Tampa's Not So Smart Criminals Part II

Just a few days ago one of Tampa's career criminals decided he needed a new Tony Hawk mountain bike. He obtained this bike from the front entrance of Wal-Mart on North Florida Ave. No he didn't purchase it; he took it from an innocent victim who was shopping inside. When the victim exited the store he realized his bike had been stolen and began to walk home. On the way home, he saw the criminal riding on the bike and yelled to him from afar, “that's my bike!” Instead of pedaling off into the sunset, the criminal rode back over to the victim, flashed a silver pistol and said, “You're not getting it back!” Now a smarter “bad guy” may have avoided the victim but not this fella.

The victim followed from a safe distance and called the police. Undercover units quickly arrived on scene and saw the criminal taunting the victim. The criminal dropped the bike and fled on foot. The police were quick to follow. After a brief foot pursuit the criminal was taken into custody and the firearm was recovered from inside his pants.

Turns out this “not so smart” criminal has been arrested 71 times in the past and was just released from a couple of weeks ago. While he has a lot of experience breaking the law, fortunately practice doesn't always make perfect.  The victim was happy to get his only mode of transportation back and the criminal was a little less delighted to get his personalized ride to jail. Score one for the good guys!