Today we bring you a really, really dumb story out of Haltom City, where a pair of would-be car thieves looking for empty, running cars warming up on a cold morning attempted to jack an unmarked police car. As the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: 

It was about 5:15 a.m., still dark with temperatures in the low 20s, when the two men in a black Ford Mustang showed interest in a running car outside a residence in the northwest part of the city.

Much to their misfortune, Haltom City Detective Tony Miller was sitting in the car.

“I hadn’t been in the car but a minute, and I saw this car drive by, turn around and park right alongside me on the street,” Miller said.

“I thought this wasn’t going to turn out good, so I pulled out my gun and waited.”

“The passenger got out, came up to the door and wiped frost off my window,” he said. “He may not have been able to see inside, so he opened my front door.

“When he looked inside, I said, ‘Police! Show me your hands.’ ”

The culprit took off to run and Miller gave chase; when he realized he didn’t have his radio with him, he returned to his car to get help tracking down the Mustang. The guy in the Mustang led Miller and patrol cars in a pursuit, before he crashed the car (the driver was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries), while the on-foot suspect remains at-large. Presumably he’ll be caught at some point, as indications currently suggest that he’s not all that great at crime.

For the non-car-thieves among us who want some free advice, we’d recommend not leaving your car running and unmanned—after all, not all thieves are as inept as the ones in Haltom City. 

(image via Flickr)