Curses, Foiled Again When three armed men robbed a Wendy's in North Miami Beach, Fla., one of them was hiding his face with a loose-fitting bandana. It slipped off, revealing a tear-shaped tattoo under his right eye. Several employees said they got a good look at the man's face. Four days later, employees recognized the same man, telltale tear tattoo and all, walking through the door.

Curses, Foiled Again Christopher Watts, 32, was wanted for probation violation when a police officer approached him in Franklin, Ohio. According to the officer's report, Watts fled by climbing a fence to the top of a one-story bar. He then tried to jump to the roof of a business next door, only the gap turned out to be wider than he figured.

Curses, Foiled Again Two men used a chain and a pickup truck to yank an automated teller machine from a market in Pomona, Calif., then loaded the 1500-pound machine into the truck and sped off. Police chased the truck to a dead-end street, where the suspects fled on foot. One got away, but officers found the other, Gregory Daniels, 48, on the ground beside the truck.

Curses, Foiled Again Howard Bradley Mayfield, 47, tried to spend four counterfeit $20 bills at a convenience store in Damascus, Va., police said, but the assistant manager spotted them and recognized Mayfield as a regular customer. He called police, who went to the mobile home where Mayfield lived. Mayfield tried to get rid of the evidence by burning it, according to police Chief Tony Richardson, who found the bedroom filled with smoke and Mayfield's girlfriend, Valerie Sue Lester, 36, sitting on the bed pretending to be knitting a sweater and ignoring the smoke pouring from under the bed while being questioned.

Curses, Foiled Again Police investigating a motel robbery in Kingsport, Tenn., got a detailed description of the suspect from the desk clerk. Minutes later motel guest Christopher T. Carroll, 18, entered the office, claiming to have seen the robber flee and given chase. He said he had recovered some of the stolen money, which he handed over.

Curses, Foiled Again Twelve years after Anthony Michael Perone, 20, said a third-grade classmate broke his heart, he sent anonymous threatening letters to her Connecticut home, including one signed "Death Stalker." Federal authorities identified Perone as the sender because the envelopes had his name and return address in Fairmont, Minn., where he lived with his parents.

Curses, Foiled Again Police investigating a break-in in Bettendorf, Iowa, concluded that the burglar used an identification card to jimmy the lock because they found the card in the apartment. Issued by the Illinois Department of Corrections to released inmates, it identified Robert Alan Fry, 43, who got out two months earlier after serving time for burglary.

Curses, Foiled Again When Sheriff's Deputy Dave Perrapato cited a man he nabbed for jaywalking during a zero-tolerance campaign in San Diego, the man signed the ticket with a name different from the one he had already given Perrapato. When Perrapato asked why, the man explained the other was his "rap name." Perrapato arrested the man on suspicion of signing a false name.

Curses, Foiled Again After a Chevrolet Malibu going 70 mph plowed into a parked highway patrol cruiser near Santee, S.C., injuring the trooper behind the wheel, officers found two duffel bags in the Malibu's trunk containing 43 pounds of marijuana. Driving under the influence was the least of several charges against the 54-year-old driver.

Curses, Foiled Again A 23-year-old man broke into a business in Edmonton, Alberta, that was right next door to a police canine unit. "There was a marked police car parked outside, and they were inside the building doing training, which is normal for us," police official Karen Carlson said. When officers heard the alarm and came to investigate, a car smashed through a garage door and started to flee.