Alleged $2 Million Burglary Spree Tops Weird Crime News

Written and reported by Bryan Littel.

Snared by a flashlight: Darius H. Gittens, 54, and Geoffrey V. Petit, 48, managed a nearly year-long burglary spree, police said, before they were finally undone by a little carelessness. A flashlight the two men left behind in a Moorestown burglary had enough DNA on it to provide the break in the case, and both were arrested and face 96 counts related to 25 alleged burglaries in Burlington and Camden Counties.

A scheme gone majorly awry: It's one thing to have the crew you hired to sink your fishing boat screw up and not actually sink it. It's another entirely to sue your insurance company when they deny your $400,000 claim for your own sabotage. Scott Tran learned that lesson the hardest way possible, and will spend 46 months in federal prison for—yes, this really is a crime—conspiracy to destroy a vessel on the high seas.

Effective? Yes. Legal? Not quite: An Erial resident probably should've opted for a different method for scaring off strays in his back yard. Instead, Matthew Interlante's choice to fire three shotgun blasts netted him a handful of criminal charges, police said.

What is this, a 1950s cartoon? An alleged burglar in Moorestown kicked it seriously old-school when he lifted a bunch of jewelry from a home and took off with his booty in a couple of pillowcases, police said.

Caught in the alleged act: Two burglars had a pretty good routine going in Collingswood, police said, using walkie-talkies and a lookout system to hit a handful of homes in the borough. Well, that is, until officers with Joseph Larney, 23, of Oaklyn, sitting in a van nearby running point, police said. Both men were arrested and face multiple charges.

Police protecting pups: On a lighter note, Gloucester Township officers get the canine seal of approval this week for saving a pet dog from a smoky apartment fire at the Lakeview Apartments complex.