Stupid Criminals thread

[ZWarrior]

http://www.heraldextra.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=48214&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Saturday, February 19, 2005 - 12:00 AM
Security camera helps nab burglars
Todd Hollingshead DAILY HERALD

Four Pleasant Grove burglars were caught red-handed this week when falling snowflakes kept a motion-detection security camera on a nearby house recording their crime.

The suspects were arrested Wednesday night after a camera perched on the home of Matt Beck taped clear images of the suspect vehicle and the burglars entering and taking merchandise from the home of Terri and Robin Wardle earlier in the day.

Beck said the $1,500 camera, which just happened to be pointed toward the Wardles's home, was set off when the suspects' vehicle drove by.

"Instead of just getting a couple of frames, the snow kept it recording," Beck said. "It was good timing or bad timing, depending on if you're the criminal."

Beck, who was testing the camera for his Watch on Web Surveillance camera business, gave a copy of the recorded video to Pleasant Grove police, who then broadcast the recording to patrolling officers.

Only a few hours later, a police officer spotted and stopped the gray and black Ford Bronco on the video, which was full of the stolen merchandise in plain view, said Sgt. Kurt Bean of the Pleasant Grove Police Department.

Police arrested Thomas Spencer Holley, 18, and three 16- or 17-year-old juveniles and charged them with second-degree felony burglary, second-degree felony theft of a firearm and a felony count for theft by value.

"Probably 90 percent of the items have already been returned to the owners," Bean said. "The victims are very happy to get their stuff back -- they didn't think they would ever get their belongings back."

Bean said the suspects stole thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from at least two homes in the area, including a .22-caliber pistol, a flat-screen television, an Apple iPod, a laptop computer and several digital cameras.

The suspects also used the digital cameras to take pictures of themselves holding the stolen merchandise, Bean said.

Police said the pictures are not only further proof of the crimes but provide time stamps for when the crimes took place.

"The bottom line is that it was a bad day for these kids," said Robin Wardle, who believes the suspects robbed her home only a few minutes after she left it. "We feel bad for the kids that they've chosen this life. I hope they learn a lesson that crime doesn't pay."

Wardle said besides a broken basement door, little damage was done to their house by the burglars.

"Still, you feel a little bit weird to have someone looking through your stuff," she said.

Holley was booked into the Utah County Jail and the three juveniles were taken to the Slate Canyon juvenile detention center, police said. Holley, who also faces charges of marijuana possession, has since posted bail.

Beck said the camera that caught the images was being tested before he shipped it to Mt. Pleasant High School in North Sanpete, where administrators plan to use it for surveillance there.

"If they would have waited until the weekend, it wouldn't have caught them," Beck said. "It was too bad on their part they drove by when they did."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1

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