Burglars mask themselves with permanent marker

Oct 30, 2009, 18:40 GMT

Washington - Even the police were laughing their heads off, and it did not take them long to find two young men in the US state of Iowa who had masked themselves for a burglary by painting their faces with permanent marker.

They were soon the objects not only of criminal sanctions, but also of national mockery, as the United States laughed at the mugshots of the suspects, both still with scribbled-over faces and a pathetic look.

A witness saw Matthew McNelly, 23, and Joe Miller, 20, try to break into a home in Carroll, Iowa. The witness alerted police while the burglars got away in a car, according to local media reports.

Shortly afterwards, police found a vehicle that fit the description and had the two young men in the front seats - 'masked' and allegedly quite drunk.

'We're very skilled investigators and the black faces gave them right away,' local Police Chief Jeff Cayler joked. 'I have to assume the officers were kind of laughing at the time. I've never heard of colouring your face with a permanent marker.'

In 25 years as police chief and over 28 years in the department, he noted, he had never seen anything like that.

'I've seen a lot of things that make me laugh and weird things but this was probably the best combination of the two - strangely weird and hilariously funny all at the same time,' Cayler told CNN following the arrests.

Since the two were drunk, Cayler assumed that they were not thinking clearly.

'They were being dumb and, combine that with alcohol, and it was the perfect storm,' he said.

The motive for the break-in was reportedly that the man who lived in the house in question was having a relationship with the girlfriend of one of the suspects.