Luckily for law-enforcement biggies, and for the rest of us,many criminals have trouble pulling off the perfect crime. Maybethey get distracted. Maybe crucial details slip their minds. Maybethey're short a few million brain cells.
Whatever the case, these criminals almost get away with the bankjob, the loading-dock theft, the forgery ring, and then, unexpectedlyand inexplicably, they do something absolutely stupid. As they sayin crime circles: "Man, that was Big-Time Dumb!"
All of us - average citizens, Neighborhood Watch leaders or cops- can do our part to nab criminals with "less-intelligenttendencies."
The following true crime stories, which I've collected fromvarious news accounts during the last year, can give us guidance aswe try to nab the bad guys among us. Of course, not all criminalsare dim-witted. But if we're diligent, we can catch the ones whoare. Read all holdup notes carefully: When someone robs a bank,fingerprints aren't the only clues left behind.
Consider the man who robbed Florida's Sun Bank headquarters.His note read: "Give me all the money or else I'll shoot you. Bang!"
He took the money and ran, leaving the holdup note behind. Itwasn't his handwriting that gave him away. No, the note was scrawledon the back of his probation-parole card. "Aha!" exclaimedauthorities.
He soon was apprehended trying to board a bus at a depot acrossfrom a police station. As you go about your everyday job, be on the lookout for criminalacts: Let's say you work at a drugstore's photo-developing counter.On most days, all you have to look at are photos of kids' birthdayparties, Disneyland vacations and a motley collection of otherpeople's less-than-attractive spouses.
But in Walled Lake, Mich., a certain drugstore employeemonitored photos closely. One day, he came across a snapshot of aman who wore shorts and no shirt, and had a beer belly that cast ashadow. Behind the man was marijuana foliage rising 6 feet.
The suspicious employee called police, and when the customercame to pick up his developed photos, he was charged withmanufacturing a controlled substance.
Do you work at a dry cleaners? Be on the lookout for bloodstains (murderers), smoky clothes (arsonists) or clothes withplastic, clip-on department store security devices (shoplifters).
Work at a used-car dealership? Be wary of people in a greathurry who say "I'll take it" without grilling you about the previousowner. If they pay with marked, dye-splattered bills, you'll knowthey may be bank robbers looking for a getaway car.
If you work in a pawn shop, be suspicious, but recognize thatlooks can be deceiving. Otherwise, while you're third-degreeing thehonest guy in the ski-mask who brought in 10 VCRs with the serialnumbers chiseled off, you may be letting the little old woman withthe hot blender get away. Once a criminal is caught, pay attention to help nail down a guiltyverdict. In Gaylord, Mich., a preliminary hearing was held for a mancharged with breaking and entering. An attorney asked the victim ifhe recognized the suspect.
"No, but I recognize my boots!" the victim said.
The suspect was told to take off the boots so they could beadmitted into evidence. If you're ever face-to-face with a bad guy, try to trip him up witha few well-worded questions. Charles McBride, a convicted murderer,escaped from the Loxahatchee Road Prison in Florida, where he wasserving a life sentence. For 24 hours, 60 searchers usedhelicopters, horses and dogs in a vain effort to find him.
The day after McBride's escape, sheriff's deputies stopped a manwalking along a road. The Orlando Sentinel reported that whendeputies asked the man his name, he replied, "Charles Jones."
The deputies asked him to spell Jones. "I don't know how," hereplied.
Said a sheriff's official: "When he said he didn't know how, weknew we had him."
So, crime-stoppers, keep your eyes open. Sometimes you don'thave to be Columbo, Perry Mason or Woodward and Bernstein to figureeverything out.
Write Zazz, 3455, Chicago 60654.
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