Alternative policing

Sometimes the police need help from the public to know who is responsible for certain crimes. This is where Crimestoppers comes in - by passing information on to the charity anonymously, people can help solve crimes, without having to worry about retaliation from criminals.

In some cases though, police need no help catching crooks - they drop themselves in it instead. For example, in Daytona Beach, Florida some car thieves accidentally rung emergency services while breaking into a car -¡menuda estupidez!- what a stupid thing to do!

While listening to the thieves discussing what items in the car were worth stealing, police were sent to the area where the would-be crooks were promptly arrested.

Policing can't get much more simple than this now can it. Unfortunately, if law enforcement sat around all day waiting for instances like this, then we would have a lot more crooks walking our streets. So what's the solution? Keep the calls to Crimestoppers coming in and we can fight crime together.

Man jailed for throwing double-decker taco

First there was the Asda employee jailed after he allegedly licked a chicken, now a man in the USA has been jailed for throwing a Taco at a Taco Bell manager. What is it with food-related crime? When I was growing up, my padre and momia used to tell me not to waste food as some children weren’t lucky enough to have it. Now it seems that slinging a steak at someone when you’re annoyed is becoming the norm.

The man involved in this incident was going through a drive-thru at a Taco Bell in Fairbanks, Alaska, when he threw the double-decker taco at the food-outlet manager. The 31-year-old claims he chucked the taco because he spotted spit in it after he had already gone twice through the drive-thru because the incorrect order was given to him. Taco Bell denies that there was spit in the taco, instead claiming the man was trying to get free food.

As well as being sentenced to a day in jail, the man has been put on a year’s probation. A condition of it is that he can’t go to Taco Bell.

Now I'm not throwing in judgment here, because who knows what really happened. But perhaps this story will serve as a warning to others – if you like a food enough that you want to keep eating it (and what’s there not to like about tacos), then don’t go throwing it at people. I’m certainly going to be keeping my firm favourites (paella, gazpacho, churros, pizza etc…) close to my chest from now on.

Asda shelf-stacker jailed after allegedly licking a chicken

Mask of Manuel's blog post about the suspected burglar who made himself fried chicken after breaking into a house was pretty bizarre, but I think I can top it. An Asda shelf-stacker has been jailed for causing criminal damage to the Asda supermarket in Fulwood, Preston, after a video was posted on YouTube of him allegedly licking a raw chicken. In all my days... Well there's liking chicken and then there's really liking chicken. At least the chicken in question appears to be corn-fed.

Adeel Ayub is seen in the video (watch it below) throwing eggs, using a blade to cut chairs in the Asda staff room and standing on whole chickens in the store's meat cabinet. Ayub's solicitor said in court that the behaviour was meant "as a prank".

Watch the video below and judge for yourself. Personally I suspect Ayub was following Sainsbury's tagline - "Try something new today."

Burglar makes himself at home with fried chicken and a shower

Not many things ever manage to come between my dinner and I. Food is one of my main passions (along with fighting crime), possibly due to my Spanish heritage. That said, there are times and places when eating a meal or even helping ones self to a small snack just isn't appropriate.

A burglar from eastern Pennsylvania doesn't seem to share this view - he allegedly broke into a woman's house by throwing a rock through a window pane on her door. According to court records, the intruder then not only rummaged through all of the rooms of the house, but also had a shower, cut his hair and prepared himself a meal before being discovered by the homeowner.

She discovered the man sitting on her sofa watching television. He had some fried chicken cooking in the kitchen and had helped himself to a few cans of beer. The man refused to leave the premises until police attended and charged him with burglary, criminal trespass, theft and criminal mischief.

I hope for his sake the fried chicken was worth it!

Cross-dressing to catch criminals

The Japanese have come up with some truly ingenious ways to fight crime. First there was the Japanese designer who made a skirt that could be transformed into a vending machine costume, allowing women to hide from pursuers, now police have started cross-dressing to catch criminals.

In the central Aichi prefecture, all-male police squads have been taking to the streets wearing wigs, skirts and high heels while carrying designer handbags. They are attempting to catch criminals who have been mugging well-dressed women.

Entry into the squads is elite - officers must be male, young, slim and hold a black belt in karate. Although I don't hold a black belt in karate (that's more of Granny Robyn's cup of tea), I'm confident I'd still be accepted into the squad as I excel against the other qualification criteria.

The Asahi daily reported that although some of the officers have been propositioned while walking the beat, no muggers have been arrested so far.

Can you think of any other creative ways to tackle crime? Get in touch and let me know.

Want-to-be thief gets stuck in window with his trousers down

When I first watched the video below, two phrases sprung to mind. The first was crime doesn't pay and the second was don't get caught with your trousers down. I bet the man in the video is starting to agree with at least the second one!

The bare-legged man was trying to gain entry to a supermarket by climbing through a basement window when he got stuck halfway. His trousers fell down leaving his pants revealed to onlookers for 11 hours. Police suspect he was trying to break-in to the supermarket at the time and once released, took him to the station for questioning.

Man drives to court to face auto-theft charges in a stolen car

Following on from Mask of Manuel's post on Friday about a student who was caught drink-driving while dressed as a breathalyser, it been revealed that a man in California stole a car to drive to his court hearing for auto-theft charges.

Samuel Botchvaroff was arrested by police sitting outside Vallejo courthouse in a stolen Range Rover. He told police officers that he had steal the car as his own car had been impounded and he had no other way of attending the court hearing. Police didn't take sympathy on Botchvaroff and arrested him on auto-theft charges... again.

Fingers crossed he learns his lesson and takes public transport to his next hearing!

Who said burglars need masks?

Here at I spy a crime, we love the motto is Fight crime without revealing your identity. A story I read online today stood out at me because the crooks involved did the exact opposite - commited a crime while leaving no doubt about who they were!

Matthew Allan McNelly, 23, and Joey Lee Miller, 20, can only be described as dumb and dumber after 'disguising' their faces using permanent marker while attempting to break into a house in Iowa, USA.

It was reported that they had been drinking before they decided to break into the property, where one of the men believed his ex-girlfriend was staying. Neighbours reported seeing men with painted faces drive away in a white car from the scene.

Police located the vehicle with McNelly and Miller still inside. Both men were charged with attempted burglary, and McNelly was charged additionally with operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Check out a photo of these men if you haven't already; theirs has to be one of the most bizarre disguises I’ve seen in my crime-fighting days!

Woman scares off burglar by acting like dog

I live in a fairly safe neighbourhood, but some people still use extra safety messages such as hanging up Beware of the dog signs by their doors. I've often wondered whether signs like these are actually effective at deterring criminals.

An article in the Athens-Banner Herald suggests that having a dog at your house, or at least pretending you do, might deter some would-be crims.

Over the weekend a lady in Georgia, USA, scared off a potential burglar by pretending to be a large dog. The woman saw through her window a man attempting to open her front door. The woman dropped to all fours by the door and imitated a dog. Exactly which dog-like characteristics she adopted has not been specified, but she must have been realistic as the man ran away.

How to get arrested: Report your own drugs as stolen to the police

From April to September this year Crimestoppers received 25,517 pieces of useful information about drugs offences from across the UK. This information led to 2,421 drugs cases being solved. That said, sometimes law enforcement don't need our help to solve crimes - the criminals do it for us!

A 54 year-old lady from Brant Township in Michigan, USA called police to tell them that her marijuana plants had be stolen. Officers responded to the call and arrested the woman on drugs manufacturing charges.

Detective Sgt. Randy F. Pfau, who worked on the case, said that it was the first time he can remember someone reporting their stolen drugs to the police.

Leech solves serious crime!

Being Spanish, I visit the beautiful Tagus River whenever I get a chance. One of the only downsides about the region is the leeches. Except when they're being used for medical purposes, I find leeches annoying and hard to remove.

Today my respect for the humble leech increased a little after reading about one in the Metro that solved a crime.

The case in question sounded so tough that even I don't know if I could have solved it - an elderly lady in Tasmania, Australia was tied up in her home by two intruders in September 2001. The men stole the lady's money and fled.

Police were obviously keen to catch the culprits, but there was no forensic evidence left at the scene - except for one blood-filled leech! Suspecting the leech might have fed on one of the attackers, the police removed the blood from it for DNA analysis.

Now, over eight years later, Peter Cannon was arrested on unrelated charges. His DNA matched that taken from the leech.

Cannon pleaded guilty to the robbery and is being sentenced this Friday. He faces a maximum sentence of 21 years.

This is the first time DNA taken from an insect has been used to solve a crime in Australia and perhaps the world! Bravo - I love a happy ending.

Pretty amazing story eh? I hope the next leech I encounter is as useful. If you hear of any amazing crime stories, be sure to let my fellow amigos and I know.