Thief targets valuable roof materials via Google Earth

Why case joints you want to rob by driving by in a car or standing outside, pretending you're talking on the phone? Sophisticated thieves are turning to higher-tech ways to keep tabs on the joints they'd like to heist: Namely, Google Earth.

Tom Berge's ingenious (if totally criminal) idea: Look down from the sky on the buildings of London with the Google Earth application, and zoom in to see which buildings had lead roof tiles. Berge would then climb the walls of the museums, churches, and schools he'd identified, pry up the lead tiles, and sell them as scrap to bulk metal dealers.

Berge managed to earn £100,000 with the scam over the course of six months. Not a bad haul for a bunch of lead and a little pointing and clicking.

Berge was finally busted in February and pleaded guilty to the theft last week, which earned him an eight-month suspended jail sentence and 100 hours of community service.

But lest you consider lighting up the torches and sharpening the pitchforks hoping to get Google Earth banned or restricted (or, ugh, blurred), remember that the law uses Google Earth and related tools just as productively -- if not more so -- than the crooks. Swiss police found a huge marijuana plantation (they grow pot in Switzerland?) using the software earlier this year, and Google Earth has also been a valuable tool in the fight against illegal logging and mining in Brazil.