A thief in Florida was arrested despite attempting to hide his face with a large cardboard box as he burglarized a Miami store Saturday (June 3), according to TMZ.
The robbery reportedly took place around 4 a.m. at a Miami Gardens phone repair shop, TMZ reports.
Thief Nabbed In Miami Despite Wearing Box Over Head To Conceal Identity
Surveillance footage obtained by NBC 6 South Florida shows the man with a box over his head smashing a glass display case with an unknown object.
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The box-wearing bandit made off with 19 iPhones and upwards of $8,000 in cash, owner of Irepair Tech Jeremias Berganza told NBC 6.
However, CCTV video did capture him briefly lifting the box to see what he was grabbing. His face was revealed, eventually leading to his arrest hours later.
Immediately after the robbery, Berzanga said he watched the surveillance video and paused when the thief lifted the box from his face, causing the box to fall off and expose his face.
The store owner then began searching for the suspect in the shopping center. He told authorities that he warned other businesses to beware of the thief, who was then still on the loose.
Miami Gardens PD eventually located and arrested the suspect, who was drinking alcohol at a nearby liquor shop.
NBC 6 later identified the man in the cardboard box as 33-year-old Claude Vincent Griffin.
Police charged Griffin with grand theft, burglary, criminal mischief, and cocaine possession. He was also charged with resisting an officer without violence, the outlet reports.
Social Media Has Field Day With Box-Headed Bandit: “Added To The World’s Dumbest Criminal List”
Meanwhile, social media users had a field day with the story.
“The box head bandit 😂” one person commented on NBC 6’s Instagram post. “Looks like that box made no difference,” another wrote.
“Added to the world’s dumbest criminal list,” another noted.
“When your Pooh Shiesty mask was in wash. But you still need to get the job done,” a third person added.
“Hey it was working till it fell,” another user wrote.
A short police bodycam clip appears to show Griffin’s arrest. His mugshot, also obtained by NBC 6, shows Griffin sporting a large golfball-sized welt on his face.
