A LIKELY STORY: A man summoned the police after he spotted another gent who he claimed robbed him. In explaining the situation to the cop, the victim stated that while walking down the street he was accosted at gunpoint by the bad guy in question, and while he was relieving him of $1,400, his two compadres stood in the background keeping an eye out. By way of explanation, the gun-toting crook stated that he had mistaken the victim for another man who owed him money, and had simply collected the cash from the wrong guy. The cop could have responded that he would believe that explanation when 1)"Monkeys fly out of my butt," or 2)"When hell freezes over." Both are acceptable.
KILL FIDO KILL: While walking his dog outside his motel room, a man was accosted at gunpoint, and the crook stole both his wallet and keys, then fled the scene in the hapless man's car. At least the guy still has his dog -- too bad it wasn't trained to attack.
VICIOUS VANDAL: Apparently someone out there really has it in for heavy equipment. A landscape business owner reported recently that someone did $5,000 worth of damage to his skid loader by breaking all the lights, pouring dirt in the gas tank and scratching the front window.
SPOOKED AND SNARED: A loss prevention officer at a local department store observed three people cutting the tags off various articles of clothing and stuffing them inside plastic shopping bags. Apparently the shoplifters got spooked, as one abruptly dropped his bag and fled the store. The other two tried to follow his lead, but one was stopped before she could leave, and the other was captured in the parking lot.
STUPID SHOPLIFTER: A local drug store manager observed a suspicious looking lad stuff various household cleaning items down his pants and exit the store without paying. The manager confronted the thief outside, and while the crook turned over some of the items, for some odd reason he refused to give it all back. The store manager alerted police, who promptly found the shoplifter -- again, for some odd reason -- loitering nearby.
Blotter items are chosen from the files of the Charlotte Police Department.