TODAY'S GENIUS AWARD GOES TO . . . . . . .

    Dylan Aufdengarten, 27, a convict who learned it's probably a good idea to keep your getaway driver happy. Aufdengarten walked away from his work-release job at an animal shelter when others at the shelter responded to a bogus call about a vicious dog. Aufdengarten's girlfriend picked him up outside the shelter, but kicked him out of the car about five miles down the road after they argued. Aufdengarten has been charged with escape. His girlfriend was charged with aiding and abetting.

AND THEN THERE'S .....

    Jennifer Leigh Robbins, 20, and accomplice Matthew Stuart Pauley, 24, whose getaway failed after they dropped the key card for a nearby hotel where they were staying at the crime scene. Robbins lured her victim in by offering sex at his hotel room. When the man placed $500 on the microwave inside the room, Robbins sprayed him with pepper spray and then let her accomplice into the room. The duo fled with the man's money, but dropped the key card for a nearby Motel Six where they were staying.

OR HOW 'BOUT .....

    A group of Maryland teens, who used a woman's missing credit card to buy movie tickets and pictures at a photo booth that left behind a trail of evidence. Records show the teens used the stolen credit card to buy movie tickets, concessions and photos at a photo booth. Surveillance video shows a group of teens buying tickets for a movie with the card and one teen can be seen holding up a credit card in one of the photos from the photo booth. For some reason the group left the photos and the credit card behind.

TODAY'S GENIUS AWARD GOES TO . . . . . . .

    Keenan W. Slagel, 29, who tried to get even with his ex-girlfriend by setting fire to her house, not once but twice. The problem... it wasn't her house. The first fire was quickly extinguished when a fish tank ruptured and suppressed the flames. The second fire lead fire inspectors to suspect arson. The case remained unsolved until an individual approached investigators and said Slagel had admitted to setting the fires. Slagel did admit to setting the fires in both instances, believing the home to have belonged to an ex-girlfriend. He was charged with two counts of arson, a class two felony.

AND THEN THERE'S .....

    A stunt driving motorcyclist, who lost control of his ride and plowed into the back of an unmarked police car. The stunt driver was part of a group of motorcyclists. A video from another motorcyclist shows the man popping a wheelie and riding it until he loses control, hitting the car ahead of him, which turned out to be an unmarked police car.

OR HOW 'BOUT .....

    A New Jersey man, who was fighting a losing battle with bedbugs, and ended up accidentally setting his house on fire. The homeowner was using a space heater, a hair dryer and a heat gun to try to eradicate the pests in a second-floor bedroom. The combination sparked a fire. The unidentified man heard very high, sustained heat can kill bedbugs. But the job requires special equipment. The homeowner was hospitalized with unspecified injuries.

OKAY, ONE MORE .….

    An English teacher at a private school in New York, who is under fire from parents after having each student write a suicide letter. Students of the Upper West Side private facility, some as young as age 14, were required to write the goodbye letter as an offshoot lesson plan from the best-selling book and movie, "The Secret Life of Bees." The teacher told the students to include in their letters the rationale for their suicides — leaving at least a few of the kids rattled, and parents angered.

TODAY'S GENIUS AWARD GOES TO . . . . . . .

    Eric Cloutier, who accidentally sold his wife's $23,000 ring for ten dollars at a garage sale. While his wife was in the hospital following the birth of their new baby, her husband thought it would be fun for their other kids to come up with some things at the garage sale. Hubby chose things he thought the family no longer needed, including a seemingly empty watch box. It wasn't empty. Cloutier's wife had placed her wedding ring in the box for safe keeping. All the hubby knows is, the ring was inadvertently bought by a blonde woman, who was at first unsure if she would even buy the watch box. The search is now on to find the woman and retrieve the ring.

AND THEN THERE'S .....

    North Ridgeville, Ohio, Humane Officer Barry Accorti, who responded to a complaint from a homeowner about a litter of kittens living in her woodpile, so he proceeded to shoot the kittens in view of the homeowner's young children. The officer informed the home owner that shelters were full and that these cats would be going to kitty heaven. The woman said she assumed he would be trapping them and taking them to a shelter and they would be humanely euthanized if they were not adopted. Instead, he went to his truck and got a gun, which she thought was a tranquilizer gun, and walked around to the back of the house shot and killed the kittens, in plain view of her children, who were upstairs. North Ridgeville Police Chief Mike Freeman released a statement on Facebook defending Accorti's actions, and said the department would take no disciplinary measures. After posting the statement, The North Ridgeville Police Department said it was forced to take down its Facebook page for hours due to "overwhelming abuse." The statement has since been removed.

OR HOW 'BOUT .....

    Top psychic Derek Acorah, who was forced to cancel his latest show... due to unforeseen circumstances. What? The psychic, who claims to be able to contact the dead, was on the latest leg of his "Eternal Spirits Tour." A statement on the venue's website told ticket buyers: "Please note – the performance at Carnegie Hall has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances."
 

TODAY'S GENIUS AWARD GOES TO . . . . . . .

    Thomas Yorkshaitis, 29, who chose the wrong bank teller to try and cash a check he'd stolen and it was the teller's own paycheck. Yorkshaitis tried to cash the check at bank in Lebanon, New Hampshire when the teller immediately recognized his own paycheck from the bank and called police. Wow, what are the odds? The check thief was sentenced to six months in prison.

AND THEN THERE'S .....

    Rodger William Kelly, 50, who claimed he had sex with an unconscious woman to save her life. Kelly found a 29-year-old female neighbor unconscious on her front porch and allegedly claimed he had sex with her to try to warm her. He apparently believed that sexual intercourse with the woman would bring her body heat up. Now he's in hot water and charged with rape.

OR HOW 'BOUT .....

    32-year-old Manuel Munoz, who was involved in a burglary and tried to make his getaway on a little girl's bicycle. The burglary suspect slipped out of his handcuffs, found the tiny girl's bike and attempted his escape. He was eventually caught again.

TODAY'S GENIUS AWARD GOES TO . . . . . . .

    Brody Baum, who called police to report someone had stolen his pot. Baum spent the morning accusing his girlfriend and her sons of stealing his herb, and he had simply had enough of it so he called police. After they arrived and checked his home, they arrested Baum for marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

AND THEN THERE'S .....

    A bank employee in Germany, who fell asleep while performing a minor bank transfer. Instead of transferring 62 euros, he must have dozed off with his hand on the number two key on the keyboard because he transferred 222,222,222.22 euros ($293 million) instead. The bank caught the obvious error and the correct amount was credited to the account.

OR HOW 'BOUT .....

    Lynn Marie Herzog, 50, who apparently didn't know that walking toward kids with a chainsaw and mask could land a person in jail. Police say the Lincoln County, Missouri woman aggressively approached neighborhood children while wearing a ski mask and holding a chainsaw has been charged with felony harassment. Herzog allegedly yelled at the children using coarse language, videotaped and photographed them and walked toward them with a chainsaw in an effort to frighten them.

OKAY, ONE MORE .….

    Steven Crittenden, 32, who thought it would be cool to throw a lit firecracker while a working bomb squad was investigating a potential bomb threat. He was wrong. Crittenden is accused of throwing a "silver bomb cracker" while the Johnson County (Iowa) Metro Bomb Squad investigated the suspicious package. Police said although possessing and setting off fireworks is illegal, the timing of Crittenden's decision did not help matters. Iowa City Police Sargent Vicki Lalla said, "I think it goes without saying that his decision was pretty foolhardy."