Number 7 Umar Mirza
On March the 27th of 2017, a man wearing a hood and a mask burst into a Paddy Power betting shop,
in Birmingham, England. He brandished a gun and demanded a female worker open the safe,
then forced her to fill a carrier bag with $21,628 in cash, $466 in coins and also $259 taken from
the register. The robber removed his disguise as he left the establishment and management was
able to quickly identify him from CCTV footage as 26-year-old Umar Mirza. It later emerged that the
man had made the starkly uninspired decision of robbing the same gambling parlor where he’d
previously left a resumé containing all of his personal information. He’d failed to secure the
job but it wasn’t specified how much time had elapsed since he’d left the application. The
police raided his home and found the carrier bag, an imitation firearm and a betting slip
on which he’d written “I have got a gun, open the door or I will shoot you.” Mirza, who was
described by his lawyer as a gambling addict, admitted robbery and possessing an imitation
firearm and was jailed for six years at Birmingham Crown Court, on August the 14th of that same year.
Number 6 Anna Bella Dukes A New Mexico teenager and
her boyfriend were charged with murder, in January of 2022, following a failed hostage
scheme. A combination of successive ill-fated decisions eventually resulted in the death
of 24-year-old former correction officer Elias Otero. In February of 2021, his brother, Nicholas,
was lured by 18-year-old Anna Bella Dukes to a late-night in-person meeting at an address in
Albuquerque she’d claimed was her home. They then drove to Alvarado Park in Nicholas’ red Lexus. As
he later told the police, his suspicions had begun to mount as Dukes asked him about the necklace he
was wearing, where he kept his cash and if he had a gun in the car. Nicholas then spotted the
teen secretly calling someone, later identified as her boyfriend Adrian Avila, on her cellphone
and letting him listen to their conversation. By the time Nicholas realized he was being set up,
a second vehicle approached his from behind. He was robbed at gunpoint by Avila and an accomplice
before being forcefully driven to the home of his older brother, Elias. It was there that the
kidnapers threatened to kill Nicholas, unless Elias gave them more money. The latter emerged
from the residence with a gun and warned the other men he was going to shoot them. Avila then opened
fire on Elias, killing him in the street. Nicholas jumped from the car as the suspects fled and later
alerted the authorities. Dukes had used SnapChat in order to initially lure Nicholas, thus leaving
a traceable digital footprint. Through the social media platform she’d also tricked a victim in
a previous carjacking of the very same vehicle that was used to kidnap Nicholas. Alvila turned
himself in to the authorities in late December and Dukes was arrested the following month. They
were each charged with murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, tampering with evidence and conspiracy.
Number 5 Bridgette Ann Barnette Alabama woman Bridgette Ann Barnette
was arrested by the authorities in Tuscaloosa, in January of 2013, after investigators found that
she’d been selling marijuana out of a house across the street from a police station. It’s unclear
if the woman had been deliberately conducting the operation from the strategic perspective of hiding
in plain sight or if she’d been simply unaware of her proximity to the law enforcement headquarters.
Sgt. Brent Blankley with Tuscaloosa Police described the 24-year-old’s choice of location as
“very surprising” after agents from the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force had executed a
search warrant at the address and found marijuana along with drug paraphernalia. A graphic from
Google Maps provided by the authorities showed that the house, on Mill Creek Lane, was
only about the width of a parking lot from the station. Barnette was booked into Tuscaloosa
County Jail on an $81,000 bond after being charged with two counts of first-degree distribution of
marijuana, one count of possession of marijuana and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Number 4 Debra Hamil
On July the 16th of 2019, an Oklahoma woman had the very bad idea of fleeing from a police officer
who’d conducted a traffic stop and then attacking him, even though she only risked an $80 fine for a
broken taillight. The interaction was captured in its entirety by Officer Charles Missinne’s
bodycam. He asked 65-year-old Debra Hamil about the faulty equipment and she replied that the
taillight had been out for six months but maintained she was going to fix it. Hamil
then grew agitated when Missinne wrote her an $80 ticket and refused to sign it. As tensions
escalated, the officer ordered the woman to get out of the car and told her she was under arrest.
Hamil didn’t comply, told the officer to shut up and then drove away. Missinne got into his
vehicle and chased her for several minutes. After Hamil eventually pulled over, he commanded her to
exit the vehicle with his weapon drawn but she continued being uncooperative. Missinne holstered
the firearm, then pulled the woman out of the car and pushed her onto the ground. Hamil rolled onto
her back and, according to court documents, kicked the officer in the groin region, telling him
"I said leave me alone and I mean it". It was at that point that Missinne pulled out his Taser and
fired it at Hamil, leaving her writhing in pain. Once handcuffed and inside the police cruiser,
Hamil told the officer that he didn’t have to use his Taser on her but Missinne defended his actions
pointing to the woman’s repeated defiance. When the officer mentioned the fact that she’d kicked
him, Hamil claimed to have done so because she was a “country girl”. The encounter, which could’ve
ended in a fine for the woman, concluded with her facing a charge of misdemeanor resisting
arrest as well as a felony charge of battery or assault and battery on a police officer.
Number 3 Clint Butler In 2020, British man Clint Butler
was serving a 17-year sentence for robbery and firearms offenses, at the Spring Hill open prison
in Buckinghamshire, England. The convicted man, reported as being in his mid-30s, was expected
to be released in 2024 but he escaped from prison at midnight, on November the 28th. A major police
manhunt ensued that, for nearly 2 months, made no significant progress. It was by chance occurrence
and a very bad idea on Butler’s part that he was eventually brought back into custody. On
January the 13th of 2021, while patrolling in the area of Martineau Way, in Birmingham city center,
Police Constables Mark Owen and Allison Brown spotted two men. One of them abruptly changed
direction upon being approached by the officers. Pandemic lockdown restrictions had been in place
since January the 4th, with people urged to remain at home and only shop for basic necessities.
Owen and Brown turned their body cameras on then asked the pair why they were out and not adhering
to the restrictions in place. One of the men, who would be later revealed as Butler, told them that
he’d been shopping for the new Call of Duty game. Owen then informed the pair that he was going to
check their personal information. In the moments that followed, as shown by bodycam footage,
Butler kicked Owen in the groin but then slipped on the pavement while attempting to run away.
The officers tackled him to the ground, and, in the struggle that followed, Butler punched Brown
in the face. The law enforcement officers called for backup and were assisted by nearby security
guards towards incapacitating Butler. After being placed in handcuffs, he gave the officers a false
name and admitted that he had cannabis on him before eventually confessing that he was on the
run. He was jailed for 13 months for absconding from prison and six months for assaulting the
officers, with the sentences ordered to be served consecutively. West Midlands Police Superintendent
Nick Rowe described Butler’s decision to go out with a friend and buy a game in the middle of a
lockdown, while he was on the run from the authorities, as “idiotic” and a “mystery”.
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Number 2 Douglas Peter Kelly A Florida man was arrested for drug
possession, in 2018, after asking the police to test his methamphetamine and telling them
he intended to press charges against his dealer. The bewildering case was shared on
social media by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and it involved 49-year-old Douglas Peter Kelly.
He reportedly called detectives in the drug unit and told them he’d suffered a “violent reaction”
after smoking the methamphetamine he’d purchased a week earlier. Kelly wanted investigators
to examine the product so that he could take legal action against the dealer for selling him
the wrong drug. The detectives, albeit taken aback by the call, were happy to oblige and
told Kelly to come down to the station, which he did. The man handed them a clear, crystal-like
substance wrapped in aluminum foil that was later confirmed as methamphetamine. Kelly was
arrested for possession and taken next door to the Putnam County Jail. In the viral Facebook post,
the department encouraged others to come forward with their drugs, expressing the officers’
readiness to assist them if they suspected to have been misled in their illegal purchase.
Number 1 Cameron Jeffrey Wilson 27-year-old Cameron Jeffrey Wilson ended up in
the custody of authorities in Washington through a series of blunders that had begun with him
accidentally shooting himself in the testicles, on April the 5th of 2019. While at his Cashmere home,
Wilson was carrying a handgun in his front pocket when the weapon went off, releasing a bullet that
pierced his groin and thigh. The 13-time convicted felon told his girlfriend to get rid of the gun
and then went to the hospital. Court records detailed that, as Wilson was being treated for the
gunshot wound, a balloon of marijuana slipped out of his backside. He fled the scene but left his
car behind and police officers, who’d previously been alerted of the gunshot wound, searched the
vehicle. They found a bag of methamphetamine in the blood-stained jeans that Wilson had
been wearing when he shot himself. Law enforcement issued an arrest warrant and, on April the 18th,
Wilson surrendered. He was taken for processing at the Chelan County Regional Justice Center where,
as the man was being strip searched, yet another bag of marijuana slipped out of his backside.
The sequence of very bad ideas continued with Wilson placing several calls out of the jail,
asking his girlfriend not to cooperate with the authorities. In spite of his lengthy criminal
experience, Wilson failed to realize that the authorities were listening in on the calls.
Wilson was held on an $110,000 bail after being charged with possession of a firearm,
unlawful possession of meth, possession of a controlled substance in a correctional facility,
and four counts of tampering with a witness. Thanks for watching! Would you rather be shot
out of a cannon OR dropped down a waterfall in a barrel? Let us know in the comments section below!