He carried out his crimes at funerals, where it is a well-observed tradition to remove footwear as a mark of respect.

The man, known only as Park, would then strike. Disguising himself as a mourner, he’d remove his own cheap pair of shoes and walk off with a flashier pair.

Luckily for the distraught shoe owners, police brought the thief to heel when they caught him stealing three pairs of shoes at one funeral parlour.

The 59-year-old was promptly arrested and officers discovered the 1,200 pairs of shoes he’d nabbed laid out neatly in size order in a warehouse.

That’s some feet by our reckoning.

It turned out he was stealing the footwear to sell for his second-hand shoe business.

Clearly, he’s a Seoul trader.

Officers have now laid out the shoes at a police station to be reclaimed by their rightful owners.

If you’re finding this tale at all amusing, just put yourself in the victim’s shoes for a minute. Oh, hang on, they don’t have any…

A naked man found wedged in the chimney of a Lancashire supermarket has been arrested for burglary.

Police officers discovered him trapped in a chimney breast of a Tesco Express store in Pemberton, Wigan, reports the BBC.

Firefighters were called to rescue the man, who became trapped in the chimney as he tried to get out of the supermarket.

Police said that because the man was naked he was taken to hospital as a precaution but was treated and discharged before being arrested.

A GMP spokeswoman said: “It is believed some his clothes came off as a result of him struggling to get out of the chimney.”

A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of burglary and remains in police custody.

A burglar in America made himself at home after he broke into a house - having a shower, cutting his hair, and cooking himself some fried chicken.

Burglar robber thief swag A burglar, not cooking himself some fried chicken. Mmmmm, fried chicken.

He then refused to leave the house when he was discovered by the woman who lived there, while watching television in her lounge.

The man was arrested after the house’s occupant, Grace Kraus, returned to her home in Easton, Pennsylvania, to find the man sitting in her television room, with fried chicken cooking in the kitchen.

He also appeared to have cut his hair in the kitchen, as well as rummaging through every room in the house and taking some photos off the wall.

He had also apparently had a shower.

He refused to budge when challenged by Kraus, who called the police. He was arrested, and charged with burglary, criminal trespass, theft and criminal mischief.

He was presumably hoping to kick of 2010 a free man on the run but it seems he forgot to meticulously plan his escape route.

Prisoner Roberto Carrillo attempted to flee his cell in a Mexican jail in Valle Hermoso on New Year’s Eve.

The 42-year-old tried to squeeze himself between the gap between the roof of the prison and the bars of his cell.

But instead of sneaking through, he ended up completely stuck and hanging upside down.

He was forced to call for help and laughing guards came to his aid and cut him free using a chain saw - before locking him up once again.

A source at the jail said: ‘If he’d had a brain, it could have been embarrassing.’

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An inmate at the Merced County Main Jail had a homemade knife surgically removed from his body cavity last month, according to Merced county Sheriff’s officials.

The inmate, 19-year-old Rance Johnson, approached corrections officials Nov. 18, complaining about an item stuck inside his rectum, causing pain, according to Deputy Tom MacKenzie.

Even worse, Johnson told deputies the improvised weapon — known in jailhouse slang as a “shank” — had been inside his body for three weeks.

He was taken to an emergency room in Modesto, and the 5-inch-long plastic shank was surgically removed, MacKenzie said.

“The taxpayer money does cover actual stupidity; hence this guy did have to have this surgically removed,” said Sheriff Mark Pazin. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s a mandated surgery.”

MacKenzie said Johnson told investigators he had no idea what the item was, that he’d found it in an interview room and tried smuggling the weapon by inserting it into his rectum. The item was wrapped inside tissue paper and placed in a sandwich bag before it was inserted, MacKenzie said.

Johnson is being held at the jail on suspicion of shooting a 17-year-old male near Castle Airport in September.

In addition to the concealed weapons charges, Johnson is facing an enhancement for allegedly committing a crime while participating in a criminal street gang.

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