Five of the Silliest Ways People Got Caught Breaking the Law

After watching a good heist movie, you might be fantasizing about how you could get away with stealing millions from a bank. There are numerous examples of people committing some of the most audacious and successful crimes in history and getting away with it. However, not everyone who commits a crime is a criminal mastermind, which can lead to them being caught rather quickly. Here are five of the silliest ways criminals got caught. 

Joey Miller and Matthew McNelly: Permanent Problem

You don’t have to be a genius to know that you should probably have a disguise when committing a crime. Whether it be masks, hoods, or something else, you need something to make yourself hard to identify. However, anyone with a bit of sense should also realize that you need to be able to get out of the disguise once you have committed the crime in order to avoid recognition. These two criminals might not have remembered that part, because they decided to use permanent markers to hide their features while committing crimes. As the name suggests, permanent marker isn’t easy to remove, meaning it was easy for the police to identify and apprehend the suspects.

Mark Smith: You Snooze, You Lose

Breaking into homes might be enough to tire someone out, but thieves with common sense realize the value of falling asleep after you have finished committing your crimes. Apparently, not everyone understands this. In 2007, a man named Mark Smith broke into a house and decided to snuggle into the owners’ bed to take a snooze. He had a rude awakening when he opened his eyes to see several police officers and a pair of handcuffs waiting for him.

Ruben Zarate: Call Me Maybe

Phones are a necessary way of communicating with one another in today’s world. However, there are some cases when we shouldn’t be giving out our numbers to people we meet. This is especially true if you are robbing them. In 2008, Ruben Zarate decided to rob a muffler shop but was told that all of the cash was stored in a safe that only a manager could access. Unfortunately for him, the manager wasn’t supposed to be in for several hours. To solve this problem, Zarate gave the store clerk his number so that he could be called when the manager returned. Of course, when he came back, it wasn’t the manager waiting for him; it was the cops. 

Dennis Hawkins: Standing Out From the Crowd

Sometimes, the best disguises are when someone pretends to be something they are not so that they can blend in and not be noticed. However, for this to work, the disguises need to be at least somewhat convincing. Apparently, Dennis Hawkins didn’t get the memo. He decided to disguise himself as a woman to avoid recognition. He wore a blonde wig, fake breasts, and bright clown pants. However, what was worse was that he didn’t even bother to shave his facial hair when he robbed the bank. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before the police found him. 

Christopher Wallace: Social Slip-Up

Social media is addictive, and everyone knows it. It can be tempting to share your entire life on social media. Still, you would think that if you are trying to hide, it wouldn’t be a good idea to share your location with all of your followers since a large part of getting away with a crime is simply hiding long enough to avoid detection. Unfortunately, it seems like the addiction got the better of Christopher Wallace, who posted on Snapchat that he went back home after he stole two stoves from a camp. Someone saw that and reported it to the police, and they were able to capture him.