Okay, so the Philippines has the guy who jumped out of a plane with a home-made parachute, right? Well, here's more proof of the bizarre Filipino penchant for unintentionally entering the Darwin Awards.

Now, normally, when you steal something, it has to be something that you can literally walk away with, right? Jermie John Tolentino, a small-time thief, decided that the term "walk away from" meant air compressors. Now, here in Manila, the smallest air compressors that are usually stored in heavy equipment warehouses are usually the kind that can be used for spraypainting cars (that means their cylinders are included).

And so, Jermie decided that he would lift one off from the nearest warehouse. the first problem became apparent, though Jermie John did not see it: he scaled a 9-foot wall to get to the goods. right.

It never occurred to Jermie John that he would have to go back up with the compressor, but hey, that doesn't stop him. so, he just decides to bring up the air compressor. notice that he's only one man, with one heavy air compressor.

Well, physics had its way with Jermie John. he was found the next day face down with a bloodied head at the foot of the 9-foot wall, with the air compressor beside him. it's unclear whether he was trying to hoist up the compressor and simply went off-balance and took a dive (so to speak), or if he fell off with the compressor on top of him.

Either which way, as the old saying goes, falling is not the problem, it's the landing that kills you - and in this case, the rather large x-factor that is the air compressor tipped the odds in Darwin's favor.

The scary part was, the heavy equipment warehouse also stored used vehicle engines. we can only thank the stars that he was a small-time thief, otherwise he may have tried to take on some used truck engine. We may have never been able to identify him.

Note: we are not sure if Jermie John had any kids, but at least we know that he won't be adding to his progeny, if any.

Philippine Daily Inquirer (http://www.inq7.net) onday December 15, 2003 as reported by Edson Tandoc Jr.

Loot too heavy, 'thief' falls off wall

It was a puzzle which police found easy to piece together.

The body of Jermie John Tolentino, 26, was found lying beside an air compressor just inside the 9-foot wall of a heavy equipment warehouse.

The conclusion?

He fell off the wall while trying to carry off the heavy metal cylinder.

A report by SP01 Fedencio Basibas of the Central Police District said Tolentino's body, which was lying face down with the head bloodied, was found inside the warehouse compound along Marcos Avenue at about 5:30 a.m.

Responding officer SP01 Edgardo Buluran of CPD Talipapa Station told the Inquirer yesterday that Tolentino was probably a thief. The warehouse where he was found was a storage facility for used engines and other machines.

According to Buluran, Tolentino apparently took the compressor from the warehouseand had tried to get it over the wall.

But because the compressor was too heavy, Tolentino lost his balance and fell off.

[Okay, so it's kinda hard to believe that someone actually thought he could carry off an air compressor with its cylinder all by his lonesome...but hey, truth is often stranger than fiction.]

Submitted on 12/15/2003

Submitted by: Richard Ramos
Reference: http://www.inq7.net

Copyright © 2003 DarwinAwards.com

Daniel said:
Neutral: Lacks Excellence
I'm not finding this amusing, sorry.

Bill said:
Maybe Toss: Lacks Excellence
Decent write up and definitely stupid, but I really don't think the stupidity is Darwin grade. Thanks anyway.

Teela said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
maybee, it is stupid

Bert said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
Due to no one knowing what actualy happened, it's difficult to say whether or not it's a Darwin level misjudgment.

Jack said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
I'm neutral on this one, so let the readers decide.