Crime Blotter: Alleged Car Burglar Locks Self in Trunk
April 29, 2005 -- -- An alleged car burglar locks himself inside a trunk; a man who erupted into French fry rage gets jail time; and authorities arrest the suspected "Bandaged Bandit." The only therapy that may be able to cure the inept, the angry and the scarred is this week's edition of "The Crime Blotter."
Alleged Car Burglar Locks Himself Inside Trunk
FRESNO, Calif. -- A man locked himself inside a car he attempted to burglarize, California police said.
On April 24, a security guard at an apartment complex in Fresno, noticed a trail of blood and followed it to a banging noise emanating from the trunk of a car. Police called to the scene said they thought they were rescuing a victim when they opened the trunk.
The man told authorities that he had been hit on the head and stuffed inside the car trunk. However, police said, the man was betrayed by stolen items from another vehicle that were found with him in the trunk. According to investigators, the alleged burglar had popped open the car's trunk from the inside and crawled into the trunk in search of items to steal. He locked himself in when he grabbed the hood as he tried to pull himself out.
"He popped the trunk from the inside and crawled back there, ransacking every inch," Fresno County Sheriff's Lt. Louis Hernandez said in reports. "But then he grabs the trunk to heave himself out and closes it on top of him. He's got to be the dumbest criminal of the day."
Police said the man -- whose name they have not released -- cut himself on the door of another car he had broken into and trickled a trail of blood across the parking lot. He was treated for cuts at a local hospital and authorities charged him with two counts of theft.
Jail Time for French Fry Rage
DUBOIS, Pa. -- A customer will not have fries to go with his jail sentence.
Burger King customer Gregg Luttman was sentenced on April 26 to 45 days in jail for flying into a New Year's rage when he was told there were no more french fries. He had pleaded guilty to assault and resisting arrest, among other charges, stemming from the french fry rage.
Sandy Township police said Luttman made an obscene gesture and then walked into Burger King and cursed at the staff on Jan. 1 after a drive-through window clerk told him they didn't have any french fries. When Luttman returned to his pickup truck, authorities say, he saw some Burger King employees write down his license plate number. Luttman then allegedly put his vehicle in reverse and nearly hit one employee.
Police stopped Luttman on a nearby highway, where they said he scuffled with officers and kicked out the window of a police car.
In addition to his jail sentence, Luttman was fined $150 and ordered to serve two years' probation.
Suspected 'Bandaged Bandit' Caught
CHICAGO -- It looks like FBI officials have wrapped up the "Bandaged Bandit" serial bank robber case.
The FBI's violent crimes task force had been trying to find the "Bandaged Bandit" -- a man suspected of robbing 13 banks in the Chicago area and northern Indiana -- since December but did not have the identity of a suspect. The Bandit was only identified as a heavy-set man with a shaven head and scars on both sides of his face. He was dubbed "The Bandaged Bandit" because he sometimes wore bandages on his face.
On April 21, FBI officials saw a man matching the Bandit's description walking into the Everett M. Dirksen federal courthouse, where he was checking on the status of a lawsuit he had filed against a former employer. Authorities said they monitored the man -- identified as 30-year-old Keith L. Washington -- for six days before arresting him on April 28. A number of bank tellers have identified Washington as the bandit, the FBI affidavit said.
Washington appeared briefly before U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin C. Ashman on charges of robbing a Chicago bank of $670 on Feb. 7. He could face more charges.