A driver discovered that falling asleep at the wheel was not the best idea. He wasn’t driving, thankfully. He chose to take an afternoon nap in his car on the side of a Fayette County, Georgia, road.
When Fayette County deputies checked out a suspicious car possibly stuck in a roadside ditch, they found the driver asleep. The deputy woke him, smelled alcohol, and attempted to give him a field sobriety test. Then the man decided to run, but was caught, restrained, and eventually arrested.
The vehicle was reported stolen, and the suspect had three driver’s licenses in other people’s names, a bag of marijuana, and several debit cards belonging to other people. He faces numerous charges.
Maybe he gives a new twist to the expression, “If you snooze, you lose.”
Some criminals are a few peas short of a casserole. Like the guy who broke into a car in the Day’s Inn lot in Ogden, Utah, a few years ago. He entered the auto, stole a GPS, and some medication, but realized later he left his wallet in the car.
The car owner turned it over to police officers, who were standing at the hotel’s front desk when the thief came back to ask if anybody had found his wallet. When confronted by officers, he admitted to the break-in and still had stolen items in his possession.
Then there’s the guy who broke into a house in Portland, Oregon, went into the bathroom and started taking a shower. He heard the homeowner return, so he locked himself in the bathroom and called 911 himself because he was afraid.
“I just broke into a house, and the owners came home,” the intruder told the 911 operator. “I think they have guns.”
The startled homeowner hollered through the door, “Why are you in my house taking a shower?”
“I’m sorry,” the intruder replied.
“Who are you?”
The man gave his name.
“Why are you in my shower?”
“I broke in.”
Then the owner said, “All right, then, I’m calling the police.”
The intruder said, “I’ve already called them. They’re on the phone right now.”
Officers arrived and arrested the man without incident.
In Romulus, Michigan, a man attempted to rob a Marathon Gas Station, but the clerk pulled a gun, and the robber fled. He left his vehicle in the parking lot with his driver’s license in it.
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, a young man walked into the corner store with a shotgun and demanded cash. The clerk put cash in a bag, but then the crook spotted a bottle of scotch behind the counter. He demanded the drink, also.
The clerk refused and said he didn’t look 21. So the robber pulled out his wallet, took out his driver’s license and handed it to the store clerk. The clerk acknowledged that, indeed, he was 21 and gave him the scotch.
As soon as the man left, the clerk called police, gave them the man’s name and address, and the guy was arrested two hours later.
Reader’s Digest wrote about the Des Moines, Iowa, robber who left his coat at the scene. In his coat pocket was his W-2.
In another incident, a man got into an argument with a woman at the bus stop and punched her in the face. He fled but dropped his folder. Inside was his homework from his anger management class with his name on it.
What do these incidents have in common? Poor choices, for sure, and in some cases, not much smarts.
Can you believe that some people commit crazy acts, and then blame God for the consequences?
“God, why did you let me get caught?”
Proverbs 19:3 reads, “The stupidity of a person turns his life upside down, and his heart rages against the Lord” (God’s Word translation).
Or, as the New Living Translation reads, “People ruin their lives by their own foolishness, and then are angry at the Lord.”
Often our poor choices are errors in judgment that help us learn and grow. Sometimes they are more than “mistakes.” They are sin, and our sins usually come back to haunt us, for there’s always a price to pay.
Or, as Numbers 32:23 reads, “. . . You have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sins will find you out” (NIV).
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David L. Chancey is pastor, McDonough Road Baptist Church, Fayetteville, Georgia. Visit www.mcdonoughroad.org for more information and online viewing options and www.davidchancey.com to see more of Chancey’s writings.