Mark Twain once said truth is always stranger than fiction. Isn’t that the truth?
Here is a collection of crime stories from our archives that had an eccentric touch.
The dog was fed, but the home was trashed.
It was just after sunset when Cynthia MacLennan returned home. Her poodle that patrols her home had been a bit sick of late. A friend had come by to check on the pooch, so at first she didn’t think anything of her bedroom light being left on. She hopped out of the car and walked a couple doors down to visit a friend for a few minutes.
When she returned to her house, MacLennan was shocked at what she found inside.
The door, kitchen cupboard and drawers were wide open, and her bedroom was trashed, she says. Frightened by the scene, she quickly grabbed her dog, went to her bedroom and called 911.
Among the items stolen were jewelry passed down from her mother, a brand new laptop computer, tools, cash and even a pair of her glasses.
Strangely, the burglar filled her dog’s bowl with food. 8.26.2010
The bags were packed, and then they were gone.
Amy Mitts and her family were ready for a vacation. She had placed the family’s luggage in the garage and was ready to leave the next morning. But sometime during the night, a crook broke into the Mitts’ car, which was parked in their driveway. Using the garage door opener, the burglar then ransacked the garage of the family’s Northwest Preston Royal home. The theft was especially frustrating due to its timing.
“They stole my packed luggage. We were home at the time,” Mitts says. “We were going on vacation.”
The thief also took quite a few other items, including a bike, power tools, toolboxes, children’s video games and suitcases full of packed clothing — a loss of more than $4,500. Mitts isn’t sure how the crook got in the car.
Despite the loss, the Mitts family still enjoyed their vacation — after a quick stop at Target for some new clothes, that is. 5.3.2010
You never know when you’ll find what you’re looking for.
Mark Lemons plays golf at Northwood Country Club to relieve stress, improve business relationships and work on his short game. However on a spring evening his golf clubs valued at $1,500 were taken from his 2005 Chevy Suburban. The thieves ripped out the back doors to get his clubs and he wrote them off for good, but Lady Luck was a ringer for Lemons and he got them back in a most unusual way.
An anonymous man, who works for Southwest Art Gallery, visits pawn shops to buy military jewelry pawned by veterans. He buys the jewelry and returns them to veterans as a thank you for their service.
A couple of days after Lemons had reported the break in of his vehicle the anonymous man was in the parking lot of a pawn shop and was approached by someone selling Lemons’clubs. He bought them and returned them back to Northwood Country Club because Lemons’ name tag was still attached to the golf bag. That evening the golf shop at the club called Lemons and said his clubs were waiting to be picked up. 4.23.2008
They squeezed the trailer out of the tightest of spots.
James and Holly Lee love spending time out in the country with their sons at their deer lease in Seymour. They enjoy hunting dove and deer, and generally have a great time as a family.
Recently, they had their 16-foot trailer at home for an upcoming trip to the lease.
The Holly’s had planned to haul some other items to Seymour, and the trailer had been parked in the rear driveway of their Prestonwood East home for several days. Around the same time, however, the Lees had some work done on their home, including replacing the garage door. Because of this, they parked the trailer on the street in the front for one day while the replacement was underway. They moved their cars, parking them close to both ends of the trailer so that someone wouldn’t be able drive up, hitch the trailer to a truck, and drive off.
Despite their efforts, the next morning the trailer was gone. The Lees had forgotten to lock the trailer latch, and crooks had somehow managed slide the trailer away from the curb so that it could be driven off. 2.16.15
The vehicle smelled of beer.
Anne Myint and her family rang in 2010 with a simple night at home — hanging out as a family and catching some television. It was a relaxing evening, but the first day of January would quickly make their home the scene of a senseless act of vandalism and theft.
“Happy New Year to me,” Myint says, trying to keep a jovial attitude about the crime. “My back window was smashed with a beer bottle. There was beer all in the back of the car.”
After smashing the rear window of her Chevy Suburban, the suspect removed her rear seats from the vehicle. 5.3.2010
The Barnetts’ red golf cart was a common sight.
The cart could often be seen in the Barnetts’ Preston Hollow neighborhood, puttering around nearby streets and to neighbors’ homes.
That changed Jan. 17 when a small mistake led to the burglary of their home. On Friday afternoon, Tracy Barnett brought her son home after school. Thinking she would soon take him to a friend’s home, she left her car unlocked in the driveway. Her husband drove her son instead, and her unlocked door completely slipped her mind.
Sometime after midnight, a burglar retrieved her garage door opener from her vehicle and stole their 1995 Club Cart golf cart and charger, a total value of $2,700.
“I don’t know how they got it out of the neighborhood,” Barnett says. “You can’t drive it too far without being seen.” 4.30.2010
