The Bowel Movement Bandit (also known as the Ohio Pooping Bandit) is the alias of an unidentified man in the Kenmore neighborhood of Akron, Ohio, United States, who repeatedly defecated through the sunroofs of random people’s cars from 2012 to 2015. In total, the criminal defecated on 19 parked cars in driveways, as well as children's toys left in the front yards of homes. The criminal only stopped his public defecation spree after a photo of his face was captured by a hidden camera and released to the public.
History
Starting in May 2012, residents of the Kenmore neighborhood in Akron, Ohio, found feces on or in their cars. If their cars were locked, the perpetrator would defecate on the hood, windshield, gas tank covering, mirrors, windows, or handles of the car. However, if the cars were unlocked, the perpetrator would defecate on the interior of the car. In total, 19 people reported finding fecal matter on their car, but Lt. Rick Edwards of the Akron Police Department believes there are more victims.
On March 10, 2015, the face of the perpetrator was caught on a hidden camera set up by the father of a woman whose car was targeted by the perpetrator seven times. The hidden camera took a photo every twelve seconds. The photo of the perpetrator was released to the public by the Akron Beacon Journal on March 11, 2015. The perpetrator was estimated to be in his mid-40s when the photo was taken.
Partial list of incidents
Theories
The identity of the Bowel Movement Bandit is still unknown, but there are two main theories. The first is that the perpetrator was a homeless person. The other theory is that the perpetrator was David Ware, a 56-year-old Akron firefighter who murdered his wife and then killed himself on March 11, 2015. Ware heavily resembled the photograph of the perpetrator, and committed the murder-suicide on the same day that the Beacon Journal first published the photo of the Bowel Movement Bandit.