*The thief was sure that the church was a safe hideout. Just inside, he spied a rope hanging. Up he climbed, only to hear the church bell ring out his location.

*In Mexico City, a man snatched a woman's purse and dashed into a doorway to hide. It turned out to be the door of a police station.

*Shoplifting in a department store in Rochester, New York, a man picked up an alarm clock and headed for the nearest exit. The clock, hidden under his coat, went off before he could get out to the store.

*A lineman for a professional football team often stayed out late, despite the club's curfew. He would pile things under his blankets, making it appear he was in bed. At one hotel, however, he couldn't find enough things to stuff the bed with, so he stuck a floor lamp under the covers and left. When a suspicious coach peeked in at 1 a.m. and snapped on the light switch, the bed lit up.