Dumb Crooks

Woman texted cops to buy drugs

An east Texas woman who allegedly was trying to set up a drug sale turned out to be mistakenly texting law officers.

Burglar caught breaking into house a 2nd time, claims he was leaving a thank you note

A serial burglar fresh out of jail went back to a Sarasota home he robbed last year to hit it again, this time with a 'thank you note,' authorities said. Gerald Maxwell, 39, was arrested at the Chippewa Place home on Tuesday night, reportedly telling police, "I was going back in there to leave a thank you note because I'm the guy who burglarized this place last year. I just got out of jail."

Maxwell has a long record of burglaries, according to the Sarasota Police Department. In addition to the most recent arrest and his boast of burglarizing the home a year ago, Maxwell was busted in December 2007 for burglarizing the same home, and has eight total burglary arrests in the area since November 2006. This time, according to arrest reports, Maxwell went to the home in the 2200 block of Chippewa Place around 10:30 p.m Tuesday, pried open a window and crept inside. That triggered a motion-sensing alarm in the home, and a pair of Sarasota police officers responded to the scene.

The two officers approached the home's front door, which opened halfway and then slammed shut, reports said. They then split to cover the front and rear of the home and prevent escape, with more officers and the police department's helicopter called to the scene. Police quickly spotted Maxwell inside the home and ordered him out, reports said. As Maxwell did, he was taken into custody, uttering his "thank you note" line.

Inside the home, investigators found a stack of jewellery they said Maxwell had gathered in his heist attempt, along with a crack pipe left near the pile of jewellery. Maxwell was taken to the Sarasota County Jail. He was charged with burglary and possession of drug paraphernalia, along with four counts of probation violation.

Woman vows to kill police, throw feces and have abortion following arrest

A Millville woman was charged with robbing a New Jersey Transit bus driver and kicking out a police cruiser’s window on Sunday afternoon. Natalie M. Tice, 21, of Millville’s Oakview Apartments, allegedly punched the 63-year-old bus driver in the head and took $48 from him. The robbery occurred at the Vineland Transportation Center, located at 106 W. Landis Ave. It was reported at 4:26 p.m.

The bus driver told police he attempted to prevent Tice from boarding the bus, as she had earlier caused a disturbance while riding on his bus. Tice ignored his request and boarded the bus, then allegedly turned around and punched him, causing a cut to the left side of his head. After Tice was placed under arrest for the robbery, she was put in the rear of a police cruiser as police continued their investigation.

Police pepper-sprayed Tice after she ignored an order to stop kicking the cruiser’s rear, passenger-side window. The pepper-spray reportedly had little impact in calming Tice, who kicked out the window a few moments later. Police estimated the damage to the cruiser at $600. Tice allegedly made several threats to kill the police officers involved in the investigation, both during her arrest and while being processed at police headquarters.

She also screamed that she was going to defecate in an interview room and hurl faeces at the officers, and also indicated she was going to have an abortion so she could claim she had a miscarriage due to the way she was handled following her arrest, according to police. The police report did not indicate if Tice was pregnant. Police recovered $50 from Tice, who was taken to South Jersey Healthcare-Regional Medical Center for evaluation. Tice was charged with robbery and criminal mischief, with bail set at $100,000.