Sign Fine

When Champlain College student and delivery guy Joe Dimeck made a quick trip to Loomis Street to drop off some Chinese takeout, he never imagined a four-minute stop would ring up a hefty price tag. But while he was around back handing off the fare, a daring criminal snagged the weighty, magnetized China Express [1] sign from atop his car. “I looked at my car and said, ‘Something’s not right,’” he recalls.

When he told his boss, Sam Lai [2], Dimeck was shocked to learn that he would have to repay $100 of the sign’s $150 value. “Sam is a pretty savvy businessman, and he’s successful for a reason,” Dimeck notes. “It’s because he has a very strict managerial presence.” Hoping to encourage the culprit to return the sign, he contacted Seven Days.

“I still think it’s kinda funny, but not $100 funny,” Dimeck says. “It seems like such a stupid thing to steal. Maybe it’s karma from my youth when I used to steal street signs with my friends.”

Since the sign only has value to him — and to Lai — Dimeck hopes he can entice the criminals with a hot meal. “Whoever returns my sign gets a free General Tso’s combination platter,” he offers. “I have no desire to press charges. They can just say they found it on the side of the road.”

Tips can be sent to joedimeck@ronebreak.com [3].