Doofus Of The Day #447

Today's winners are two workmen from Florence, Alabama.

Scott Raymond Burgert, 45, and Bradley Thomas Jones, 40, both of Florence, are charged with first-degree theft of property and trafficking marijuana, Florence Police Chief Rick Singleton told the Florence Times Daily.

Burgert and Jones were part of a larger building crew that was refurbishing the police station's first floor.

The two were given the task of installing an exhaust fan from the evidence vault - Which Chief Singleton said was needed to extract 'fumes' emanating from confiscated drugs stored there.

The large amount of marijuana, from a 2004 case, was scheduled for disposal and was on a top shelf in the evidence vault.

It was stored in four compressed packages in a cardboard box.

It proved too much of a temptation for Burgert and Jones, according to police documents.

Chief Singleton said: 'The marijuana was removed a little at a time, over a period of three days, by the two men.'

. . .

The theft was discovered Tuesday and an investigation was immediately started.

Because a department employee was nearby during the entire renovation process, it was not long before suspicions fell on the two men tasked with installing the exhaust system.

Chief Singleton said: 'After we got information on who was believed to have been involved, we got a warrant and then executed the warrants at the residences.'

Burgert was arrested on Wednesday night, and Jones was arrested early Thursday.

During a search of their two homes, police allege about four pounds of what is believed to be the stolen marijuana was recovered.

The marijuana, because of its age and condition, only had about a $10,000 street value, according to the Lauderdale Drug Task Force. Some of the marijuana recovered was so old it was mouldy, according to investigators.

There's more at the link.

Just how dumb do you have to be to remove logged-in evidence from a police station, and expect it not to be missed? And how much dumber to steal old, stale, almost unusable drugs!



Peter