I didn't want to accuse the wrong guy, but based on the file history, he created his new user account the same day it was stolen. That was hunch enough for me.
I filed a police report when it was first stolen, and likewise when I found out who it was. They couldn't really help with recovery so I helped myself :p
Shaming someone caught in the act is hardly vigilante justice. About a year ago, a local tavern was robbed of their cash register by a thief who neglected to hide from the security cameras and who dropped his mixtape on the way out the smashed door. The owner recorded the tape (a collection of Lionel Ritchie soft hits) and merged it with the security camera shots of the thief in action, then posted it to youtube. The crime was of course reported to the police first, but their response was one of filing the report so that insurance could take care of things - not one of finding and punishing the thief.
I don't think this will spawn a new generation of vigilante crime fighters. This is more akin to happening upon an old security tape which reveals the identity of a dumb criminal who robbed your home. Yeah, I'd probably want to gather some data and turn him into the police.
Crime (including theft of expensive equipment) should be prosecuted. It does more harm to society and the perpetrator if you let it go. If people start to think their are no consequences for stealing laptops, there will be more stolen, then more serious crime can follow.
One thing this guy has going for him is that he did return the laptop to you. I think he deserves a little credit for that.
In the sense that 'the police don't have the resources to track down small items lifted in public places by unknown persons, and there are victims of greater crimes to tend to' you are perhaps right, but I think that all changes when you actually supply the name and address of the offender and incontrovertible proof that he's guilty.
Although if you did give them that information and they still couldn't pursue it, there's not much else you can do (except, of course, bang your head against the wall in frustration).
Years ago we reported a stolen vehicle to the police. Not just a laptop, mind you... and ENTIRE CAR. About 2-3 weeks later, I found that car. One of the first things I did was call the number the police had given us.
The officer said, "If we followed every one of these calls, we'd never get any actual work done."
It isn't. Lost my laptop about 2 months ago and got really pissed. Screwed up my Apache config on my current computer and went into my cloud backup to find my old httpd.conf. Found old laptop was still backing up, story unravels from there.
His files were being backed up to Blackblaze, so he just accessed his backup files. I'm guessing the Photo Booth video was also backed up, and he just downloaded it from Backblaze.
