This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays, we find out what happens when a wanted mobster tries to start a YouTube cooking channel. Then, we look at an alleged thief’s strange choice of getaway vehicle. Finally, we have a case of a suspected car thief’s poor choice of transportation for going to court.
Follow the jump to learn more about the weird and wacky legal cases that made the cut this week.
The secret ingredient is crime
YouTube is a great way to share your passion with the rest of the world. We have our own channel full of educational and entertaining content you can check out here.
There’s nothing to stop anyone from creating their own videos and sharing them with the rest of the world. Except maybe if you are a wanted fugitive. An Italian mafia fugitive, on the run from the authorities in his native country, started posting cooking videos from his new home in Costa Rica.
Marc Feren Claude Biart was careful not to show his face in the videos, which he made with his wife, however he made one fatal error: he showed his arms. Police were able to identify Biart from tattoos on his arms and they tracked him down and arrested him.
The jury is still out on whether Biart will start a new cooking channel all about prison food.
The long arm of the lawn
If movies have taught me anything – and they have – when you’re picking a getaway vehicle you want something a) fast and b) inconspicuous. One person who clearly hasn’t seen the same movies I have was James Howard Harrington.
Harrington is accused of using a lawnmower as a getaway vehicle in, not one, but two crimes. Surveillance footage allegedly shows him stealing goods from a garage before making a not-so-swift exit on the mower.
That same night Harrington also allegedly took a US$43 bottle of vodka from a convenience store before taking off on his trusty John Deere.
When you absolutely can’t be late for court
When you appear in court, making a good impression is paramount. You want to dress smart, show up on time and, whatever you do, don’t show up in a stolen vehicle.
This is exactly what Mark S. Cooper decided to do. He was due to appear in court in connection with a series of car thefts in Michigan. So naturally, Cooper showed up in a car that had been reported stolen the night before.
Police recognised the stolen car and chased the suspected car thief. Officers were able to locate him using an ankle monitor he was wearing for an unrelated charge, which they found cut off shortly after he fled.
