They thought they had everything planned out, and if you let your imagination go, you can imagine the conversation in their parents' basement: No spray paint, but we got some WD-40. They didn't know they would need Google to help them crack the safe.



In Colorado, authorities are sure it was an inside job – the burglars of the Bigg City amusement park had pass-codes for three different safes. They sprayed the camera with WD-40, which cleaned the lens and improved the picture the first time, requiring them to keep spraying it until there was a nice scummy buildup.

But security footage still showed them freaking out when they couldn't get the safes open, and turned to Google for help. They found the information they needed to successfully crack open the safes and steal away with 12 grand, a PlayStation and a laptop.

They had better luck than this fellow in Delaware, who was busted mid-Google search. None of the reports which source they followed, but results for queries "how to open a safe" and "how to crack a safe" both show the most comprehensive source on page one is HowStuffWorks.com, which has instructions for several different kinds of safe.

Even Wikipedia has an entry on it.

But Totse.com is more entertaining and violent, detailing the sledge-hammer punch technique, the drill method, and the high-explosive technique. Plus they provide the Safe Cracker's Golden Rule: Don't spend more than 20 minutes trying to crack a safe on site.

You could get sucked in and forget the time, they say. Our Colorado burglars were in there for an hour and a half.

Though law enforcement officials in various countries have complained about the information readily available on the Internet –from terrorism to bomb making to child pornography, they should be reminded that the Internet has helped them to solve a few crimes as well.

Anybody else remember the guy that googled "how to kill your wife"?

Google Crime How to crack a safe