Alleged Newsstand Thief On Trial

In April 2006, Fatai King decided he wanted some newsstands. So he hired a crane and moved a handful of newsstands all around town; he took them to locations seemingly chosen at random.

King is finally on trial this week, and admits he hired a crane and took the newsstands. He said, though, he totally thought it was okay to do so.

The defense contends that King, who has pleaded not guilty, believes he had permission from the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections to move them. He claims the newsstands were abandoned.

But the owners say they weren’t abandoned, and a former L&I employee has testified she met with King many times. She described him as “overbearing but not pesty,” and she denies ever giving him permission to move the newsstands.

L&I often makes me so enraged it makes me want to commit some crimes, so I understand that. Things are about to get even better, though, as King takes the stand in his own defense today.

Phila. Man Stands Trial for Stealing Five Newsstands [KYW 1060]
Image by Ella Marie, Creative Commons license

Fatai King, We Salute You

Some sad news to report today: Fatai King, the man who allegedly hired a crane and stole six newsstands in April, has been arrested.

He’s been charged with theft, unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, but his crime still isn’t making much sense to, well, anyone. King had applied for newstands at 42 different locations — and when they weren’t approved by the end of the month, he decided to take matters into his own hands, snatching newsstands and taking them to corners where he applied for licenses.

As you may remember, the rented crane took newsstands from the Northeast to West Philly, and from Center City to the Northeast, making it not only an heroic crime, but a rather inconvenient one, too. Of course, our stance here is fairly clear: This is the best crime we’ve ever heard. People should be lining up to defend him, not Joe Vento.

Cops move on would-be vendor [Daily News]
April 26: Talk About Hot News
Photo from the website of Artie’s Newsstand, which is the only newsstand I know with a website