Talk about leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind.
Anthony T. Varnum apparently wanted to make it easier for cops to find him after a break-in at an Ocala restaurant, so he dropped his driver's license in the parking lot, according to ocala.com.
Varnum and Casey Gabriel Stouffer, both 22, were arrested Monday and charged with burglary and grand theft, though the execution of their crime was anything but grand.
Police say the pair broke into the Horse and Hound Restaurant around 2 a.m., setting off the alarm.
When officers responded to the scene, they found a 42-inch TV sitting against a wall in the restaurant but no suspects. In the parking lot they found a 2003 Dodge Dakota pickup with the hood still warm.
When the officers went to inspect the truck, they found Varnum's wallet on the ground. The truck was also registered to Varnum.
A half hour later, cops caught up to Varnum and Stouffer at a nearby Burger King. Stouffer had screws and pieces of hardware from a TV mounting bracket in his pocket.
Stouffer allegedly told police that he used to work at the restaurant, that several TVs had been stolen in the past, and that they decided to take one while heading home from a trip to Taco Bell.
Police said they bought a screwdriver from a nearby Walmart to remove the television, and that they had just gotten the last screw off of the mounting when the police showed up and they ran away.
The criminal masterminds were being held late Monday on $7,000 bond.
