It’s been a while since LU has handed out its coveted world’s dumbest thief award. Previous contenders have included one genius who used a stolen credit card to pay his friend’s bail and another who actually mugged for a photo while holding up the credit card she had stolen.
Our latest contender is a Cleveland bank robber who presented a teller with a demand for cash that was written on the blank side of a used piece of paper. But it was what was on the other side of the paper that was the thief’s undoing: It was a document from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles that contained the man’s name and home address.
According to Fox 8 Cleveland:
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It was just after 11 a.m. on Monday that a man walked up to the counter at the U.S. Bank branch at 7993 Euclid Ave. on the city’s east side and passed a note, demanding money.
“When the teller took the note, and looked at it and looked at the other side, she saw his name. He had used a note that he had used earlier at the BMV and it had his name [Michael Harrell] on it,” said Special Agent Vicki Anderson, of the Cleveland Office of the FBI.
We’ve saved the best part for last. The teller was so stunned that she referred to the man by his name — which didn’t faze him!
The FBI said this is not the first time that a bank robber has left an incriminating piece of evidence at the scene, but in each case, it makes the job of finding the suspect a lot easier.
“We’ve had individuals drop things on the way out the door, that they didn’t intend to, obviously. We’ve had individuals drop cell phones that have all their identifying information in it,” Anderson said. “A lot of times, we’re sending out pictures, we have no idea who this person could be or what part of town they could be from. And when you present a note that has your name already on it and address, it helps law enforcement tremendously.”
