Lucky Brake
A car
thief's lucky day?
Intermediate

It seems like Yuri’s
lucky day.
The 24-year-old thief watches a mechanic working on a
Nissan Primera in a Moscow street. The car is parked in
front of a garage. The mechanic is doing some minor
paintwork.
The mechanic needs to use the bathroom. He goes back inside
the garage. He leaves the car keys in the ignition.
Yuri hurries across to the car. He gets into the driving
seat. The hand brake is off. The keys are in the ignition.
The car starts first time.
‘That was so easy!’ thinks Yuri, as he drives
away.
At the first junction there are traffic lights. They turn
red. Yuri puts his foot down on the brake. Nothing happens.
This is because the brakes are not inside the car. They are
back in the garage. The mechanic was going to fit them that
afternoon
The car continues straight through the traffic light. It
crashes into a police car coming from the other direction.
It’s not Yuri’s lucky day after all.
'I'll draw
him!'
Yuri didn’t have enough
information. Nor did the thief in England who robbed 82
year-old Bill Green of his bicycle. What this thief
didn’t realise was that his victim was a cartoonist
‘I’ll draw him for you,’ Mr Green told
the police.
The drawing exactly matched the photograph of a suspect.
The police arrested the 34 year-old thief that
evening.
