Law Humor

Trail of Chewing-Tobacco Spit Leads to Thieves

By Kevin Underhill

In the latest episode of "CSI: Wisconsin," authorities tracked down two men accused of stealing a safe from a tavern in the town of Campbell by getting a DNA profile from the trail of chewing-tobacco spit they left behind them as they dragged the safe away.

In a criminal complaint, police said they had taken a sample from the spit trail leading away from the Sher-Bear Tavern, and matched it to a local 21-year-old man.  A search of that man's car turned up a receipt for a hotel room, where police found the second thief.  Both were charged with burglary, theft and criminal damage to property.

My favorite detail of this story, however, is that a fisherman found the safe (unopened) a few days later on a sandbar in the Kaskaskia River.  Like I always say, before you sit down to try to crack open a safe, be sure to drag it out onto a sandbar in the middle of the river.  No better place for that.

Link: AP via Denver Post

Full post as published by Lowering the Bar on May 14, 2009 (boomark / email).