Blogger catches car thieves with a decoy bag that explodes with glitter and releases smelly gas

A man whose videos have become very popular on YouTube fights robbers in San Francisco. He leaves surprise baits in cars for thieves. Trap bags were attempted to be stolen 25 times in eight months, reports Dailymail.

Photo: IStock

Mark Robert, 43, a former NASA engineer, tossed decoy bags and backpacks full of glitter bombs and foul-smelling spray cans at cars on the streets of San Francisco. These traps lured criminals who tried to steal items from vehicles.

More than 20 cars are broken into each year in San Francisco. Robert tried to play a prank on the thieves and also track where they were taking the stolen goods.

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He discovered that many of his stolen counterfeit devices ended up in a homeless camp. People know they can go there and exchange everyday things for quick money.

Robert told his 28,7 million YouTube subscribers that his decoy bags were stolen 25 times during the eight-month investigation.

Brilliant plan

He said this particular series of videos came about after his own Tesla was attempted to be hacked earlier this year. He was inspired by this incident to conduct his investigation.

Robert began designing and making special mechanisms to fit into bags, which he left visible in the back seats of cars. He used compressed gas cylinders connected to glitter sprayers and foul-smelling spray. The can sprayed a disgusting smell after a thief stole a bag.

Robert also put two phones in his backpacks, which recorded everything that happened. They worked like a GPS so they could track where the criminals went next. These phones also played a countdown through a speaker to scare criminals.

As a finishing touch, he put clothes and old, unusable laptops in the bags to make them look like real decoys.

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During the eight-month process, Robert used several vehicles. He installed bulletproof windows on one of the cars, meaning they couldn't be broken with the standard tools thieves use.

In the video, he showed one aspiring criminal becoming enraged when he realized his metal tool couldn't break the glass, while another tried to use a blowtorch and fire to somehow melt a car window.

Both scammers failed but created great content for Rober's passionate YouTube fans.

In many theft attempts, thieves make off with the bags, happily thinking they've hit the jackpot, before a can of glitter and smelly gas explodes in their cars. The thieves can be heard complaining about the smells and mess, coughing and wheezing before an automated voice countdown begins to go from 10 to zero. In a panic, almost all the scammers at that moment threw the stolen property out of the window, deciding that backpacks and bags were a kind of time bomb.

Robert's funny videos have already collected more than 9,5 million views.

Robert previously worked for Apple and NASA before devoting himself full-time to creating content through his science videos and DIY gadget videos.

From January 1 to December 3 this year, there were a total of 5195 burglaries and 6244 vehicle thefts in San Francisco.

The number of reported thefts this year was 29, according to SFPD.

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“Mark has done more for this project than SFPD has done in the last 10 years. Don't stop, keep going!" wrote one commentator on YouTube.

Another person added: “Huge respect to you bro. You stop crime and give us amazing content at the same time.”

“This series was interesting, informative and educational. “It also shows that these problems are extremely complex and there are no simple problems,” the user wrote. “Crime is a problem, and problems are solved with money, money comes from taxes, taxes come from you, and you become a victim of crime. It's a vicious cycle that is very difficult to deal with. I hope we have people as smart and driven as Mark working together to find real solutions.”

“This is due to the minimum punishment in San Francisco for what should be considered a felony. A day or two in jail is all they have to risk,” another user wrote, criticizing San Francisco’s lax laws.

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