How'd they spot us? We was hidin' real good - The 10-Ring

American Handgunner, May-June, 2003 by Commander Gilmore

Every crook ought to know that your getaway ride should be as plain-Jane as possible, then you dump that sucker quick. Feds and local cops in Martinsburg, W. Va., figured they were running against the clock after a bank robbery in which the female suspect scooted off in a fire-engine red Jeep Wrangler. Could they find it, and possibly her, before she dumped that distinctive ride? No sweat, it turned out. The day after the heist, officers found the crimson Jeep sitting in the suspect's front yard in town, with a big "For Sale" sign on it. Then they went and knocked on her door with the message, "Fast, lady, but not fast enough, not smart enough."

Then we have two mental midgets in Edwardsville, Pa., who first stole a big refrigerator-white car, possibly for a getaway ride, but then decided white ain't such a cool color for a crime spree. Trouble was, where to do the paint job? We guess there weren't too many size XL white sedans stolen in Edwardsville at that moment, so cops couldn't help noticing two guys madly slappin' a coat of black paint on The White Whale in the middle of a shopping .center parking lot on the main street. We might only catch the stupid ones, but there sure are a lot of 'em!