Your brick story just jogged my memory about this one.....

In 1986, I was a young street cop in the NYPD. I worked in Harlem. The northern part of Central Park extends all the way up there. We used to use an undercover cop to sit on a bench and pretend he was sleeping. Under his arm was a huge box with a picture of a 'boombox" radio on the outside. Inside the box was a cinder block.

Sooner or later, some knucklehead would almost always sneak up to the undercover and grab the box.

One time, this guy we nabbed was swearing up and down that the radio was his, he didn't take it, he just bought it off his friend Tito. I said "Oh yeah! Look at this!!!" and I reached into the box, and, voila, pulled out the cinder block.

The guy never even blinked. "HE BEAT ME!!!!!" "THAT BOY RIPPED ME OFF!!!" "IM PRESSIN CHARGES!!!!"