The thieves' target was a steel mill, where they stole six bars of copper, each one weighing as much as 300kg (600lbs). Moving them was an impressive task in itself, especially since the thieves had to transport them 1km (more than half a mile) from the storage to the mill's own scrap port. Here they threw the bars into the water, intending to come back and transport them away by boat.

Police, however, located the bars in the following morning and hid in the harbor, waiting for the thieves to return. So the policemen were in to a most entertaining show when the thieves came back two nights later to fetch their loot.

The vehicle the thieves had chosen was a boat, about 5m (15ft) long. Without difficulties, they found the spot again where they had sunken the copper and started retrieving the bars.

Maybe the reader already sees the crucial error in the thieves' planning: Retrieving copper bars of 300kg each in a 5m-long boat.

After two of them were on board, the boat went down. The thieves managed to swim to the shore where they were picked up by the amused policemen.

Submitted on 08/14/2006

Submitted by: Markus Gerwinski
Reference: Berliner Zeitung, Jan 11, 2001

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
Somehow I think I've heard this one before, though an archive search turned up empty. A lack of a news link is the main reason I'm going neutral here. Otherwise, I like this story and think the readers will get a few yuks out of it! Thanks, Markus!

Fitzroy said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
I'm not sure if an unplanned swim augments an arrest enough to cross the line from dumb crook story to Honorable Mention. Yet this is a funny one. I might see the basis for reservations here, but personally I want to see this one go the distance.

Sheryl said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
I have to admit I got the giggles halfway through, when I could see what was going to happen. I'll go neutral on this, too, and see what the readers think.

Jorge said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention

Graham said:
Maybe Toss: Other
I cannot find a reference for this one, but, why dump the bars in water? Why not simply hide them (on ground) and retrieve them later? With more details, this could be a keeper.

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