Have you ever packed for a big road trip, gotten everyone into the car and then realized a short while later that you forgot something stupid like a phone charger or your contact lenses? This story is basically the petty criminal version of that head-slapping moment.

Police in Haddon Township, NJ, say that a local criminal mastermind’s brilliantly plotted heist was undone when he returned to the scene of his crime because he still had some unfinished business. More precisely, he had forgotten to take the remote to the sound system he’d stolen 30 minutes earlier.

NJ.com reports that the burglar (we’re going to assume he wore a bandit mask and knit cap) first entered the private home early in the morning on Feb. 4, walking out a short time later with the aforementioned sound system and other valuables, but not the remote control that is so key to operating the boosted audio equipment.

Another hairline flaw in his otherwise peerless plan — not realizing that the entire thing would be caught on nearby surveillance cameras. And so he was not only filmed during the initial breaking-and-entering, but was also when he returned for the remote a half-hour later.

So let this be a lesson to anyone out there planning to rob some random person’s home — just don’t. It’s not only mean; but you’ll probably get caught.

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