Top Ten List: Dumb (or Unlucky) Crooks in Okaloosa County

“Dumb Crook” stories are popular. Here are a few from 2004… every one of them from our files at the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office:

10-The 23 year old car burglar, caught after a 2:00 AM traffic stop. In plain view on the front seat of his 1998 Nissan was the one item reported stolen ten minutes earlier: a pair of leopard print fur covered handcuffs. (Offense # 04-2636)

9-The 26 year old woman who “keyed” a car at Wal-Mart a few days before Thanksgiving. The prime parking space she coveted, but didn’t get, was directly in view of the security camera. (04-13573)

8- The mom in Destin who grounded her 13-year-old daughter for poor grades. The daughter told the cops her mom sometimes locks herself in her room… and the room smells funny. The mother now has her own trouble in the legal system for marijuana. (04-13564)

7- The 14 year old Crestview girl who went to the kitchen, returned with a knife, and attacked her brother. She told Deputies he and two cousins were laughing too much. (04-15065)

6-The Fort Walton Beach man who took his old vacuum cleaner to a store and traded it in on a newer model. He forgot to remove the pound of marijuana hidden in the old Bissel. (04-1788)

5-The two employees of a pizza restaurant who kidnapped a giant inflatable “Spongebob Squarepants” from Burger King. The other pizzeria employees figured out in a hurry who put Spongebob on their roof. (04-13443)

4-The student from Tennessee who ran naked down a hotel hallway, then urinated on the wall and carpet. He told a Deputy he thought he was in the bathroom at his room… which turned out be at another hotel, four blocks down the road. (04-4698)

3-The 22 year old Crestview man who knew he’d be in trouble if he got caught driving on a suspended license. When he saw blue lights ahead on Highway 90, he made a quick turn onto a side street. In his haste to avoid the Deputy he saw, he crashed into one he hadn’t. (04-14153)

2-The robber who got worse with practice. A 36 year old Fort Walton Beach man tried three holdups within seven hours. The first netted him $50 and a carton of Marlboro Lights. He left the second store empty-handed after the clerk told him she had tripped a silent alarm. He changed his mind about robbing store number three because the clerk, tipped off by an alert citizen, was on the phone with the Sheriff’s Office when he walked in the door. Deputies were waiting for him on his way out. (04-7694)

1-Not the biggest crime… but, perhaps Okaloosa County’s dumbest crook of 2004 is the 17 year old Niceville boy who selected 13 magazines from a store in Destin, then told several employees he would show them how easy it is to steal from their store. They showed him how easy it is to catch a dumb crook. (04-13278)

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