Loose change sinks store robbery

Court TV ^ | 4/1/5 | Tinuola Awopetu

[SmithL]

Officers investigating a grocery store burglary in Appleton, Wis., discovered that the suspects had done much of the groundwork for them.

The suspects, Michael A. Graves and Steven W. Sleeter, left behind a trail of coins that led police to Sleeter's front porch.

According to Appleton Police spokesperson Sgt. Pat DeWall, Graves, 25, and Sleeter, 19, broke into the store after it closed on March 21. They stole nine cartons of cigarettes and about $758 in bills and rolled coins. The duo placed the items in a milk crate, but when they fled, the wrappers fell from the coins, and several loose coins fell through holes in the crate. The men were unaware they had left a trail.

When a store employee arrived at the store the next morning, he discovered that the store had been robbed and called police. An officer at the scene inspecting footprints in the snow noticed a few coins on the ground. The officer discovered more coins on the ground leading away from the store, and other officers then joined the hunt.

After following the trail for about five blocks, officers realized that they were heading in the direction of Sleeter's home. Sgt. DeWall said that at the time Sleeter was a suspect in an unsolved burglary that had occurred at the same store a month before.

The trail ended at the front steps of Sleeter's house, where police found more coins scattered on the ground. Graves, 25, and Sleeter, 19, were arrested and charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor theft. Sleeter also confessed to the previous burglary incident.

Graves and Sleeter are being held on $1500 bond.

[SmithL]

Too late for change, now.

[satchmodog9]

Idiots.

[MikefromOhio]

morons....

[NRA1995]

Not quite as stupid as writing a hold-up note on your own deposit slip, but a close second.....

[mowowie]

Imagine what life in a Moron free world would be like...