A thirsty would-be thief learned this week that burglary and booze do not mix.

The suspect, in his search for some liquid refreshment, broke into the Tops at Spar liquor store here in Makhado (Louis Trichardt) in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

The suspect, who can not be identified, was left with a second headache when police arrested him at the scene. After a short rampage around the bottle store, the man fell asleep and was discovered later by employees of Spar.

“My heart gave a jump when I realised the suspect was still in the shop,” said Spar manager Mr Luke Enslin on Monday. “The suspect even recognised me!”

In what could probably be described as a sheer lack of criminal professionalism, the suspect, of medium build and height, smashed the front glass door of the shop - clearly in an boozed-up haze.

The whole incident was caught on Tops's security cameras. (A short video clip of the footage can be viewed on our website at www.zoutpansberger.co.za).

At around 04:30, the suspect enters through the broken door. The alarm system is not working at this stage, and the suspect can continue his booze cruise uninterrupted.

Pleased with his feat, he makes gestures with his hands, seemingly talking to an imaginary friend. The man then walks over to one of the fridges at the back of the store, helping himself to a quart of beer.

Cue the party music, because after this the sloshed man whoops it up and starts dancing. From the fridge he walks back to the front of the store, showing off his moves in the silence of the night. From the video footage it might seem, however, that he possibly thinks he is in a strip club because he starts to take off his pants and shake his bum and private parts at the camera.

This dancing continues for about 20 minutes before he picks up his cell phone, which has fallen to the ground in the meantime, and makes himself comfortable behind one of the cash registers. Here the man grabs a halfjack of Klipdrift brandy and cigarettes, all the while talking to the cash register in front of him. Eventually, the tipsy suspect, still sitting in the chair, falls asleep and topples over the cash register. Here he is discovered at around 06:00 by Enslin.

After discovering the burglary, and afraid that some of the more expensive liquor might have been stolen, Enslin was trying to assess the damage in the store when he found the sleeping suspect. “We were quite surprised. It is not every day that you still find the perpetrator at the scene of the crime,” said Enslin.

It would later be revealed that, apart from the broken glass, the alcohol that the suspect had consumed totalled about R80. The alarm system has also been fixed. Since Sunday's incident, the newspaper was able to determine that the man was released on Monday without formally being charged by the police. Apparantly the man is mentally unstable, but not a threat to the public.

Music used in the video: