Sometimes crooks and crime suspects get caught because of solid police work. Sometimes bystanders step up and put a stop to them. Sometimes they make unforced errors that underscore their lack of intelligence.
Sometimes, however, they just get plain unlucky.
‘He could have chosen any house,’ Jeff Leopold, a Dakota County sheriff’s captain, told the outlet. ‘So this was very bad luck. But good luck for us.’
The following stories highlight the numerous ways some folks get stopped in their tracks when the cards finally aren’t in their favor and when the dominoes stop falling their way.
How, you ask?
We have perps who got a little too confident underneath 3,000-pound vehicles while trying to rip off catalytic converters … an accused armed robber who tried to run off when a patch of ice did him in … an armed suspect with the drop on innocent food truck workers whose gun jammed … a crook who picked out a getaway vehicle at an auto repair shop that was completely dead … carjackers who targeted armed off-duty corrections officers …
You get the idea.
So here’s a breakdown of 13 (what other number were you expecting?) very unlucky crooks and crime suspects who paid the price in unlikely ways.
Male demanding money at gunpoint from store employee on Christmas Day suffers injuries after slipping on ice, hitting his head on ground. Then cops put coal in his stocking.
Christmas Day 2022 started off without a lot of goodwill toward men outside a store in Gainesville, Georgia, as police said 30-year-old Luis Sajbocho-Ordonez demanded money from an employee at gunpoint around 1 a.m. after hiding behind the business. A scuffle between the worker and Sajbocho-Ordonez ensued, police said, after which the suspect fired his gun — no one was wounded — and ran off when another employee came outside.
That’s when things went seriously sideways — or vertical — for Sajbocho-Ordonez.
Police said he unceremoniously slipped on some ice, fell to the ground, and hit his head. Authorities added that witnesses grabbed two guns from the injured suspect. Cops said they took Sajbocho-Ordonez into custody soon after, and emergency personnel treated his injuries. He was taken to the Hall County Jail on charges of armed robbery and aggravated assault.
Police added that the incident reminded them of a “scene out of ‘Home Alone,’” a movie that depicts a child thwarting home invaders’ efforts with humorous traps.
Crook points gun through window of Elite Eats and Cold Treats food truck and tries to fire it — except gun jams. Grandmother behind counter who’s licensed to carry doesn’t miss, however.
Houston Police said a 23-year-old Hispanic male pulled up to the family-owned Elite Eats and Cold Treats food truck on the afternoon of March 28, 2023, asked what they served, and then pulled out a gun and exited his car, KHOU-TV reported.
One worker closed the food truck’s window, police said, after which the gun-toting male slid the window open, reached inside pointing his gun, and tried to shoot.
But the gun jammed, police said.
With that, 53-year-old Keshondra Howard Turner — a grandmother, cook behind the counter, and one of the truck’s owners — grabbed a gun and shot the suspect several times, police said, adding that the suspect collapsed about 50 feet from the truck and was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests were made, and police were calling it an act of self-defense.
Derick Howard, Turner’s son, told KHOU his mother never would have wanted to use her gun — which she’s licensed to carry — but had no choice: “My momma is a great person, you know? Good-hearted, looking out for everybody. She’d give the shirt off her back.”
Gunman tries carjacking vehicle at auto repair shop — only to discover car doesn’t run. Shop owner chases, shoots, and wounds suspect, who’s soon arrested.
A male tried his luck carjacking a vehicle from a Florida auto repair shop on April 7, 2023 — except he picked the vehicle that wasn’t running.
Police said the suspect entered the Galaxy Tires and Auto Repair on Woodruff Avenue in Jacksonville around 11:45 a.m., reportedly robbed the shop owner at gunpoint, and ran from the shop with stolen money.
The suspect allegedly pointed his gun at a customer sitting in a car at the shop and ordered the individual out of the vehicle. But upon discovering the car was not operating, the suspect fled on foot. With that, the shop owner grabbed his own gun and went after the suspect. Police said the suspect pointed his gun at the owner, who responded by shooting the suspect in the lower body.
The wounded suspect ran to a nearby restaurant before collapsing in the parking lot. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the unidentified male was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and charged with armed robbery. Police found stolen property from the auto repair shop on the suspect. There were no other injuries, according to WJXT.
Armed Philly carjacker pulls 59-year-old man from vehicle. But victim — an off-duty corrections officer — turns the tables, fires multiple times at crook.
An armed carjacker in Philadelphia picked the wrong motorist to steal from on June 27, 2022, as the victim — a 59-year-old off-duty corrections officer — opened fire at the bad guy with bloody results.
The victim told responding officers he’d departed a friend’s house along East Roosevelt Boulevard near Rising Sun Avenue just before 11 p.m. and entered his white Toyota Avalon sedan, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told WCAU-TV.
The victim was then pulled from his vehicle at gunpoint, Small noted to the station, adding that the victim “was carjacked” but wasn’t hurt. The carjacker was wearing a surgical mask and hoodie, WPVI-TV reported.
With that, the off-duty corrections officer pulled out his own gun and opened fire at the carjacker with at least five shots, Small told WCAU. The carjacker sped away north along Roosevelt Boulevard, Small added to the station, which said police found the stolen car about a half-mile away along Bingham Street in the Feltonville neighborhood less than a half-hour later.
“That vehicle was found with five bullet holes in it and a lot of fresh blood inside the driver’s seat and some on the center console,” Small added to WCAU.
The bullets penetrated the driver’s-side window and door as well as the windshield, WPVI reported. Police confirmed to WCAU that the vehicle in question belongs to the corrections officer.
In addition, a man later showed up at a hospital with at least two gunshot wounds to his arms, Small told WCAU, adding that investigators were trying to confirm if the wounded man is the carjacker. Police were checking DNA evidence to see if there’s a match with the hospitalized individual, KYW-TV reported.
Male trying to steal catalytic converter meets his end after Prius comes crashing down on him, police say
Police in North Carolina said a male trying to steal a catalytic converter from a Toyota Prius died after the vehicle fell on top of him.
Union County sheriff’s deputies were called to a home near the city of Monroe around 5:45 p.m. Dec. 8, 2021, after the homeowner found the body under his vehicle, WAGA-TV reported. Detectives told the station the male appeared to be in the middle of cutting off the exhaust pipe to get to the catalytic converter when the jack slipped and the car fell on top of him. The homeowner was not at home at the time, WAGA said. Deputies told the station the deceased male’s wife reported him missing earlier in the day.
“A catalytic converter and the small amount of scrap value it holds is not worth the risk of losing your life,” the sheriff’s office wrote on its Facebook page.
Worker at car junkyard uses forklift to hoist vehicle 20 feet off ground — with suspected thief inside it. Laughing cops love every minute of it.
Employees at Arlington Auto Wrecking in Akron, Ohio, spotted a male inside one of their SUVs on Oct. 17, 2023. They had seen him on their lot before going into cars — and this time they weren’t about to let him get away. Meaning a worker raced over in a forklift, scooped up the vehicle, and lifted it with the suspect inside it roughly 20 feet in the air until police arrived. You can view video of the hilarious incident here.
“We’re having a lot of trouble here with people stealing stuff and everything, and we got a guy that’s passed out or crashed in one of our vehicles in our yard, and I got the vehicle picked up with the loader, and he’s probably 20 feet in the air now, and I refuse to drop this thing to let him out and run,” the employee said in his 911 call to the Akron Police Department, WOIO-TV reported. “I mean we’ve just had so much problems here with theft and catalytic converters and just fires and everything.”
The 911 operator replied, “Wonderful, that is the greatest thing I’ve ever heard. We will get somebody out to you.” Bodycam video shows officers smiling and laughing about the whole thing.
WKRC-TV reported that police asked 26-year-old suspect Alexander Funk why he had cutting tools in his backpack: “All right, man, well, here’s the deal. There’s been a serious amount of break-ins and converters cut off, and you got a Sawzall, and you’re in a private area of the business not open to the public. … So what do you got the Sawzall for?” Funk reportedly replied, “Copper, to be honest, brother, not gonna lie.” The suspect was charged with criminal trespassing and possessing criminal tools.
Employees told police they once caught Funk — previously convicted of criminal trespassing and drug abuse — on the property but let him go; another time an employee said he found Funk in his back seat and called police, but Funk ran off, WOIO noted.
Poetic justice: Cop strolls into 7-Eleven while armed robber stands in front of register with bag full of stolen cash
A security camera captured a moment of poetic justice when a uniformed police officer walked into a southern California 7-Eleven on Jan. 17 while a hooded armed robber stood in front of the store’s register with a bag full of stolen cash.
Video recorded the suspect — 48-year-old Ramon Gonzalez — approaching the counter of the store in West Covina and asking the clerk to grab him a pack of cigarettes, KTLA-TV reported. As the clerk began placing the cigarettes into a bag, the station said the suspect lifted his sweatshirt, revealed a gun, and demanded everything in the register. The clerk complied and began placing cash into the bag, KTLA said.
The crook might have gotten away with an easy heist, except that West Covina Sgt. Abel Hernandez — a frequent customer of the 7-Eleven — walked into the store to purchase some water and greet the clerk, the station said.
“So I saw the subject in there, and at first, I really didn’t think anything” Hernandez recounted to KTLA. “I saw the gloves, I saw the ski mask, and that night it was a little chilly, so I figured, ‘Okay.’” But Hernandez also noticed the distressed look on the clerk’s face, the station said.
“He’s always with a smile, but as I entered the store, I saw the fear in his face, and I knew something was up,” Hernandez added to KTLA. “I remember just keeping my eye on the subject.” The robber soon lifted the bag of cash off the counter — about $400 — spotted Hernandez walking in, and made a run for the door, the station said. The clerk shouted, “He’s got a gun! He robbed me!” as Hernandez turned and chased after the suspect, KTLA said.
“To me it seemed slow even though I look at the video and it seemed like I took off pretty quick,” the 17-year veteran cop added to the station. “Everything sort of slows down. I was able to catch him 15 to 20 feet right outside the doors of the store.”
KTLA said Hernandez tackled the suspect, who put up a brief fight before giving up. Soon backup officers arrived at the scene, the station said, and they recovered the cash — as well as a loaded handgun. Hernandez told KTLA that it was “fortunate” no one was hurt: “Thank God that the outcome was what it was.”
The suspect faced several charges including robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm, the station said. You can view a video report about the incident here.
Armed Chicago carjackers realize they targeted wrong vehicle when driver — an off-duty corrections officer — shoots back at them, thwarting their plans
An off-duty corrections officer was driving down an alley in the 7900 block of South Phillips Avenue around 2:30 a.m. Aug. 30, 2020, when at least three males approached the vehicle with the intent of stealing the car, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. One of the males pulled a gun and demanded that the driver exit the car. When the officer refused to comply, several shots were fired in his direction. The 36-year-old officer wasn’t hit, and he returned fire, wounding the gunman in the arm and groin. The other two would-be thieves fled the scene.
One of the alleged participants in the carjacking — 19-year-old David Hall — was taken to a hospital, treated, and released into the custody of Chicago police. Hall was charged with one felony count each of attempted first-degree murder, attempted vehicular hijacking, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, police said. A .38-caliber pistol was recovered at the scene, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. The robbery suspect is on parole for felony theft in connection with stealing a television from a pawn shop, police said.
‘Armed, desperate, would-be cop killers’ break into home after shooting at deputies — only to run into bearded, burly homeowner who fights them ‘hand-to-hand’ and makes one of them ‘bloody’
Anthony Cardenas found himself face to face around 3 a.m. Sept. 9, 2021, with a pair of armed and dangerous crooks who broke into his San Antonio, Texas, home — and who were on the run from sheriff’s deputies they had just been shooting at, KSAT-TV reported.
The two suspects allegedly had been breaking into cars and then began firing at a pair of Bexar County sheriff’s deputies who were called to the scene, the station said. The armed suspects then hoofed it, eventually broke into and ran through Cardenas’ home, grabbed his vehicle keys, and got into Cardenas’ vehicle, KSAT said.
He wasn’t about to let them get away with his ride, however.
“I pulled the door open, and we got into a fight inside the truck,” Cardenas added to the station. “And we went from the driver’s side to the passenger’s side. We both fell out.” Cardenas noted to KSAT that the suspects continued running and took his vehicle keys with them.
Deputies soon caught up with the suspects and took them into custody, the station said, but Sheriff Javier Salazar gave props to Cardenas, too: “That homeowner put up quite a fight and, in fact, caused quite a bit of injury to one of the suspects, who is a bit bloody,” Salazar noted during his press conference about the scary incident.
The sheriff added that Cardenas “did a really good job at going hand-to-hand with these dangerous suspects … and so kudos to him for taking that stand and protecting his home.” Salazar also said he was “proud of that homeowner” for “making sure that that suspect’s not going to forget breaking into that house any time soon.”
The sheriff told KSAT that after the two deputies arrived on Baffin Peak to answer the call about car burglaries, one of the deputies stepped out of his patrol vehicle and was met with gunfire. “I’m told the only reason that suspect stopped firing is because his weapon ran out of ammo,” Salazar said, adding that two bullets struck the deputy’s vehicle. “He ran it dry in an effort to try to kill this deputy.”
The second suspect fired shots at the other deputy, who was chasing him, the station said, and one of the bullets hit a parked car. Neither deputy was hurt, KSAT reported.
Calling them “especially violent people” and “armed, desperate, would-be cop killers,” Salazar said the suspects tried to hide but that one of the deputies spotted a “pair of feet” behind a parked car. Salazar said the suspects’ weapons were recovered after cops arrested them. Both suspects faced numerous charges, including attempted capital murder, KSAT said.
You can view a video report about the incident here.
Teens try late-night theft from car in driveway. Unfortunately for them, husband of car owner is an off-duty cop — and he gets swift justice.
An off-duty cop was playing video games around 11:30 p.m. last Dec. 27 when he was alerted that two teenagers allegedly were trying to steal items from his wife’s car in front of their home in Bunnell, Florida, WOFL-TV reported.
“I started getting alerts on my phone. And as I looked at the cameras, I see two males, one hiding behind the car, my wife’s car, pulling the door handle, seeing if it was unlocked,” the officer — who didn’t want to be identified for safety reasons — told the station.
The officer confronted the teens who made the mistake of targeting a housing development where many police officers live, WOFL noted: “I said, ‘Hey, this is the wrong neighborhood. Obviously, there’s multiple patrol vehicles in here, and you picked the wrong one.’”
The officer said the teenagers ran off, and he hopped in his patrol vehicle to chase them before jumping from his car to go after them on foot. Soon Flagler County sheriff’s deputies helped him apprehend the pair. The suspects — ages 16 and 17 — were charged with three counts of burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and released to the custody of their parents.
“I literally told the officers that showed up, I was like, ‘I did not think this was going to happen on my only day off,’” the officer joked.
One of the suspects claimed he was after money to pay his phone bill, but the officer who helped capture them told WOFL that doesn’t wash: “They can use any excuse they want to use, but you’re taking away from people that earn hard for what they have. I know that they had no remorse trying to go into people’s vehicles and trying to flee from the officers that were on scene.”
You can view a video report about the incident here.
Crook trying to steal catalytic converter crushed to death after jack fails, car falls on top of him, cops say
Police in Anaheim, California, said a male trying to steal a catalytic converter was crushed to death when the jack failed and the car fell on top of him, KTLA-TV reported.
Police said officers responded to a report of a deceased male in the 1600 block of North Placentia Avenue just before 6:30 a.m. March 17, 2021, the station said.
Sean Harp told KTLA a “pretty frantic” person entered his business telling him someone had been crushed under one of his vehicles: “So I walked down there, and I saw what appeared to be a caucasian gentleman with his torso underneath the vehicle with his feet and limbs, legs exposed, and it was evident that he was crushed.”
Harp added to the station that he saw a cordless Sawzall cutting device next to the male, and it appeared the car fell because the small scissor jack holding it up was poorly secured.
“In recent weeks we’ve had a rash of catalytic converters stolen out of the complex here,” he told KTLA, adding that the incident was “really indicative of people going in underneath vehicles and just cutting parts off that they need and selling [them].”
Thieves resell precious metals from catalytic converter components. Toyota Priuses are popular targets because they carry more of the valuable metals, and midsize SUVs also are favored because there’s more room underneath them for converter access.
Inmate escapes prison, tastes freedom for just 10 minutes before motorist hits him on highway. He succumbs to his injuries a week later.
Matthew J. Ornellas Jr. — a 33-year-old inmate at Kaua’i Community Correctional Center serving time for a class C drug felony — decided to make a run for it around 1 a.m. March 22. He managed to scale the prison walls despite the razor wire, and guards lost sight of him after he disappeared into the thick brush surrounding the facility.
But his escape plan went south just 10 minutes later. Ornellas ran onto the nearby Kuhio Highway, and a motorist struck him almost immediately, then took off. The “loud sound from the roadway” alerted officers to his whereabouts, according to a statement from Democrat Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.
The officers found Ornellas lying in the road, badly injured, about 100 yards from the prison. An ambulance took him to a hospital, where his condition continued to “deteriorate,” the governor’s statement said. Less than a week after his prison break, Ornellas succumbed to his injuries.
The only clue the governor’s statement mentions about the vehicle involved in the apparent hit-and-run is that “a dark-colored vehicle” was spotted “making a U-turn on Kūhiō Highway” in the area just after the crash. Ornellas was considered a “minimum custody inmate” even though he had been convicted of “promoting a dangerous drug,” Green’s statement said. It’s unclear how long Ornellas had been incarcerated or how much of his sentence remained.
Stolen car suspect makes a run for it, then chooses to hide vehicle in a rural county. Problem is pair of retired cops own the property.
According to TwinCities.com, authorities said a guy by the name of Alexander John Thompson, 31, stole a car in Lakeville, Minnesota, headed south toward Northfield, and then made his way to Greenvale Township in rural Dakota County.
Authorities added to the outlet that Thompson picked out a property, opened a barn door, and parked the silver 2011 Volvo C30 inside.
Turns out, however, that the property owners are a pair of retired police officers, TwinCities.com noted, adding that they soon detained Thompson.
“He could have chosen any house,” Jeff Leopold, a Dakota County sheriff’s captain, told the outlet. “So this was very bad luck. But good luck for us.”
Thompson was booked into Dakota County Jail Jan. 30, 2022, on suspicion of burglary, auto theft, giving a false name to a peace officer, and driving after cancellation, the outlet said, adding that the next day Thompson was charged with auto theft. TwinCities.com added that Thompson has a lengthy criminal history going back to 2017, including multiple felony convictions for drug and theft offenses.
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