Did 'world's dumbest criminal' get arrested?

A broken taillight led to the arrest Saturday of an Oregon man on suspicion of burglary before the Glenn County store owners even knew they had been robbed.

“We got called around 1 a.m. Saturday and they told us they had someone pulled over ... that admitted they had robbed us,” said Sandie Hobbs, co-owner of the Butte City Four Corners Market.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Todd James stopped a 1974 Plymouth Satellite on County Road P near Highway 45 just after 12:30 a.m. Saturday for reportedly driving with inoperable brake and tail lamps.

The driver, Lawrence Earl Grant Jensen Jr., “could not account” for the numerous unopened cans of chewing tobacco and cigarette cartons, Sheriff Larry Jones said in a statement.

Jensen, 21, of Klamath Falls, initially told James he received the property from his brother in Chico, Jones said.

“However, when asked, Jensen could not spell his alleged brother’s last name or provide a phone number,” Jones noted.

Jensen then reportedly admitted to James having just burglarized the newly re-opened market at the corner of Highways 162 and 45, authorities said.

Hobbs estimated about $1,440 in property had been taken and another $330 in damages to two doors and an empty cash register which had been pried open.

“We got everything back, we were lucky,” Hobbs said Monday. “It was good that (James) was in the right place, at the right time or we might not have been so lucky.”

Hobbs’ opened the market July 19 with her husband, Tony Hobbs, and acknowledged losing that inventory would have been a major blow.

“The ironic thing is that I was meeting with (business security personnel) to install a security system that next day,” Hobbs said. “So, we’re obviously going to expedite those efforts, now.”

The couple also own the Last Stand Bar and Grill in Willows and have several other business interests.

Hobbs is also the out-going Willows library director, and is seeking a seat on the  Willows City Council.

The burglary is similar to two other recent smash-and-grab style thefts to rural Glenn County markets in recent months. Two liquor stores in Hamilton City were also burglarized, with thieves making off with thousands of dollars in cigarettes and alcohol.

No arrests have been made in connection with those burglaries, authorities confirmed Monday.

Sheriff’s Lt. Richard Warren said investigators “have not completely ruled out the possibility” that Jensen may have been involved with those thefts, but said detectives have no evidence linking him to any other area burglaries.

Jensen was booked into the Glenn County Jail on suspicion of burglary and possession of stolen property.

He was still in custody Monday afternoon in lieu of $25,000 bail. A court date was not available.

Hobbs said she was grateful to the sheriff’s office, but noted the reported thief may have sunk himself by driving around with so much reportedly stolen property.

“Maybe he’s a candidate for World’s Dumbest Criminal?”