Chattanooga Pulse

• In the movies and on television, there are plenty of criminal masterminds with impeccable plans and lawbreaking abilities.  In real life, not so much.  Even so, one would think that going back to a supermarket that you and your buddy had robbed just a few months earlier would be an obviously bad idea.  Not so for one not-so-bright local brigand, who was recognized by an employee when he returned to the market to buy lottery tickets. Police were quickly called, and upon positive identification from the store owner, the armed robber was arrested.  No word on his luck with the lottery tickets.

• If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again is a wise adage about persistence in the face of adversity. However, when it comes to stealing beer, maybe stopping with the first failure would have been a much better idea.  A clerk at a Brainerd Road convenience store noticed a man trying to leave the store with an 18-pack of beer.  She stopped him and made him return the beer. Then, a few minutes she saw him return to the store and make a beeline for the beer cooler.  She stopped him a second time.  Then, proving that persistence can be found in the most unusual situations, while helping a customer, she noted the same man trying the same beer theft.  This time she had to chase him out in the parking lot where, when confronted, he returned the beer and finally left.

• With the ever-increasing price of cigarettes, reports of thefts of the cancer sticks have been increasing.   Such was the case at a Brown’s Ferry Road convenience store where a man asked for three cartons of cigarettes, valued at nearly $135.  When the clerk put the smokes on the counter, the man grabbed them and ran out of the store.  The clerk was able to provide police with an excellent description of the fleet-footed nicotine addict as well as his getaway vehicle.  However, the fact that three cartons of cigarettes costs nearly $135 should be enough to make even the most hardened smoker at least pause to consider quitting and saving a rather substantial amount of money.

• And finally, a piece of advice to all readers who rent a house or apartment: kindly ask your friends to use the front door.  The landlord of a rental house on Brainerd Road called police to report a possible home invasion when he saw two men jump the fence at the residence.  When police arrived, they found the two men inside…along with the unharmed and rather surprised tenant.  She explained to officers that the two men were in fact her friends and that nothing illegal had happened.  Why they felt they had to jump the fence instead of entering the yard in a normal fashion was not made clear.