Deja Shoe

Today we learned of a criminal who apparently knows only one crime:  Robbing a shoe store.  One specific shoe store.

In 1999 he robbed the Stride Rite shoe store in Toms River, an act for which he was arrested, charged, and convicted.  He then served 15 years in jail.

His 15 year sentence was completed last week and he was released.  A free man, the very next day he returned to the same Stride Rite store and robbed it again.

An act for which he was arrested, will be charged shortly if not already, and in all likelihood will be convicted.  Unless he pleads not guilty by reason of insanity.  Which is plausible.

Two for the Price of One

A while back we wrote about a guy who was arrested twice in the same day.

Today we have a new story about a bright light who was not only arrested twice in the same day, he was arrested the second time without having left police headquarters following the first arrest.

The first arrest was the result of officers responding to a call concerning a fight, at which Our Hero was taken into custody and charged with possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.  The weapon in question was a crowbar and the unlawful purpose was threatening another man with bodily harm.

Once processed for the arrest and released, this rocket scientist began threatening two of the officers who had arrested him.  Belligerent, he was taken back into custody and charged with a disorderly persons offense for the loud and threatening behavior.

This time, instead of being process and released, he was taken to jail and held on $1,500 bail.

We should note, while oftentimes the subject of one of these dumb criminal stories is a younger person, this guy was AARP-eligible at age 55.  How he made it to 55 with his demonstrated capacity for rational thought, we don’t know.

Why the Word "Idiot" was Invented

This week in southern New Jersey a 18-year-old whiz kid arrived for a court hearing while in possession of 43 bags of heroin.

For this, and unrelated to the reason for his scheduled court appearance, he was charged with possession of heroin and possession of heroin with the intent to distribute.  He was given lodging at the Atlantic County Justice Facility.

Calling this guy “stupid” is being polite.  And yet, we have a certain appreciation for morons who save the police the trouble of apprehending them on the street.

A Tragic Coincidence

On Monday of this week, two separate incidents occurred in Morris County (where the Badge Company of New Jersey was based for many years), each of which claimed the life of a retired NYPD officer, both of whom served in the borough of Staten Island, both of whom had been honored during their careers for actions in apprehending armed suspects, and each of whom was within a year of the other's age.

The first incident was a highway crash on Route 80 in Parsippany Monday afternoon that killed 52-year-old Peter McPolin, a retired NYPD Sergeant.

The second incident was an apparent domestic dispute Monday evening in Flanders that resulted in the shooting death of 51-year-old Patrick Gilhuley, a retired officer with the NYPD Housing Division.

The coincidences are many, the circumstances tragic.