On February 3, 1990, a Renton (Seattle area) man tried to commit
a robbery. This was probably his first attempt, as suggested by
his lack of a record of violent crime, and by his terminally stupid
choice:

   1.The target was H&J Leather & Firearms, a gunshop; 

   2.The shop was full of customers, in a state where a substantial
     fraction of the adult population is licensed to carry concealed
     handguns in public places; 

   3.To enter the shop, he had to step around a marked King County
     Police patrol car parked at the front door; 

   4.An officer in uniform was standing next to the counter, having
     coffee before reporting to duty. 

Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a holdup and
fired a few wild shots. 
The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, removing him from the
gene pool. 
Several other customers also drew their guns, but didn't fire.
No one else was hurt. 

As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed
   her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately and the woman was
   able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within
   minutes, the police had apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the
   car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the
   car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied
   "Yes Officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."
   When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motorhome parked on a
   Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived
   at the scene to find an ill man curled up next to a motorhome near
   spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to
   trying to steal gasoline and plugged his hose into the motorhome's
   sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press
   charges, saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.
   The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a
   Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan at 5am, flashed a gun and demanded
   cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the
   cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings,
   the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man,
   frustrated, walked away.


  

After a long, bumpy flight, our passengers were glad to finally 
land. They disembarked, and the other attendants and I checked 
for items left behind. 

In a seat pocket, I found a bag of home-made cookies with 
a note saying "Much love, Mom." Quickly, I gave the bag to our 
gate agent in hopes it would be reunited with its owner. 

In few minutes, this announcement came over the public-
address system in the concourse:  "Would the passenger who 
lost his cookies on Flight 502, please return to the gate?"