I don’t know the intelligence statistics to know if people who are involved in crime are, on average, not as bright as your average non-criminal. All I can say is that there do seem to be quite a few stories of dumb crook news, stories where the (alleged) criminals do some really stupid things.
And when that dumb crook news story happens in Florida, it’s dumb crook news combined with Florida Man, and you know that you’re going to have a doozy.
Today’s story is a Florida Man meets dumb crook news story, so, you know it’s going to have at least something oddball about it. In this case, the really oddball thing is the reason that they gave police for committing the crime in the first place. Dave Urbanski writes,
[Sheriff Bill] Leeper added that the “individuals said they liked to break into vacant homes to smoke weed,” WJAX reported, adding that the sheriff’s office said the suspects didn’t have any marijuana on this occasion.
That’s right, they told police, of all people, that they like to break into houses to get stoned.
Never mind that there are a myriad of other places that they could do that without getting into trouble with the law (beyond being caught with illegal drugs).
In this case, though, they seemed to have not thought through the situation, and it came back to bite them. Urbanski continues:
Deputies responded just before 8 p.m. Wednesday after a homeowner reported two suspects attempted to break into a house on Clearwater Road, officials said.
The homeowner fired a gun and struck a juvenile male suspect, who was later transported to a local hospital, where he was in stable condition, officials said.
A second suspect — later identified as 18-year-old Anson Shawn Drew of Fernandina Beach — fled the scene but was located shortly after with assistance from NCSO’s Drone Unit and K-9 Unit and air support from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, officials said.
WJAX-TV reported that the juvenile suspect was shot in his lower back. The station, citing the sheriff’s office report, said Drew left one of his shoes behind when he ran off and was later arrested at his home.
I also have to wonder if Drew wore flip flops (which, with all of its beaches, are common in Florida) to the crime scene.
Whether it was long term drug use that dulled their thinking or currently being stoned when they (allegedly) committed the crime or if these guys just aren’t that bright, they clearly made a really poor decision when they decided to break into a house.
Now, hopefully, these young guys will straighten their lives out and choose a better path to take in the future.
