When a ‘grab and dash’ just won’t do, thieves commonly turn to concealment – but that method usually works for smaller items like candy bars and not quite as well for items like, say, a chainsaw.
A 21-year old in Oklahoma’s opened himself up for all kinds of future jokes, choosing to literally put a tool down his pants. Anthony Black apparently saw an Echo brand mechanical saw on the wall, and decided the best place for the tool was inside of his trousers. The robbery tops the list of weirdest items stolen from a retail store.
Some store employees apparently thought the young man and his newly-acquired ‘penguin walk’ could be associated with a handicap, but others became more suspicious of the waddle.
An employee of the Ross Seed Company, George Graham, told NBC’s KEOR affiliate: "I seen the bar between his legs. It was pretty obvious. Imagine it in the front of your pants."
Imagine, indeed.
The hardware store's manager, Paul Horton, told the station: it was "the first time I've ever seen a chainsaw go down anyone's britches."
Perhaps as wise as his proposed method of concealment was Anthony Black’s “getaway plan,” or lack thereof. Chased from the store, where he ditched the chainsaw along the way, Black decided to take a dive, headfirst into a nearby creek.
Apparently there was no cliff available. Or, perhaps Black was taking a cue from Harrison Ford and his famous jump from Niagara Falls in “The Fugitive.” Unfortunately for Black, Harrison Ford had a bit more water available. Anthony Black had only a shallow, slow-moving creek that didn't quite prove to be the best hiding place: Oklahoma police simply had to do a bit of ‘fishing’ in order to drag Black into custody quickly.
Ross Seed Company employee, George Graham, had one more pearl of wisdom of offer the media: "He [Black] could have cut himself up real good. He'd have been walking with a permanent limp."
Or worse.