FORT WORTH — Throwing gang signs could result in authorities throwing the book at you.

An 18-year-old Fort Worth man found himself in a world of trouble Wednesday night when he flashed gang signs at a passing car, only to find that its occupants were undercover gang officers.

The incident occurred about 10 p.m. as the two officers, in an unmarked car, passed a home in the 3800 block of North Terry Street — a known hangout of a north side gang.

The officers called for officers in marked units to detain the teen for disorderly conduct/gesture, said Lt. Dean Sullivan, a police spokesman.

But that wasn’t the teen’s only mistake, police said.

As officers patted the teen down, they found a bottle of what appeared to be Xanax inside his pocket. The teen could not explain why he had the pills, Sullivan said.

Then, when officers asked for his identification, the teen told them it was in his bedroom and led them into the home. There, on a table, officers spotted a clear plastic baggie with what they believed was cocaine inside, Sullivan said.

Based on the discovery, narcotics officers were called and obtained a search warrant for the home. They uncovered a cache of weapons, including an Uzi, an AR-15, a .44-caliber Magnum pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun and other handguns. Officers also found approximately 3.6 kilos of suspected cocaine, a pound of what appeared to be marijuana and about $65,000 in cash, Sullivan said.

“In addition to that, there were six wrappings from kilos of cocaine that they had already apparently opened and sold, we presume, or distributed,” Lt. Robert Rangel said.

The 18-year-old, identified as Alex R. Perez Jr., and his 17-year-old brother, Paul A. Perez, were arrested on suspicion of drug and weapons violations.

Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are assisting in the investigation.

Authorities will seek federal charges against the 18-year-old and state charges against his brother.

“It was a bad career move and lousy timing for the gang member,” Rangel said.

Authorities in Easley, South Carolina, say that bags of uneaten fast food turned out to be the downfall of a couple of counterfeiters.

A cop who pulled over a car back in January noticed food from several fast-food restaurants and a large amount of cash, according to federal prosecutors.

The officer returned to the restaurants and discovered that people fitting the descriptions of those in the car had paid for the food with phony $100 bills, authorities said.

A grand total of $6,000 in funny money was eventually found in the car, prosecutors said.

A passenger in the car, identified as 35-year-old Michele Ann Reynolds, pleaded guilty July 18 to possession of counterfeit money. The driver, identified as 45-year-old Henry Lee Orr, also pleaded guilty to counterfeiting and, as of this writing, is awaiting sentencing.

How about this one out of Salt Lake City, Utah?

Fifteen-year-old Joey Polychronis believed that he would never see his golf clubs again when they were stolen outside the Mountain Dell Golf Course clubhouse while he was inside paying his green fees.

But he had no clue that the very person who stole them would help him and his parents solve the crime.

In the golf bag, Joey had a $25 gift certificate to the Squatters Brew Pub his father, Jeff Polychronis, the restaurant’s owner, had given him to give as a present to a family friend.

After Jeff warned the three Squatters restaurants to be Anthe lookout for the gift certificate, the downtown restaurant manager told him that, upon checking the computer files, he discovered the card had been used the night of the theft, July 9.

The manager said that the card only had $7 left on it, so perhaps the thief would come back. Jeff sent an e-mail offering a cash reward for any employee who caught the dumb crook if he tried to use it again.

The unidentified thief, of course, returned two days later, presented the card to a server and asked how much value the card had left on it. Once she realized that it was the very card that they were looking for, she stalled Mr. Smartypants by telling him to wait a few minutes as the computers were down.

While he was waiting, she called the Salt Lake City police and our rocket scientist was arrested. He eventually admitted to the theft, and most of the golf clubs have been recovered from area pawn shops.

A man in Denton, Texas, who was running from the cops got stuck in a drain pipe.

Rescue crews had to be called in to pull him out of the pipe in this suburb of Dallas.

Police say that the unidentified man crawled into the pipe while they were chasing him after they allege that he burglarized a home.

Crews had to cut the pipe to pull him out. It took more than 10 hours to free him and he wasn’t seriously injured.

Police in Little Ferry, New Jersey, arrested a man who was caught looking for his car after it was impounded at the scene of what they say was attempted burglary.

“Thank God for dopey burglars,” Police Chief Ralph Verdi told The Record of Bergen County for July 13 newspapers.

Verdi said that the burglar, identified as 26-year-old Anthony J. Madonna (yes, that’s really his last name), of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, tried to break into a home the morning of July 12 before being stopped by the owner, who called the cops. After responding to the call, police found Madonna’s car at the scene and impounded it.

As the cops impounded the car, Madonna attempted to break into a nearby home. He was noticed after he made the classic mistake of returning to the scene of the first attempted break-in to get his car, only to find that it was gone, Verdi said.

“He had no way to get away,” Verdi said. “His car was gone an hour before that.”

A backpack found in the car contained gold coins, jewelry and cash, the police chief said.

According to police, Madonna confessed to burglary, attempted burglary, and possession of stolen property.

A 26-year-old man in Palm Bay, Florida, who pleaded with a police officer to give him a ride got his wish — sort of. He was taken to jail after a pat-down search netted marijuana and an honest admission that led the cop to several cannabis plants.

The man, identified as Joseph Sutton, was charged with possession of marijuana and cultivation of a controlled substance after a uniformed police officer noticed him walking Malabar Road around 5:00 AM.

It was unknown why Sutton asked the cop for a lift home, according to officials there.

“Apparently he was desperate for a ride,” said Sergeant Tim Landers of the Palm Bay Police Department.

“But before he could get in, the officer told him he had to pat him down. That’s when the officer found the marijuana on him.”

Sutton, faced with a marijuana possession charge, then confessed to the officer that he got the pot from a wooded area near the intersection of Fogarty and Angora streets, Landers said.

“They went out to his house and found six marijuana plants. They were just growing out in the woods,” Landers said.

Sutton was placed in handcuffs and taken to the Brevard County Jail in Sharpes, Florida. The marijuana was removed from the location in question after a thorough search.

I used to work at a pawn shop in Birmingham, Al and there was always somebody try to hustle us. 

One day a frantic man came running into the store shouting, “Someone has stolen my car, call the police.” 

Before helping the man, we wanted to make sure he really wanted us to call 911 and he confirmed. 

While waiting for the police to show up, the man decided to look around at the merchandise.  The police pulled up in the parking lot and the man walked out to meet them.  While walking out, we noticed something appeared to be hidden in his shirt and the belt area of his pants.  We walked outside, where the man was explaining to the police about his car, and asked him what he was concealing. The man ignored us and kept talking, but the police became suspicious.  The police finally asked the man to pull up his shirt and there was a carpet iron with the pawn shop’s sales tag on.  As the man tried to talk his way out of it, the police asked if they could frisk the gentleman inside the store. Upon doing so, the police found distributing amounts of crack cocaine. 

The man was arrested and no case was filed for a stolen car.  Remember, the man called the cops on himself.