Criminal activity can be described as mean, evil, even inhuman. Sometimes — as in two cases CrimeStoppers tipsters helped solved in September — you just have to add the word “lame-brained.”
But neither case was a laughing matter.
On September 7, 2022 a video was posted to a Facebook page in which a man made threats about killing white people. He posted the video in the wake of the murder of a Midtown woman runner and community plans for a run to honor her memory.
The black man said he would “pop” white women on the side of the road, and “grandmothers with their grandchildren.”
The Facebook post quickly went viral. More than 40 citizens contacted CrimeStoppers over the next several hours, and many calls went straight to the Memphis Police Department. One CrimeStoppers tip provided enough information to help the U.S. Marshals and the Memphis Gang Unit identify and locate a suspect, Reginald Williams.
Williams was arrested and jailed on $100,000 bond. The charges: two felony counts of commission of an act of terrorism and civil rights intimidation, plus disorderly conduct, harassment misdemeanors.
Paid to the tipster: $1,000.
In another series of incidents, a man’s unintelligent thievery brought himself horrible consequences.
Memphis Police officers were dispatched to 167 First Street on June 17, 2021 where an unknown male had been seen stealing copper from power lines.
Copper thieves get the precious metal from air conditioners and other mechanical devices and sell the copper for many thousands of dollars every year, in Memphis and Shelby County. Taking copper from live power lines is a particularly dangerous act.
A call to CrimeStoppers last October 16 identified Harry Hines as the person stealing copper from the lines. An address for the suspect also was provided but by the time police found him, Hines had lost both hands in a separate attempt to steal the copper from overhead live lines.
Although charged with theft of property, the Shelby County District Attorney’s office declined to prosecute him. The decision was made to consider his loss of both extremities enough punishment for his behavior.
Paid nonetheless in this case to the tipster: $300.
