Criminal Genius?

I've spent a lot of time here over the last few months bitching about stupid people and stupid criminals.

I'm going to go off on a different angle today. I was talking to a deputy sheriff last night about the usual cop talk, then the conversation turned to the current gas prices and what some folks are doing, like driving off without paying, siphoning gas out of people's gas tanks stuff like that, and it reminded me of a big case back in PA that I had a part in solving.

(Note: If any of you dumb enough to try to recreate these crimes, then get your dumb ass caught, do not blame me because I will not be held responsible for your dumb ass actions)

This guy was smart. What he was doing was taking an unloaded tanker truck and going to closed gas stations at night and just sucking the gas out to the station holding tanks, then selling the gas at pennies on the dollar to anyone with cash.

How did he do that? Well, how many of us have seen tanker trucks at closed gas stations, especially at night? What's the first thing we thing of? "Oh, that station is getting a delivery" and not giving it a second thought.

That's exactly what this guy gambled on, and he did it with great success for almost six months.

How he got caught was my partner and I were driving down a street in the district one night and I saw the tanker truck at a Texaco station that was closed.

I wouldn't have given it a second thought until I realized that station had gotten a fuel delivery the night before...

The second 'smart' criminal was something of what can only be described as pure genius. This guy never got caught as far as I can remember, but it's legend in and around Philadelphia.

We've all seen those huge night deposit boxes on the outside of banks, right? Where owners of businesses can deposit their night's receipts after hours?

Some guy got it into his head to do this, and to be honest, to know that so many people fell for it makes me hope he gets away with it. He donned a security guard's uniform, gun and everything, had a large leather bag. He posts a neatly written sign on the night deposit box saying:

"Deposit box is broken, please leave deposit with guard..."

Genius!

And ballsy. He stood there from later police reports the better part of seven hours, collecting well over $150,000 in cash and checks.

If my memory serves me correctly, that was about 1990 and he was never found.

Who's the idiot now?

Copyright 2005 Thomas J Wolfenden