Self Evident (submitted by Sherman)
As a fairly young policeman several years ago I was at the office on a Friday night around 9:00pm when a man walked in the door and came to the counter. I asked if I could help him and he said "Yes, I want you to give me a breathalyzer". I asked him why and he said he arrived home and his wife accused him of being drunk. He told her he was not drunk and he would prove it to her so he wanted me to give him a breathalyzer so he could prove it to her. I asked him how he got there and he said he drove and pointed at his car parked outside. I administered the test and he failed. He was charged for driving under the influence, spent the night in jail, received a huge fine and his driver's license was suspended for a year.
Kitsap County, Washington (submitted by Mary)
A group of criminals decided to record their deeds (stealing and shooting at people with Airsoft guns). They then uploaded the video to YouTube, complete with full credits...with their real names. Whoops! They also titled their video with the location. Needless to say, the police had little trouble identifying the perpetrators. (The video has since been removed from YouTube.)
From Kitsap Sun, July 23, 2011
Janesville, Wisconsin: Thief picked wrong item to steal
Police say tracking this thief was a snap. The loot was a computerized tracking device that uses the global positioning system and Internet technology to keep track of jail prisoners on home detention.
"He apparently didn't know what he had because he would be awfully stupid to steal a tracking device," said correctional officer Thomas Roth, who runs the home detention program at the Rock County Jail.
The $2,500 device was temporarily placed outside a home by a woman serving home detention. The device, which is a little bigger than a brick in size, has a built-in GPS satellite receiver. Prisoners wear a transmitter about as big as a cigarette pack on the ankle, and it acts as a 100-foot tether to the portable tracking device.
By the time the prisoner called to report the theft Monday night, the device had automatically notified the jail that it had been taken outside the prisoner's home area. Roth then tracked the device through the Internet on his home computer. A trail of electronic dots led authorities to an apartment building.
Lem Lom, 40, of Janesville was arrested as he left the building. He was charged with theft.
Associated Press, October 30, 2003
Louisiana
A man walked into a Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer? Fifteen dollars. If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, was a crime committed?
Florida
Wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun, a thief burst into the bank one day. Aiming his gun at the guard, the thief yelled, FREEZE, MOTHER-STICKERS, THIS IS A _ _ _ _-UP!"
For a moment, everyone was silent. Then the snickers started. The guard completely lost it and doubled over laughing. It probably saved his life, because he'd been about to draw his gun. He couldn't have drawn and fired before the thief got him. The thief ran away and is still at large.
In memory of the event, the bank has put this engraved plaque on the wall ...."Freeze, Mother-Stickers, this is a _ _ _ _-up!"
London: Bungling Bandit Leaves Wallet and Phone Behind
A bungling bandit was nabbed after he left his wallet and mobile phone behind during an armed raid on an off license, a court heard on Thursday.
The robber took his wallet out to pay for a can of lager in a ploy to get the shopkeeper to open the till. But in the confusion as three other members of the gang ransacked the shop escaping with cash, phone cards and booze, he forgot he had left it on the counter, said prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones.
He also dropped his mobile phone which had his number in the memory and did not remember to wear gloves, leaving his fingerprints on the can of lager, the Old Bailey heard. He was arrested the next day in one of the easiest crimes police have had to crack. Detectives traced Junior Adeoye, 19, from his wallet and his phone.
Adeoye, of north London, pleaded guilty to robbery. The court heard that Adeoye and three others raided the D & D Off License and newsagents in New Southgate, north London. The gang escaped with two mobile phones, 800 pounds worth of phone cards, 825 pounds in cash and bottles of spirits. Adeoye realized he had left his wallet behind and tried to hide his involvement by reporting it stolen. But as the evidence piled up against him, he admitted his guilt.
Reuters, April 12, 2002
Hitachi, Japan
A robber gave up his heist before finishing it, had his victim call for help and then patiently waited until officers arrived on the scene and arrested him, police said Monday.
"I realized that I wasn't wearing a mask and I'd be easily recognized if the crime was reported to the police," Katsuhiro Sekine, the 21-year-old unemployed Hitachi man arrested for robbery told the police.
Police said Sekine burst into a Hitachi convenience store at 2:35 a.m. He was brandishing a knife and demanded money. Storeowner Toshiyuki Otsu handed Sekine 10,800 yen in cash, but was then taken aback when Sekine turned to him and said, "Please call the police." Otsu did as commanded, eventually handing the phone over to Sekine. As they talked over the phone, officers rushed to the store, where Sekine was waiting for them and gave himself up.
Mainichi Shimbun, April 8, 2002
Penrith, Australia
A group of robbers who stole a cash machine in Australia watched as their haul went up in flames.
They used a truck to ram a service station in Penrith and dragged the machine out with a chain. They sped away with it dragging behind the truck, but the heat generated by the friction caused the machine and the money inside to catch fire.
Alerted police found the truck with it's haul still on fire after following gouge marks made by the heavy cash machine in the road.
Detectives hope footage from surveillance cameras at the service station will identify the offenders, who are suspected of at least three other similar thefts.
Daily Telegraph, Australia. May 1, 2002
1. Christchurch, New Zealand
A man received a mistaken phone call from police saying there were armed officers surrounding his house. The 33-year-old was told to walk out with his arms in the air and no weapons. When he got outside there was no one there and he went back in. A police negotiator still on the phone then realized he had got the wrong telephone number.
The Press, New Zealand, 1st May 2002
2. Oakland, California
Police spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered that the man was standing beside them, shouting "Please come out and give yourself up".
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