Stupid criminal robs cop!
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania - March 28, 2009 - Jerome Blanchett took a loaded handgun into the Holiday Inn-Harrisburg East on Friday, passing dozens of unmarked police cars in the parking lot and a sign at the hotel's entrance welcoming 300 officers to the Pennsylvania Narcotic Officers' Association conference, police said.
Nevertheless, the 19-year-old Harrisburg man went into the men's room and waited to rob the next person who walked through the door, police said.
Unfortunately for Blanchett, that person was John Comparetto, a retired New York City Police Department lieutenant.
"He chose to rob a cop in a place where there were 300 cops," Comparetto said afterward. "He's not very bright."
Comparetto said he walked into the bathroom about 8:15 a.m. and noticed a man in baggy blue jeans and a dark coat washing his hands. Comparetto went into the stall, and when he walked out three minutes later, he was staring down the barrel of a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun, he said.
Blanchett demanded money, and Comparetto handed over $138, police said. Blanchett took Comparetto's cell phone, told him to drop his pants and threatened to kill him if he tried to follow him, police said.
Seconds after Blanchett left the bathroom, Comparetto pulled a handgun from his ankle holster and went after his attacker, he said. Their guns drawn, he and other officers took Blanchett into custody as he was trying to get into a taxi outside the Swatara Township Hotel.
"He's yelling, 'Don't shoot me,' and I said, 'If you move your hands, I'll kill you,'" Comparetto said. "He was almost crying."
Blanchett, who is awaiting trial on four previous robbery charges, was arraigned before District Judge Michael Smith on new robbery charges along with charges of making terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, simple assault, carrying a firearm without a license and illegally possessing a firearm. He was taken to Dauphin County Prison.
"You're a danger to have on the street," Smith told Blanchett before setting bail at $1 million.
Ed. Note: Sounds like a candidate for the Darwin Awards !
