The following crimes are so mundane, ordinary, and commonplace, you’ll swear they could have taken place in your very own neighbourhood. Amazingly, none of them did!
The Sweater Thief
On March 12, 1996, a teenage boy attending Melbourne High School entered a Just Jeans fashion outlet on Bourke St, in downtown Melbourne. He selected three items of clothing - two knitted sweaters and a pair of jeans. Proceeding to the changerooms, he spent approximately five minutes pretending to try on the garments, before placing one of the knitted sweaters into his school backpack. He was only caught when he attempted to exit the store, causing the electronic sensors to trigger the anti-theft alarm.
If that sounds believable, think again - it never happened!
“Big Hit” and Run
At 6:37pm on Friday 11 July, 2014, Anishka Singh was driving her two young children home from a basketball match in Oakleigh. While stopped at a traffic light on Springvale Road, her car was sideswiped by a minivan, which promptly ran the red light and disappeared into the distance. Ms Singh did not catch the minivan’s number plate, but did notice it had been painted with a logo for the “Big Hit” brand of cricket bats. This enabled police to track down the offender, 42-year old Bryan Coverdale, and charge him with fleeing the scene of an accident. He confessed immediately.
If this story has you nervous about driving along Springvale Road, don’t be - the story isn’t real!
The Leabrook Litterbug
In the summer of 2007, Ronald Turper was driving a delivery route in suburban Adelaide. On February 23 (a particularly warm day even for that time of year) a police officer on a routine patrol witnessed Turper flinging a cigarette butt from his truck window onto Regency Road in Sefton Park. The officer pursued Turper for approximately 180 metres and ordered him to pull his vehicle to the side of the road. Turper complied immediately. In his confession, he laughed in the officer’s face, saying “Is this even a crime?”
Surely such a monster could conceivably exist in this world? Well guess what? He doesn’t!
Stories like these make you wonder about the people we see in our daily lives. The person who checks out your groceries, who delivers your mail, who teaches your children. It’s scary to think that any one of them - and perhaps all of them - might not be a criminal.
Good luck trying to sleep tonight.
