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Robber Gets Head Stuck for Nine Hours, Is Arrested

When robbing a storefront, its important to keep ahead of the owners. Manuel Fernandes, 54, learned this lesson the hard way. The homeless man had used part of a metal bedpost to shimmy open a garage door to a Rent-A-Center, to slither in all smoothlike, grab the loot, and make off like its the weekend. Only it didn’t work out that way. As he began the slithering process at about midnight, the garage snapped back down, pinning his head painfully against the ground. And there he lay for nine hours. Meant to rob but was robbed nine hours.

Rent-A-Center assistant manager must have been a bit ruffled to discover a pinned uninvited guest on store property, took it rather calmly:

“I happened to walk in and he was there,” Rodriguez said. “I saw that little head sticking out.”

“Hang tight! The police are on their way,” he greeted the would-be criminal, and then took some videos for evidence and giggles.

Brockton police did arrive, but for some reason they didn’t buy Fernandez’s story that he was there to fix the garage door. They were quick to book him for attempting to break in.

“He had tried to say he was there for a legitimate purpose,” police spokesman Lt. Paul Bonanca said. “But, obviously, with prying open the garage door, and the position he was found in, it’s obvious his purpose was criminal.”

He went on further to note that, “It could have been a fatal situation if more momentum had occurred so I don’t recommend that for anyone to try.”

And of course, if the police don’t recommend criminal behavior, nobody is going to do it. Fernandes visited the hospital to tend the bruise. The doctor’s must have assessed that he had no call to have a big head after the bruise to his ego.

Daniel June: Daniel June studied English literature at Michigan State University, graduating in 2003. Working a potpourri of jobs since, from cake-decorator to proofreader, his passion has always been writing, resulting in books of essays, novels, and children’s novellas.