Iowa burglars draw black-face disguises with permanent marker

By Emily Kaiser in Crime, Really bad ideas

Fri., Oct. 30 2009 @ 11:05AM

When two men tried to break into an Iowa home Friday night, they must have been fairly confident their clever black face would fool anyone who was on the lookout for them. Their disguises were seemingly fool proof.

Unfortunately their clever disguise made them the most obvious suspects around. When you use a permanent marker on parts of your face, you're putting a giant target on yourself. Lesson learned.

Police got a call that two men wearing hooded sweatshirts and painted faces tried to break into a Carroll, Iowa home. Police stopped a car matching the caller's description a few blocks away and found some really stupid criminals. Matthew Allan McNelly, 23, and Joey Lee Miller, 20, colored weird patterns on their faces with permanent marker.

"We're very skilled investigators and the black faces gave them right away," Police Chief Cayler told CNN jokingly. "I have to assume the officers were kind of laughing at the time. I've never heard of coloring your face with a permanent marker."

Police think they targeted the home because they thought the man was having a relationship with one of their girlfriends. They are both charged with attempted burglary and one was charged with a DWI.