Lorain (Ohio) Magistrate Daniel Cook may have to recuse himself from a recent theft case. It appears that two citizens who came before him decided to leave with their own measure of justice: they stole Cook’s gavel. The alleged gavel grabber is Christopher Collins, 47, who was promptly arrested in the world’s most moronic act.

After Cook could not find his gavel in court, security watched the security tape and saw a man stealing the gavel — a man accompanying a litigant who was seeking the return of his license.

Police say that they are interrogating him on the “whereabouts of the gavel.” Collins reportedly admitted to the crime. That is a shame since the defense attorney could have negotiated a plea in return for the release of the gavel. I believe I saw something like this in Dirty Harry. To paraphrase that classic:

Harry Callahan: You know, you’re crazy if you think you’ve heard the last of this guy. He’s gonna [steal gavels] again.
District Attorney Rothko: How do you know?
Harry Callahan: ‘Cause he likes it.

What is most interesting is that he described his culprit as a male he barely knows” that he met in court and left the gavel in the man’s vehicle. That would establish that Collins consistently shows the same judgment in and out of court.

Source: Smoking Gun