World's Worst Criminals

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The naked ram-raider caught on CCTV
wearing only his girlfriend's Ugg boots
17 May 2008

A ram-raider who smashed his way into a supermarket wearing only a sheet and a pair of his girlfriend's boots has been jailed for four years. David Ball, 32, was arrested shortly after his buttocks were caught on CCTV by surveillance cameras in the store.

The drunken thief stole his girlfriend's Renault Clio from her driveway to smash through the shop's security shutters. He was then filmed dashing through the mangled metal grille wearing "nothing more than a bed sheet and a pair of girlfriend's Ugg boots", prosecutors told Birmingham Crown Court. Once inside the Co-op branch in Balsall Common, near Solihull, Ball broke into a cigarette machine and stole around £1,500 of cigarettes. This was on top of the £10,000 worth of damage he caused by smashing into the metal shutters.

In video shown to the court, he could be seen squeezing back through the gap and exposing his bottom to the CCTV cameras before returning to the car with his spoils. He then led police on a high-speed car chase, reaching 80mph in a built-up 40mph zone and dodging a police "stinger" before crashing into two parked cars and spinning to a halt. When arrested, Ball, of St Nicholas Avenue, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, said he "had been asleep in the back seat and knew nothing about the theft". He was found to be about two and a half times the legal alcohol limit.

Later, in a police interview, he said he had no recollection of his actions in the early hours of April 16 this year, but on seeing the CCTV footage "accepted that it was him". Thomas Kenning, defending, said: "It was an unusual offence, to say the least." The court heard that Ball, who has fought a drug addiction for years, had committed a string of previous offences including "between 50 and 60" thefts.

Judge John Cavell said that Ball, who wore a T-shirt and jeans, had a "serious criminal record of offences of robbery, theft, wounding and aggravated vehicle taking". He told Ball: "You took another motor vehicle and, from the video that the court has seen, used that car in what is colloquially called a ram-raid." Ball, he said, showed considerable persistence and determination to break into the premises. The judge went on: "You drove in such a way it's fortunate that nobody was injured or killed."

Ball was sentenced to four years, having previously pleaded guilty to burglary, aggravated vehicle taking, drink-driving and driving with no insurance or licence. He was also sentenced to serve a further 51 weeks, to run consecutively, for breaching two suspended sentences, and was disqualified from driving for three years. The court heard that the defendant decided - in advance of his first child's birth next January - to tell police of various other offences for which they had no evidence that he was the culprit. The offences were taken into consideration in passing sentence.

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Another world-class disguise there!

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Police Hunt Thong Bandits
Sunday June 01, 2008

Police are hunting two robbers who failed to grasp a fundamental rule of crime - mask your identity. Rather than ensuring their faces were covered, the dozy duo opted for a more fashionable but less effective disguise.

CCTV cameras caught them at a Colorado convenience store wearing thongs over their faces. The ladies' underwear, which leaves little to the imagination, was a far from sensible choice. One wore a green thong while the other opted for blue - but the pair's nose, mouth and chin were barely covered. The rest of their face was clearly visible, police in Arvada say.

Officers also have a few more clues to work with as one of the men failed to cover up a distinctive tattoo on his arm. Stolen cigarettes and cash they took from the on-duty worker were also stashed away in his pink backpack. The men, believed to be in their 20s, were not armed.

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Man faked his death and went on the run for 20 years mistakenly thinking the police were after him on drugs charges...
By Jacqui Goddard
30th January 2009

A man faked his own death because he thought police were after him on drugs charges- only to discover 20 years later that they weren't. Bennie Wint lived a secret life for two decades after staging his own drowning on a Florida beach, believing that he was about to be arrested. His heartbroken fianceé, ex-wife and daughter, who was aged four when he disappeared, all believed he was dead until this week.

Wint was pulled over by traffic officers in South Carolina for having a faulty number plate. He first gave a false name but confessed all after an officer ran a check. He was amazed when the policeman told him he wasn't wanted for anything. 'He believed he was wanted when he really wasn't,' said police sergeant Stacy Wyatt.

Wint, 49, staged his own disappearance while on holiday in Daytona Beach, Florida, in September 1989, during which he was meant to be getting married. His distraught bride-to-be Patricia Hollingsworth saw him go into the surf for a swim before vanishing, but a search by lifeguards, boats and helicopters never turned up a body and he was presumed drowned. 'His fiancee was running up and down the beach frantically looking for him,' recalled Volusia County Beach Patrol captain Scott Petersohn.

But Wint was already on his way to Alabama, 400 miles away, where he set up a new life under the false name of William Sweet, met a new wife Sonja Jones and had a son - also named William James Sweet, now 17. Wint's story finally unravelled this week after he was stopped by police in Asheville, North Carolina, for not having a $1.50 light bulb on his car licence plate. He should have escaped with just a traffic ticket, but the name he gave to police failed to register on police computers. Realising he was in trouble, he admitted his past, telling officers that he had been involved with a narcotic drugs ring in 1989 and believed that police had been closing in on him.

'He became very emotional because it was like he was tired of running and knew that his identity was found and it was time just to get this over with,' said Sgt Wyatt. Wint has been charged with driving without a licence and giving a false name to police. But his story took a further twist today amid reports that he had been hit by a car outside his home. It was unclear who was beind the wheel.

Police have confirmed that neither Wint's ex-wife, fiancee or new wife appeared to have been aware of his double life. It also appeared Hollingsworth does not yet know he is alive. Wint, who earns a living running a flea market stall in Weaverville, North Carolina, is said to be demanding money for media interviews.

In 2007, his daughter Christi McKnight - who was just four years old when he vanished - posted an entry on a website saying that her 83-year-old grandmother was very sick but still praying that her son may still be found alive somewhere. 'It would be fabulous if anybody knew anything about him, so my granny can see her son, her youngest child, who she is still holding on to dearly,' she wrote.

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If you're going to be a criminal, at least make sure you've done the crime...

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Marker Pen 'Burglars' Draw Cops' Attention
October 28, 2009

Two burglary suspects who covered their faces by drawing on 'masks' with a permanent marker pen have been arrested. A witness told police that two men with painted disguises were trying to break into an apartment in Carroll, Iowa, US. The caller added that the pair, both wearing black hooded sweatshirts, drove off in a large white car.

Police soon spotted a 1994 Buick Roadmaster that matched the vehicle description and stopped it. They found two occupants with mask-like scribbling on faces, Iowa's Daily Times Herald reported. Matthew Allan McNelly, 23, and Joey Lee Miller, 20, were arrested at gunpoint because of reports they might be armed, but neither man had a weapon.

Both suspects were charged with attempted second-degree burglary and have been released on bail. McNelly was also charged with driving while intoxicated. The pair was due in court on November 10 for a preliminary hearing. Second-degree burglary is Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $7,500 (£4,575) fine

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[pirtybirdy]

What a couple of maroons!

[Bat]

That's funny.

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Feeling fuel-ish? Thieves steal booze but forget to fill up getaway car

This is the moment Rose Devlin and Denise Egan tried to steal £400 worth of supermarket booze – but forgot to put petrol in their getaway car.

Devlin, 59, and Egan, 52, were caught on CCTV wheeling the alcohol out of Asda. But they came unstuck when their blue Citroen ran out of fuel and they were forced to push it to the store’s petrol station. They then paid to fill up before driving off – unaware the whole fiasco had been caught on camera. Devlin and mother-of-four Egan, both from north Manchester, admitted theft at Manchester magistrates’ court.

The pair struck at the store in Oldham on June 6. One of the women distracted a security guard while the other pushed the trolley into the car park, the court was told. The haul was so big Devlin struggled to shut the boot. She then jumped behind the wheel only to realise there was no petrol in the tank. Egan then helped push the vehicle.

The images were added to a police intelligence bank and when the women tried to repeat the stunt on October 1 at Asda in Hulme they were arrested and linked by the footage to the earlier crime. The court heard both women had been motivated by ‘financial gain’ after their benefits were cut. Egan was given a conditional discharge for two years and ordered to pay £280 compensation and £85 costs. Devlin, who has a previous conviction for theft, was committed to Manchester crown court for sentencing on December 13.

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