Dumb Criminals In The News #2

c/o The Orlando Sentinal

Cloud of suspicion leads to arrest
Henry Pierson Curtis

September 02, 2006

The crotch of Kenneth Ray Brooks' pants exploded Friday afternoon.
Brooks, who was wearing the pants, had just left the Centura Bank at 3:21 p.m. when a burst of flames caught the attention of passers-by on South Orange Avenue, according to Orlando police.

'Witnesses said they could see smoke coming out of his pants,' said police spokeswoman Sgt. Barbara Jones.

Moments before the bang, a man matching Brooks' description demanded cash from tellers saying, 'I'm holding down the joint,' according to police records.

That's when the suspect stuffed a stack of bills into his waistband and pushed the money down out of view, police said.

Followed by at least one bank employee, the suspect walked as far as 78 West Central Blvd. when an explosive pack of dye hidden in the stack of bills blew up, police said.

Officers responding to the robbery alarm stopped to question Brooks, 42, when they noticed his discomfort and bright red dye on both hands, police said.

Bank workers and security-camera video of the holdup led police to charge Brooks, address unknown, with robbery, an arrest report stated.

Taken to police headquarters on Hughey Avenue for questioning, Brooks later walked very slowly to a waiting ambulance shortly before 5 p.m. with the help of police officers and firefighters.

'The suspect was taken to a local hospital as a result of possible burning injuries to his person,' a report stated.

The FBI would have to be contacted to learn how best to remove the red dye that stained Brooks' hands and lower torso, police said. Brooks would be booked at the Orange County Jail after he received medical treatment, officers said.

Geeze, these dimwits never fail to entertain.

-Jim