Staff Blog
CP EXCLUSIVE: I caught the Hipster Grifter
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| Photo | Sam Tremble |
| Philadelphia Police escort "Hipster Grifter" Kari Ferrell into Sixth District HQ. |
Kari Ferrell lies. She has lied about having cancer. She has lied about booking for Golden Voice. It's been reported that she called the Philadelphia Police Department to turn herself in. I don't know where that story originated, but that's a lie, too. How do I know? I've been setting her up for the last few weeks. I had her arrested. Here's how, sans bloviation (mostly).
Kari approached my band at a show we played in Brooklyn last December. She told us several of her now-familiar lies, and over the winter stayed at my house for days at a time, sometimes bringing a friend along. My roommates once took her to Pennsylvania Hospital after she said she coughed up blood. I felt bad for not visiting.
She said she wanted to go with us to SXSW, and that she needed to be there for work anyway. I thought it would be good to have someone with a salary and a credit card on the road, in case we ran into trouble. And it wouldn’t hurt if she took us to some crazy industry parties. But she flaked out soon before we left, claiming to need surgery.
When we came home from tour on March 29, our singer got an e-mail from a friend of Kari's saying that Kari had stolen from her and that we should watch out. We found her fake Golden Voice business card and looked her up online. The first thing we saw was her mugshot on Salt Lake City's Most Wanted page.
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| Sam Tremble |
I called SLCPD the next morning and they said there was no order for extradition. Without a formal complaint, no one outside Salt Lake City could arrest her.
That changed soon after her story broke in The New York Observer on April 15.
The reporter had e-mailed my band, curious about Kari's time in Philadelphia, but we decided not to respond. I didn't want Kari to know we were on to her, because I thought I could catch her. She hadn't stolen anything from me, but she wasted our time and energy with her cancer stories.
She'd canceled her iPhone service, so I e-mailed her, feigning concern for her health. I told her I had started booking tours for tons of bands and was traveling all the time. If she ever wanted to come on a trip and meet some bands, I had an extra seat. I didn’t mention the story.
She took the bait and began texting from a new number, asking to go west.
After the e-mail I tried to keep her interested with a series of vague texts about a trip to Portland. I talked with Sgt. Fred Ross in Salt Lake City during this time. He liked my idea, but couldn't encourage me to act on behalf of law enforcement. He said my only option was to call local police when I knew where she was.
On Sunday, May 3, she finally agreed to take a bus to Philly. At 9:15 p.m. she said she was sitting on the bus in Manhattan. I immediately called the 6th District police headquarters and told them that a wanted felon with orders for extradition was taking a bus to Chinatown, and that I could help them pick her up. I gave them her case numbers. Then I called the SLCPD and gave them the phone number for the 6th District. When I called the 6th District back, they told me to come down to headquarters to help ID her, so I did.
Officers DeLuca and Green drove me to Chinatown in an unmarked black Explorer. They watched from across the street. When the bus arrived, I waved to Kari to get their attention. I want to say I hugged her, but I was anxious and I don't remember. I picked her bag out of the luggage storage and started walking behind her. The officers crossed the street and stopped her. I dropped her bag and walked away. They took her aside and questioned her for a moment. She didn't struggle. I didn't stay close to hear what they were saying because I wasn't sure if I wanted her to know it was me who turned her in. Not so much because I cared about her (I didn't) but because I felt a little cold for betraying someone's trust.
A squad car came and picked her up. The officers made sure they had my name right, because they couldn't arrest her without probable cause. An officer gave me a ride home. That was that.
I love how she’s smiling in her perp walk photo.
This story continues to entertain, I’m looking forward to the Hipster Grifter movie!
this is FANTASTIC
That’s totally rock and roll, man, working with the cops to set people up for a bust. Good work, crime stopper.
Um, since when does Philly like snitches? Impressed, yet surprised. I’m guessing dudes in an emo, not punk, band!
rock and roll? are you guys serious?
Total douche snitch move. What a pussy
“I dropped her bag and walked away…because I wasn’t sure if I wanted her to know it was me who turned her in.”
I don’t want to make assumptions, but I’d bet your not-so-stealth camera-phone shot gave you away.
Adjust your sarcasm meter, Sean.
Sam Tremble also lived with internet-notorious grifter Lyncee June
pretty slick pal. Now you get your headline publicity too. I´m really surprised you didn´t name check your band 50 times. Guess you figure it´s even cooler to get the google hits on your name. Fucking losers. Both of y´all. enjoy yr 15 minutes. That´s all you´re gonna get.
Good for you, but why write your own story about it?
Snitch haters are scum. Sam you deserve a prize, hope this helps your band.
I think you did a good thing.
Sam. Big ups! Good work.
If that’s not a fun day… I don’t know what IS.
So you felt cold about betraying someone’s trust but didn’t think twice about snapping their picture as they’re being arrested?
SNITCH BITCH
You sir, are a douche bag. Get over yourself.
You’re a rat fuck, Tremble. Ratting some girl out that didn’t even do anything to you, just to get your ugly mug in the papers. I hope someone breaks a bottle over your skinny little dome at your next show.
Wow, your folks must be so proud. They raised a snitch. And you look like your bands sucks.
Anyone criticizing this without using their names proves their comment’s own worth. I don’t always believe that, but this time I do.
Sam, be proud. Getting a harmful person out of society is the right thing to do. If one of these people got scammed by her I do believe their opinions would be a little different.
p.s. your story simply rules.
This guy is most likely a douchebag, but at least he’s not some retard who thinks it’s a bad thing to “snitch” on someone who stole over $60,000.
Free the hipster grifter!
Not only did you snitch but you blogged about it. Douchebag.
Looks like you’re getting your 40 comments of silver.
Enjoy it while you can.
I know your type.
Eventually you will get in someone’s buisiness that will show you what bieng punched in the face feels like.
Hi Marc Steel,
My name is Jeff Deeney, I’m also occasionally a contributor to the CP. I think the tone of this article is smug and self-congratulatory. I think this is a completely sensational story printed solely to attract page views, both with the newspaper’s hope of getting linked by more heavily trafficked media sites in NYC and for Sam to draw attention to his band. I think this piece is braindead, the lowest possible sort of article that seeks to capitalize both on the suffering this girl created and the suffering she will experience in prison. The clear expectation on the paper’s part that I as a reader would want to mindlessly join in the mobs cheering this girl’s frog march into incarceration is unfortunate, and I think is at odds with the paper’s historical stance on the prison system as a cruel and inhumane institution that is unfit for nonviolent offenders. I won’t even get into the clear gender bias involved, where all spurned boys everywhere are invited to high five over the cute chick who took advantage getting her just desserts.
This is a seriously sad moment in Philly’s alternative press, I have no idea why you think it “simply rules.” I suspect you didn’t think much, at all.
I hope the people who think he’s a “snitch” get conned out of money one day. This woman stole from people and deserved to get caught. This man did the right thing.
Snitch Haters are scum.
@deeney
Come on. She was cruising through life taking advantage of people who befriended her and gave her their trust. She got burned doing the same thing. She’s a non-violent offender, but an offender nonetheless. I play by the rules. Everyone I know plays by the rules. She knows the rules and doesn’t care. If she can be rehabilitated, great. If not, the negative experience in prison and the prospect of returning again may just be enough to keep her in line, but probably not.
Snitch? Yeah, sure. But I’m on board with the idea that it’s ok to take advantage of people as long as you don’t get caught. Fuck that. Don’t scam people and steal and maybe you won’t go to prison. Novel idea.
Writing about it? Kinda lame. Not sure what the point of that is.
SAM TREMBLE WE SHALL SEE WHOSE BACK IS UP AGAINST THE WALL WHEN THE REVOLUTION COMES!!!
Correction. I’m NOT on board with the idea that it’s ok to take advantage of people as long as you don’t get caught.
It’s awesome that you turned her in, but it’s totally wack that you’re trying to take credit for her capture. Everyone saying “snitches get stitches” needs to stop being such an internet tuff guy and grow the fuck up.
Dear Sam Tremble a.k.a. The Hipster Snitcher,
You expect us to believe your motives for setting her up to be arrested were because “she wasted (your) time and energy with her cancer stories”? You’re a prick who wants attention. I’m in no way a Kari Ferrell fan but I’d rather have her around then you any day.
I can’t wait to tomato your band. I can’t wait to watch what everyone else does too!
And stop shopping in the juniors department you dick.
@ Deeney: Kudos for putting your name on this. But I think you are wrong. Maybe the tone is self-congratulatory. Maybe his motives (and the paper’s) included some self-publicity. Still, he has something to be proud of, he’s not just some Julia Allison fameball who is famous for nothing but self-promotion. He helped the police catch a criminal who preys on people, and showed creativity and persistence in so doing. That’s why it “simply rules.” Also, he’s in a band that makes music and entertains people. Let him have his moment of fame. And I think it’s off-base to put this on sexism. Or shameful prison conditions - I mean, she’s not exactly Mumia.
@ Anonymous 10:45. I’ve said much the same, on Gawker and Tumblr, but this comment is not me.
“Or shameful prison conditions - I mean, she’s not exactly Mumia.”
DRAPER, Utah (ABC 4 News) - The Utah State Prison doesn’t have enough beds for its inmates, so many are sent to smaller jails throughout the state. That means men in jail for murder may be staying in a facility that is far less secure than the prison.
http://www.abc4.com/news/local/story/Overcrowding-at-state-prison-forces-inmates-to/BHcgP390akqbQD_XirxL3g.cspx
If pictures pop up in the news a couple months from now that this girl got jumped in jail in Utah and got the shit kicked out of her, I hope we’re all feeling just as congratulatory and awesome about it then.
quote of the week: “you look like your bands sucks”
[...] Philly musician Sam Tremble claims he caught the Kari Ferrell, a.k.a. “The Hipster Grifter.” [...]
She is a horrible person who did myriad fucked up things to those closest to her and was conning people all across the country. This kid caught her. Explain how catching a criminal is bad. He blogged about it, yeah. That kinda sucks but he also didn’t do it right away. He put this up after she had started her “I turned myself in because I’m not a con anymore” press campaign. “Snitch” is almost as dumb and sensational as “hipster”.
Here’s what I don’t get. Kari Farrell was telling everyone she turned herself in. If this Sam character here was really about doing something for the greater good, he could have just kept his mouth shut, let her run with that story and go on with his life, knowing that he brought a criminal to justice. However, Sam’s ego was in dire need of a stroking, so he instead writes a column entitled “I Caught the Hipster Grifter” presumably to have praise heaped upon him by the hipster community. That doesn’t appear to be the result here. So now Sam’s hubris has lead him to become the public face of snitching and probably ruined any show his band will play in the northeast for the foreseeable future, all because it was imperative that everyone know that he was the guy who finally brought down this non-violent nuisance. good work champ.
*That doesn’t appear to be the result here.*
Not to get into this endlessly, but you really can’t judge the general reaction based on blog comments.
@Denny — I certainly don’t hope she gets jumped etc., but I can’t endorse the solution that criminals should be left to run free. As someone above said, her crimes were not victimless.
She isn’t rich. Plenty of semi-rich people or people who forge things on their cc apps lie and have debt up to and above $60,000. Should we set them up too?
Damn, this story has legs (yes, I was brought over from a New York site to read this). Hipster snitch, gotta love that, but seriously this girl is a menace. Well done Sam.
“Bloviation?” You’re an f***ing douche. You sent a girl to jail and then blogged about it. What a proud moment for you.
The contradictions in this story are absolutely mind-boggling. Sam wasn’t sure he wanted her to know he turned her in, yet the title of this shout-it-from-the-mountaintops entry is “CP EXCLUSIVE: I caught the Hipster Grifter”. And “I felt a little cold for betraying someone’s trust…” and “I dropped her bag and walked away,” yet he made sure to run up and snap a pic of the perp walk. Classy!
And this little nugget is priceless:
“I thought it would be good to have someone with a salary and a credit card on the road, in case we ran into trouble.” Sounds like you guys had a lot in common, inasmuch that you both needed someone around with access to cash and a willingness to share it.
People who commit crimes deserve what’s coming to them. People who help police solve crimes are to be commended. But this? This is shameless egotistic self-gratification parading around as civic duty. Congrats - everyone knows who you are now, Sam! And isn’t that what you really wanted in the first place?
Deeney, you senselessly rant about turning in this girl without offering an alternative. Unless, of course, your alternative is to just let her go about her transcontinental thievery with impunity. I think that’s your solution. That’s really, really stupid.
a friend of mine met her at a Reagan youth concert in 2008. She claimed to be way into RY and indeed knew a lot of lyrics to their songs. After the concert, my friend fooled around with her, but she split, and seemed more into meeting up with the band.
Jeff Deeney is a douchebag. There. I said it. Someone had to.
Free Michelle Braun!
Mark Ebner
http://www.hollywoodinterrupted.com
Why did she do it?
The cost of living is outrageous.
Not a ton of jobs out there.
And of the jobs available, not many cover our 1200+ rents, $200.00 heating bills/elec and oh yeah pay for food too.
I didn’t see much about her family.
It seems that many people in this story would have helped her. And I don’t think she could see that. I think she was in way over her head, drowning in the demands of “success” and the basic need to be accepted and survive.
She was hurt and confused.
No, its not ok to steal.
People do it all the time and don’t get this kind of scarlet letter treatment.
I guess its because her financial crimes were intimate - and that’s why people are judging her so harshly.
Why aren’t we judging the real criminals in this country as harshly?
Maybe we are taking it out on the wrong criminal here.
Why aren’t we posting the pictures of the CEOs of major corporations that stole and lied from us on the most wanted lists? I’m a lot more hurt about them and their lies and cons.
Where was her bail out?
So what if she lied about cancer, and didn’t have money. We aren’t all so fortuate to have it ALL together ALL the time. We all make mistakes.
If she had a little more trust and compassion given to her maybe she would have turned it all around gotten a job and paid off her debt - like other people do with credit cards.
Ya know, she could of sold her body to get the money or of course she could of gotten a real job, (umm..maybe we all could get jobs, right?).
She obviously picked the wrong way get cash… writing bad checks, its a big no no. (Bigger than forging peoples applications for bad loans in order to get bonuses.)
She could have sold drugs, maybe she wouldn’t have gotten caught and she might have even made a ton of money. I betcha she would have given her money it to other people she knew to get them out of a jam.
We all know that if she had rich parents they would have bailed her out and given her credit cards to live off of so she wouldn’t have to suffer. Maybe they would even pay her rent.
This woman deserves a big second chance.
ha, it’s great to watch Internet crackheads call snitch from their mom’s basement. I wish you guys had the balls to use your real names so I could scam the baby Jesus out of you in a cancer scam under your dead grandma’s name, that would be epic.
That being sad, I actually had the pleasure of getting a one of the hipster griffers naughty notes at a bar in Williamsburg. She wanted me to throw my hot dog down her hall to which I replied it was probably more a bottle rocket in canyon.
Seriously, it’s Brooklyn fools. There’s a scam going on every corner and it’s a crying shame she grifted some hayseeds trust fund money. She dreamed so small. Who falls for the cancer bit?
I guess only knuckleheads from the Midwest and inbred trolls from Philly.
The author of this piece meets both descriptions.
Sam Treble is such an ugly deuchebag, even Kari probably didn’t want to fuck him, or take his $, which is why he snitched on her and went to such great lengths to set her up. What a weasel.
The police could’ve caught her at any time, if they really gave a shit, which they obviously didn’t. How hard is it to find a chick who shows off a chest tattoo like that? Please. You read that the SLC police didn’t encourage him. Duh.
Loved the line about how he invited her along to SXSW because he wanted to scam her for her credit card, alleged connections, and for the overall advancement of his band. He’s such a deuchebag. Hipsters beware, mind your credit card, because he’s a Kari knock-off.
Can I call him a deuchebag anymore times? Sam, get a fucking nosejob and buy a grown man’s shirt.
Oh and running away from Kari so she didn’t see that you set her up? PUSSY. Taking a photo later? PRICK.
Dude, I bet Kari will have more friends when she gets out than you will. Even as an emotionally disturbed sociopath, she’s fucking cooler than you will ever be!
Judas!!!
Hey Tremble,
Got some eggs rotting for your show in Manhattan, buddy.
Not only did Sam do a good thing, he provided a forum for douchbags and assholes to reveal how truly underground they really are. “Who cares if she stole from other poor people, check out that tattoo!”
Fuck you whiners. FUCK YOU. Go bail that bitch out so she can rip you off, too. Then you might change your stupid, stunted little minds about scam artists.
“Getting a harmful person out of society is the right thing to do. If one of these people got scammed by her I do believe their opinions would be a little different.”
Absolutely agree with that statement, M.S. Kudos for standing up against the anti-snitchers. If more people “snitched” or as I call it “doing the right thing,” this city would an even better place to live than it already is. (Easier said than done, obviously.)
Mr. Deeney, you say “I think this is a completely sensational story printed solely to attract page views, both with the newspaper’s hope of getting linked by more heavily trafficked media sites in NYC and for Sam to draw attention to his band.”
With all due respect, sir, I fail to understand what is wrong with highlighting an original, dramatic story. It’s a Philly story. Why not correct the obvious inaccuracies in K.’s “confession”? Set the record straight. If Phawker or any other Philly mag/webzine/weekly/daily would’ve gotten hold of it, they would’ve done the same exact thing.
She didn’t turn herself in. (She’s certainly not helping matters what with her compulsive lying and all.) Sam did. That’s news. Sam’s a hero. He’s not a journalist. He’s not a professional writer….but he did something commendable. Maybe he’s not proud of it, but I think honest citizens everywhere should be. I know I am.
“I won’t even get into the clear gender bias involved, where all spurned boys everywhere are invited to high five over the cute chick who took advantage getting her just desserts.”
Looks like K. fooled you too, huh? She’s clearly playing her gender to the utmost advantage(um, ANIMAL photoshoots/vids). I didn’t love the coverage of her, either. I think guys AND gals everywhere are high-fiving each other. Because a bad apple is off the streets. Yes, she has to go to jail. Sob, sob, sob. She’s too cute to be behind bars, etc. But $60K says she knew the consequences of her actions. I know my friends are thrilled. She gives honest hipsters everywhere a bad name :p
I’m baffled. Why is it bad that this guy got a lying, cheating, thieving bitch off the streets? She played on people’s sympathies and ripped them off. Then she lied again about turning herself in. How is anything he did wrong? I’d've probably taken her photo too, cos sure as hell she’s going to lie about being arrested at all.
[...] out the comments at Citypaper. So far Mr. Tremble has been called “snitch” a half a dozen times. He’s also been [...]
Sam, last time I’m sharing a blunt with you bro! Don’t trust what you’d do if the cops got a hold of ya.
I guess no one with cancer stories will cross you again!
Dear Sam, I’m sorry this evil “girl” hurt you so. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and the rest of the band in this difficult time. You’re safe now that she’s in the hands of the Philadelphia PD. Best of luck with the media vultures that will be crawling all over this one.
Lol, bitch ass snitch. Like you’re fucking perfect? Die in a fire, snitch.
Sure are a lot of white knights on here for a chick that got arrested. Lolinternet.
so yea she deserved a better way to get caught then get set up by a loser.
“I thought it would be good to have someone with a salary and a credit card on the road, in case we ran into trouble. And it wouldn’t hurt if she took us to some crazy industry parties.”
you were looking to USE her. you and her are not very much apart.
also, you claim you were sick of her lies. but you lied as well. smug prick.
i hope you think long and hard about what you’ve done.
i also hope nobody will ever be able to trust a back-stabbing conniving person like you EVER.
Man, you “snitch” haters need to grow the eff up. This chick was a criminal, plain and simple. If you even *imagine* that keeping her out on the street was an ethical thing to do, you’re a deep clown. This dude did the right thing, and anyone who’s been on the receiving end of crime (non-violent or not) is grateful to him.
And who cares if he writes about it? Resenters? Yeah, I thought so.
Children. You should thank this guy and crawl along.
If this was written “mostly” without bloviation I would hate to see what it would look like to turn the bloviation to full…
We’re all fasinated by the Grifter because she’s a liar and an overall terrible person that allows us to feel better about our own lives for just a minute - terrible, I know.
However, turning her in? Seriously? At what point did that seem like a good idea? What was it going to accomplish? She’s been publically ridiculed and I’m sure only cave people will be a victim of her grifting ways as everyone’s heard of her…. Well cave people and horny guys at the bar at 1:45 A.M.
When you wrote this article were you expecting praise from a group of people that aren’t government or corporate supporters?
Naughty Naughty.
of course it was a hipster who dropped the dime on her. god hipsters are scum
http://freekari.com/
Snitch-ass Bitch-ass Tremble! I implore all insecure Asian woman (and men for that matter) to start preying on these hipster assbags. Non-Asians too. Hipsters are a bain upon society. It’s hard for a regular guy like myself to enjoy record shopping, going to the movies, or simply having a smoke outside without having to listen to these tools go on about Calexico or Jarmusch or whatever.
Hell, I’d rather see Paul Blart 5 times in a row then see this loser’s band. Crappy bands like Tremble’s (and I’ve seen ‘em, they SUCK), and their friends (they’re not fans, dummy, they’re friends) are the reason why any self-respecting music lover should stay at home with a 12 pack, listening to real music. We get it, you think you’re eclectic. Too bad you sound like every other band around here.
I applaud this girl. Down with hipster culture! See you a-holes at the thrift store! That’ll be forty dollars, dumbass.
All you snitch haters: If she had stolen from you–and she would have if she could have–you would be happy that someone turned her in. All he did was what police do: catch a criminal.
“With all due respect, sir, I fail to understand what is wrong with highlighting an original, dramatic story. It’s a Philly story.”
Because, phillygrrl, it’s a story with a clearly stated agenda, that is totally hostile to its subject, who at no point was given an opportunity to make a statement of her own. Now, if that story ran on Gawker, or in Vice Magazine, I probably wouldn’t give much of a shit because that’s what those dudes do, run hostile agenda pieces. However, this is a NEWSPAPER, and newspapers historically don’t run agenda pieces that are hostile to their subjects to the point of working with the police to see them incarcerated as an act of retribution for “lying and wasting my time” without allowing the subject having the opportunity to make a statement of her own.
Hey, if you’re cool with that, that’s your right. However, I occassionally write for this newspaper and I also have the right to express disappointment with what is a clear boundary crossing on the paper’s behalf in order to join in a media circus that’s treating this girl like Charles Manson without ever once taking a statement from her.
Since when do newspapers run stories like this? For real? Oh, it’s okay because it’s only on the paper’s blog?
This media pile on has already resulted in an extradition process being enacted that otherwise would not have. This girl is being held on $250,000 bail in Philly, a bail higher than most violent offenders in the system, likely because her case is high profile. And likewise, upon her return to Utah the SLC ADA’s office will treat her case as high profile and seek the harshest possible penalty to show these eastern media outlets how hard they are on crime.
Again, if you’re cool with all that, AWESOME. I’m not. I’m not cool with the alternative press working in concert with the authorities to see this girl wind up in jail, because I don’t think that’s what newspapers should be doing. I’m not cool with the alternative press in Philly devolving into Vice Magazine or Gawker, and I don’t think you should be, either.
Sam Tremble — plain and simple — turned Kari in to the police specifically so that he could write this article and enjoy his fifteen minutes of Internet fame, hopefully parlaying some of that into attention for his shitty band. If you think he was legitimately trying to do good, you are an enormous idiot. Who is he to pass judgement on a thief anyway? He’s clearly stolen his entire wardrobe from his thirteen year old sister.
It’s nice to see that everything else is going so well in the world that a bunch of hipsters, hipster want-to-bes, and the rest of the intellectually slow can waste their time focusing on a smalltime fraud case.
The Hipster Grifter is ugly, the smelly street-person who turned her in is worthless/talentless, and anybody who spends time thinking about the case or debating whether the newspaper was wrong for pumping up a blogpost that will temporarily draw people to its website has too much time on their hands.
And you’re proud of this? What a little twit you are. Too bad you couldn’t see your way clear to doing a human thing, like maybe talking her into to returning to SLC or helping her get some professional help. Nope, all you can think of is throwing her behind bars in a stinky cell.
Why don’t you go and out catch some real criminals. Or are little girls the only ones you’re not afraid of?
Calm down everybody. She was being ironic.
all you people that keep using the word ’snitch’ are the biggest poseurs i’ve ever seen
Why go through all the trouble of turning her in? Why not just write an angry song (with a catchy chorus) about her?
Listen people, this wasn’t some master criminal threatening our children! She was just some silly young girl who wasted some of Sam’s time so he got back at her– and made himself famous all over the internet at the same time. She is a crook and a thief but why THIS GUY? Why did he work so hard to insert himself in her story and get her arrested? Is it because he’s a moral pillar of society? I doubt it- he was too quick with his camera phone and this article.
Sorry, but he did it for all the selfish desperate reasons people do shit on the internet: attention. Cause attention = money (maybe people will go see his band or editors will pay for his articles, or whatever).
But still, this girl was fun to read about but no huge danger to the world. Sam, snitching on her was pretty easy for you, did you do it because it was easy or because you are a believer in the rule of law? Do you act the same way when you see drugs or drinking and driving? Probably not.
I applaud you for doing this. Kari was wanted for milking people out of $60K and was trying to run her check scams in NYC. Lying to people about cancer and pregnancy so you can sleep on their couches, eat their food, drink their beers and ride in their cars in awful. Wasting people’s money and energy on bogus trips to the hospital is even worse.
Let’s see if I can get through a whole post with no ad hominem attacks or name-calling. That might be a first for this thread.
I think the use of the word “snitch” is inappropriate in this case, even irresponsible. Think of the number of violent criminals and murderers free in Philadelphia today because no one wanted to be known as a “snitch,” whether because of fear for their safety or their reputation. If we had more people willing to say what they’ve seen, the city would be safer.
I’m not saying Sam Tremble is a hero. Previous posters have comprehensively exposed his faults (taking the photo, taking off when the arrest went down, wanting to bring someone with a credit card to SXSW, dicey fashion choices), but he’s not the villain here. Kari Ferrell is. Lying to people (which both Sam and Kari did) isn’t a crime, but bilking them out of money is. Kari is the one who did that.
As to writing the story, I can understand the frustration at seeing a compulsive liar try to clothe herself in righteousness by saying she turned herself in. This final untruth could have been exposed more gracefully, though.
Okay, Rodney, you’re right (big fan, by the way).
A song
We all just want to belong but
Sometimes even that’s wrong
Like a hot dog draped over a thong
Your band and the like, Sam
Can all suck a big dong
Hipster grifter nobody will miss her
But to find originality in your music
We’re gonna need a sifter
Whiter than flour, this band that you’re in
You never had talent, go hop on your Schwinn
It doesn’t make sense, this thing that I wrote
Did you really pay 5 bucks for that shitty coat?
You got your exposure, though it doesn’t mean squat
Cuz at the end of the day, you’re a hipster queefnose
Like all the rest
(c) Down With Hipsters 2009
Sara: I think that’s crying, not smiling.
Rat
I’m confused. The Daily news reports that a PPD spokesman confirmed that she turned herself in.
“Ferrell was arrested at 11th & Market at 10:45 p.m. Sunday after calling police to tell them she was wanted in Salt Lake City, Utah and to come and arrest her, police spokesman Sergeant Ray Evers confirmed earlier today.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/New_mug_shot_for_Hipster_Grifter_now_jailed_in_Philly.html
[...] that she’d turned herself in. And we couldn’t have known that Tremble would then pen this hilariously self-righteous diatribe about how he set her up after he found out that she wasn…. Ouch. Now, Tremble is being trashed in the CP comments more than we ever could for this most rock [...]
NARK!
catolean - Your comment reeks of Afterschool Special faux concern. We should cut Kari a break? And how do you know her parents aren’t rich? Maybe they aren’t bailing her out because this is a pattern with her and they know she’s an incorrigible sociopath? They’re probably tired of this sh*t and checked out years ago. And who could blame them?
The economy is tough but it’s no excuse to lie and con to keep her in the hipster lifestyle. She posed for photoshoots while on the lam! In an Anthropologie skirt! That’s not cheap. A jobless hipster has to keep stylish! And she has an iPhone. With what money? Money stolen.
I’m glad she’s turned in and now we can move on. I’m also glad she has no book deal (that I know of. Judith Regan you’re losing your edge). This twat who turned her in is clearly just another nobody trying to get famous. We see a lot of that now so it’s not a surprise. He did a good thing but not for a good motive. At least it’s done. And now, so are you Kari.
Good thing Kari already has the women’s prison haircut/look happening. They’ll love her.
Hermit Thrushes are a terrible band. That said, what bus did Kari take? Did she take The Bolt? Megabus? The Buszoo Chinatown bus? Greyhound? Which one. Details are important Sam. Remember that.
Your band is terrible
this story will not be complete until sensationalist pics of bikini-clad HG surface and dominate the news cycle.
someone should call the cops on Trimble.
NARC!
good lord, the amount of utter shitheads commenting on this post is unbelievable. i figured the whole “stop snitching” thing would be no more than a stupid joke, at least to the kind of people who have the time and the internet connection to be reading and commenting on blogs about the hipster grifter, but i suppose the lot of you are really that dim. this girl fucked with a lot of people’s lives and deserves to be behind bars; sam deserves credit, not scorn, for helping bring her to justice.
props to the few folks who have exhibited some perspective in their comments here. as for those of you pretending this is a hip-hop video and/or are taking this opportunity to diss sam’s band (which he didn’t namedrop, and you can’t even find by googling his name) — grow the fuck up and start living in the real world.
lastly, logic and common sense would suggest that he took a picture of the arrest to prove that his story is at all legitimate. had he written this without photographic evidence everyone would just assume he had made the whole thing up.
* Did CP editors know about/sanction this idiot’s sting operation before they published his self-aggrandizing and contradictory account of it?
* While we’re talking about contradiction, why is “Stop Snitchin’” apparently only bad for poor people who commit violent crimes and not for cutesy girls stealing money from musicians?
* Why the fuck are we still talking about this girl, again?
“She’s no Mumia.” Mumia killed a cop. She didn’t. Point. Here’s a crazy idea - maybe if you picked a better poster-child, like, say, Marcus Dixon, people might rally to your cause. Google it.
i am disgusted that you short sighted dopes actually fault this kid for turning a criminal into the police. stupid foolish children. this isn’t a moveie, or the sopranos. adults, well proper adults enjoy living in a crime free environment, and a responsible member of society will work with police to rid their environment of criminals. fuck that stupid worthless predatory lazy cunt and tell the whore to get a job. all of you morons trashing this kid, and supporting this bitch need to get a hold of yourselves, stop trying so hard to be different. i’m certain your tone would change if someone stole your stupid records and an eyewitness refused to tell the police who did it. you think criminals are super cool? well then go hang out in a prison, have fun getting raped. grow up idiots. the kid sam did the right thing, and he decided to share his story, big fucking deal, you idiots should be thanking him, not criticizing irrelevant points such as his band.
Not to go on a stop snitchin’ rant. It just seems kind of pathetic to be like, “I CAUGHT THE HIPSTER GRIFTER.” Cash in on all the attention you can get, pal.
I hope all those who are so “faux-outraged” about “snitches” will agree not to waste the rest of us REAL citizens time by tying up the 911 lines when, sooner or later, they are going to need the police, and, fake basement gangsters, live in Philly long enough and you WILL need them and you will hope that someone will “snitch” to help you out. I also hope, in their intrepid, do-it-yourself manner, they will forgo trash pickup, fire protection, driving on city-streets etc., and all the rest that “cooperation with the authorities” entitles them to. The rest of you “stop snitching” gangster trash: enjoy your short miserable lives in and out of prison before some corner boy puts a bullet in you over some BS.
Having said that, I also agree with “deeny’s” posts…
You’re all a bunch of lame hipsters. This girl was a genius for targeting you assholes, because she knew that you dumbass hippie motherfuckers would never go to the cops because you despise them. Your dislike of cops if your lame-ass way to prove your street cred and show your 60s-era discontent. Damn the man, right? You fucking posers. Get a fucking job and a haircut, and take a shower, scum.
You guys really think she just scammed “hipsters”? Fucking idiots.
Well, I think the nobler road would’ve been to turn her in _without_ exploiting the situation to get the internet to swallow your load. Turning in a criminal should ideally be done in the name of some lofty social good, I’d think. Not, you know, myspace hits. So should you to be pelted with tomatoes/eggs/spoons of mayo at your next show? Maybe, maybe not. Though if it happened, well, can’t say you didn’t deserve it.
But all these people hurling the word “snitch” around…this isn’t the Wire. You look like clowns.
Jeff Deeney, if your solution to the prison problem is no one goes to prison until it’s fixed, and that no one should ever turn in a criminal, enjoy your anarchy. Seriously. Every man (and woman, and child) for himself. Go take a time machine to 1999 and smash some windows in Seattle - you’re way out on the fringe, dude.
Higgins: again, he did not link to his band, or even mention their name. and this thing has been talked about so fucking much in the media (too much) that you would think it’d be in the interest of the story for the Real Conclusion to be shared. hipster grifter is arrested –> reported that she turned herself in –> sam was there, knows that’s not true –> sam decides to clarify. i’m not sure where the dishonor comes into play.
Yo Sam where did you guys play @ SXSW?
In response to a couple of questions:
@ Citizen Mom: No, CP didn’t know anything about Sam’s plans/actions until after he carried them out. He came to us with the story yesterday morning.
@ Joe: We confirmed Sam’s involvement in the arrest with Sgt. Ray Evers of the Philadelphia Police. The initial reports saying that Ferrell turned herself in were wrong.
Internet, the level of discourse on you is, as always, staggering.
-1 for democracy.
Sam…you absolutely did the right thing…this woman would have harmed a lot more people without your efforts. I hope Kari spends 30 years behind bars and gets too fat and too homely for any man to be impressed by an offer of a “mom-job” or to “throw a hot-dog down her hallway”
Sadly, sociopaths and con artists are among the best at charming parole boards for early release. She probably won’t even serve a third of her sentence.
next time you call and ask for some bud we will know that your a snitch. you set up some “wanted” chick for no reason except that you learned she didnt have any industry connections and a working credit card.
i guess when your in a jam for that dime bag in your pocket and smoking blunts outside that dive bar venue you’ll be ready to point fingers & drop names…SNITCH
dudes must be pretty hard up anymore to give ANYTHING to this recovering-fattie. Seriously, her face is still all bloated and stuff. Bitch is hit. I think this guy is awesome for catching her, cuz based on her “confession video” she is EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG WITH THE ‘UTES TODAY! she sucks sucks sucks sooooo much azz. Can we please all get over this retarded glow worm?
Let’s all settle down now.
Did you know Kari? Because I did. This is not an innocent person. She shamelessly stole from many people. Even after going to jail once before, she never learned her lesson and still continued to steal. She made up horrible lies that any person (”hipster” or not) would have a hard time grappling with. It’s easy to say that it’s stupid to believe a cancer lie, but would you be willing to accuse someone of making up their cancer?
If thousands of dollars were stolen from you, if you went bankrupt in your early twenties because someone stole from you, would you feel that they deserved to walk free?
Kari Ferrell is guilty of numerous FELONIES. When you commit felonies, you deserve to go to jail. Let’s not pretend that if Ms. Ferrell was allowed to roam free that she would stop committing crimes. She is clearly a sociopath who can’t comprehend why it is wrong to rob people. Sam Tremble was helping the many people who Kari would have stolen from in the future. Because as someone who knew her, there is no doubt that she would.
As for the “snitching”- Has everyone forgotten how detrimental this whole “stop snitching” deal has been to our city? You’re pretty much saying that you would rather have criminals wandering our streets committing crime after crime than to be uncool in some corporate mainstream “rap culture” kind of way and help the police. Stop watching tv and rejoin the real world.
As for the “fame”- When did Mr. Tremble mention his band’s name? Because upon review, it seems he didn’t. So, the only people who know what band he is in already knew. No loss, no gain. In fact, the only time it was mentioned was in a comment by someone that was angry he was trying to get the band attention. It’s obviously not about his band. Duh.
omg!
Scenester-on-scenester hate = good times!
Wow…I can’t believe people are really buying into the “snitches” campaign — fixed gear gangstas? Ray Ban wayfarer warriors? Vans militia? Denim pantyhose mafia? That’s the lamest hood shit ever…and as usual, apparently another trend grabbed up by the white kids.
douche. bag.
hey erin, if mr. tremble didn’t want fame then why did he publish a blog called I caught the hipster grifter?
Naturally we are both entitled to our separate opinions and I appreciate your response. However, you say:
“This is a NEWSPAPER, and newspapers historically don’t run agenda pieces that are hostile to their subjects to the point of working with the police to see them incarcerated as an act of retribution for “lying and wasting my time†without allowing the subject having the opportunity to make a statement of her own.”
Sam is a musician. Or whatever. He’s not a journalist. He’s not trying to be (*coughs). Sounds familiar? He is biased. He feels hurt that his friend misled him. He blogs about it. He has no responsibility to us as the readers WHATSOEVER to get a statement from her. It’s not a story. It’s his experience.
As for K.F. She sure had plenty to say before she got caught. And after being incarcerated, she continued to portray herself in a much better light than was actually true. Telling ANIMAL NY that she turned herself in was a statement. An incorrect statement. But ne’ertheless, a statement like that can be saved for an actual story. Not a recollection like this.
“Since when do newspapers run stories like this? For real? Oh, it’s okay because it’s only on the paper’s blog?”
Blogging isn’t journalism. Blogging is opinion. Sometimes, not always. But the same rules don’t apply. Hardly any rules apply. Unless the blogger makes a false statement.
“This media pile on has already resulted in an extradition process being enacted that otherwise would not have. This girl is being held on $250,000 bail in Philly, a bail higher than most violent offenders in the system, likely because her case is high profile.”
This is true. Completely agree with that
Certainly the Free Kari folks are right about her treatment in comparision to someone like Bernie Madoff.
“I’m not cool with the alternative press working in concert with the authorities to see this girl wind up in jail, because I don’t think that’s what newspapers should be doing. I’m not cool with the alternative press in Philly devolving into Vice Magazine or Gawker, and I don’t think you should be, either.”
Sam Tremble does not represent CP working to jail K.F. He happened to do it, entirely on his own. He happens to have a venue to recall the experience and clarify an inaccuracy. He does.
So you’re saying newspapers shouldn’t be working to bust crime? What about Watergate? What about your story “The Transaction” which you wrote for City Paper? I guess telling narcs officers about hookers/blows/credits cards doesnt fall under the category of “working in concert with the authorities.”
I have no worries about CP turning into Gawker. The Clog? Still don’t see it happening.
Thanks,
PG
Captian Obvious-
I was talking about the band fame whoring, not really about himself.
However, if I were to famewhore, I’d pick a bigger venue than the blog of an alt-weekly.
I should’ve pointed out that my above response was in response to Mr. Jeff Deeney’s prior statements, FYI.
She had a lower bail in Salt Lake City and blew the state. It makes total sense why her bail now is $250,000 (of which she needs to post 10%).
And that FreeKari website is ridiculous. Seriously, you should be ashamed of yourself. Yeah, let’s put her out on the street again b/c that’s obviously the place for a psycho-semantic, sociopath.
While it’s good to clear up/have on the record that she lied about turning herself in, it sucks for Sam that that wasn’t enough for him. For better or for worse though Sam got the job done.
Kari Farrell being the victim of someone else’s con was exactly how this should have ended.
i hope you’re proud of yourself. Snitch
Kari Ferrell is obviously troubled and delusional but then who isn’t? Some of us are just better at hiding it than others. So then okay, she broke the law–society and scorned hipsters everywhere demand justice. Turning her in because she wasted your “time and energy” is one thing but snapping a pic because you know you’re gonna blog a smug little piece about it is another. Tremble, you’re a class act.
“Yeah, let’s put her out on the street again b/c that’s obviously the place for a psycho-semantic, sociopath.”
Ooh, psycho-semantic, that sounds fascinating. Someone come up with an appropriate definition, please.
I think she’s crying in that picture, not smiling.
I’M DETECTIVE SAM TREMBLE!!!! I’M A COP YOU IDIOT!!!!
I would definitely pee in her butt!!
man, what a total douchebag. you did this why? to be a part of something. I think the overwhelming sentiment that you’re a pathetic jerk sums it up. worm.
i bet the cops think you’re a total loser too.
Congratulations! You established your undying support of a properly working corrective system. Thank god we have youngsters like yourself wholeheartedly believing in the “justice” system, and it’s abilty to validate revenge, er, rehabilitate people who aren’t just like you. I hope you are at the very least getting laid a bit more now that you are getting all this attention. And by getting laid more, I mean of course, contracting venereal diseases with unknown cures.
And for the record, yes, I’ve been grifted. My SS# is apparently in wide circulation, and people have taken advantage. It sucks, has caused a lot of stress in my life, but I really doubt anyone going to prison is going to be able to relieve me of this. It’s over, done, my life will move on. And so I say, stitches to snitches, bitches!
No more complaining. No more “Mr. Tremble, I have to go the bathroom”. Nothing!
There *is* no bathroom!
Look, no matter what this guys motives are, he did all of her victims - past and future - a favor.
If you are a regular person you have emapthy. Pathalogical liars to not have empathy. They MIMIC emotions, and they only SAY they are sorry.
She MAY have Narcissist Personality Disorder, which is completely different from being someone who is a bit narcissistic or has a big ego.
Again, people w/NPD do not have empathy and the rehabilation prospects are DISMAL.
Educate yourself! If you have met someone like this, the article below will be ENDLESSLY ENLIGHTENING. If you have not, the article will seem a bit foreign to you.
So if you have never encountered someone like her, you can’t speak for the rest of rest of who have. Scary, life-altering experience!
NPD
http://www.healthyplace.com/personality-disorders/malignant-self-love/unstable-narcissist/menu-id-1469/
She’s a thief, when do we award thieves for having a good scam. When did she make the apologetic movie that I saw?
*****
I don’t know why the guy from Phawker would attack the CP/or the guys blog for a story that was original/exclusive and interesting. And what’s really perplexing is that on 5/5 Phawker posted the girls docket sheet, criticized Phawker readers for being interested in the story, then gave a hat tip to Jeff for posting the docket sheet. Then when the CP carries the exclusive, Jeff writes a criticizing piece about CP calling it condescending and smug. Maybe he should attack his own readers for being interested in the story and having to go to CP to get the story they want to read, not attack CP for being able to identify what their readers want to read. It sounds like sour grapes to me.
Congratulations you douchebag. Snitches get stiches, then they dig ditches.
I DO’NT LIKE SNICH’S I THINK THIS GIRL JUST GETTIN THAT PAPER, SHE DO WHAT SHE DO
WELL SHE DO WHAT SHE GOTTA DO, GET THAT PAPER.
DO’NT CALL 5-0 ON ME WHEN I JAY-WALK, YO I BRAKE ALL RULZ
@Bob
“‘Psycho-Semantics’ is a complete model of behavioural/cognitive functioning. The name derives from two words: PSYCHO (’of the mind’) and SEMANTICS (’the study of meaning’). We are interested here, in how the mind derives meaning from experience. Problems are seen as rigid patterns of thought, behaviour, or emotional-response that require the introduction of new elements to enable more adaptable patterns to develop. In their most basic form, problems are defined as a connection between a stimulus (external or internal) and an unwanted mode of response. When the mind is faced with a new situation, the unconscious prepares a range of optional responses based on prior experience with similar situations. When the situation is threatening and has no prior correlate, the conscious mind either reacts in an empowered way, by taking control of the search for a solution, or it abdicates responsibility and retreats to a child-like state of emotional distress and/or cognitive disempowerment.”
What I’m getting at Bob is that she is so sick it’s possible that more times than not, she doesn’t know her own reality. Hope that clears it up.
Are these all your lunches?
What an opportunist piece of shit!
And yes I am talking about you Tremble.
You are just as bad as she is. “Hey! Look at me! I caught the grifter! Then I took a picture! Then I wrote about it! Aren’t I cool!”
Fuck you.
You are probably just pissed that you didn’t get to bone her.
I’d fake surgery also, if you were drooling all over me.
Actually, because of this. I am starting to change my mind about her. She probably took advantage of all of those hipsters, because the ones she met were complete douche bags, who deserved to have their (parents) money stolen.
I SAY LET SAM TREMBLE HAVE HIS FAME. I HOPE HIS PICTURE GETS POSTED EVERYWHERE. SO WHEN PEOPLE SEE HIM THEY THROW THE NEAREST INANIMATE OBJECT AT HIS FUCKING SMUG FACE. FREE THE HIPSTER GRIFTER!!!!
(I men really Sam, you was just tired of her wasting your energy? you are a embarrasment to your friends and family. i hope your shitty band gets known all over the world as the worst band ever. fucking dick, no thats too good, smega, thats what you are…)
I’m really hoping Young Tremble is in his early 20s, because he didn’t handle this publicity thing the right way. Of course, Kari Ferrell is an entirely unsympathetic character (at least to the majority of those of us who actually use our real names when we comment). This whole “snitches get stitches” thing is just cartoonish. I dare anyone to say that nonsense attached to their real name.
That having been said Sam Tremble comes off as a total douchebag for drumming up what he perceives to be a little PR glory in this way, with that goddam smug picture. Let’s just chalk it all up to youth, for who among us has not committed a “Sam Trimble” when we were that age, drunk on our own assiness.
It’s not really snitching when there’s a nation-wide man-hunt. It’s kind of just finishing the inevitable. What is she going to be on the run forever? Way to get it out of the way, and not waste any more of anybody’s time.
Setting her up? Probably satisfying.
Blogging about it in the name of getting your 15 minutes? Pretty gay.
You forgot to mention the part where you had strap-on anal sex with the hipster grifter.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG
Fuckin Rat
She’s totally gonna get you when she’s released on bail, Sam. Did they police offer u witness protection?
she does belong in jail. but, you’re somehow a bit of a douche, i can’t exactly pinpoint why though.
@OH SNAP and @Carter made me piss my pants. you owe me twenty bucks for dry cleaning. i’ll bill you. personally i think sam tremble is very brave. this is a courageous and inspiring act and proof that hipsters as well as boys in bands are totally not self-absorbed.
snitches get stitches yo.
here’s at least one good thing we can say about the hipster grifter: she didn’t do it for fame, unlike you. no one gives a fuck that your band went to south by southwest. the god damn guy who wears a thong around downtown austin has been there too. and he’s still more important and famous then you.
seriously, the self-importance in your article is absolutely disgusting. i could understand if she personally did something to you like steal money, but you are one of the only people she didn’t actually scam. it’s really great that you decided since she lied to you about cancer that you thought she deserved to go to prison. let the police spend their time on something that’s really important, not some girl stealing from stupid trust fund kids.
Thanks Erin.
Your facts need to be in the story.
you give me the douche-chills. your band is awful! your boatneck tee is pretty appalling too. what pleasure did you have in turning some one in who apparently didn’t even really scam you that badly? all i can say is “karma, karma, karma comes back to you hard”
narc.
Hipsters are so cool. How do you get to be one? Any help? It looks like you’re supposed to dress a peculiar way, specific brands but make sure you look unkept. Vast number of tattoos seems popular. I’ve noticed that you must read certain authors and listen to certain musicians too. I mean if you’re dressing all cool-like and listening to some popular band, what’s the point? Isnt it all about how you look? It can’t all be the appearance. There has to be more to these people that are the future of our country. We have our first black pres, how bout our first hipster pres? Your years of working in record stores, coffee shops, bike shops, or wherever you disappear during the day are apt experience. Please advise me on this. I think I’m close to becoming a hipster. And be serious about it. I noticed hipsters are very very serious creatures.
[...] for what it’s worth, I’d like to dedicate this award to snitches in Philly, Republicans too afraid to say that they believe in science, the Libertarian paradise of Somalia, [...]
[...] lied again. She didn’t really turn herself into the cops. City Paper has the true story of how she was captured. [...]
[...] Band Posted by admin in General News on May 6th, 2009 | no responses He helped the cops apprehend the Hipster Grifter. Here’s his band, Hermit Thrushes. Since Sam is clearly a hero for [...]
you are pathetic.
What I think is troubling is that people are equating criticism of Sam Tremble’s blog and actions with support for Kari Ferrell. No one sensible will argue that Keri Ferrell should go unpunished for her crimes, but anyone sensible will recognize that Sam Tremble blog is a childish, self-important attempt to capitalize on the media sensation surrounding the story. Keri Farrell may have lied to him and his friends about cancer and hooking his band up with a “crazy industry party” at SXSW, but it was him who proposed the idea of setting her up to the police and initiated his own lies to bring her into custody. She may have gone to burgle again, but the sensible thing to do would be to simply alert the authorities. No, once he saw all the buzz in the alternative media about Kari Ferrell, he decided to write himself into the whole media sensation so he would have the bragging rights about it later. He had no shame in his blog, bragging about how he set her up and about his exploits as a musician.
I suppose he is getting what he wanted, people are blogging about him across the internet. And, lo and behold people found out what band he is in although it wasn’t mentioned in his blog! I bet he thought they would never figure that out! Now his band will be the butt of a joke until they break up, no matter what else they do. They are kind of like the Kato Kaelin of this whole situation. I wonder if his bandmates are in panic mode right now because of this tool or if they are just as pathetic, self-serving and childish as him? Regardless he ruined their band with his immodest boasting, no one can stomach this kind of crap–he gets what he deserved.
[...] turned herself in to Philadelphia police. Surprise: She lied! A Philadelphia musician she knew lured her back with talk of a trip to [...]
I posted yesterday that I think Sam did a solid thing, but he does clearly have a self-promoting agenda. To say (as some poster up there did:
“…taking this opportunity to diss sam’s band (which he didn’t namedrop, and you can’t even find by googling his name)”;
would be incorrect because I’m from Los Angeles (lead here by Gawker) and I Googled him and his band and up they popped. …just sayin’ on that count.
In addition, on their MySpace page (groan) you can listen to them as I did. I endured about 15 seconds of that, oh my (terrible, really bad).
Oh, and Brian “psycho-semantic” is not a word regardless of your goofy posting of that goofy pseudo definition. I think you may have been searching for “psychosomatic,” which is imagined or mind-based symptoms of illness. Kari did not suffer from psychosomatic illnesses; she just lied about having life threatening illnesses (not the same thing). Though I do agree with you about this:
“Kari Farrell being the victim of someone else’s con was exactly how this should have ended.”
you sound kind of punkish by just dropping the bag, but kudos overall for your actions.
to those who deem this as snitching, you suck. unless you do not pay taxes, you have financially provided for a means of correcting criminal behavior in the community. it someone jacks me, i’m not looking for themk, that’s the cops’ job. if calling 911 is snitching, then don’t call when anything is happening. just be an idiot and keep everything to yourself. in fact, you should post your address on the web so cats can come & jack you…
you’re not going to tell are you?
just want to throw this out there:
have any of you been mugged or had someone break into your home? i know from experience it is a pretty unnerving experience, and what ferrell did was in the same vain. the worst part is that she knew all of these people, and she called them friends and stole their trust…and cell phones…and cash.
also, she’s making us 20 some year olds look like assholes. some of us actually have to pay off debt that accrued while we were in college, and it’s not easy finding a job right now. so for those ‘innocently in debt’ such as myself i say she should have to pay the money she stole and then some.
THANKS.
People grift and people snitch, happens all the time. What pushes this over the edge is the self-congratulatory tone of the article and the fact that HE SNAPPED A PICTURE OF HER WHILE SHE WAS BEING TAKEN AWAY. What a tool…
Yes Mr. Tremble, maybe your band sucks, it probably cowers and trembles and whines and calls attention to itself unnecessarily, as evidenced by this self-serving article.
I understand the civil duty aspect–catching a criminal, etc., but seriously (and to be redundant)–why write this article? Why call attention to yourself when you were worried that Kari might find out that you ratted her out? Why take an iPhone photo? Why go to such great lengths? Most likely you just wanted to be the “hipster who caught the grifter” which is just so sad. She was arrested, you could’ve let the matter be. Instead, you decided to capitalize on the opportunity, which to me, is definitely something a pussy would do.
And I don’t agree with your supporters or this Pete Feld guy who say, “remove these grifters from society!” etc. Kari’s a mentally ill minority woman and you’re just some white dude, brainwashed and convincing yourself that this is the best course–to turn her in like a pussy (feigning to be her friend, lying to her, making sure she doesn’t see that you betrayed her), all for a bit of self-promotion. What kind of songs can your band possibly write now? “We’re the white guy sensitive in-need-of-a-credit-card-wielding-minority-female-to-cover-our-asses-for-SXSW douchebag band” and boy did we teach her! Boy did we get her and now she’s in jail and we’ve got our 15 mins!
Dude, reflect. Get over yourself. You’re not a fucking hero. You’re probably not a bad or stupid person either. But your fault was in publicizing this. That wasn’t very respectful, especially considering that Kari truly possibly is mentally ill, a borderline sociopath. She needs help. Now she’s arrested and can’t lend her credit card and cash to your poor white hipsters on the road. Boo hoo for your bullshit band.
Oh no. You were lied to. Totally duped. So you had to coordinate with every goddamn law enforcement division in the East Coast to catch her for some band promo.
You disgust me. But that’s okay. It’s not my conscience that’s f*cked. Perhaps you’re one of those self-satisfied, non-reflective hipsters who get what publicity they can, one those white males who’re just … “ah yes, I did the right thing, I’m a hero, etc.” and don’t ever stop to think about your actions. If you are indeed one of these fluff types, then your music will go nowhere. If you’re looking for people to cover your own bullshit tour expenses, to capitalize upon to give your band publicity, then I don’t pity you. You will die, meaningless and forgotten like the 5 zillion hipster bands that play in Brooklyn today. Superficial, entitled, privileged, dumbass white boy “indie” rock music. Can’t wait for you to disappear.
Sam Tremble, you sir are a douchebag - and a snitch!
Well, this whole hipster-grifter thing is HI-larious for several reasons:
1) it is quite ironic that a bunch of pretentious popculture frauds got taken in by a REAL fraud. she played people like Parker Brothers, cashing in on a combination of yellow-feverish horny stupid white dudes and having the ‘right’ hairstyle and tattoos and bam, everyone is falling over her to give her money, get under her vintage skirt and give her a job.
2)i have no sympathy for Vice magazine, i dont care how cool and hip you are, even Hot Topic checks references when they hire people…
3) i cant believe it took people SO LONG to figure out do a google search on her…i mean damn people google to find out what TIME it is these days, but whatever, most of these dudes were too busy thinking with their dicks or thinking that they had a golden ticket to the in-crowd by putting up with her shit…ha ha!
4) Stupid Hipster dramarama is always fun and amusing, and i’m just waiting for the t-shirts to come out….
either way i do hope this chick gets whats coming to her, and hopefully a prozac smoothie or three.
“I thought it would be good to have someone with a salary and a credit card on the road”
Who’s the grifter again?
(This is in no way endorsing or siding with anyone)
Will all of this matter in a year? A month? A week?
Will everyone have the time and energy to debate the rightness or wrongness of people we don’t even know or situations we only partially understand forever?
All of these comments make me very sad. This is not the way that adults in our society are supposed to interact with each other. Is it acceptable to approach a stranger in daily life and hurl insults such as “pussy” and “douche bag” at them? I hope that we can all agree that it’s not, at least it shouldn’t be. It’s just so easy to flex one’s internet muscles and get one’s agression out on a keyboard.
I wish there was some way the internet could magically break in a way that forces people to relearn respectful conversation and rational, logical debate.
As a teacher, I see anger-driven, reactionary, and accusatory behaviors spiraling out of control in countless children. Clearly, they’re learning from adults that this is an acceptable way to act. Most of the people comenting on this blog should stop worrying about the “Grifter” and the “Snitcher” and check to see if their own actions are up to the standards they are demanding from others.
On another note- I work at an elementary school in a particularly rough part of South Philly. My fellow teachers and I are constantly telling our students that snitching is a noble act and helps keep them and their families safe.One more criminal off of their streets and perhaps there’s one more chance they can actually go outside and play. While I am fully aware that Kari Ferrell wasn’t the kind of criminal roaming Point Breeze, the “stop snitching” culture is only fostering this city’s shameful crime rate.
wtf is with the hating?
this chick as a CROOK. wanted for $60,000 in larceny.
no wonder philly is such a fucked up place to live, with such shitty crime. I see more anger toward the guy who turned in a predator than toward the predator herself. the guy wrote a good article, timely and interesting, and what’s mroe he deserves credit. tremble, I don’t know you or your band, but on behalf of anyone who’s been taken advantage of by crooks like kari, thank you. thank you.
to the haters, you’re a bunch of fuckin’ morons.
I was going to post a serious comment, but I had forgotten the intelligence of the average city paper reader.
I’ll leave it at this: if you’re stupid enough to believe that someone will die in two months because of lung cancer, perhaps you deserve to learn a hard life lesson or two. Whine all you want, but considering I live in a society which still says I was “asking for it” if I’m raped, I think I get to put a little bit of the blame on the victim here.
fuck you, snitch bitch
Sam Tremble is the Arthur Kade of Hipster Snitches.
“However, this is a NEWSPAPER, and newspapers historically don’t run agenda pieces that are hostile to their subjects to the point of working with the police to see them incarcerated as an act of retribution for “lying and wasting my time†without allowing the subject having the opportunity to make a statement of her own.”
HAHAHA! You’re kidding right? the CP never runs pieces that are openly hostile to its subjects?
HAHAHAHA! you’re a card, deeny. I’m SO sure that if you got ripped off like this, you’d go to the police and ask them to let the perp go, because prison is SO inhumane and unfair.
no one forced ms. ferrell to go on a crime spree. she chose to do that all on her own.
what’s up, did kari ferrel give you head or something?
Sam,
I’m going to knife you during our rehearsal. I don’t play with rhythm-ing snitches. I grew up in Oz, dude. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN NATURAL BORN KILLERS? Brace yourself. You better keep an eye on me at all times…with sun glasses!
love (but not really, ’cause I hate (to love) you (but I don’t)),
the albanian
I am seeing all these “snitch die” comments, and it’s funny because I HAD NO IDEA THERE WERE SO MANY WIGGERS USING THE INTERNET! It’s crazy!
Hey, uhh Sam, you probably take down any links from the CP to your bands myspace. That shit kind of sucks. A lot.
funny, if she had given any hipster a handjob with her mouth and they took her out to dinner, industry shows and purchased some overhyped exensive urban designer gear and kicks, while asking for rent help cuz daddy cut off her trust fund she would have been ANY OTHER HIPSTER CHICK IN BROOKLYN….frankly she didnt need to grift anybody for such measly amounts
all she needed to do was let some douchebag gentrifier transplant throw a hotdg down her hallway once in a while
Jesus christ, I can’t believe most of you guys. The one thing about Kari is that she has a knack for disappearing. If he “just called the authorities”, as many of you are suggesting, she wouldn’t have been there when they showed up. I tried calling the cops - by the time New York even bothered to consider arresting her, she’d moved to a different place. For her to get caught, it had to go down like some sort of sting operation. They had to know where she’d be at a specific time. She lived like a nomad.
Snitches get stitches? Seriously? Snitching because someone in your building is smoking pot is a completely different from snitching on a con artist.
The way I see it, she was a wanted felon - she constantly lied and stole. You can wonder all you want about the motives behind it - she was poor, she was a minority, whatever - that doesn’t give her the right to profit over lying and scheming. If she got busted for, say, selling pot to people who wanted it and wasn’t hurting anybody or decieving anyone, maybe I’d be more sympathetic to her “plight.” And who cares why he did it? She hadn’t stolen from him yet, but she had stolen from people he knew, not to mention the people she stole from in SLC to get her on the most wanted list! And as BrendanCalling said, what the hell is it with this city and “snitches.” Again, this wasn’t a harmless and victimless crime - as such, it’s better that she was “snitched” on and is behind bars.
Also, in defense of Sam, it’s a cool story, he acknowledges that he was sucked in by it too, AND for those people who say it was all about promoting his band - I don’t think he even mentioned the NAME of his band in the article.
OMG ALL OF YOU PEOPLE WHO CRITICIZE THIS GUY MAKE ME ABSOLUTELY SICK TO MY STOMACH. QUIT POSING AND WORK FOR A LIVING AND THEN SEE WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO GET RIPPED OFF.
Just sayin’
“no wonder philly is such a fucked up place to live, with such shitty crime.”
don’t blame philly for something that it has nothing to do with besides arresting her. yes, philadelphia has a lot of work to do in the crime department, but she was in plenty of places before that, and no one caught her. give philly a break on this one.
At least her story is more interesting than your ploy to get publicity. You look like your band sucks, hipster douchebag.
I bet you have a fancy fix gear, loser!
We’re going to play a wonderful game called…â€Who is my daddy and what does he do?”
bringing shame on all things gangster and philly…im sending you some cheese special delivery sam… …whats worse then being a hipster-grifter????….being a fuck-ass rat-fink snitch!
To DrunkenAthiest: While I certainly am not sympathetic to Ms. Ferrell, I have to agree with you on putting a little blame on the victim. I liked the guy who said he trusted her so didn’t think of googling her. I google people regardless. Why not? One mention of her name in google would’ve told people all they needed to know! On another note, I’m curious as to why no one except for Sam tried to turn her in after they found out she was a wanted felon! Seriously, people!
And to Mr. haaaaaaaaa - I think you read BrendanCalling’s message the wrong way - he isn’t “blaming” Philadelphia for not catching her (and in fact, Philly did, in a way!) he is saying that the part of Philly culture that thinks that “snitching” on a thief, a murderer, etc., is so terribly wrong, are only contributing to the perpetuation of crime in this city.
@elbot
Mr. Tremble said in his blog that he did not have anything stolen from him, so he wasn’t exactly ripped off. I am sure the people who have been ripped off by Ms. Ferrell are happy she is in custody. I think it is the fact that Mr. Tremble decided to turn Ms. Ferrell in after the news story broke to gain fame is what is offending people’s sensibility. It would have been one thing if he had simply gone to the authorities, but he obviously was trying to write himself and his band into this story which had already blown up online, which he literally did in his blog above. To repeat, if people are criticizing Sam Tremble’s blog and actions it does not mean they are necessarily supporting Kari Farrell’s crimes!
@Bethsoda
“He didn’t even mention the name of his band in his blog.” Come on, let’s cut the BS. Even Mr. Tremble knew that if he mentioned Hermit Thrushes by name in the blog, there would be a shitstorm of people making fun of him and them for obviously trying to cash in on this. Like he didn’t expect his and his band’s name to be plastered across the internet the next day, which of course it was with copious links to their myspace page. This was a lame attempt at feigned tact and was probably suggested by either his bandmates or the editor. It is completely transparent and makes both Mr. Tremble and his band seem like eager little brats, just like Ms. Ferrell. It is funny that people keep on bringing up the point “well he didn’t mention his band name” because that is what he was trying to people to get to think in the first place, like he didn’t want people to know.
Plain and simple whether you think his actions setting up Ms. Farrell were justified or not, it was utterly disgusting and childish to brag about it in a blog and in doing so he revealed his true intentions.
You are a criminal, just like her.
By allowing her to stay in your house for several days, you aided and abetted a known felon and fugitive. By scamming her, you defrauded her.
That’s a felony. And the fact that you forced her to cross state lines, that’s a federal felony.
After they process Ms. Farrel, Tremble, they’ll come after you. You’re no hero, SNITCH. You’re just as bad as she is. Even worse.
Loser.
Oh, yeah. And not just the ugly tree fell on you, but the whole friggin’ ugly forest.
click on authors name see other stories.
click on stories see bands name.
click on name see myspace page.
click on schedule to see next tour to south.
call southern cops about hipsters with van full of drugs playing at local bar.
blog about how i caught the hipster that caught the hipster grifter.
Dear T Oade:
First of all I have no idea where you got your legal education. I believe, however, that to be charged with aiding and abetting, you must be aware that the person is in fact a felon and a fugitive. He had no idea about that at the time. In addition, if this was the case then EVERYONE who ever let her stay with them or helped her out, even not knowing, was a criminal as well. Are you saying that is the case?
Also, how exactly are you getting that he “scammed and defrauded her?” From what I’ve seen any money that she did have she had through illegal means. Even if she did give them money that wasn’t really hers, they didn’t know that, and it was willingly given and purposefully given in order to make them feel more indebted to her.
In addition, he did not FORCE her to do anything. She crossed state lines on her own. Him convincing her to is absolutely NOT a felony.
And, the “ugly tree?” Come on, man, what are you 12?
And in response to Mr. McGillicutty:
I am not saying that writing the blog and even doing what he did wasn’t self-serving in anyway. But ultimately it makes a good and entertaining story, and so what about the reasoning? He still took the initiative and got her in custody. I’m not sure why the other people hadn’t already but it seems it would’ve only been a matter of time considering her “career” in SLC.
Plus, you’ve got to admit, whether you like him or hate him for it, it was a good deed, again, however self serving, AND it proved to be a great publicity stunt. As is sometimes said, any publicity is good publicity!
And doesn’t anyone remember the “Bonnie and Clyde” of Philly? It’s a very similar thing!
i can’t believe you almost topped K.F.’s faking cancer. this article is so full of smug, and your actions full of deceit. if you actually cared and owned a pair you would have confronted her and had her arrested instead of this: “I didn’t stay close to hear what they were saying because I wasn’t sure if I wanted her to know it was me who turned her in. Not so much because I cared about her (I didn’t) but because I felt a little cold for betraying someone’s trust.”, followed by a photo and an article!
that’s ms. to you bethsoda
lighten up everybody, THE SWINE FLU IS GONE!! the media decided it was time to stop scaring the shit out of hypochondriacs. from swine flu to hipster grifter, whats next?!
also, i think it’s funny that ever since that adbusters article about hipsters being the bane of our existence, everyone has decided, “oh wait, i don’t actually have my own opinion about anything or anyone.” adbusters is a hipster magazine by the way
Hello I am a potato.
Each of them faces the down side of the grift.
Who’s Conning Who?
Poor poor Swinderella.
Bibbity bobbity boo.
First!
hope she finds you and spits on your fat ass when you’re a 56 yr old bald fat never-has-been chopping riffs at sam’s guitar shop for $7/hr. spoiled pretentious cxxts had it coming.
There’s a lot of really ridiculous mis-information and speculation going on here. Stories like this are never one sided and almost all of you have no idea about the full circumstances surrounding Ms. Ferrell and Mr. Tremble and their mutual friends or acquaintances.
Furthermore, I would like to gather all the people who are hollering “snitch” and fuck you all individually and squarely in the mouth. I want to glaze your crustaches and unabomber sunglasses with some milky white.
I want to ask you guys some questions. I want to know which Philly suburb you’re from and I want you all to tell me how tough the streets are in that gangsta suburb and how many stitches you gave to “snitches”. Then I’ll want to know what the first car your parents bought you was and which art school you applied to that landed you in Philadelphia proper. When did you guys make the switch to fitted hats and skin-tight jeans with white belts. I need to know what makes you guys so fucking awesome and above moral decency and social obligation.
Tell me, please!!!!
Let’s imagine the genders were reversed here. Let’s say the con artist was a guy, talked up and charmed some hipster women, pretended to love them, and then conned them out of their money. And then you had one of the scorned hipster girls set up a trap, make contact with the con artist guy, and turned him over to the police.
With the genders reversed, with it being a con artist guy taking advantage of women, not one of you would be defending him. You would be celebrating the strong, independent woman who didn’t let herself get taken advantge of and who defended her sisters. As well you should, fraud is wrong.
If someone had randomly asked you before this case if someone who conned people out of $60K
It’s amazing you have sunk so low that you are defending someone that conned people out of $60000. I mean, seriously. You are guys so pitiful that you will defend an outright criminal who stole from people. Apparently, your moral reasoning has been so subdued that whenever a semi-attractive girl enters the equation you rack your brain on any way you could possibly defend her. You have no morality, no objective sense of right or wrong. You’re just such a shapeless, shiftless pathetic like prick, so much so that sucking up to women is such a core part of your identity that you do it as a reflex.
That are a lot of guys who have a white-knighting impulse, but you guys have taken it so such a ridiculous extreme it is pathetic. As is your pathetic attempts to find fault with someone who ratted out a criminal. You really say it is wrong for him to write about exposing a con artist?
If it was a man who defrauded and took advantage of women, not one of you would be attacking her for that. You’d be rightly celebrating an abuser whose evil caught up to them.
I didn’t even think it was possible for people to sink so low, or that people’s wimpiness could become such a part of their identity that they can’t even see the good in a con artist getting caught once a woman is involved. I’d continue, but the English language lacks words to properly describe just how much you suck.
@Bethsoda:
That’s Mr. Oade. Toshiyuki, if you want to know that the T. stands for. But it’s too damn long to type in the name box, so I just abbreviate it to “T.” Also, nobody ever pronounces it correctly in the US.
Obviously he knew who she was, else he would have not even bothered with her. He KNEW she was a known fugitive. He lied to her saying that he had no idea who she was. He even admitted that he lied to her, if you read the article. He also lured her down to Philadelphia under false pretenses. That’s deceitful. He’s a bigger liar than she is.
Your logic is screwy. The others who assisted her did not know that she was a felon; they were SCAMMED — they are VICTIMS. You’re fucked in the head if you think that they’re criminals. Temple willingly allowed her in his home; and he knew EXACTLY who she was.
He had the intentions of turning her in. He should have done it right away. Not waited a few days. What did he hope to accomplish by waiting a few days? To fuck her? To play with her? To hope that she scammed him? Or at least attempted to? The guy obviously had ulterior motives.
What did he get for turning her in? Nothing. There was no price on her head. No bounty. So, he’s not going to get any money. His reputation got killed, because now he’s going to be known as ‘the guy who turned Kari Ferrell in.’ He’s also going to be known as a Snitch. I’m not from Philly. I live in Los Angeles. Snitches get killed in my part of LA. My neighbor’s son turned someone in to the cops, and within 4 hours of that, he ended up shot 12 times in the middle of my cul-de-sac. And I actually live in a really nice neighborhood. Mr. Temple would have probably shared the same fate if he resided in LA, also.
He should consider himself fortunate that he doesn’t have 12 bullets in his body in the middle of a cul-de-sac in a tiny suburb east of LA in the stifling 105 F heat of a May afternoon.
First of all you act like you have never even been to LA Toade much less had to deal with some type of snitch there. Why don’t you do yourself a favor and take a 9th grade grammar course before you start to knock on a guy for doing his duty to tell on this criminal who obviously stole and lied to her co-workers in Vice and to this guy’s band about hooking them up with shows on tour to SXSW. These guys are just trying to make their way as a band just like anyone else in the world so maybe it’s time we just relax and let this situation just chill out for a minute.
@T Oade: Wrong. Your time line is wonky and your logic is full of holes, just like your home boys’ chests in South Central. Please!
@Sam Tremble: even if you had a personally motivated vendetta and were kind of a weiner about the situation, you did a good thing and the world is better off without the Grifter. She was a pain in the ass and now she’s outta here. I was curious about how this went down, and now I know. So thanks!
@Detective Sam Tremble: LOLOLOL. Boys have penises and girls have vaginas.
First off, you are such a little bitch.
Yes, she took advantage of probably some decent people, but you had no need to but in.
It’s not like you leading the cop on some big tip of a serial killer at large.
You are just a noisy little brat behind a phone and a computer.
You couldn’t face this 5′ 1″ girl that you snitched on, how much of a pussy do you feel like?
Did you get your 5 seconds of fam?
You can go ahead and try to justify for it, but all in all you had no place in this whole thing.
BTW, How are you any different from her? You lured her in didn’t you? Pursued her to get her where you wanted her, right? And when she least expected it you robbed her blind…
This guy (Sam Tremble) is a present day Herb Stempel. If you don’t know who Herb Stempel is, google him. If you think Sam Tremble did this for any reason other than publicity, then you should read the article on him in the Village Voice. His self promotion is sickening. Simply put, he is major glory hound. He is by no means a “hero”. If you think he is sitting around trying to make this world a better place, you are naive.
i hope your 15 min of fame ends soon, you ugly loser! oh your band sucks
Hell yeh Sam! HIGH FIVE! I’d have done the same thing to her or at least tried if she wasted my time, lied to me and stole from friends. I’m glad things worked out smoothly. respect
Kari sucked. If I busted this bitch, I would’ve snapped a photo to prove it, too. Nature of the game. She’s a liar.
[...] Tremble The “Hipster Snitcher” is almost as deplorable a human being as poor little Kari Ferrell due to his shameless [...]
If he did this for press, he probably would have gone to a big paper, not some alt-weekly. He wrote for CP before which is probably why he came here.
I met Kari in Philly and she was a very convincing con. She duped a whole lot of people while here. Sam is a good dude for doing this. Google shit about her before all this hype and see how much people hated her and wanted her brought down.
He maybe shouldn’t have included his name in this article but that’s really obvious to us in hindsight. If he found out she was a legit criminal and wanted in SLC, knew some of her victims and DIDN’T turn her in, what kind of guy would he be?
Also, to all the basement gangsters calling “snitch” on this kid, you’re embarrassing yourselves. Put down the remote and see how romantic the drug game is in the real world. Thugs don’t read City Paper message boards.
First of all, all of you with the negative comments need to shut up because you don’t know anything about this situation or what the guys in Hermit Thrushes have been put through in all this. They don’t even know Sam or his band yet they are on here judging his character and making fun of his band. Let first say that Sam is a good person who isn’t arrogant at all, I have met him and he is polite and respectful. This girl met them at a show and then strung them along with promises to get them hooked up with all these awesome sounding shows at SXSW and other festivals out west just to manipulate them. Well as it turned out she totally took advantage of them by telling them these lies so she could co be their houseguest, then right before SXSW pretend she was sick. I’m sure they were not only disappointed but they probably felt violated.
These guys are some two chord punk band who relies on gimmicks, Hermit Thrushes are all very very talented musicians who write untraditional songs and make use of creative experimentation. They deserve to be judged on their music and artistic vision alone, not by this lieing piece of filth that has destroyed so much.
To T.Oade - I think it’s you who hasn’t read the article. When he lured her down to Philly, he knew she was a felon. Before, when she stayed at his house, he had no idea she was a felon. And again, who cares why - he helped get her caught.
Whatever, nice work CP. Look at the comment board!
Sam, you’re my hero. Thank you so much. Philly sounds like a nightmare and fuck all of the haters of a good deed. Seriously, fuck you until your brain is ravaged by syphilis.
-The first and worst victim.
He probably wrote this in response to the front page article in the Inquirer - he was listed as an “anonymous tipster”. I’d want my side to be told, too.
All of the following quotes are about Crimestopper Sam:
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2009/05/hermit_thrushes.php
“He saw me scribbling notes and network-assaulted me, all who do you write for and I see your pen, now use it to write about my band.”
“he passed along a manila CD-sized envelope with hand-drawn gummy worms and a one-sheet about how Hermit Thrushes use “awkward melodies,” “monophonic vocal doublings” and “unconventional song structures.” Inside was also an illustration of a humpback whale with angel wings.”
“Not even five minutes later, I’m walking out and dude is standing by the exit, his pants down around his ankles. A woman is grinning and taking his picture. Matt of Matt and Kim is witnessing this from about 10 feet away, and shaking his head.”
“The take-away? Sam Tremble is very, very good at getting his band publicity”
-And there you have it! There is the motive for Sam Tremble to have done what he did. He couldn’t stand reading this story and not seeing his name or his band mentioned in any of the coverage.
I’m not sympathetic to Kari Ferrell. She’s a liar, a coniver and a thief. But Sam did this not to protect anyone else. He did this to further himself. If you don’t believe that, wake up. He’s not walking old ladies across a street, saving kittens from a tree or building houses for Habitat for Humanity. He’s marketing himself. For all you that think Sam is so great, go buy his band’s cd. But I’ll be laughing last when I see it in the used cd bin in three weeks.
I’ve read all the posts about Sam,The so called snitch, and I’m amazed at how many dumb fucks there are in philly. Defending a thief? I’m guessing all you losers on the HG’s side have never been ripped off or known anyone who has been. Or maybe your Mommies and Daddies are first cousins and you have six fingers on each hand. I’m not sure, but I’m betting on the latter (that means the second one for you children of forbidden love).
Sam did a good thing getting her off the street. Cops can’t do it alone. As for writing an article about it, I liked it. It was just the facts.
Maybe the lot of you ought to go back under the rocks you crawled out from under. I feel sorry for you. With six fingers on each hand, you can’t even give me the middle one.
Great job Sam and good job on the story too.
For those who are calling the writer names and being internet tough guys, just wait until you need the law on your side someday.
@The End
>He’s not walking old ladies across a street, saving kittens from a tree or building houses for Habitat for Humanity. He’s marketing himself.
Sam’s actually a really good dude and does all that old-school Superman shit. He knew Kari. She fucked everybody over. It’s not hard to understand. If he wanted publicity, Fox News called him, the Observer emailed him, etc. so wouldn’t have been hard to get real publicity (vs. alt-weekly coverage). He just fucked up and put his name on this.
this guy is a pure self-promoter & had to snitch out someone more famous in order to bask in the reflected glow, because his awful derivative band cannot generate publicity on its own.
this is why the “stop snitching” code is so powerful, because people who dime out others just for the cash, the reduction in charges, etc., are snakes, and thrive not on their own merits but by undermining others.
in sum, fuck you, snitchin ass bitch
Great analysis “by for real”. Did you even read the article? There was no reward, charges to be reduced, etc. He just got a thief off the streets. It’s amazing you took your grubby little fingers off that gummy worm you call a dick long enough to type that crap. Congrats!
SNITCHES GET LICHES, PUNK!
WATCH YOUR BACK!
How can you defend this criminal? I can’t wait until beards aren’t ironic anymore and that tattoo of hers sags and becomes malformed with age.
anyone who supports the release of Kari Ferrell in words or in actions will receive a kingdom of kingdoms in the new world which is mine. This is the truth. I would not lie.
L for Loser!
How low can someone go?
HIPSTER SNITCHER
So I met Kari thorugh my husband in 2005. He was one of the “straight edge” friends she knew. He knew her for quite a long time. I lived in Philadelphia with my husband until December of 2007. Kari and I frequently texted eachother all day long from 2005-2007. we became really good friends, and I’d hang out with her when we’d visit SLC. She frequently told me she was in the hospital, with lung cancer, even though she was “straight edge”, she told me she needed an emergency hysterectomy, then months later she would tell me she thought she was pregnant. My husband and I knew she was an exaggerator, but we didn’t want to question someone we thought was our friend. She told me all the time that Casey Hansen, her ex, raped her and beat her. I grew an extreme hatred for Casey.
In December of 2007, my husband and I moved to SLC, Kari and I hung out at least 3-4 times a week. We would bring our dogs to the park, go out and eat, play guitar hero, share vegan recipes, we had a lot of fun. She always asked me to put her on me and my husbands family plan for our phones, and all of the people I knew (including the sxe guys she lived with), always told me not to trust her with money so I’d just always say “I have to talk to Scott (my husband) about it”. She always talked about having problems with her bank, and we would frequently go to this local vegan place that took checks, she would always offer to pay. She told me never to worry about it, little did I know, those checks were from a closed account, and the fact that she always wanted to get up and leave as soon as she wrote the check made sense. I went car shopping with her for about a week, we drove to all different bank and dealerships, always telling the bank that she had identity theft happen to her and thats why her credit was all messed up, once again, I didn’t question my friend, I had known her for almost 3 years at this point.
Finally one day she told me this story of about her rent got stolen from the foyer of her apartment house, and how her landlords wanted it asap. She asked m if she could write me checks and cash them at my bank. I thought it was harmless, she told me her bank was closed. One check was for $250, and another for $300. We cashed them for her and she bought us lunch! Awesome. We get a notice that our account is overdrawn 4 days later, overdrawn by $550, with $50 in overdraft fees. At this time in our life, my husband and I barely had 10 cents to spare let alone $600. The checks came back saying the account was closed. Impossible we thought, she used checks everywhere, she had a job at Golden Voice, she always had money. She had even just recently bought a 99 Mercedes. I contacted Kari about it and she told me she”d contact her bank. An email got sent to me from a “bank manager”, to my sidekick. the bank manager said there was nothing wrong with the account, but it was getting looked into and we should be getting my money back. After a few day with no money, no response, and our bank threatening to close our account, I was laying in bed, around 1am, I got on my sidekick, and took a second look at the email. I pressed the menu button and looked at the page encoding. and sure enough, the “bank managers” email, was sent from Kari’s sidekick.
I texted Kari immediately, no response, so the next morning I called the police. In the mean time, I sat outside of Kari’s apartment for 4 hours, with her inside. I even got let in by a neighbor who recognized me and knocked on her door for a few. I’m about 2x Kari’s size, angry, vegan straight edge, and she’s knows I’ve beat a few girls in my life, so she knew better then to come outside. I had gotten a hold of Casey because Kari had called him on my phone a few times, he told me that there was a whole bunch of stuff I didn’t know about her, and that he didn’t even REALLY know her. that next day she went to our bank and deposited the money back into our account. Apparently we”re the first people to ever get our money back from her. But who knows who she ripped off to get the money to pay us. I kept in contact with the detective, but since she made good on it, he couldn’t do anything about it. I haven’t seen her since, and I knew she was in NYC from her AIM. Its okay, the people I know, that I introduced her to in Philly know she’s wanted. I was under the impression she was in SLc for a bit though, I look for her everywhere, and I’m gonna attack her ass as soon as I do see her.
Shes a complete sociopath. Every word that has ever come out of her mouth has been a lie. I wouldn’t believe her if she told me she had a vagina. She’s nuts, there’s so much more to tell, I just don’t have the time to type it.
LOL! I wanna party with all the snitch haters here. I’ll con the lot of ya out of everything you own.
it’s one thing to get someone like that off the streets. it’s another to think you’re bloody james bond doing so. an even so, not even james bond would write a public news piece on doing so.
how are they defending a thief? the simple point is that this guy helped the cops catch a lying bitch. ok.
BUT if you do your research, sam tremble is a writer for this “paper”. WHAT writer doesn’t take those measures without looking out for himself first? i highly doubt that he did it for everyone who lost something’s benefits. he doesn’t even know them.
she was going to get caught in the end anyways. it was a matter of time. but leave it to sam who clearly stated that she didn’t take anything from him except “time and energy” with her cancer stories to take it upon himself as a modern day judas to clean up the mess.
i just can’t wait until he comes to cake shop on may 15th to throw dog meat and eggs in his face.
FYI: cake shop is located on ludlow b/t stanton and rivington and according to his awful band’s myspace page, they’re playing there this friday, may 15th.
“couldn’t see your way clear to doing a human thing, like maybe talking her into to returning to SLC or helping her get some professional help. Nope, all you can think of is throwing her behind bars in a stinky cell.
Why don’t you go and out catch some real criminals. Or are little girls the only ones you’re not afraid of?”
I’ve known Kari since high school. The bitch hasn’t changed. We’ve tried helping her. You obviously don’t know Kari do you? She does what she wants and isn’t so easily convinced. She has no remorse for what she’s done. Her public apology was not heart felt…she always apologizes the same way and continues to fuck people over.
She is a criminal. These were not victimless crimes. She stole peoples checks from their purses when they weren’t looking (mostly at parties). She forged those checks and on numerous occasions gave people bad checks to “make up for it” that bounced. Furthering the losses for these people.
He might be a snitch but he saved a whole world of other people from getting fucked over if just temporarily. She probably wont get help in a federal penitentiary, where she’ll likely end up, but she can’t be helped anyway. Because she’s hopeless.
“First off, you are such a little bitch.
Yes, she took advantage of probably some decent people, but you had no need to but in.
It’s not like you leading the cop on some big tip of a serial killer at large.
You are just a noisy little brat behind a phone and a computer.
You couldn’t face this 5′ 1″ girl that you snitched on, how much of a pussy do you feel like?
Did you get your 5 seconds of fam?
You can go ahead and try to justify for it, but all in all you had no place in this whole thing.
BTW, How are you any different from her? You lured her in didn’t you? Pursued her to get her where you wanted her, right? And when she least expected it you robbed her blind…”
Excuse me? Are you fucking kidding me? A person wrote this? Impossible. A fucking dumb ass posted this. That’s all I have to say and for obvious reasons. You can’t say two fucking words about this because you didn’t have to deal with her shit. So shut the fuck up. You weren’t scammed or defrauded. Again, so shut the fuck up.
I don’t care, I’m glad that bitch is finally in jail for all the things she did to me and my friends.
So fuck you for defending her filthy ass.
@get a life,
Let’s get this straight. You are going to take the time and energy to go to the store, spend your money on meat and eggs, PAY to get into the Cakeshop show (of which Hermit Thrushes gets a cut of), and attempt to throw said meat and eggs at Sam who is the drummer, which means you will inevitably miss.
You will be PAYING Sam, taking up your entire Friday night, and making an ass out of yourself by awkwardly throwing food around in a venue. I’m really not sure which person will end up leaving that night with egg on their face, if you know what I’m saying.
Did you even know Kari? What in the world are you so pissed about? This all coming from a person who’s creative internet moniker is “get a life”?!?
I really hope this humor isn’t lost on anyone.
All these “snitch” comments are bullshit.
Nobody in their right mind gets worked up about somebody turning in a psycho, unless they’re the psycho. It’s all either Kari Ferrell playing sockpuppet, or a few of her useful tools playing sockpuppet.
that was a total bitch move. people disappear regularly in detroit for this kind of shit. i hope your band stops there sometime..
dude. these are some cold blooded old times.
@ sir dude
I think it’s a sweet treat to see people act like this.
@ advert: That’s one reason Detroit is a shithole.
omg he put a lens flare on his own pic!!
God I hate that FUCKIN BITCH. I hope she rots in fuckin PRISON! My bands name was Hipster Grifter long before anybody ever heard of her. Now we probably gotta change the fuckin name lest everybody think we stole it!
Something about this entire story makes me uncomfortable. Without question Ms. Ferrell has misled and betrayed, and stolen, and broken the law. And she needs to serve her time, correct her mistakes, make amends, etc.
But, when you talk about moral decency and social obligation, and I read this story that Mr. Tremble has written, and see his rather slick picture alongside his words, it makes me feel . . . uncomfortable. Isn’t it enough to turn her in and simply walk away? Wouldn’t that have been the morally DECENT thing to do? He obviously has fulfilled his social OBLIGATION. So why write a story about, almost proudly boasting your part in turning in a clearly troubled young woman.
I don’t doubt that Ms. Ferrell had it coming, and that this is what she needed in order to regain a more authentic sense of self. But, I don’t think we should be celebrating another person’s struggle. I know she wronged a lot of people. But, her habitual lying points to a deeper psychological struggle that is, despite how we may feel, the result of feelings of inadequacy.
I know someone who has been known to habitually lie as well - she lied about having cancer, she lied about getting a big movie role, and she struggles with her weight. Mostly, she lies because she is in desperate need of love and attention.
Of course, this does not excuse Ms. Ferrell’s actions. She has broken the law and betrayed many many people. She needs to serve her time. But can we please not celebrate in the fire of another person’s pain?
And to you Mr. Tremble, I commend you for fulfilling your social obligation, but really, how different are you from Ms. Ferrell? Looking so debonair and proud in your picture placed ever so quaintly next to your story of how you turned Ms. Ferrell in. From her ash of destruction, you have made a BBQ, and you are the ham, eating it up. Is this moral decency?
Wow, this is something else I must say. Here I am browsing thought the net and came across a hot chick with tattoos. I decided to check out the article and end up on this page. As i’am reading this article, this idiot rat ass seems to think his a hero. I gotta say “there’s a sucker born every 5 min†and man if you’re that stupid then you deserved to be scam. I been scam before (fake vcr) but not like these retards, so let them all get in line along with the people whom have invested with Mr. Bernard Madoff. Remember him? Took 60 billion from a bunch of idiots but yet this man is not returning a dime. I‘am glad he did to his race, if not we would never hear the end of it. So shithead, go get madoff families whom are hiding billions for good o dad!
“…. because I wasn’t sure if I wanted her to know it was me who turned her in.”
Seriously? And then you go and write an article about it. Puh-leeze.
Ugh. Let this die.
I know Sam. He didn’t opt to put his picture on this. He didn’t name the article. This is a paper and other people pass a hand over anything publish (ie, editors). I’m not saying they’re responsible for the article but if you’re basing part of your opinion on things like that ’smug’ picture, keep in mind that someone else picked it and put it in there.
He wrote it and submitted it hastily and put his name on it. It sounds like a total dick-article and all that but he can’t change that. Yes, the article sucks. Put it in context though.
Rough timeline:
A girl that we all knew is revealed to be, beyond a doubt, total scum. Other friends of hers called around spreading the word, crying, begging for her to be locked up, etc. Sam got her arrested. People made her into some Robin Hood criminal when she puts out a bogus media tip that she turned herself in. Sam still didn’t write about it. Then, national news networks reported that she turned herself in and people started talking about raising bail money to free her because she’s a hero that ripped off ‘hipsters’. The Philadelphia Police dropped the ball and, somehow, issued a public statement confirming that she turned herself in. (They later retracted the statement but only after this article was published). For all of the people that knew her and knew what actually happened, it was a slap in the face and a slap in the face to all her victims who were now being ridiculed as ‘dumb hipsters’. It was a frustrating thing and Sam tried to present all the info in an organized way that would provide proof of what happened before the Kari-sympathy train got too carried away.
It pointless for everyone to guess at his motives. You’re not detectives. You don’t have all of the information. Please just let this die. Kari is a scumbag and it’s petty to find fault after-the-fact with a poor impulse decision made by a well-intentioned guy under duress.
You look like your band sucks.
I work in the publishing world (journalism) and no publication would post a picture of an author without the author’s consent. Furthermore, the publication generally requests a number of images from which to choose. I’m assuming the picture at hand was chosen along with others by one Mr. Tremble. Because, to be frank, it would be odd and probably unethical for someone working for the publication to go through Mr. Tremble’s private files, and select a group of pictures. But that’s a different point entirely.
Why we cant let this die: I’m speaking to a more troubling instinct. We, as a kind, have a history of celebrating only in the event of another’s despair. It’s an animalistic instinct, one that more often than not, is the motivator for war, and violence. It makes us feel good when we know someone else is suffering. Read Tony Harrison, “One space for the celebrant and the sufferer,” he wrote.
I apologize for calling your friend a ham, and I think you’re a good friend for defending him. What I meant to convey was that one’s desire for recognition often does lead to a “poor impulse decision” by many a well-intentioned person. And I’m sure Paris Hilton is a great girl. I’ll just never really know it. The public eye is a critical one - left only with small moments from which to understand a person’s entire motive, and by extension, life. Yes, we are all judging Mr. Tremble probably too harshly, and I’m sure he is nothing but ever and always well-intentioned. But I also think that Ms. Ferrell isn’t the “scumbag” that we all assume her to be. I think we could all gain from a lot more thoughtfulness and compassion.
Poetry is always good for this.
I bet most of the negative comets here are made by Kari
that guy in the pic with the curly hair and big nose is hella ugly
kari is obviously mentally unstable & needs medical attention.
she needed to be caught.
however, tremble is a douche-bag for exploiting the situation with his play by play article. sir, you give philly a bad name.
one idiot looking for attention nabbed by another idiot looking for attention
Sam Tremble, you’re a douchebag. Consider this your fifteen minutes. May you and your hipster doofus bandmates encounter more grifters like Kari, who held a mirror up for the world to see how scummy the hipster scene truly is.
you snitched to the police. you are an asshole.
Ridiculous. Lame ass bro gets hyped on getting sick shows and sweet parties and when it doesn’t happen he turns into a whiny little bitch and calls the pigs on someone that he no doubt had loads and loads of fun with for who knows how fucking many months before.
I hope your band breaks up and you end up teaching guitar lessons to 12 year olds .
dummys
Hadn’t followed this in a second but there was a Law and Order episode loosely based on it. So you snitched on a low rent crook. You talk about it like your clever. You’re a rat. If you TRULY were interested in justice you wouldn’t need to make grandiose statements about how you foiled this amateur, who’s only real talent was blowing people stupider her than her. She wasn’t even pretty - she was just plain. Plain and willing. But bottom line she’s a piece of shit and you my friend are a rat bastard that is BRAGGING about going to the police. Where I’m from we call the cops if we have to stop someone getting hurt but don’t stand around taking credit like we are heroes. People who do that in my neighborhood end up becoming persona non grata. I like what that Detroit kid said - don’t come round South Brooklyn punk.