Perpetrator Problem: It's Hard to Run Away In Falling Trousers

Wall Street Journal ^ | June 20, 2006 | Serena Ng

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Cops Say Loose, Baggy Jeans Trip Up Many a Thief; 'Hey, Dude, Buy a Belt'

One sunny afternoon in January, Vicki Chandler, a 55-year-old underwriting associate at Cigna HealthCare in Chattanooga, Tenn., was walking to her car when a teenager in loose khaki pants approached her, pointed to her pocketbook and said, "I need that." As she recounts the incident, he snatched the purse and took off.

But then he ran into trouble. As he ran, his loose trousers slipped down below his hips. As he reached down to hold them up, the teen was forced to throw the purse aside.

"That boy, he could run fast but he got caught up by his pants, which were real big and baggy," says Ms. Chandler, whose purse was retrieved by a parking attendant who had heard her cries for help.

It's a problem for perpetrators. Young men and teens wearing low-slung, baggy pants fairly regularly get tripped up in their getaways, a development that has given amused police officers and law-abiding citizens a welcome edge in the fight against crime.

James Green might have made a clean getaway when he stole seven DVDs from a Blockbuster store in Ferndale, Mich., last October. But he, too, was undone by his baggy pants.

Mr. Green, 30, rode away on a bicycle, with copies of "Donnie Brasco," "The Bourne Identity" and "Sin City." When a patrol car knocked over the bike, he fled on foot. As he ran, his trousers slipped down past his hips, and he tripped. He hitched up his pants and ran a few more yards before falling again.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Pretty funny.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING!

[camle]

stupid is as stupid does

[RebelBanker]

The link goes to a subscription only site.

[downtownconservative]

I thought this baggy-pants thing was a fading fad. It's counter-productive to any normal movement. What keeps this 20th century anomoly alive in the 21st?

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Well, subscribe, then. I cannot post WSJ articles full text.

[synbad600]

I read in a Dick Francis book (I think) about a would be robber who confronted a man with his hands full and the victim told the perp to just "hang on to this, and this, and this, and I'll get my wallet." Needless to say, the perp had so much crap in his hands the "victim" arrested him. Fiction but funny.

[martin_fierro]

Mr. Green, 30

GrowTFU.

[American Quilter]

What keeps this 20th century anomoly alive in the 21st?

I'd say the fact that this is the second generation, in all of human history, in which a sizable proportion of teenagers and young adults is determined to remain in adolescence. Prior to the 60's generation, nearly all teenagers wanted to dress like adults and acquire adult responsibilities and privileges. But for the past 40 years, starting with the hippies, a significant percentage of teens regard emulating their elders as a sellout. They think looking foolish is somehow cool, and that dressing identically to their peers somehow marks them as individuals. That's my perception, anyway!

[Dubh_Ghlase]

I walked up to a nephew who was sporting baggy pant, did a quick duck-down, yanked his pants to his ankles, then came up and gave him a quick 2-handed push to the chest. He ended up on his backside, rolling around trying to get up. I stood on the pants and pointed out to him how vunerable he was. It made the point, as he now wears tighter jeans or decent shorts.

However, my leading him around by his earring still hasn't got through to him yet on that account (sigh)...

[thoughtomator]

Maybe the next gangsta fashion trend will be walking around in handcuffs!

[fredhead]

My niece's husband (does that make him a nephew-in-law?) is a sheriff's deputy who works undercover. He said that it's hilarious when the idiots try to get away in the low-slung, baggy pants. It's one of the greatest aids to arrest.

[Mr. K]

I always liked the blinking lights on the sneakers - made tracking perps in the dark SO much easier

[Grammy]

A friend watched a baggy panted guy walk across the McDonald's parking lot with his hands full of food and drinks. His pants went lower and lower and finally fell to his ankles. He could do nothing. My friend just howled with laughter.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

Just say no to crack!

[Gondring]

I'd say the fact that this is the second generation, in all of human history, in which a sizable proportion of teenagers and young adults is determined to remain in adolescence. Prior to the 60's generation, nearly all teenagers wanted to dress like adults and acquire adult responsibilities and privileges. But for the past 40 years, starting with the hippies, a significant percentage of teens regard emulating their elders as a sellout. They think looking foolish is somehow cool, and that dressing identically to their peers somehow marks them as individuals. That's my perception, anyway!

And I'd say you're spot on.

[Publius6961]

What keeps this 20th century anomoly alive in the 21st?

Our plummeting average gene pool IQ...

[Dumpster Baby]

It's all about style. The style is called "jailing or jailin'", and comes from the prison custom of homosexuals advertising their wares by walking around with their pants halfway down. Anything commonly seen or done in big bad prisons finds its way to the street as something cool for gangsta wannabes to do. "He be jailin', don't mess wif him", etc, etc. The practitioners of this style are far too stoopids to realize that it's mainly a homo kinda thang and not a badazz gangsta kinda thang.

"Yall betta watchout - my pants be fallin' down an my shooz be blinkin' an I be baaaad."

[PistolPaknMama]

The style is called "jailing or jailin'",

That's hilarious. My 20-something year old step-son stayed with us a couple of summers ago and I finally got sick of his fashion sense, or lack thereof. I told my husband I'd never known what every pair of a guy's underwear looked like that I wasn't married to. I can't wait to tell him the origination of the style he's emulating!