Movie posters worth $450K stolen; SF Valley man arrested

Considering my disdain for outdoor advertising and the use of our shared common spaces as commercial insertion points for the ever expanding corporate intrusion into my life, I applaud this man. His actions, probably unbeknownst to him or at least coincidentally, are an appropriate social response to the incursion of outdoor media. The fact that this man is able to steal 3000 posters from bus shelters should speak to the volumes of media we are consuming on a daily basis. While his actions will most likely go punished they present a unique opportunity to understand what some artists have known for a long time. (or what some artists semi plagiarized from... this guy.) Either way, ads in public are not private property, rather unauthorized intrusions into your subconscious from deeply private interests. Each should be treated with little appreciation if not outright disrespect.

VIA ABC 7 Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A San Fernando Valley man may end up in prison for stealing movie posters, including some for "The Hunger Games."

Christian Eric Stevens is charged with snagging more than 3,000 movie posters from bus stops to sell them online. Officials say the posters, worth an estimated $450,000, were stolen between June 3, 2011 and March 27, 2012.

He pleaded not guilty to grand theft on Thursday.

Police say they purchased a poster from the 36-year-old before discovering a trove of others in his home.

If convicted, Stevens could get five years in prison.

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