He’s Suspected of Criminal Inanity

ANAHEIM — Joseph Rincon had a problem. Anaheim police had unwittingly impounded several items he had worked so hard to steal, and he had no way to go there to retrieve them, officials said.

His solution, according to police: hot-wire a car.

“I can’t recall anybody ever driving a stolen car to the Police Department before,” Anaheim Lt. Joe Vargas said, shortly after Rincon’s arrest Tuesday. And to do it to retrieve stolen property, “that’s just putting icing on the cake.”

Rincon’s first brush with law enforcement occurred early Tuesday when the Garden Grove man was pulled over for driving 70 mph in a 40-mph zone, and for weaving through traffic, police said.

Rincon, 43, was also cited for driving with a suspended license, and the car was impounded, along with the TV, stereo and microwave oven inside.

Rincon was told he’d have to go to the Police Department to reclaim his goods. Soon afterward, Rincon, “driving like a maniac, again,” pulled into the parking lot in a red 1966 Ford Mustang, Vargas said.

Suspicious police learned the Mustang had just been reported stolen--as had the car Rincon was driving earlier. Also, that the goods matched ones taken in a burglary.

Rincon, who was jailed on suspicion of car theft and possessing stolen property, at first denied being in the Mustang, said Sgt. Ed Dougherty. But as officers led him away, “they asked if he wanted his jacket out of the car. He said yes.”

“Brilliant,” Dougherty said. “Just brilliant.”