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The World's Dumbest Criminals

Man 'tried to use murderer's passport to flee Russia'

A man who bought a false passport to flee Russia got more than he bargained for after finding the paperwork belonged to a wanted murderer.

The 36-year-old man, named only as Arkadiy V for legal reasons, was arrested on suspicion of murder as he tried to cross the border into Latvia.

Arkadiy allegedly confessed to officers that he was not a Russian citizen and had wanted a Russian passport to get into Latvia easily.

According to local media, he bought the stolen passport on the black market in St Petersburg and put his own photo in, not knowing the passport originally belonged to a murder suspect.

He has been charged with presenting a false identity to state officials.


Story filed: 11:24 Wednesday 15th October 2003

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_828985.html?menu=news.quirkies
 
Vandals catch themselves red-handed on film


Vandals took photographs of themselves smashing up a Hampshire school and then left the camera at the scene.

The photographs show the face of at least one suspect while another is seen drawing graffiti on the wall of a classroom at Wicor Primary School in Portchester.

Police believe the vandals intended to steal the camera which they used to take pictures of themselves, but accidentally left it behind after causing damage estimated at approximately £2,000.

The intruders damaged a £1,000 computer by pouring paint into it and also splashed paint across the classroom, as well as damaging a £300 guitar, a CD player costing £100 and a £200 carpet.

The vandals also left human faeces in the middle of the classroom after smashing a window to enter the temporary building.

A police spokeswoman said: "Police are virtually certain that the people pictured are those responsible because the photographs do not relate to any pupils at the school.

"The only thing we can imagine is they decided to take photographs of themselves and apparently mistakenly left the camera behind."

The photographs were developed by the headteacher of the school, Mark Wildman, who discovered the camera after the burglary.


Story filed: 12:09 Friday 17th October 2003

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_829693.html?menu=news.quirkies

A bit like the classic of the real life video shows where the guys videoed themselves smashing houses up.
 
Suspected Thief Dies Stuck Between Houses

Mon Oct 20, 9:30 AM ET



AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A suspected thief came to a gruesome end stuck between two walls after falling off a rooftop into the tiny space between two medieval houses in Amsterdam's historic city center.

Inhabitants made the macabre find of his bruised body, suspended between the second and third floors, after they returned from holiday, Dutch police told Reuters Sunday.

"The man apparently fell in flight after police came to investigate reports of someone walking on the roof late at night. Everything indicates he was likely a thief, but it still has to be confirmed," police spokesman Ron Moes told Reuters.

Some witnesses said they had heard groans coming from the house.

Part of the wall had to be torn down to recover the body from its awkward position in a space just 40-50 centimeters wide, he said.

As Amsterdam, known locally as "the city on poles," was built on a swampy peat bog. Old houses were built on wooden stakes driven deep in the ground for stability. A gap was left in between buildings in case they tilted.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...&e=2&u=/nm/20031020/od_nm/life_dutch_thief_dc

Suppose his counts in the Strange Deaths category too!! Well done to the criminal mastermind for effort.

Emps
 
Cabbage

Man arrested with gun and cabbage silencer

Ukrainian police have arrested a man caught with a gun and a cabbage he intended to use as a silencer.

Detectives in the Black Sea resort of Yalta say they stopped the 48-year-old man because he was behaving suspiciously.

He was arrested after police found a loaded handgun in his bag with a cabbage he told officers was "to be used as a silencer," said Iryna Halynska of the city's security service.

"Our officers just shrugged their shoulders, smiling, as they've never seen cabbage used as a silencer before," the police spokeswoman said.

She claimed the thick vegetable could effectively muffle the sound of a gunshot.

© Associated Press


Story filed: 18:33 Monday 20th October 2003

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_830716.html?menu=news.quirkies

[edit@ Well I'll be - tonights CSI episode on cable invovled a man using a silencer made from a potato - they reckoned it muffled the shot not silenced it]
 
Bail raised for man police say robbed bank, fled on large trike



Saturday, October 18, 2003


By Laura Tull
[email protected]

WOODBURY --Bail for an alleged robber of a Monroe Township branch of Commerce Bank who escaped on an oversized tricycle was increased to 0,000 Friday in Superior Court.

John D. Simrin, 39, of Monroe, is charged with first-degree robbery for the Oct. 1 incident.

At 8:27 that morning, Simrin allegedly entered the bank, located on Sicklerville Road, and handed a bank teller a note demanding money.

Simrin told the woman he would "blow her head off" if she didn't cooperate, said Assistant Prosecutor Dana Anton. Police said Simrin did not display a weapon.

Simrin left the bank and fled the scene on an oversized tricycle, authorities said.

"He escaped," said Monroe Det. Lt. Glen Hammell.

As a result of the investigation, Simrin soon became a suspect in the robbery. He was arrested without incident 10 days later at his home by members of the Monroe police and the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office Fugitive Unit.

After his arrest, Simrin confessed to the crime in a statement to police, said Anton.

He is also wanted as a fugitive from Missouri on an outstanding warrant for a fraud-related complaint, said Hammell.

In court Friday, Simrin walked with the aid of crutches. His attorney referred to him as "permanently disabled."

Rejecting a defense motion for a bail reduction, Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez instead increased Simrin's bail to 0,000 full cash, citing the serious nature of the charges.

Simrin remained lodged at the Gloucester County Jail Friday.

Authorities declined to say how much money was stolen from the bank.

http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/local/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1066464951286160.xml
 
Tuesday, October 21, 2003 2:10PM EDT

Suspect arrested after showing up at bank for third time


The Associated Press

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A man suspected of robbing a bank twice since Sept. 26 got nabbed Monday when he showed up at the bank a third time.
Asheville Savings Bank had hired off-duty officers to stand watch and reassure customers while police and federal agents looked for the man they say robbed the bank Sept. 26 and again Oct. 10.
Asheville Senior Police Officer Paul Puglisi was on the job at the bank for the first time Monday.

"I'm thinking this guy's not going to come back," Puglisi said.

But just before closing, a teller whispered the robber was back.

The suspect made for the door and Puglisi followed. The two struggled outside and the suspect reached for a gun inside a small bank bag, police said. Puglisi stopped the man from getting to the gun. Nearby Asheville firefighters nearby saw the fight and came to help Puglisi handcuff the suspect, who also carried a hammer and a pocket knife.

Police have charged James David Huskins, 40, with two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, two counts of kidnapping, common-law robbery and assault on a law-enforcement officer with a firearm, Asheville Police Capt. Tom Aardema said Tuesday. They believe Huskins is homeless.

FBI agents expect to also charge Huskins for bank robbery and kidnapping, Aardema said.

Officers said that after the first robbery, the suspect carjacked two men and made them drive around for about an hour before releasing them unharmed.

"I'm just glad no one got hurt," Puglisi said. "There was serious potential for that."

http://newsobserver.com/nc24hour/ncnews/story/2962960p-2716695c.html
 
'Ooh Betty' mimic avoids jail

A university student who admitted impersonating comedy character Frank Spencer on police airwaves using an officer's radio has escaped a jail sentence.

Nathan Stack, 21, interrupted police frequencies in the Worthing area with catchphrases memorised from the BBC TV comedy Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.

He pleaded guilty on 24 September to charges of theft, after finding the radio at a filling station.

He also admitted sending false messages under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949.

Stack, of York Gardens, in Littlehampton, was ordered to carry out 160 hours of community service by Worthing magistrates.

Stack apologised for his actions and said he had been "stupid".

During his trial, he admitted using catchphrases including "Ooh Betty" and lines such as "Goodbye little fairies I must leave on the double, I would like to stay for one more day but I'm in a spot of trouble".

Stack was caught after his car was stopped by police on suspicion of speeding.

He then asked the officer, in Frank Spencer voice: "Can I help you officer?"

The traffic officer recognised the voice - and arrested Stack.

A search of his car uncovered the radio under a seat.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/3211169.stm
 
Merge! Another dumb crook locked up here.
 
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -- A man described by authorities as a known sexual predator was chased through the streets of South Philadelphia by an angry crowd of Catholic high school girls, who kicked and punched him after he was tackled by neighbors, police said Friday.

Rudy Susanto, 25, who had exposed himself to teen-age girls on as many as seven occasions outside St. Maria Goretti School, struck again on Thursday just as students were being dismissed, police said.

But this time, a group of girls in school uniforms angrily confronted Susanto with help from some neighbors, police said.

When Susanto tried to run, more than 20 girls chased him down the block. Two men from the neighborhood caught him and the girls took their revenge.

"The girls came and started kicking him and punching him, so I wasn't going to stop them," neighbor Robert Lemons told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Susanto was later treated for injuries at a local hospital. Police said he would be charged with 14 criminal counts including harassment, disorderly conduct, open lewdness and corrupting the morals of a minor.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/10/31/crime.girls.reut/index.html
 
Raider tricked with kindness

Two women, confronted with an armed intruder in their home, plied him with a ham sandwich and rum until he became groggy and passed out.
Police arrived and arrested Alfred Joseph Sweet, 52, to end the five-hour episode in Tampa, Florida.
Cathy Ord, 60, and Rose Bucher, 63, said they tried to befriend the man after he burst through their kitchen window with a sawn-off shotgun on Tuesday night.
They gave him a bottle of rum and suggested he shave so he could "...sort of be disguised in his getaway".


Baby talk confession

A German robber has been arrested after a mother heard him confessing his latest crime on her baby monitor.
The man an amateur radio lover, was telling a friend how he had tried to rob a liquor store in Herne.
But unusually clear weather meant the radio signal was picked up by the woman's electronic baby monitor.
She was listening to make sure her baby was sleeping soundly and was amazed to hear the robber's confession.
She called police, who soon managed to track down the man, who only lived a few streets away.


Man hiding for 11 years

A man who spent 11 years in his basement trying to avoid an eight year jail sentence has been arrested.
The man, from the Mironeasa village in the Iasi district of Romania, was sentenced for trying to kill one of his neighbours.
He claimed he was innocent and hid under his house. Police couldn't find him and issued an international search warrant.
The 31-year-old said: "I stayed 11 years underground because I consider myself innocent. I hid under the house and went out only a few times for food supplies."

Wolverhampton Express & Star October 31st 2003 p5 & 6
 
Eyeholes

Bank robber escapes with cash, headache


By TY PHILLIPS
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: November 18, 2003, 06:36:08 AM PST

At the drawing board, it must have seemed like the perfect crime.

1. Cut out large square of checkered flannel cloth.

2. Drape cloth over head to hide face.

3. Secure cloth with hat.

4. Rob bank.

5. Spend fortune.

However, Modesto's latest bank robber forgot one small detail: eye holes.

So on Monday, as he entered Oak Valley Community Bank at 1419 McHenry Ave., at Orangeburg Avenue, the robber slightly lifted the front corner of the cloth so he could see where he was walking, police Detective Tom Blake said.

Lifting the cloth too high would have revealed his face. The obstruction forced him to walk with a noticeable shuffle.

However, that wasn't the only reason he stood out. The rest of his disguise featured white cloth gardening gloves, a longsleeved pink shirt and tight faded Wrangler jeans.

The robber saved his best move for last. After he stashed an undisclosed amount of cash in a blue plastic shopping bag, the teller watched as the man shuffled toward the door, all the while carefully holding up the front corner of his disguise.

"But he forgets which side the door hinges were on," Blake said. "He walks into the steel door frame, bangs his head into the frame and knocks his hat off. He backs up a bit, still holding onto his hood, and shuffles out the door."

The man, described as having a skinny build and a raspy voice, shuffled across McHenry Avenue and met an accomplice. The two men last were seen driving east on Briggsmore Avenue in a full-sized silver car.

Police ask anyone with information to call 572-9551.

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/7760908p-8660618c.html
 
Police: Armed Robber Keeps Pace With Running Clerk

Police Say Man May Be Responsible For Other Crimes

POSTED: 8:13 p.m. EST November 20, 2003
Police are searching for a man who held up a Clinton Township 7-Eleven store, then forced the clerk to run for blocks at gunpoint, Local 4 reported.
Video



Store Security Cams Show Robbery



The clerk was apparently sweeping in the store Monday night when an armed man walked in and jabbed his gun into the worker's back, forcing the employee behind the counter, according to police.

The gunman reportedly grabbed cash out of the register, then forced the employee outside of the store.

Police say the gunman then pressed the gun into the clerk's back and told him to run.

"What was odd about this case is he made the employee run out of the business," said Sgt. David Dunn of the Clinton Township Police Department.

The employee sprinted south on 15 Mile near Little Mack, while the robber kept pace behind him, poking the worker in the back with his gun and telling him to keep running, Local 4 reported.

Police say the culprit ran with the clerk for six blocks before taking off in another direction.

A police dog was brought in to track the man's scent in the area, but officers were unable to find the robber.

Police believe the armed man may be responsible for other crimes across the metro Detroit area.

The robbery at the Clinton Township 7-Eleven store was the second time the store was attacked in the last 15 days, according to Local 4 reports.

Anyone with information on the robberies has been asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) SPEAK-UP.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2653989/detail.html
 
Half-naked driver faces Net charge

Man arrested for downloading child porn while driving naked wrongway down a one-way street.



A half-naked man found driving on a city street was arrested and charged with child porn offences this week in the first Canadian case involving wireless Internet signal piracy, police said yesterday. The bizarre case began when a Toronto police officer spotted a motorist going the wrong way down a one-way street in a residential neighbourhood.

After pulling the man over, Sgt. Don Woods discovered the man was naked from the waist down as he downloaded images on a laptop computer of a young girl involved in a sex act with an adult.

Investigation showed the man had hooked into a wireless computer network at a nearby house to gain access to a resident's Internet connection and download images from child pornography websites.

The scheme, known as "war driving," allows a computer with wireless Internet capability to tap into a wireless home network and access the World Wide Web, usually without fear of discovery.

"We have never laid a (war driving-related) charge before," Det.-Sgt. Paul Gillespie said yesterday.

"And I'm not aware of any similar charges being laid in Canada," Gillespie said.

Gillespie said detectives from the child exploitation section made arrangements with the OPP to search the suspect's home in Southwestern Ontario.

"We seized 10 computers . . . and hundreds of CDs and floppy disks," he said.

"Right now, I would say we are looking at hundreds of thousands of images."

Gillespie said it will take 20 to 40 hours to forensically examine each computer, but so far, investigators have been exposed to some of the worst child pornography they've ever seen.

"Right down to very young children and babies," he said.

Walter Nowakowski, 36, of Delhi, is charged with possession of child pornography, accessing child pornography, distributing child pornography, making child pornography and theft of telecommunications.

He was being held in custody and was scheduled for a bail hearing Monday.

So-called "war drivers" employ a laptop and a special wireless adaptor card with antenna, point it at a home or business and pick up transmissions from a router that will allow them to use computer equipment and access the Internet without permission.

Routers that link wireless systems can pick up a signal from 30 to 300 metres away.

Wireless systems that can be purchased for as little as $100 have built-in security features, but some people don't activate them when setting up, Gillespie said, warning users to read the instructions that come with the equipment.
 
Suspect hangs around until police show


MANSFIELD -- Police found a frustrated man in a nylon mask banging on the cash register at the Marion Avenue Mickey Mart on Wednesday afternoon.

"That's the first time in my 10 years that we showed up at a robbery and the guy was still standing at the counter," Officer William Bushong said.

Officer Angie Bivens said the man was wearing a nylon mask and was taken into custody without incident.

Charles Bryant, 25, of 571 1/2 Arlington Ave. was jailed on a robbery charge, according to Lt. Allen Vandayburg, second-shift watch commander.

Vandayburg said Bryant went to the register and demanded money but the clerk refused to open the drawer and instead called 911. He said Bryant was still pounding away on the register keys when police arrived.

"The clerk said she never saw a weapon but he kept moving his hand to his waist like he had one," Vandayburg said.

Bushong said there were a number of customers in the store at the time. He said the clerk reported she had sold the man beer several times earlier in the day.


Originally published Thursday, December 4, 2003

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/news/stories/20031204/localnews/760668.html
 
CLARKSTOWN, New York (AP) -- Mistake No. 1: Impersonating a police officer.

Mistake No. 2: Making a traffic stop.

Mistake No. 3: Stopping an off-duty state trooper.

Shalom Gelbman, 22, of New Square, New York, made all three mistakes, state police said.

Gelbman, with a strobe light on his dashboard and his high beams flashing, pulled a car over Wednesday night on the Palisades Interstate Parkway, police said. Inside the car was state Trooper Seamus Lyons, who arrested Gelbman. It was clear to Lyons that Gelbman wasn't a colleague, authorities said, because of his license plate number and the equipment he had in his car.

Gelbman was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal impersonation, police said, and was cited for having unauthorized equipment in his car, a dark blue Mercury Grand Marquis with tinted windows.

Gelbman was also ticketed for driving without a registration or insurance. He was released on $5,000 bail after being arraigned in Clarkstown Justice Court.
 
Re: Eyeholes

Emperor said:
However, Modesto's latest bank robber forgot one small detail: eye holes.

So on Monday, as he entered Oak Valley Community Bank at 1419 McHenry Ave., at Orangeburg Avenue, the robber slightly lifted the front corner of the cloth so he could see where he was walking, police Detective Tom Blake said.

Lifting the cloth too high would have revealed his face. The obstruction forced him to walk with a noticeable shuffle.

However, that wasn't the only reason he stood out. The rest of his disguise featured white cloth gardening gloves, a longsleeved pink shirt and tight faded Wrangler jeans.

The robber saved his best move for last. After he stashed an undisclosed amount of cash in a blue plastic shopping bag, the teller watched as the man shuffled toward the door, all the while carefully holding up the front corner of his disguise.

"But he forgets which side the door hinges were on," Blake said. "He walks into the steel door frame, bangs his head into the frame and knocks his hat off. He backs up a bit, still holding onto his hood, and shuffles out the door."

The man, described as having a skinny build and a raspy voice, shuffled across McHenry Avenue and met an accomplice. The two men last were seen driving east on Briggsmore Avenue in a full-sized silver car.

Police ask anyone with information to call 572-9551.

My first thought, upon reading this, was that this must be my JD nephew or one of his thuggish ignorant friends.
 
Time for a quick getaway (or we can hang around and shoot ea

From the front page:

Three burglars shot themselves

December 8, 2003

BY SHAMUS TOOMEY Staff Reporter



Three men who broke into an Aurora home and shot a man pulled off another trick that left police scratching their heads:

They all somehow ended up shooting one another on the way out, police said.

A relative had to call emergency crews to come and fetch the men, who had fled the botched home invasion with bullet wounds to the foot, leg, arm and backside, police said.

Kevin L. House, 31, Patrick L. Dawkins, 32, and Kenneth L. Powell, 30, were charged with home invasion Saturday night. Other charges were possible, police said. They were being held in Kane County jail Sunday after bond was set at 0,000 for each man.

They are accused of sneaking through an open garage door and into a home in the 900 block of Alyce Lane on Friday morning. At least two of the men opened fire and shot a 23-year-old man twice in the arm in what police said was a potentially drug-related crime.

Amid the gunfire, however, each of the home invaders ended up with gunshot wounds.

"It seems clear the only guns involved were those used by the alleged offenders," Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said.

The three fled in a car to a relative's apartment. Officers were summoned there, and the wounded men told officers they had been shot at a nearby corner. Investigators couldn't find any proof at that scene, however, police said.

Investigators later found "personal effects" of one of the men in the Alyce Lane home's garage.

Authorities did not expand on how the men shot one another, saying only: "It appears that the three suspects ... attempted to leave the scene, and somehow ended up wounding themselves with their own gunfire as they tried to flee."

House, also of the 900 block of Alyce Lane in Aurora, was shot in the buttocks. Dawkins, of the 1900 block of Selmarten Road in Aurora, was shot in the hand and foot. Powell, of the 700 block of Latham Street in Batavia, was shot in the calf, police said.

Each was treated at Provena Mercy Center Hospital in Aurora and released to police. The man they are accused of shooting was listed in serious condition.

Another man in the home, a 24-year-old Aurora man, suffered a bump to the head in the home invasion, police said.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-badshots08.html
 
Maybe they were re-enacting the end of Reservoir Dogs?

(or the lighthouse scene from Battle Royale).
 
Or maybe they are just a shower of losers who don't know how to handle firearms?
 
Most stupid criminals in Belgium

'Stupid' thieves ram EU barricade

15 December 2003

BRUSSELS – Police have described two criminals as "the most stupid thieves in the country" after they stole a woman's purse in Brussels Saturday morning and drove their getaway car through security barriers protecting the European quarter during the weekend's Euro summit.

Several hundred police officers were on duty in the European quarter over the weekend as European leaders met to discuss the future of the European Constitution.

The event, and the high security surrounding it, seemed to have eluded the attention of the two thieves however, who rammed through barriers before being shot at by several police officers.

The police reaction to the getaway car was especially robust, fearing a terrorist attack in the EU area.

The duo managed to escape the area back through the broken barrier, but were later found in a nearby accident and emergency department where they had gone for treatment.

A Commission spokesman later said the two men would probably have got away with the crime, if only they had paid attention to the news and fled in the other direction.

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=48&story_id=3152
 
Oooooooooooooo I hate it when you don't know if this should go in dumb criminals or strange deaths:

Dec. 16, 2003. 01:00 AM


Man shoots self after taxi robbery


BOB MITCHELL
STAFF REPORTER

A man died when he apparently shot himself accidentally after the robbery of a taxi driver in Brampton early yesterday.

Randy Robinson, 19, of Brampton, died in hospital shortly after a Kwik Cab taxi driver was robbed at gunpoint, at about 1:10 a.m. on Adam St. near Bovaird Blvd. and Conestoga Rd.

Peel police believe Robinson and another man robbed the cabbie and then fled the scene, but the handgun accidentally went off when the dead man tried to put the weapon into his pants.

The other, unidentified, man is believed to have picked up the gun before leaving the scene, police sources said.

The taxi driver, a 42-year-old Brampton man, was unhurt.

Peel Constable Wendy Sims said the cab had been dispatched to pick up a fare on Adam St.

"Upon arrival, two men entered the cab and one male, armed with a handgun, pointed the firearm at the driver," Sims said. "He was robbed of his money and car keys."

When police arrived, they found the fatally wounded man on the ground.

"It has been clearly established that the taxi driver didn't discharge a weapon," Sims said.

An autopsy is slated for today.

http://www.thestar.ca/NASApp/cs/Con...678&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037
 
Former inmate rejailed when picking up belongings

Tuesday, December 16, 2003 Posted: 12:26 PM EST (1726 GMT)

ORLANDO, Florida (AP) -- Released from prison, Ronald A. Mahner's first mistake was driving back to get his stuff.

Mahner returned to the Seminole County Jail to reclaim his personal property four days after being released. He had served a sentence for drunken driving, auto theft and habitually driving with a suspended or revoked license.

But when asked to provide identification, Mahner handed a sheriff's deputy his license, which after routine computer check was found to have been revoked for life.

Deputy Teri Cresswell couldn't prove Mahner was doing anything illegal without seeing him behind the wheel, so she told him to drive to the back parking lot.

Mahner took the car around back, parked in a fire lane and went inside to claim his clothing, shampoo, dart board and battery charger.

Ann Mallory, a manager in the Forensic Services Section, called in a computer check of the car's tag and found it had been reported stolen the same day Mahner was released from jail.

Mahner was handcuffed and arrested Monday, just as he was about to drive away.
 
Stupid even by the standards of cross burning bigots

'Dumb' cross-burning botched from the get-go

By BILL TORPY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Eva Hurst




The men came after midnight to Eva Hurst's northwest Georgia mountain home to leave a burning cross as a warning to her daughter, who was seeing a biracial man.

But moments after the fire was lit, one intruder panicked and called 911. The woods surrounding the Dade County house were dry, Hurst recalled, "and they thought they might burn down the elderly couple right next to me."

The phone call led the FBI and local investigators to six men, who were indicted Tuesday on federal civil rights charges.

"They should be on the 'world's dumbest criminals' TV show -- burning a cross, then calling the law on themselves," Hurst said. "They didn't scare anyone. They just messed themselves up."

Hurst, who says her own late father was once a member of the Ku Klux Klan, said the cross burning wasn't Klan-related. Authorities agree.

"I was raised around the Klan," Hurst said. "The Klan had morals. If a man was drinking up his paycheck and abused his kids, the Klan stepped in."

Hurst, 53, knows some of the families of the suspects and says that most are good people. "I really hate it for those old boys," she said. "But you just can't say, 'Don't do it no more.' There are laws and all that."

She said some of the relatives had apologized to her, and the sheriff said some of the suspects had expressed remorse over the Nov. 5 incident. But the new federal charges -- the men already faced state charges of making terroristic threats -- show that authorities are taking the case seriously. The men, ranging in age from 25 to 41, face up to 10 years in prison on each charge if convicted.

U.S. Attorney Bill Duffey in Atlanta said such acts "degrade us as a society" and that "we will prosecute that conduct forcefully." Dade County officials say they probably would drop the state charges pending the outcome of the federal cases.

Jerrell Timothy Garner, 29, Stacy Paul Jones, 30, Steven Garland Jones, 41, Jeremy Ray Sims, 28, Eric Shane Sullivan, 25, and Billy Richard Wells, 31, all of Trenton, have been released on bond on the state charges and are scheduled to appear Jan. 6 before a federal magistrate in Rome.

The indictment alleges that the men concocted the plan Nov. 4, built a cross out of wood, shrouded it in white cloth and doused it with transmission fluid. Sometime after midnight, authorities say, they put the cross into Sims' pickup truck, drove it to Hurst's home and tried unsuccessfully to light it. Three of them allegedly returned a second time to light it.

Hurst said her father, Sam Brandon, would not have stopped his granddaughter from dating a biracial man. "He would have treated him like a man," Hurst said. "He's half white and half black. Do you divide him like that?"

Dade County, in the 2000 census, had 96 black residents out of a population of 15,154. The county has sometimes been called the "state of Dade" because of its remote location in the extreme northwestern tip of Georgia. Local lore has it that the county did not "officially" rejoin the Union until 1945, 80 years after the end of the Civil War.

Officials in Trenton, the county seat, raised eyebrows last year when they adopted a version of the old Georgia state flag, with its dominant Confederate symbol, as the city flag.

Dade County Sheriff Philip Street said the men accused of the cross burning were exhibiting "old school" thinking.

"Some of them were raised in the old school, but that mentality is not around here anymore," Street said. "They heard that an Afro-American gentleman was on the mountain. They wanted to send a message.

"I think they were trying to relive old heritage," the sheriff said. "There's no heritage in cross burning. Those days are dead."

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/1203/31cross.html
 
What shall we do today Brain? Why Pinky we are going to have

Machete fight leaves 2 wounded


Two men suffered multiple wounds in a machete fight inside a North Toledo residence early yesterday. Both were taken to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center for treatment, police said.

One of the men, Daniel Bensman, 40, was listed by the hospital in serious condition. No information was available from the hospital for the other man, Robert McKay, who is in his early 60s.

Both reside at 1932 North Ontario St., Toledo police Sgt. Deb Smith said.

Mr. Bensman was slashed across his chest and right arm, while Mr. McKay was cut on his neck and head, she said. A fight occurred in the North Ontario house about 6 a.m.

Two machetes were involved, but police received conflicting reports from both men and were still unsure as of yesterday afternoon exactly what provoked the incident or how events transpired, Sergeant Smith said.

The detective assigned to the case was not available for comment.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040104/NEWS03/101040095
 
And you will know us by the trail of our........

From the front page:

Faeces may reveal burglar

Tilrettelagt av Carin Pettersson 02.01.04 11:01


A little useful tip to burglars: if you got to the bathroom during the break-in, make sure you flush.

Computers worth NOK 300,000 (USD 44.000) were stolen from a paper plant in Dalsland, Sweden during the Christmas weekend.

The police have no suspects in the case so far, but they have retrieved some smelly leads.

One of the burglars went to the bathroom during the break-in, but he forgot to flush. The police have now gotten the DNA from the faeces, according to the local paper Bohusläningen.

http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/english/article169017.ece

Its quite common for burglars to leave 'calling cards' - lets hope that this kind of technique cuts down that practice ;)

Emps
 
my brother, a criminal mastermind, attempted the ultimate heist.

he thought that jemmying open parking meters to get the money...in full daylight...in the main street...was a great plan.

wanker.
 
Along similar lines to the guy being caught via his job:

Sex offender nabbed over threats

January 6, 2004

BY FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter

A South Side man who mailed letters threatening to kill schoolchildren unwittingly revealed his identity when he licked the envelope flaps to seal them, authorities said Monday.

DNA taken from saliva on three envelopes matched the DNA of Milo L. Farris, a registered sex offender whose genetic profile was in a State Police database, officials said.

The threatening letters were mailed in September to at least seven schools in the Roseland and West Pullman neighborhoods on the Far South Side, police said.

There was no evidence that Farris attempted to follow through with his threats, the FBI said.

They appeared to be motivated by a "misguided desire to have increased patrols in certain Chicago neighborhoods," the bureau said in a statement. One of the letters griped about gang members and drug dealing between Halsted and Michigan from 103rd to 127th, saying they operate in the open without fear of arrest.

The Sun-Times received one of the letters in September.

"I sent several threats to other schools in this area," the letter said. "But only one child from one of these schools will die!"

The author claimed he was 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, that he had killed a prostitute and a young man, and was "possessed by a demon." By contrast, prison records listed Farris as being 345 pounds and 6 feet tall.

The Sun-Times did not report on the letters at the time, deciding not to amplify the threats.

But the Chicago Public Schools sent letters to parents saying police had learned of an anonymous threat directed toward their schools.

The letter said police suspected the threats were a hoax, but that extra patrols were assigned to the schools just in case.

Farris, 32, was charged Friday in federal court with using the mail to deliver a threatening communication, a felony.

He's been in trouble with the law before.

In October 2000, he was paroled after serving about five months in prison for aggravated battery to Blue Island police officers and disarming one officer while he was under arrest at the police station for an alleged sexual assault.

And in 1992, Farris was sentenced to two consecutive six-year prison terms for armed robbery and aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Farris was a registered sex offender, the FBI said.

Every year, sex offenders must report where they are living to local police for 10 years after their release from prison.

Although the FBI said Farris was arrested at his home at 11543 S. Wentworth, the State Police-registered sex offender Web site listed him as living "out of state."

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-letter06.html
 
So aptly named!!!

Big tip trips up bank robbery suspect

Colonie -- Cabdriver became suspicious when passenger paid him five times the fare for ride

By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer
First published: Tuesday, January 6, 2004


An Albany man decided to hire a cab as his getaway car for a bank robbery Monday, police said. The unusual scheme proved his downfall.

Robert D. Pratt, 32, had a cab wait for him at 9:46 a.m. while he went inside the Charter One Bank branch at 882 Loudon Road in Latham. The cab had picked up Pratt at the Red Carpet Inn on Northern Boulevard, which he lists as his address.

Pratt allegedly handed a note to a teller demanding money and threatening to use a bomb, Colonie Detective Lt. John M. Van Alstyne said. Cash was handed over, but police wouldn't say how much.

Once back in the American Transportation taxi, an independent service, Pratt got a lift to the Latham Circle Mall. The alert cabbie became suspicious when Pratt handed him 0 as fare for the short trip.

"He paid the cabbie more than five times the amount he owned him," the lieutenant said. "Then (the cabbie) saw police cars after dropping off the suspect."

As State Police and Colonie patrol cars sped toward the bank, the cabbie flagged down a trooper, who directed him to Colonie police.

Officers hit the mall with a good description of Pratt -- 5 feet 2, slim, wearing a tan knit cap and dark-colored jacket, Van Alstyne said.

At 10:23 a.m., some 37 minutes after the holdup, Pratt was quietly taken into custody while walking in the mall, Van Alstyne said.

He didn't try to run, "and there was no struggle," he said. "There was no incident at all."

Pratt, who said he is unemployed, is being held at the county jail on felony charges of first-degree robbery and third-degree grand larceny.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStorie...ategory=REGIONOTHER&BCCode=&newsdate=1/6/2004
 
Alleged Robber Leaves His Jail ID Behind

Updated: Monday, Jan. 5, 2004 - 11:32 AM

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) - Kern County sheriff's deputies said they've never seen a less cagey suspect. James Paul Egan allegedly robbed a 7-Eleven at gunpoint, taking care to conceal his identity by covering his face with a blue bandanna, and wearing a knit hat and gloves.

Then he ran into the backyard of a nearby house, and threw out all the allegedly incriminating articles: the bandanna, the gloves, the hat, a .357-caliber Magnum handgun, and the jacket he'd been wearing _ with his county jail property identification card in the pocket.

The card had his photograph, date of birth and jail booking number.

Deputies recognized him as the 21-year-old Egan, looked up his address and found him hiding in the attic of his home. He'd tried to disguise himself by shaving his head _ and leaving all the hair in the kitchen trash can, deputies said.

http://www.wtop.com/index.php?nid=104&sid=157562
 
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