Yep...some folks are just too stupid... http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=103671&provider=top UPPER DARBY, Penn. - Their home was being burglarized and they did what any other homeowner would do, they called the police. However, the tables were turned and they were the ones who were arrested. Upper Darby Pennsylvania Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood says "they would fit in the world's dumbest criminals." Police say drugs, guns and knives were all uncovered inside the Upper Darby home along with police badges and uniforms and it was the owners who not only invited police in, they say the couple called them to the house. Friday afternoon, police say Edward and Debra Hatton came home to find a couple of teens had broken in to their Maplewood Avenue home. As police scoured the place for clues they say they uncovered a whole new crime. Michael Chitwood says "as a result of the search warrant, in the basement we found a marijuana growth, plants were growing, it was very, very sophisticated." Along with the drugs, guns and knives, they also found a fully loaded AK-47. Police also say Hatton had a whole collection of police jackets and badges some from as far away as Los Angeles and some bearing the emblems of the Philadelphia Police and federal authorities. Michael Chitwood says "our concern is, if he was involved in any type of impersonating of law enforcement officers, whether it be federal or local, that somebody would recognize him and call us." Police say Hatton has never been arrested for impersonating an officer, but sources say last year, while at a poker tournament at an Upper Darby bar, Hatton wore the badge of a federal officer and a weapon that appeared to be a gun on his waistband. And they say he had a collection of German military medals and a uniform police say is that of a Nazi soldier. Now investigators are focusing on where Hatton got the badges and jackets and what he's done with them; possible crimes police wouldn't have known about had they not been invited inside his house. Michael Chitwood says "I asked 'why did you call the police?' He knows he has all this stuff in his house, and his answer was he didn't call the police, his wife called the police."
And so I have to ask. What's wrong with the military memorabilia, uniforms, guns and knives in the house? Now there is a witch hunt on to find out if any impersonations were done, as if that would be easy or fast enough. (No sympathy for the plantings in the basement here.) I wonder why a warrant was issued on a call because of burglary. Much missing from this tale.
plain sight? if they walked in and found visible contraband( drug paraphenalia) , my guess is, they could have gotten a probable cause warrant to search the rest of the house.. meth is bad for the brain kids...
