A 38-year-old Florida man/Ocean’s 11-wannabe says he needed money for drugs, causing him to attempt a brilliant scheme to steal items from his area pawn shop and sell the goods back to the same store.
 

Jose Claudio Jr. walked into the Value Pawn store in Ocala, Florida last week, took a car stereo off a shelf and removed the sale stickers. Then he walked up to the counter and sold the stereo back to the store for an easy $60 dollars. The plan worked so well, criminal mastermind Claudio returned the next day, took a leaf blower from a shelf and walked out with it, intending to sell it back later. But before he could cash in on his scheme he was picked up by police and hauled off to the stoney-lonely.
 

Claudio’s plan isn’t popular among master thieves, because almost every pawn shop in America requires people selling stuff to provide a proof of identification and contact information, things most burglars would prefer not to give to the people they’re ripping off. A lot of pawn shops also keep detailed records of incoming items and the the people selling them, just in case it turns out the item was reported stolen and the police come looking for information. As a result, the National Pawnbrokers Association say that less than 1% of all goods in pawn shops were stolen before being pawned.
 

Claudio was taken into custody and put in jail on charges of stolen property, fraud and retail theft. He’s previously been convicted for attempted burglary of a dwelling and possession of burglary tools. He reportedly used no tools to pull off the pawn shop heists, although some quick internet research may have been useful before he attempted what he thought was his crime of the century.