Stupid criminal roundup

As my colleague said, it "takes a special kind of loser to hit and run an ambulance," but Delaware County had just such a loser last week.

Around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, a driver trying to merge on Baltimore Pike near Blackhorse Lane in Middletown Township struck a Riddle Memorial Hospital ambulance, forcing it into a third vehicle, police said. The driver of the striking vehicle then went merrily on his way, instead of, you know, stopping like a human being.

Luckily, there were no patients in the ambulance and no injuries to anyone in the other vehicles.

"If the person would have stayed on scene it would have been a non-reportable (accident)," said state Trooper Rosemary McGuire. "It's sad that people do it."

Over in Upper Darby on Wednesday, James Himes, 32, of Springfield Road near Westbrook Drive in the township's Clifton Heights section, was arrested for hooking up his electricity with tape, among other things, according to police.

Himes' power was shut off in November but a Philadelphia Electric Company worker called police to check on Himes' after he noticed some unusual hookups at the residence.

"The taps were observed to be tampered with and there was white electrical wires wrapped in black electrical tape observed dangling from the taps," police wrote in their report.

That sounds safe. I always like my electricity "dangling."

Police called the fire department to Himes' house and a deputy fire chief determined the hookup was "an extreme hazard."

As if Himes hadn't tempted fate enough, when he came out of his house while investigators were on scene he allegedly told police that "'I had a friend connect the electricity when it was shut off,'" according to court documents.

Himes was charged with recklessly endangering another person, risking a catastrophe and theft of services.

And, while this item is a little old, it was too stupid not to include. According to state police, on Jan. 18 a 17-year-old boy decided to do "burn outs" in the parking lot of Garnet Valley High School around 8:45 p.m. with three teen friends in the car. That genius decision ended with the teen's car on its roof, after he rolled the vehicle over twice.

Luckily, nobody was injured, but I'm guessing the driver will be taking the bus to school the rest of the year.