Why are so many PSPs being stolen? It seems commonplace to read stories of PSP systems being stolen from hapless individuals. This time, a sick child waiting for a heart transplant had his PSP stolen. Dominic Villanueba (pictured, right) is accused of stealing Juan Martinez's PSP by tricking the boy into handing over the PSP to him by asking how the game worked. Thankfully, the culprit was caught.

Although by the time Villanueba was caught, the system had been displaced. Thankfully, the story has a cheerful end: the sheriffs of Adams County pooled some money together and bought the child a replacement system. "He's just a little kid. I don't like bullies," Robbins said. "That's what it seemed like to me, one older kid picking on a little kid ... We couldn't let the bad guys win."

[Thanks, Rodrigo H.!]

What is the world coming to? This next story of PSP theft is a true tearjerker. Kyle Springs, a seven year old cancer patient on his way to a chemotherapy appointment in Dallas gets his PSP stolen. Not only that, but his school homework, medicine, and medical records were also taken. Worst of all, it happened the day before his birthday. Tragic.

There is some good news, however. Officers from the Dallas Police Department presented Kyle with a new PSP, and also raised more than $1,000 to pay for the lost medication. The PSP was important to Kyle; his mother stated that videogames helped alleviate the pain her son's condition inflicted.

While Kyle's story is heartbreaking, it does raise some valid questions. Why is PSP theft seemingly on the rise? And most of all, is there really anything we can do to stop it?

We almost think people read about PSP thefts on this site, get excited, and want their time in the spotlight. Let us say it again: we do not condone PSP theft and we will mock you if you do it. Like this latest entry in the ongoing saga of "steal the PSP from someone younger than you".

A 13-year-old was at GameStop watching his brother play on the Wii the store has on display when three teenagers came up and started interrogating the kid about his limited edition Darth Vader PSP, like whether or not it had any movies on it. The kid said no, took it out to check the time (apparently watches and cell phones don't work anymore ... not that a 13-year-old has any real reason to own a cell phone), and it was snatched away. Did it really take three teens to ask a kid a question and steal a PSP? Only if they're cowards who need confirmation of their awesomeness from each other. Except they're not awesome; they're idiots.

You walk into your office, and everyone's glaring at you. They're jealous of that PSP you have tucked away in your pants. And you know that Tom, from the Copy Room, is probably waiting for the right moment to snatch your system away. Well Tom, you're not going to get away with it! A homebrewer named Bawls has updated his PSP "anti-theft" tool, ATPSP. When Tom tries to steal that PSP, ATPSP will send you an e-mail with Tom's dirty little IP address every time the stolen system is connected via USB. With this information, you can bother the police to give a royal beating to Tom, because they care a lot about what happens to your video game machine.

If you couldn't tell, I can't say that I think this tool will be useful at all. Firstly, it seems doubtful that a stolen PSP will be connected via USB so easily. Secondly, it's highly unlikely that an IP address will reveal much info. Thirdly, no one will bother to follow through on your loss. But, if you're really paranoid, go ahead and give it a download-- it works on all PSPs, regardless of firmware version. A better solution would be to trick that evil Tom into stealing your bootleg PSP ripoff.

An incident happened last Thursday night at a Myrtle Beach Blockbuster video where a man was seen shoving PSP games into his pants. With theft on his mind and in being approached by an employee of the rental store, he dashed out with reportedly up to 60 games, which come to a total worth of about $1,800, and escaped in a silver Mercury LeSabre bearing a rental car tag. At the time of the report, authorities had not captured the gentleman, and the story makes no mention of the suspect's face being caught on camera.

[Note: That is not an image of the store in question, just a generic Blockbuster Video]

Apparently kids are getting together at schools and using their PSPs to access pornography "out of thin air." Based on the article, this was what a Minnesota resident by the name of Jeff Harris was doing, which garnished him with a grounding of a month and an in-school suspension. Supposedly, the kid used his PSP to tap into the school's wireless Internet access and then surfed some adult websites, boasting to his friends, no doubt, that his "haxxoring" was "teh l33tn3ss".

Never mind that the school didn't have a WEP Key enabled network or that they're apparently fine with students bringing in distracting electronics period. Still, I guess everyone has a point, it's not like he was using his PSP for normal purposes like running over pedestrians and beating people to death in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.

[Update: Took out the part about the hookers. Slight oversight on my part, I apologize.]

[Via Joystiq]

In what could possibly be the most underwhelming news story out of Syracuse, NY (a place normally known as a hotspot for headline-grabbing, pulse-pounding news), a group of students have been suspended for disobeying a command to return to their classrooms. A "hall sweep" was called into action after a rumor of a fight surfaced from accusations of a stolen PSP unit, an event that was widely ignored by some 37 pupils, who were apparently more concerned about watching two kids smack each other around than with learning fun stuff like geometry and physics. More details about the debacle have been revealed, but for some reason we just can't seem to keep ourselves awake long enough to find out what they are.