The Case of the Beer-Box Bandit
Most crooks who set out to rob a convenience store plan on some sort of disguise, such as a ski mask or even a nylon stocking, to hide their faces and avoid being recognized. But one bandit in East Tennessee wore none of the above. He created his disguise right there on the spot.
Retired officer David Hunter of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department remarks that this criminal “had a plan, but his plan just wasn’t too deep. He had forgotten to bring along a mask.” But then he saw it—an empty cardboard beer box!
The robber entered the convenience store with gun in hand and the beer box over his head. He could just barely see out of the corner of it when he turned the empty case at an angle.
After smacking his knee on the door and knocking over several displays, the man finally managed to face the clerk and demand all the money. She put the money in his hand, and he stumbled and crashed his way out the door.
The robber entered the convenience store with gun in hand and the beer box over his head. He could just barely see out of the corner of it when he turned the empty case at an angle.
The man ran out and hurried to his getaway car, driven by his girlfriend. But she, too, seemed to have difficulty thinking clearly under pressure. When the bandit told her to turn right and head out of town, she turned left and was met by about fifteen sheriff’s deputies. She almost literally ran into them. Although it was ten o’clock at night, she had neglected to turn on her headlights.
The clueless couple was captured, then released on bail. And about a week later the aspiring criminal hit on another brilliant plan: He would hit the very same market with the same disguise. The police would never expect it and this time, he’d do it right. Then people would remember him—that daring Beer-Box Bandit.
As it happens, the same clerk was working the night the bandit made his second attempt. She recognized him by his box; the door was locked and the sheriff’s department was on its way before the bandit could even enter the store.
It’s hard to get away with a box on your head . . . and this dumb criminal didn’t. His career in crime was over. And yes, we still remember him—that incredible idiot, the Beer-Box Bandit.