After Robbery, Police Arrest a Suspect Who Fills the Bill(fold)
An early contender for stupid criminal trick of the week honors is the Inglewood man who robbed a Torrance sporting goods store and made a flawless exit except for one thing: He unknowingly dropped his wallet.
Police found not only his driver’s license inside but his state parole identification card, the Daily Breeze reported.
The robber didn’t make the fastest getaway, either. When he arrived at his apartment with a confederate, police were waiting.
No word on whether the charges will include driving without a license.
Speaking of police chases: Rich Hackenberg of Long Beach observed a red pickup truck that was pictured in its own tailgate mural, possibly auditioning for Court TV (see photo).
Law ‘n’ order (cont.): In Pennsylvania, Alex Nakada of Hacienda Heights chanced upon a tip to avoid driving afoul of the police (see photo).
Now for another type of passenger vehicle: High school teacher Lisa Ryder of Westlake Village was intrigued by a sign in one building, which proved, I guess, that elevators have minds of their own (see photo).
Local honors: Some entries in Business 2.0 magazine’s annual list of the “101 Dumbest Business Moments of 2004”:
* Apple and PepsiCo “launch a giveaway of 100 million iTunes song downloads” to those lucky enough to have a winning code under their soda bottle caps. Enterprising hackers “quickly point out that it’s easy to determine which bottles have the winning codes: Just tilt the bottle and look at the inside of the cap.”
* Actors Jorja Fox and George Eads of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” protest their $100,000-per-episode salaries and miss the start of taping for the new season, “prompting CBS chief Les Moonves to fire them.” After telling the press “that, really, their non-presence was an accident and a misunderstanding, both are rehired -- at a salary of $100,000 an episode.”
Local honors (cont.): More “Dumb Business Moments from Business 2.0:
* K9 Water of Valencia “introduces four flavors of vitamin-enriched bottled water for dogs: Gutter, Hose, Puddle and Toilet.”
* Mattel’s Barbie dumps her boyfriend, Ken, “after 43 years of anatomically incorrect bliss” and acquires “a new car, a darker tan and an Aussie surfer-dude boyfriend named Blaine.” The makeover results in some critics “deriding the doll as ‘Sleazy Easy Barbie’ and, worse, U.S. sales dropping 26% in the third quarter.” That’ll teach her to treat Ken like he drinks K9 Water.
miscelLAny: An item here about unusual holiday gifts given to teachers prompted Barbara Finsten to recall the stuffed bear she received. It was clad in a T-shirt and cap that were inscribed with the name “Tuff Teddy” as well as a logo -- of the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn.
Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATimes, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.
