Lewis County, Idaho Sheriff-elect Phil Steen was sitting on his front porch Saturday night enjoying a little fresh air.

Sheriff-elect Steen, who had only lived in the house three weeks, was enjoying the view when he saw some suspicious activity taking place. It looked like a drug deal. When the participants noticed Steen watching them, they told him to “look away.”

The Sheriff-elect had a better idea. He ran the suspect’s licence plates. That search led to the arrest of 46 year-old James MacArthur.

MacArthur is charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A 26-year old Gary, Indiana man thought he had a pretty good plan to get some free smokes. According to authorities, Dan Griggs stole three cartons of cigarettes about 1 a.m. Thursday from a convenience store. As we shall see, the plan had a few flaws.

First, the convenience store was located across the street from the Lake Station Police Department.

Things got worse when, according to Police Lt. Mike Stills, Griggs returned to his vehicle to find the doors locked.

Meanwhile, a clerk followed Griggs out of the store and confronted him. Griggs told the clerk it was just a joke and he didn’t intend to steal the cigarettes. The clerk didn’t believe him and called the police - the ones right across the street.

Griggs then went back into the store, ripped out the telephone cord and demanded money. He then opened the store’s lottery machine, took about $50 and fled again, according to court documents filed Thursday in Lake Superior Court.

He now had some cash to go with his cigarettes - but that left the problem of the locked getaway car. What to do?

According to Lt. Stills, Griggs returned to the store and grabbed a broom. Dispatchers watched from the police station as Griggs used the broom to smash out a window on his vehicle.

According to the police, Griggs then drove away from the store and promptly ran into an oncoming police cruiser. He fled the car, fell into a ditch and was arrested.

A Southern California musician was looking for some cash - so he decided to steal a soundboard and keyboard from a nearby Baptist church.

The music director of the church walked into a La Mesa music store to buy replacements for the stolen items. A few moments later, the crook who stole the original equipment walked in, hoping to sell the church’s Yamaha keyboard to the music store.

Store employees stalled while they called police. When officers arrived, the suspect ran. But, in true dumb crooks fashion, he left behind, not only the keyboard, but his driver’s license.

When an Indiana masked man pointed a gun at an auto repair shop clerk, she thought she recognized his voice. Police said that was likely because the man holding the handgun was the 16-year-old clerk’s brother.

Miami County Sheriff Ken Roland said while a deputy was interviewing the girl after the Tuesday robbery at Owens Marathon Auto Repair, her brother called. The deputy told her to stay on the line as long as she could, and dispatchers traced the call’s location, Roland said.

Deputies arrested three suspects, including the clerk’s brother, after finding them making the call from a pay phone, Roland said.

The brother, Bryce A. Swihart, 18, along with Anthony W. Dance, 18, and a juvenile were charged with armed robbery, a Class B felony, and more charges could be filed, police said.

Roland said Swihart stole more than $200 from the auto repair shop in the village about 55 miles southwest of Fort Wayne.

Roland said the sheriff’s department has had several encounters with Swihart.

“This boy has had problems in the past,” he said. “He’s been a problem since he was a juvenile.”

The burglars apparently heard audio from the video game Grand Theft Auto and thought police had them surrounded.

Sandy Wilson was taking care of her three grandsons when a group of men attempted to burglarize her home.

The children happened to be playing a video game called Grand Theft Auto at the time. The game has dozens of random police scanner messages, which blare out calls such as “This is the police! You’re surrounded!” Believe it or not, Wilson says the burglars heard that message and thought police were outside the door waiting for them.

Galveston County Asst DA Michael Elliott explained, “The police in the game were staying, ‘Stop, we have you surrounded. This is the police.’ The burglar, unknowingly, thought this was the actual police and panicked … being apprehended by Playstation.”

“Thinking that it was pretty funny,” recalled young victim Chaze Fisher. “How they were, like, ran off, and they got all scared over a game.”

Police arrested the four men. Samuel Woodrow received a five-year prison sentence this week. Ronnie Farris is serving four years. Lucas Griffin got probation. And Zachary Brandenburg’s trial is in January.

An ill-advised phone call during the commission of a crime Wednesday led to the arrest of an Orange County man, said Detective Dennis Mangan, Prince William Police Spokesman.

Police said Derek Anthony Sterns stole $2,300 worth of property from a home in the 3100 block of Yale Court in Lake Ridge and made a phone call to a friend from the crime scene.

The man Sterns called was also a friend of the victim’s, Mangan said.

After the man finished his phone conversaton with Sterns, he called the victim, Mangan said.

He wondered why the man would be in the Lake Ridge home in the middle of the day.

“It just didn’t seem right to him that this man would be in his (the victim’s) house,” Mangan said.

The man called the police.

During their investigation, police learned that Sterns lived in Orange County.

Orange County officers went to Stern’s house and arrested him at 12:25 a.m. Thursday at the request of Prince William Police, Mangan said.

Sterns the accused of taking an XBox game system, 27 XBox games, speakers and a Toshiba DVD player, Mangan said.

Story courtesy Keith Walker and the Potomac News.

A would-be thief in Georgetown, Guyana intended to use duct tape bind a family and then rob them. Bad plan. Some good citizens heard their teen-aged neighbor screaming after the crook busted into her home. They went to investigate and found the girl and her grandma struggling with the crook. The neighbors used the crook’s own duct tape to attach him securely to a utility pole until police arrived to take him into custody.