dumb criminals

Read the latest news stories about dumb criminals on Newser.com

Stories 261 - 280 | << Prev   Next >>

Cops: Man Butt-Dials 9-1-1 During Drug Deal

He's arrested after whole conversation is recorded

(Newser) - Police in Scranton got a freebie on this one: They say a man accidentally dialed 9-1-1 on his phone as he sat in a car making a drug deal, reports the Times-Tribune . Police listened in on the whole thing, traced the call, and eventually swooped in to arrest the 24-year-old...

Whoops: Shoplifting Mom, Aunt Flee Cops, Ditch Baby

Allison Niemeyer accused of leaving son at Walmart after robbery attempt

(Newser) - Allison Niemeyer's first bad decision was allegedly plotting to rob a Walmart. Her second bad decision was bringing her baby along. But the third was truly the charm: Seems the Florida 19-year-old and her sister, 22, are accused of stuffing some clothes into the infant's diaper bag Friday,...

Cops: Mom Hacked School Computer, Changed Grades

Catherine Venusto used passwords obtained as district employee

(Newser) - Well, that's one way to get them into college: A Pennsylvania woman allegedly changed her children's grades after logging into a school computer system using passwords obtained when she worked for the district. Investigators say Catherine Venusto used the Northwestern Lehigh School District superintendent's password to change...

Drunk Guy Who Tied Kids to Car: I Thought They'd Like It

Because who wouldn't? Plus, other tales from the bottle...

(Newser) - An Indiana man who thought it was a good idea to drunkenly strap four kids to the hood of his car and go on a three-block joy ride has pleaded guilty to several charges. Aaron Stefanski, 29 of Fort Wayne, was arrested in May after a witness called 911. Stefanski...

Drunk Thief Falls Asleep in the Middle of Burglary

Cops find Russian man passed out in apartment owner's bed

(Newser) - Note to would-be thieves: You may not want to get drunk while breaking and entering. A man in Russia did just that, authorities say, and he was ultimately brought down by the bottle of vodka he found and drank while attempting to burglarize an apartment in Moscow. He ended up...

Cops Nab Thieves —With 9.5 Tons of Garlic

Romania stash worth an estimated $37.5K

(Newser) - It's a heist that didn't exactly require sniffing dogs: Austrian police stopped three overloaded and sagging vans about to cross into Hungary from Austria today and found them packed to the roof with allegedly stolen garlic—about 9.5 tons of the pungent cargo. After questioning the five...

Stick Shift Foils Car Robbery

Would-be thief takes a ride instead

(Newser) - The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a nice entry for the dumb-criminals file: Robber holds up man at gunpoint, then tries to flee in the victim's car—only to discover it's a manual transmission, which he can't drive. The robber then accepts a ride from the victim and...

Oregon Woman Arrested for Illegal $2.1M Tax Refund

Krystle Marie Reyes went on $200K buying spree: investigators

(Newser) - Krystle Marie Reyes has been busted for what is thought to be one of the biggest cases of tax fraud in Oregon history, reports the New York Daily News . Reyes was able to get $2.1 million back from the state after claiming on her TurboTax return that she had...

Teen Burglar Leaves Homework at Crime Scene

Police arrest 18-year-old in connection with break-in

(Newser) - Pro tip for the world's burglars: Try to avoid leaving incriminating evidence, like fingerprints, DNA, or a backpack containing your schoolwork at the scene. Utah police responding to a burglary this weekend found a backpack left behind in the targeted home's backyard, the AP reports. Inside was a...

Guy Finds Stolen Bike on Craigslist, Steals It Back
 Guy Finds 
 Stolen Bike 
 on Craigslist, 
 Steals It Back 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 13, 2012 12:07 PM CDT

Guy Finds Stolen Bike on Craigslist, Steals It Back

Danny Lesh fools thief after finding Craigslist ad

(Newser) - When Danny Lesh found his stolen bike listed for sale on Craigslist and police couldn’t help him right away, he decided to take matters into his own hands. The $600 Cannondale hybrid, which had a prominent identifying sticker on it, was listed for sale for $100 and Lesh arranged...

Guy Used Stolen Bobcat to Steal 2 Deodorant Cans

Chicago man also accused of stealing gift cards

(Newser) - A Chicago man allegedly took quite a few pains to break into a dollar store and steal deodorant: Police say the suspect first stole a Bobcat loader from a construction site a block away, then used it to break the windows at West Side Family Dollar. In addition to the...

Thieves Swipe Truckload of Corona

1,800 cases make for one big Cinco de Mayo party

(Newser) - Somebody is a few thousand limes away from one big party. Police in central Pennsylvania are searching for a missing beer trailer loaded with about 1,800 cases of Corona. Carlisle police say the trailer was stolen from a distributor sometime between Friday and yesterday. Perhaps not coincidentally, Saturday marked...

For Real: Woman Bites Dog

Also bit her mom: police

(Newser) - Good thing she's not running for president . An Illinois woman came home drunk and chomped on her family's English bulldog, police say. Analise Garner, 19, also allegedly smacked, scratched, and bit her mother. She's been charged with domestic battery, animal cruelty, and underage drinking, the Chicago Tribune...

Guys Break Into Sea World, Steal Penguin

Then release it in shark-infested waters

(Newser) - Usually, we mock criminals when they brag about their crimes on Facebook . But if your crime was breaking into a Sea World, swimming with the dolphins, and making off with a 7-year-old fairy penguin, we understand the urge to share. Three Queensland, Australia men, aged 18, 20, and 21, have...

Man Steals Cops' Gas, Posts Photo on Facebook

Kentucky man Michael Baker busted after sharing photo

(Newser) - How to go jail in two easy steps: 1. Siphon gas from a police car. 2. Post a photo of yourself siphoning gas from a police car on Facebook. Kentucky man Michael Baker, 20, was arrested and charged with theft after cops got wind of the photo he had shared,...

Teller to Bank Robber: We're Closed, Come Back

Improbable fib thwarts robbery

(Newser) - Hate the short hours at your local bank? Think how Olga L. Perdomo feels. Last week, she tried to rob Albany Bank and Trust in Chicago, but was thwarted when a wily teller told her the bank was closed, and to come back tomorrow. The full story: Perdomo walked into...

Pair Sentenced for Taking Dead Pal on Bar Crawl

Denver pair used corpse's credit card in strip club

(Newser) - Denver's Weekend at Bernie's duo are going to be spending a lot of weekends doing community service for taking a dead friend on a night out —and letting him pick up the tab. Robert Young and Mark Rubinson put their pal, 43, in the back of a...

Burglars Steal Rare Coins Then Make Very Dumb Move

... which gets them $450 for collection worth thousands

(Newser) - A group of burglars stole a coin collection worth thousands and proceeded to pour it into a coin-counting machine, resulting in a $450 payoff. Authorities say one of the thieves—who also stole jewelry and tools—was the Oregon victim's son. "The crooks were idiots, just simply an...

Store Clerk Derek Mothershead Knocks Out Armed Burglar
 Clerk KOs 
 Armed Burglar 
Dec 27, 2011 2:41 PM CST

Clerk KOs Armed Burglar

Instead of money, he gets a knockout punch

(Newser) - It looked like the thief's lucky day: A shop clerk in North Carolina who was usually armed didn't have his gun on him. But when an armed robber threatened him, the clerk dealt the intruder a knockout punch—and the whole thing was caught on security cameras, WYFF4...

Man Robs Store on &#39;Shop With a Cop&#39; Night
Man Robs Store on
'Shop With a Cop' Night
brainiac dept.
Dec 26, 2011 8:44 AM CST

Man Robs Store on 'Shop With a Cop' Night

It didn't go well for David Sherman, 49

(Newser) - We don’t want to imply that there’s a right time to shoplift, but there’s definitely a wrong one, and that wrong one is on "Shop With a Cop" night. David Sherman, 49, tried to make off with a $79 DVD player from a Nebraska Walmart on...

Stories 261 - 280 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser