'Dumb' burglar drops ID at crime scene

Someone snuck into Parrish Mitchell's garage in downtown Macon early Wednesday and stole a $300 leaf blower.

But something the culprit left behind may prove more valuable to the police.

About daybreak, Mitchell, who lives on Orange Terrace, noticed someone had been in his garage. He looked around at his tools and other belongings and didn't see anything else missing.

Then he saw something on the floor: a wallet.

On the way out, the burglar knocked some things over, Mitchell said, and must have dropped the billfold.

Inside the wallet was a driver's license.

Mitchell handed it and the wallet to the cops, who arrived about 7 a.m., filled out a report and left.

After Mitchell dressed for work and went outside an hour or so later, he saw that a side door to the garage, which he locked when the police left, had been kicked in. But nothing was missing.

"That right there told me whoever it is, that wallet belongs to them. ... There was no money in it. It would only implicate someone else," Mitchell said.

"When you leave your ID at the scene of the crime and then try to return to the scene of the crime to retrieve your ID, and then still don't steal anything else, it's like, 'How dumb can you be?'"

The person pictured on the driver's license, a 45-year-old Macon man, has repeatedly run afoul of the law.

He has been to prison numerous times for crimes in 1993, 1999 and 2006 that include theft by conversion, auto theft and obstruction.

He was still on the lam Wednesday afternoon, but was already facing the music thanks to Mitchell's wife.

They'd snapped a picture of the driver's license before giving it to the police. Mitchell's wife posted the photo on social media.

"Facebook justice," Mitchell said, "is always fun."

To contact writer Joe Kovac Jr., call 744-4397.

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 4:13 PM with the headline "'Dumb' burglar drops ID at crime scene ."