Archive for 2005

Some old-fashioned corruption:

A Chicago police officer has been charged with theft and official misconduct after being accused of stealing credit cards from a man he arrested and then running up $1,600 in charges.

James Chevas, 36, is accused of taking a debit and credit card from Nik Lohja, who Chevas arrested after a bar fight.

Lohja said Chevas took the cards and his driver’s license when he was in police custody.

Lohja said the driver’s license was later returned by a different officer and when Lohja asked about his debit and credit card, that officer said he didn’t know anything about them.

It seems like nobody got what they wanted for Christmas. [Source]

A robber attempted to hold up a bank near St. Louis using a pint-sized container of gasoline and a roman candle. He got a teller to fill up a bag with cash. When he thought it wasn’t enough, he demanded more.

Next, he attempted to take a woman hostage — but she escaped. At this point he caught a glimpse of a squad car outside the bank and tried to make a getaway to his rental car, only to be apprehended by police just outside the bank.

He was arrested on $150,000 bail and will be charged with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action. [Source]

A pair of theives decided to steal a car the old-fashioned way. The pair broke into the dealership and cracked the key safe to grab the keys to the 550 horsepower supercar. With keys in hand, they attempted to start the car — only to find it dead. After jump-starting it with a nearby battery pack, the duo pushed aside rapper 50-cents Mustang GT (what a coincidence) and crashed the car through the dealership doors.

Once outside, the team found themselves stuck in a locked lot. Determined not to give up after getting this far, they busted the lock with a Lincoln Navigator (keys courtesy of previously cracked safe) and made a getaway.

The car was recovered a few miles away with over $30,000 in damage.

Thanks Autoblog! Catch the video of the heist at KXTV.

Cameras caught a man attempting to break into an ATM with an ax. Much to his dismay, ATM designers had planned for such a cunning attack. Though he caused over $5000 in damage, the resilient ATM refused to surrender the booty. [Source]

This alleged robber chose an unfortunate place to hide from the police. Tricks this lame don’t even work in hide-and-go-seek.

Charlotte news14 reports:

Officers arrested Richard Lee Simmons late Tuesday, but he managed to escape and ran into the woods.

Police searched the area with dogs and even the help of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police helicopter, but could not find him.

Early Wednesday morning officers found Simmons hiding in his bed at his house on Redmond Drive.

A 10 year old kid and his friends were caught trying to pass off fake $20 bills in the school cafeteria, CBS Chicago reports. The young amateurs were caught when a cafeteria worker thought it was odd that a 4th grader was carrying $20 bills. Though the bills were “pretty good”, that wasn’t good enough to fool the secret service.

Read more »

James Adams was charged with picking the wrong place to rob. The Muncie, Indiana man allegedly pretended to have a gun and demanded the cashier at the Puerto Vallarta Mexican Restaurant and Cantina to hand over all the money in the register.

Unfortunately for Adams, the cashier was simply confused by the scene and didn’t speak enough english to understand Adams. A second cashier pretended not to know english as well.

Others in the restaurant (and cantina!) called the police and Adams was charged with robbery. (from WFTV)

A Muncie, Indiana man was arrested for siphoning gas into a 55 gallon drum. Unfortunately for the criminal, his scheme was foiled when he fell asleep in his van during the heist.

From the article:

“That’s a lot of gas,” Police Chief Joe Winkle said. “I’m sure he felt like this would be a pretty good heist for himself.”

Firefighters were called to disconnect the hose, and the man was arrested on charges of theft and possession of a firearm without a permit, Winkle said. He was being held in the Delaware County Jail.

The total value of the loot: about $150.