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DARWIN at<br />

the<br />

CARWASH<br />

OUR<br />

SUPPORTOUR<br />

ADVERTISERS<br />

The investment in security cameras pays off for carwash operators<br />

(and the readers of <strong>SSCWN</strong>) with these mostly frustrating, sometimes funny -- and always cautionary<br />

-- stories of Darwins Caught on Camera. Images of these criminals and/or their vehicles were given<br />

to police and the press. Many have been caught thanks to the prowess of security cameras.<br />

Let’s give a round-of-applause to this car wash owner, as he not only caught a<br />

litterer on camera, but also got him sent to jail! In Huntington, Tennessee, Christopher Ethan Johnson,<br />

was arrested back on January 14 for littering and vandalizing the A1 Pro Wash. According to The Banner,<br />

police were dispatched when business owner Anthony Thomas said he had a person on his video camera<br />

dumping garbage in one of the bays.<br />

Johnson also apparently did some damage to the boom, foam brush and weep gun as he was leaving<br />

the bay, the story said.<br />

A man who apparently didn’t read Jason Bourne’s autobiography, was<br />

caught trying to pretend to be a car wash employee before stealing a customer’s car. But, he<br />

was wearing the wrong colored clothing, was seen loitering around the car wash before hand<br />

and he was also caught on video. The car this man risked his record for was a Honda Civic.<br />

The incident took place in Malaysia in November. According to The Rakyat Post, a 25-yearold<br />

man brought his aunt’s Honda Civic hatchback to the car wash, and handed over the car<br />

keys to a person he thought was an employee.<br />

According to the car wash’s cameras, the suspect, who was dressed in black and green attire,<br />

had been loitering outside the car wash. Note, however, that the car wash employees wear blue<br />

and black attire. After he got the keys to the car, he swiftly drove away. The car wash owner<br />

posted CCTV footage on Facebook, hoping for input from the public.<br />

Acting on the information received, an arrest was made on 23 November at 6:10 a.m.<br />

and the car was recovered. The suspect is a 26-year-old unemployed male with a history of 2<br />

drug-related offenses, the story said.<br />

Apparently the pandemic made this next guy way too comfortable with his<br />

mask. In Odessa, Texas, a man was caught on a car wash’s surveillance camera because he pulled<br />

down his mask before robbing an employee at the car wash. Yes, you read that right: It was before the<br />

robbery. As in, “now is not the time to expose one’s face.” He was one of three men. The two other<br />

men had masks on and have not been identified. But, you know who was? Ding, ding, ding! The guy<br />

not wearing a mask!<br />

It all took place last August when according to an August 24 Odessa American report, employees<br />

of the Mighty Wash called 911 around 8 p.m. to report that an employee had been robbed.<br />

“When officers arrived, a 20-year-old employee said one of the men pushed him and the other<br />

pointed a gun at him before he stole roughly $1,000 from a back room, the report stated. Three other<br />

employees corroborated the man’s story.<br />

Two of the three men were wearing masks, but one of the men didn’t have one on, for some reason.<br />

That man was identified and arrested.<br />

48 • WINTER 2024<br />

In something out of a spaghetti western,<br />

a huge brawl broke out at a car wash in<br />

Cadishead, England, on October 4, according to the<br />

Manchester Evening News.<br />

It seemed as if different fights broke out all over<br />

the place…Maybe it was rehearsals for a West Side<br />

Story reboot?<br />

According to the story, officers were called to the<br />

scene outside the Meera hand car wash around 11.15<br />

a.m. on a Wednesday (October 4). Police said a man was<br />

attacked by another man after ‘entering the forecourt of<br />

a business,’ but not much else is known. He was taken to<br />

hospital with serious and life-changing injuries.<br />

According to witnesses, it seemed as if the fight<br />

included two groups of men. The sharks and the<br />

Jets, perhaps?<br />

Cranberry sauce, green-bean<br />

casserole and turkey and a whole lotta<br />

vandalism.<br />

If there were a Thanksgiving version of The<br />

Grinch, then it would be this guy. In fact, I looked<br />

up mean pilgrims from back in the day and decided<br />

Colonist George Weymonth was one of the worst.<br />

So, we can make him the Thanksgiving Day bad guy<br />

from now on. In Nashua, New Hampshire, we have<br />

an unthankful man who vandalized a car wash on<br />

Thanksgiving day.<br />

According to the Newport Dispatch, the incident<br />

occurred at the Golden Nozzle Car Wash, where<br />

employees reported on November 24 that car wash<br />

equipment had been damaged while the business was<br />

closed for the holiday.<br />

Video surveillance footage showed a man deliberately<br />

damaging brushes, hoses, and sprayers in the car<br />

wash bays. Bah humbug! Or, whatever the Thanksgiving<br />

equivalent of the saying is… The amount of damages<br />

equals about $3,000. Thanks to the footage, police<br />

tracked down the culprit and were able to arrest him.<br />

WINTER 2024 • 49

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