FT383 21- Firefi ghters freed a burglary
suspect stuckfor seven hours
in achicken takeaway shop’s
extractor unit in Handsworth,
Birmingham.The man got stuck
at 2am on 2 November 2017, and
was freed at 9am thefollowing
morning when neighbours heard
his criesfor help and called
police. PC MatthewWillcocks
said: “Thefi re brigade had to
use the jaws of life to pull back
the casing torelease him”.
A 45-year-old local manwas
arrested.Guardian, 3 Nov 2017. - A burglar who tried to break
into a storage unit at night on
25 Februarywas chasedaway
by up to 80,000 angry bees after
leapingover an 8ft (2.4m) fence
and crash-landing on hives. He
scaled the fence around the
compound nearTower Bridge,
London, in an apparent bid to
pinch tools and machinery; but
the boxes, each housing 20,000
insects caredfor by Bermondsey
Street Bees,were knocked over.
Owner Dale Gibson, 61, sent
theraider a message: “The bees
were sadyou left so quickly
and empty-handed – they hope
theswellings go down soon.”
D.Mirror, 6 Mar; Eve. Standard,
12 Mar 2019. - Burglars used a blowtorch to
break into anATM machine in
Florida, but they never hit the
jackpot.Videofootage shows the
two men entering the Boardwalk
on Okaloosa Island on 31 May.
Onewas armed with a crowbar
and acted as the lookout while
the other took the blowtorch to
theATM. Instead of cutting the
ATM with the blowtorch, the
would-be thiefwelded the metal
parts shut and the pair left with
nothing.[AP] 5June 2019. - Last March, Terry Sawyers,
39,walked into a lamppost and
knocked himself out.Police
found himlying unconscious
on a pavement in the City of
London with a gash on his
forehead. In a bag nearbywere
four laptops, seven cameras,
a mobile phone and £1,000 in
luncheonvouchers which he had
stolen in three burglaries that
day. Sawyers, of East Ham, east
London, who had 79 previous
convictions, got 16 months.Sun,
D.Express, 4 May 2019.- An Israeli manrobbed two
banks in Beersheba armed
with anavocado he claimed
was a grenade.Painting the
avocado black, he used it to
threaten cashiers, who handed
over 30,000 shekels (£6,600).
The 47-year-old, who disguised
himself with shades and aneye
patch,was arrested. Laurence
Vonderdell, 50, held upa
Barclays Bank in Bournemouth
on 25 March, “brandishing”
a banana inside a carrier bag
and telling a cashier: “This isa
stickup. Give me the cash.” He
fl ed with £1,000 in £20 notes, but
later gave himself up. Hewas
jailedfor 14 months.D.Telegraph,
11+18June 2019. - James Longden, 30, broke into
his neighbour’sfl at in Chester
while hewas atwork, taking his
laptop, jewellery and clothing.
The unnamed victim later
discovered his stolen possessions
for sale on eBay. After winning
a bidfor hisown watch, he
made contact with the seller
andfound itwas his neighbour.
Longden, unawarewho his buyer
was, went to meet him to deliver
thewatch, only to begreetedby
police officers. The vast majority
of the stolen itemswere then
discovered in Longden’sfl at. He
was jailedfor twoyears andfour
months.D.Express, 25Jan 2019.- Rowdy Lapham,owner of
Gold Hardwood Floors, arrived
at work to fi nd his store in Grand
Rapids, Michigan, had been
burgled – but the only things
missingwere some ‘gold bars’
made offoam rubber, featuring
the company’s logo. Employee
Nick Butler said the thief might
have walked past a window, seen
the stack of bars and “thought,
‘Wow, someoneforgot to put
these gold barsaway’.” The
squeezable barswere actually
for stressrelief, as the company’s
motto is “Stress-freefl ooring”.
(Sydney) D.Telegraph, 26 May
- A fugitive on Canada’s Most
Wanted list led police to his
doorstep after announcing
where hewas living ina
defiantFacebook message to
a TV station publicising his
case.Jessie DeanKowalchuk,
27, spotted his photo on the
website of TV station CFJC
Today in Kamloops, and sent
- Rowdy Lapham,owner of
a tauntingFacebook message,
saying hewas in neighbouring
Alberta province. “Newsfl ash
morons I’m in Edmonton and not
coming back,” he wrote.Police
were notified of his location
and arrested him.(Queensland)
Courier Mail, 17 May 2019.- A dope dealerwas caught
after stamping blocks of hashish
with hisown name. Steven Best,
30,was jailedfor 42 months
after admitting possessing drugs
with intent to supply. Somewere
found in a lock-up heowned, the
rest at his home in Sompting,
West Sussex, and on hisyacht in
Brighton Marina.Metro, 17June
- A man who had justrobbed a
bank inWaterville, Maine,ran
acrossfour lanes of trafficand
a restaurant parking lot before
slipping on ice and dropping his
gun and the money in front ofa
state police special agent. A gust
of windswept thegreenbacks
across the parking lot while the
manwas arrested.The weapon
turned out to be a BB gun.[AP]
12 Feb 2019. - When Nate Roman, 44, came
home fromwork on 15 May, he
could tell that a stranger had
been in his house on a typical
suburban tree-lined street in
Marlborough, Massachusetts.
He said itwas possible that he
forgot to lock his back door,
because whoever entered his
house didn’t break anything to
gain entry, but neither did they
take anything.Theyhad neatly
made the beds,vacuumed the
rugs and scrubbed the toilets.
They even crafted ornate
origamiroses on the toilet paper
rolls in the bathrooms. Every
room in his housewas cleaned,
exceptfor the kitchen. “We have
notreceived anyreports similar
to this in other locations, andwe
have no suspects at this time,”
saidPolice Sergeant Daniel
Campbell. “It’s funny now, but
didn’t feel funny at the time,”
Roman said. “Ikept the toilet
paperroses as souvenirs.”Boston
Globe, 23 May 2019.
CRIMINALCROPPERS
Bunglingburglars,deludeddopedealersandhopeless
house-breakersareamongthismonth’sleastwanted...NATE ROMAN /FACEBOOKABOVE:The unfortunate felon who spent seven hours trapped in a takeway shop’s
extractionvent.BELOW: The toilet paper roses left by a mysterious home invader.STRANGEDAYS