'Pretty dumb crook' botches getaway

BISHOPVILLE, S.C. - A man accused of robbing a convenience store in South Carolina is being talked about because of his unusual attempted getaway.

It hit a little snag when he stopped to ask for directions at the worst possible place.

"I think he's a pretty dumb crook," said Taxi driver Ricky Pearson. "Because to let me pull into the Young's market that he knew he just robbed was totally dumb."

"Like I said I was there and I still don't believe it," David Capps of the Bishopville Police Department said.

It all happened on an early Friday morning at Young's Food Store in Bishopville.

That's when police say 48-year-old Johnny Lindner walked in.

Surveillance video shows Lindner pulled out a knife and demanded money and cigarettes.

Lindner then took off trying to get to Lydia, S.C., but he went the wrong way.

Lindner's stolen getaway truck broke down near Sumter so he decided to walk to a nearby Burger King and get a taxi.

"Once we got in the car, he told me that he wanted to go to Lydia," Pearson said.

But, even the taxi driver didn't know where Lydia was.

"So as we went through Bishopville we came up on a Young's market there, and there was a police car and a man standing outside, and I said I'll stop and ask this man for directions so I can make sure where I am going," Pearson said.

"But, I said, 'You're not going to Lydia tonight,'" said Capps. "And he said, 'Why is that sir?' And I said, 'Because your passenger is under arrest for robbing this Young's.'"

Police say Lindner told them he didn't know what they were talking about. But after a quick search of Lindner, they found the stolen money and cigarettes. Not to mention, he was also caught on camera.

Capps says he has never seen anything like this and he's been in law enforcement for 25 years.

"I can honestly say if it's happened, no one told me that the bad guy came up and asked for directions to get away," said Capps.

"But at that time I was actually thinking that it was this guy's time to go to jail, because he had done something wrong, and God just used me to bring him to justice. And that's what I was thinking," Pearson said.

Lindner was also wanted in Tennessee on other charges.

If convicted of armed robbery, he faces up to 20 years in prison.