A Calgary man is accused of using his own blood as a means to pull off a series of frauds at big box stores around the city.
According to Calgary police, Rodney Arthur Brandt allegedly went into several stores last month, adding several "big ticket" items to his cart or basket. Police said he then cut himself with a razor blade he previously hid in the handle of his shopping cart or kept in his hand.
When the blood began to spill, he smeared it across an old receipt from a previous purchase or one found discarded outside the store. Claiming the cart or product cut him, he would give the blood-soaked, illegible receipt to the cashier, demanding a return on the items in his cart.
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Dumb Crime: Masterminds Need Not Apply
The customer service representatives would tend to his injuries and offer him a refund, because they could not read the receipt through the blood, and, perhaps, were scared of a lawsuit.
“He bamboozled them with blood,” Lara Sampson with the Calgary Police Service told the Calgary Sun.
“He would say, ‘I was opening a box, and it cut me,’” Sampson said. “He would act so distraught.”
According to the Calgary Herald, the man hit up various grocery stores, hardware stores and department stores all over town. It wasn't until loss-prevention staff at one store grew suspicious that he was caught.
Most concerning to police however, is not the fraud, but the risk posed to others.
“He was not only committing fraud, he was also posing a danger to the public,” Sampson told the Herald.
“With the blood, if they grab the same basket or happen to grab the razor blades he’s implanted, they are also at risk.”
Brandt, 59, of Calgary (a.k.a. Arthur Brandt or Bill Bliss), has been charged with five counts of fraud under $5,000 and five counts of mischief.