topless Coffeeshop Finally Sees Justice

January 2, 2012 at 9:46 AM | by | Comments (0)

In the long tradition of destination stories here at Jaunted, we've never abandoned covering the dramatic history of the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro, Maine. Opening nearly three years ago with $3 coffee and $2 donuts and free gazing at the waitress' gazongas. As expected, the joint was controversial from the start and even a mini-documentary went about profiling the place and its customers.

Then it burnt to the ground. Suspiciously. Well CBS News shares that the arsonist has finally been convicted, and he wasn't doing it for morality reasons at all; he was angry at his ex-girlfriend, an employee of the Grand View who had left him to shack up with the coffeeshop's owner. Raymond Bellavance Jr. is now headed to jail as the Grand View gets on with business.

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The Craziest Travel Story of 2011 Is...

December 30, 2011 at 9:46 AM | by | Comments (0)

It's that time of the year again, the time when the year just plain ends. Alas, we can't just let 2011 go that easily, especially since travelers spent it both up in the air and up in arms over a crazy range of topics, encompassing everything from nudie scans to tarmac delays. Needless to say, we're ready for 2012, but first we're taking a brief look back at the best of 2011 with the Jaunted Travel Awards,—or as we fondly refer to them—The Jauntys.

Each year there are plenty of wacky travel stories that just make us shake our head, so it was hard to pick just one weird event as deserving of this year’s Jaunty for craziest travel story.

Stealing like five-digits worth of first class swag was pretty funny, and who wasn’t slightly alarmed when the entire East Coast started shaking? We looked long and hard through the 2011 Jaunted archives, but one event stood high above the rest...

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The Ballpoint Pen Baggage Break-in: VIDEO

December 27, 2011 at 10:02 AM | by | Comments (0)

In the travel industry, today is what's known as an exodus, where those who've been home all holiday weekend finally extricate themselves from the cocoon of family and friends and head back into the regular world. What that means is hundreds of thousands of travelers will again take to the skies, their luggage busting with foil-wrapped frozen leftovers and new techie toys. Which is why you need to see this short video.

This is freaking us out. Breaking into a bag using only a ballpoint pen? Sure, we knew it could happen, but what's so odd about this video is that we can't tell if they're trying to warn about or encourage doing this. Hey, if you lost your lock key, you can get in! Or hey, if you want to steal someone's panties, you can get in! Weird.

The easiest way to protect from a ballpoint break-in, we suppose, is just to bite the bullet and go for one of the hard-case luggages that latch closed, like Samsonite's Oyster line. As for us, we're just going to continute not putting valuable items in our checked bags.

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Thief Steals $13,000 of Air France First Class Swag, Gets Caught on Tiny Island

December 19, 2011 at 3:25 PM | by | Comments (0)

The French, suffice it to say, are not a nation renowned for their devotion to industry. Retirement ages are low, work weeks are short, and benefits are plentiful. The stereotype is that French workers will erect barricades in the streets for a month before they agree to increase the retirement age by a day.

And that, boys and girls, is how stereotypes can sometimes be misleading. It turns out that some Frenchmen are very industrious indeed. Take for example the main character in this simply insane story. A French thief managed to steal $13,000 worth of goods—"airline napkins, glasses, plates, blankets"—from the first class cabins of Air France flights. He was at it for a full three years apparently. Just imagine all the hard work and dedication that took.

When he was finally caught it was red-handed with a carry-on full of trinkets from the Air France flight, which landed in the tiny Indian Ocean island of Réunion.

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TSA Agent Leaves Exasperated Note in Rapper's Drug-Filled Luggage

December 16, 2011 at 3:00 PM | by | Comments (0)

Sometimes (most of the time) TSA agents make a point of being studiously straight-laced. That's more or less how we prefer our airport security officials, and we still reference this very matter-of-fact story from last year. Somebody was ejected from San Diego International Airport for refusing to choose between a full-body scan or a patdown. There's a job to be done; TSA agents intend to do that job; and they get sad and grumpy when you don't let them.

It's also worth noting that when TSA officials decide to show off their freestyle improv skills, things tend to go awry. Last October, a TSA agent searching journalist Jill Filipovic's checked baggage found a vibrator and left Filipovic a note encouraging her to "get her freak on." An angst-filled blogosphere firestorm immediately erupted and the agent was duly punished. We personally weren't really offended because we suspected that the note might be a failed attempt at being sassy.

Now a TSA agent has left another destined-to-go-viral note in another piece of checked luggage. We anticipate that, in contrast to the incident with Filipovic, the Internet will respond with something less than outrage.

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