To some people, image is everything. There are those who would not dream of leaving the house (even someone else’s house) without making sure their appearance was in order. And different people have different priorities when it comes to appearance. Some people can’t relax unless their hair is neatly combed. Others want to be sure their clothes are in style. For Cecil Warren, shiny shoes were everything.
Cecil was well known on the streets of Roanoke, Virginia, as a small-time thief and occasional burglar. He was just as well known for constantly shining his shoes. It wasn’t uncommon for him to put on the spit and polish several times a day. In the end, his particular form of vanity proved to be his downfall.
Cecil had decided to burglarize a house, and he had no trouble getting in. He simply climbed up and over the back porch. Unfortunately, this feat also required him to scramble onto the roof. And roof climbing, as one prosecutor later put it, creates “a great probability of shoe damage.” Our vain criminal couldn’t get on with the job until he made some repairs.
Cecil escaped from the home with some five thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry, but he left behind his can of shoe polish and, more importantly, his monogrammed shoeshine rag.
“The can of polish and that rag with the initials C. W. on it were as good as a set of fingerprints,” one detective noted.
The vain Mr. Warren was found guilty of breaking and entering and grand larceny. He is now cooling his heels— and probably shining his shoes—in jail.