Is this New Zealand's dumbest criminal?

STACEY SQUIRES/The Press

ON THE RUN: Garry Knight, of Penny Lane Records, with footage of the robber.

Is this NZ's dumbest criminal?

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A thief has made a bid for the title of New Zealand's dumbest crook after providing his name and contact details to a store clerk minutes before grabbing money from the cash register in full view of the Christchurch store's eight surveillance cameras.

The long-time customer of Penny Lane Records on Colombo St in Sydenham began his bad caper on Friday afternoon.

He approached the counter with a copy of Pink Floyd's classic rock CD The Wall and asked for it to be held for him.

He wrote his name and contact details on a sticker, which was placed on the CD.

A minute later, when the store attendant went to help another customer, the man leaned over the counter and opened the till. He grabbed a handful of $10 and $20 notes, pushed past a woman who spotted him, and fled the store.

Record store manager Garry Knight said if the man had cared to look up he would have seen a monitor showing him dipping into the till from four different angles.

If that was not stupid enough, the man was a long-time, regular customer who had previously left his name and phone number in the store's "wants" book for people who had standing requests for rare records.

Knight said there were eight or so people in the store, including two eyewitnesses. "It's comical."

Police were called but the man had already left the area. Knight predicted the case would not take long to crack.

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Criggie   #29   01:44 pm Aug 18 2009

So - did he get caught yet?

S.   #28   01:08 pm Aug 18 2009

Or else he planned this for months, has been giving a fake name the whole time, and is NZs smartest criminal.

Julie   #27   11:31 am Aug 18 2009

Why on Earth would anyone want a Pink Floyd CD? That is the true crime here.. Julie

Meg   #26   10:49 am Aug 18 2009

A criminal this stupid and he still hasn't been caught.. what does this say for the NZ police?

lili   #25   10:42 am Aug 18 2009

Must of been too tempted by all those $10 and $20 notes! coz cd stores make so much money!-yeah right!cant of got away with much!still hope he gets caught!

Rob   #24   10:41 am Aug 18 2009

All criminals are dumb - if they were educated they wouldn't become criminals. Those who commit crimes without being caught are the clever criminals - if you're caught you're dumb. Nothing new here guys. What an idiot. And yes, he'll probably just get a 'slap on the wrist' as one of the prior comments stated.

Rob Holding   #23   10:26 am Aug 18 2009

Stupid place to put a till.

Not Dumb, no consequences   #22   08:41 am Aug 18 2009

They are NOT dumb because they know it doesn't matter if they get caught. So what, a lot of la-de-da lawyers getting rich and they will get off with it probably, OR a nicer home with better food etc than they have presently...

frank   #21   07:26 am Aug 18 2009

Not as dumb as weatherstone.

SurrealDreams   #20   07:17 am Aug 18 2009

We had a local guy here in the states do something similar - He walked into a pizza place, filled out a job application form with his real information, and walked out with the tip jar. I believe the police picked him up the next day. Genius.

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