Some criminals mastermind their crimes to absolute perfection, but the ones on this list clearly don’t.
Take a look back at The News’ top five criminal fails for 2019:
Number 5) Abbotsford police arrest man suspected of using pepper-spray against another man
A man was arrested on Aug. 15 for allegedly using pepper spray against another man and taking off with a stolen bicycle. When Abbotsford police cruisers caught up with the suspect and sounded their sirens, he immediately face-planted off the bike. He was arrested shortly after and charged with breach of probation and possession of stolen property. (The video has been removed from YouTube, unfortunately.)
Number 4) ‘Dear thief, you suck’: Abbotsford truck owner pens angry letter to incompetent crook
An Abbotsford man left a disparaging note to a thief on Aug. 31 after the third failed attempt to steal his truck in a 10-month period.
“You suck at stealing this truck,” the owner wrote in the letter, which was taped to the door of his work truck.
The owner says in the letter the attempts had cost over $1,000 in repairs due to the thief’s incompetence:
Dear thief,
No fob = no engine start. You suck at stealing this truck. After 3 attempts in 10 months, probably time to learn a new skill as you can’t even properly steal a truck. You’ve cost me 1,200 in lost use and deductibles and fees for others as ICBC fixes each time.
Quit trying to steal my truck, you suck at it!!
Number 3) Trail-cam thief unaware of being on camera
A thief was arrested in August shortly after stealing a trail-cam. The camera was set up at Mill Lake by one Abbotsford woman trying to find her lost dog. The thief was apparently unaware a trail-cam takes pictures whenever it senses movement in front of the lens. The owner of the camera was getting unintentional selfies from the thief, sent directly to her phone. She promptly sent these photos to the Abbotsford police and a woman was arrested in the following weeks.
One man was arrested two days in a row for breaking into the construction site of Abbotsford’s new courthouse. On Sept. 4, the man was caught after a police K9 unit was able to sniff him out when he was trespassing at the worksite. In the early-morning of Sept. 5, he was arrested again within hours of his release from jail after he went back to the scene of the crime to retrieve a pack of cigarettes he dropped during the arrest.
Number 1) Suspect arrested after thief drops cellphone during Langley garage heist
A thief was arrested in Abbotsford two days after dropping his cellphone inside a Langley garage he was burglarizing. The homeowner woke up the morning of Oct .3 to see a phone in his vehicle featuring a close-up selfie on the background. The homeowner posted a screenshot of the background to social media and a suspect was quickly identified after it was was shared 495 times. The homeowner received all of his stolen property back.