Man claims he stole car after being lured in by bag of crisps on front seat

Shawn M. Johnson says a bag of Fritos lured him into a car he stole (Pictures: Lake County Sheriff’s Office/Amazon)

A man in the US claimed he stole a car after being lured inside the vehicle by a bag of crisps lying on the front seat.

Shawn M. Johnson told officers he was walking around Beloit, Wisconsin, when he spotted the packet of Fritos in a pickup truck.

The 46-year-old said he opened the door to get them and saw the keys to the vehicle were also inside. He then decided to steal the truck.

Johnson admitted he was on drugs at the time, according to Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Theis.

The theft came to light after a man reported his wallet had been stolen from his car in Ingleside, Illinois.

There was $400 cash and credit cards in the wallet, and according to his bank, several suspicious purchases were made on one of the cards in Fox Lake, Illinois.

Theis said the card was used at McDonald’s, Walgreens, Shell and Family Dollar, reports the Lake and McHenry Scanner.

Johnson was charged with several offences (Picture: Lake County Sheriff’s Office)

Police reviewed CCTV footage in the area, and spotted Johnson get out of a pickup truck and walk to a motel.

He was seen again a short time later walking into the McDonald’s at the same time the victim’s credit card was used to buy food, Theis said.

Checks showed the truck he was driving had been stolen.

He was interviewed by police and identified himself in the McDonald’s CCTV video and admitted stealing the pickup truck.

He said he was staying a motel in Fox Lake when he broke into several cars, stealing items that included the wallet belonging to the man who made the police report.

Johnson said he was on drugs when he spotted the Fritos (Picture: Amazon)

He was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, burglary, two counts of identity theft and unlawful possession of an identification card.

Johnson was already on pre-trial release in Lake County for two other similar cases when he carried out the crime spree.

Lake County Judge Ari Fisz granted petitions to revoke Johnson’s pre-trial release and remanded him to the Lake County Jail pending trial.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *