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Man Accused of Stealing Buzzy's Clothing from Disney World Arrested

brb1006

Well-Known Member
I'm surprised he was able to post a video showing the costume/character department on Youtube (Later getting removed). Disney really don't mess around when it comes to posting images/photos like that online.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
I'm surprised he was able to post a video showing the costume/character department on Youtube (Later getting removed). Disney really don't mess around when it comes to posting images/photos like that online.

Its the fear that is more than anything. Disney makes a few examples and pounds the message into workers. The faithful don't want to be fired or blackballed.

It just takes people that have no fear to buck it all...
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
According to Orange County Clerks website a document was just added today 5/20/19 Spikes' attorney, LeRoy Costner, just sent a written plea of NOT GUILTY.

Filed under 'no duh'... to plea anything else would be to roll over and take the full brunt of whatever the court wants.

He very well could plea out at a later date... but no one pleads guilty up front if you want to fight :)
 

GhostlyGoofy

Well-Known Member
Filed under 'no duh'... to plea anything else would be to roll over and take the full brunt of whatever the court wants.

He very well could plea out at a later date... but no one pleads guilty up front if you want to fight :)
Yes but Disney's legal coffers are scrooge mcduck deep. A prolonged trial may bankrupt the spikes.
 

GhostlyGoofy

Well-Known Member
Disney has no say... This is a criminal case.
Gotcha.

You seem pretty knowledgeable. Since this case seems to only pertain to the HM props, what do you think are the chances he can be charged with the other incidents? The report mentioned a buyer receiving 18 items from BDD. And would each one be an individual case?
 
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goldenstate5

Active Member
What I want to know is why Disney didn't report it stolen, or, if they did, why that wasn't made public. And I know people will surmise that you don't want to tip off the thieves that you're on to them, but, with all the publicity of Buzzy missing, that ship had sailed.

They don't like active investigations into stolen material from a Disney theme park to just go public unless it has to. An arrest was made, and the information thus had to go public via tangential ties. They even say this in their statement. Cat is out of the bag and that's all they are willing to say.

Also I'm uh, pretty sure it was Disney who reported it stolen.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Gotcha.

You seem pretty knowledgeable. Since this case seems to only pertain to the HM props, what do you think are the chances he can be charged with the other incidents? The report mentioned a buyer receiving 18 items from BDD. And would each one be an individual case?
Not individual cases, but each incident can have its own set of multiple charges.
 

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Its the fear that is more than anything. Disney makes a few examples and pounds the message into workers. The faithful don't want to be fired or blackballed.

It just takes people that have no fear to buck it all...
Several old DCP coworkers I have still Snapchat me from backstage.
 

GhostlyGoofy

Well-Known Member
The not guilty plea is fascinating.

Same here.

It's going to be hard for BDD to keep his story straight. And nearly all the evidence was provided by himself and his hubris.

The police report clearly cites a YouTube video where BDD tries to create a narrative that Disney had police raid his home for Phones. Because disney didnt like his pictures. As if media juggernaut was unaware of cloud data or digital storage???

He since scrubbed that video, but since police obviously watched it, it's also quite possible they archived the footage. Along with everything else he threw out into the digital ether.

This is such a fascinating trainwreck.
 

Demarke

Have I told you lately that I 👍 you?
Disney has no say... This is a criminal case.
That is correct, however, they still have a quite a bit of time to file a civil lawsuit for the stolen goods that he has taken. Even if they all were returned, they would still have a claim for any damages to the items (particularly damages to the animatronic during removal if it is determined in the future to be connected to the same person) or damages incurred from loss of use while they were out of Disney's possession (like if they had to special order new custom suits, dresses, wigs, etc. to replace the stolen HM props in their rotation, which would probably be quite expensive because of the specialization of the craft). It appears that they have a statute of limitations of 5 years to proceed on this from the time the cause of action accrues and that the accrual of that time is suspended during pendency of criminal prosecution (so they are not likely to be required to file a civil suit anytime soon and can take their time lining things up.

Also, the statute related to losses involving theft provides for treble (triple) damages and reasonable attorney fees and costs. I know what my hourly rate is and would suspect their attorneys would probably be at least as much if not more. I suspect all of this will not be cheap for him even aside from the criminal prosecution. Although, I also suspect that before taking the step of filing a civil claim the two parties' lawyers will probably at some point work out a quiet settlement for an undisclosed amount and that we will never ever know about it.

Here's a link to the set of pertinent statutes related to civil remedies for criminal acts if anyone is interested:
 

Gringrinngghost

Well-Known Member
Several old DCP coworkers I have still Snapchat me from backstage.

The parks are very leaky in terms of photos or videos from unauthorized areas, HOWEVER it’s usually among friends such as Facebook or trusted groups. Here was the case of someone trying to get seen and make a name for themself. If Patrick Spikes didn’t want to be seen and have people talking about him, to say the least, he wouldn’t have called into Tom coreless’ little podcast that one time, or overall act cocky and have people “meme his mugshot” he wanted his limelight and he got it, and then tired to make an name for himself.

There are two types of people when it comes to the leaks; or as in this case backstage exploration. Ones who want to do it anonymous, and then you have those like Patrick spikes who’s ego got to big to fail or Matt StCyr (sonswa) who put his bloody face and name into his videos.
 

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