"Weekend at Bernies" as street theater

Sometimes crime is a social problem related to poverty, education, or perceived injustice. Sometimes, it is a problem related to stupidity. I saw a local news report about this, and the witness could hardly keep from laughing.

When Virgilio Cintron, 66, died at his apartment recently, his roommate and a friend saw an opportunity to cash his $355 check, the police said.
They did not go about it the easy way, the police said, choosing a ruse that resembled the plot of "Weekend at Bernie's," a film about two young men who prop up their dead employer to pretend that he is alive...The roommate, James P. O'Hare, and his friend, David J. Dalaia, both 65 and unemployed, placed Cintron's body in the chair and wheeled it around the corner Tuesday afternoon, the police said. The men parked the chair with the corpse in front of Pay-O-Matic, a check-cashing business that Cintron had patronized...The two men started to bring the chair inside, but it was too late. Their sidewalk procession had already attracted the stares of passers-by who were startled by the sight of the body flopping from side to side as the two men tried to prop it up, the police said...A police detective eating at a nearby restaurant saw the crowd and notified police. Police officers and an ambulance arrived as the two men were trying to maneuver the corpse and chair into the check-cashing office.

Somehow, I doubt this one is going to be made into another George Clooney, Brad Pitt caper movie. Sigh.