World’s most stupid thief? Man robs artist after asking for a caricature but leaves drawing behind

A California man is being tagged as one of the unluckiest dumb criminals ever after robbing a caricature artist he approached for a portrait but forgot to take along his cartoon image.

According to the police in Riverside, California, the incident happened around 11.50 pm on December 5 while the caricature artist was working at the Festival of Lights event in downtown Riverside, California.

The suspect approached the artist, asked for a portrait and then waited until it was finished. He then grabbed the artist’s money bag containing around $500 in cash and fled the scene.

He, however, left behind what might be incriminating evidence – the drawing of himself which the police are now using to identify him.

Sharing the portrait on Facebook, Riverside Police Department wrote: “This caricature is of the suspect, but of course, has exaggerated characteristics and features. The suspect was described as a Black male adult in his early 20’s, about 5’1” tall with an average build, black hair and mustache, and last seen wearing a blue and red jacket, white undershirt, black pants, and red hat.”

Many have since reacted to the post on Facebook.

I hope he’s caught! How sad the artist lost all his money that he worked for!!” Sami Motaghedi wrote.

“I feel for the artist he was just trying to make a little xtra cash so sad,” Brenda Sierra added.

“If his booking photo doesn’t look identical to this, I will be disappointed,” Freedom Dave wrote.

“This is an unusual way to help identify a suspect, but we are hoping someone will actually recognize him from the caricature and contact our detectives so he can be held accountable for his actions,” Riverside Police Department spokesperson Officer Ryan Railsback told Newsweek.

But of course, this suspect is not the first to get the stupid criminal tag. Just this week, a man who stole over $88,000 from the vault of the bank he previously worked was arrested by the FBI in San Diego after flaunting some of the stolen cash and his new car on social media.

Recently, a man suspected of arson and vandalism sent a selfie to police in Ohio because “he found the photo on his arrest warrant to be unflattering.”

A South African man was also arrested in 2016 when the auto-lock system of a car he broke into trapped him inside.