How Dumb Was That?

In the May 2007 edition of Reader’s Digest, we published a compilation called “Really Dumb Criminals.” The article revealed the crimes of several “masterminds” who practically caught themselves. Here’s just one example:

Pawnshop Flop
By Craig Segal

A couple of weeks before Christmas 2004, thieves took a crowbar to the back door of Jason Shinkarik’s century-old white-stucco home in Winnipeg, where he lived with his wife and two kids. Nobody was home at the time. The crooks filled three of Shinkarik’s own duffle bags with his belongings. The grinches even nicked the presents from under the tree.

Shinkarik reported the robbery to police when he got home. The next morning, he drove to his workplace, Pawn Derosa Trading. It was just another day at work until Alphonse Stanley Traverse and his friends walked in with duffle bags Shinkarik recognized as his own.

Shinkarik phoned the police, but Traverse, who already had a criminal record, managed to get away. When police finally caught up with him, they charged him with breaking into three more Winnipeg homes.

Read the full story, and others, in the Digest.

If you read about any like-minded criminals, send us the clipping. Be sure to include the name of the publication, the date and the page number. Send stories to “Dumb Criminals,” 1125 Stanley St., Montreal, Quebec H3B 5H5. We may use your suggestions in a future edition of the magazine.