A man who went viral for his glitter bomb pranks has gone to war with San Francisco's thieves. The bait he left in cars was stolen 25 times in eight months.
Mark Rober, 43, a smart former NASA engineer, bait boxes and backpacks planted full of glitter bombs and fart sprays in cars through the streets of San Francisco as a trap to lure criminals trying to steal from vehicles.
Since more than 20,000 cars are broken into each year in San Francisco, Rober tried to play a prank on the thieves, as well as track where they were taking the stolen goods.
He discovered that many of his stolen, fake devices ended up in a homeless camp that doubles as a fencing market in the Dem-run city, where people know they can trade in regular items for quick cash.
Rober told his 28.7 million YouTube subscribers that it didn't take long for the thieves to start looting – and that his fake bags were stolen 25 times during his investigation.
Since more than 20,000 cars are broken into each year in San Francisco, Rober tried to play a prank on the thieves, as well as track where they were taking the stolen goods
One robber is caught red-handed: he steals the backpack that was placed in the car
He used compressed gas canisters connected with glitter and fart spray, to push out the nasty and smelly substances after the bags were ripped away
He said this particular series – following his viral glitter bomb videos – was inspired when his own Tesla was broken into earlier this year.
Rober began designing and creating the special mechanisms to place in the bags and leave them in plain sight in the back seats of the cars.
Mark Rober, 43, planted 25 decoy suitcases and backpacks in cars across the streets of San Francisco as a trap to lure criminals trying to steal from vehicles
He used compressed gas canisters connected to glitter and fart spray to push out the nasty and smelly substances after the bags were ripped away.
Rober also packed two phones into the backpacks – which would record the entire ordeal, act as a GPS so they could track where the crooks went next, and also play a countdown on the phone speaker to scare the criminals.
As a final touch, he stuffed clothes and old, unusable laptops into the bags to make them look like real decoys.
Rober used a number of cars during the eight-month trial – and on one of the vehicles he constructed bulletproof glass windows, meaning they couldn't be broken with standard tools used by crooks.
A thief bends down to grab the bag from the backseat of a car after breaking the glass
Another criminal, holding the fake backpack in his hand, escapes in his getaway car – before the fart and glitter bomb goes off
One person was filmed trying to use a blow torch and fire to somehow melt open the car window
In the clip, he showed one wannabe criminal becoming enraged when he realized his metal tool wouldn't break the glass – while another tried to use a blowtorch and shoot to somehow melt open the car window .
Both crooks failed, but created great content for Rober's avid YouTube fans.
In several failed thieving attempts, the robbers are recorded making off with the bags, thinking they have hit the jackpot, before the glitter and smelly gas goes off in their cars.
You hear the thieves complaining about the smells and the mess, coughing and wheezing, before the voice's automatic countdown from 10 to zero begins.
In a panic, almost all the crooks at that moment threw their stolen goods out the window, thinking that the suitcases and bags were a ticking time bomb.
Rober's crime-stopping hilarious video has already been viewed 9.5 million times.
Several failed thieves' attempts show them making off with the bags, thinking they've hit the jackpot, before the glitter and smelly gas goes off in their cars.
A thug is seen holding one of Mark's stolen suitcases as he happily flees away on a bicycle
The YouTuber discovered that many of his stolen, fake devices ended up in a homeless camp that doubles as a fencing market in the Democratic-run city, where people know they can go to trade ordinary items for quick cash
The 43-year-old worked for Apple and NASA before turning to content creation full-time with his science and DIY gadget videos.
Between January 1 and December 3 of this year, there were a total of 5,195 burglaries and 6,244 motor vehicle thefts in San Francisco.
According to SFPD data, the number of recorded thefts this year is 29,238.
One YouTube commenter wrote, “Mark has done more on this one project than SFPD has done in the last decade. Don't stop, keep going!'
Another person added: “You need your flowers bro. You stop crime and give us great content at the same time.”
And a third said: 'This series was engaging, informative and educational. It also shows that these problems are extremely complex and that there is no simple issue.
“Crime is a problem, problems are solved with money, money comes from taxes, taxes come from you, and you become the victim of crimes.
'It is a vicious circle that is so complicated and that we have to deal with. I hope we have people as intelligent and driven as Mark working together to find real solutions.”
Another blamed San Francisco's lax regulations for the continued burglaries: “It's happening because of San Francisco's minimum punishment for what should be crimes.”
“A day or two in jail and a slap on the wrist is all they have to risk.”