The cost to mail a first-class letter went up to 44 cents on Monday. But if you went to John Auito, of Macomb, Mich., you probably could have purchased stamps at a 15 percent discount. Authorities say the rural postal carrier in suburban Detroit stole and sold stamps worth nearly $20,000 because he was behind on his mortgage. Postal agents confronted the 42-year-old Auito on April 30 outside his home. He told agents that he typically sold the stamps at a 15 percent discount. Auito contacted people who had participated in stamp auctions on eBay. He is charged with stealing stamps that were being shipped to retailers in his delivery area. Auito told agents that he began taking stamps in September because he feared foreclosure

Sometimes crooks don’t think about what they are doing. In the case of an alleged shoplifter with a bottle of whiskey in his pants decided to take one more gamble before leaving a Washington County, Wisconsin, liquor store. He filled out a raffle ticket. But the gamble led police right to him. The man was charged Thursday with misdemeanor retail theft, resisting an officer and disorderly conduct. After filling out the raffle ticket to win a ticket to a Slinger Speedway race, the 20-year-old also allegedly snatched two more whiskey bottles before he fled B&S Liquor in Hartford. Owner Steve Jost said the store clerk saw the suspect fill out the ticket and wasn’t going to chase him. The ticket box had been emptied the previous day, so the clerk opened the box after calling police. You guessed it, the crook put his name on the ticket.

If you run out of cigarettes and decide to go to a stranger’s house to bum some, you better wear clothes. Authorities said a woman wasn’t wearing any clothes when she knocked on a stranger’s door in the middle of the night to ask for cigarettes. The Pinellas, Florida, sheriff’s office reported that the woman, 52, went to the stranger’s home early Friday morning. Deputies found her a short time later walking through a mobile home park wearing only boxer shorts. The woman was charged with disorderly conduct and was taken to jail but later released on her own recognizance.

A burglary suspect in Tulsa, Okla., probably thought if you don’t succeed the first time, try it again. And so the would-be burglar returned to the scene of the crime after failing the first time to get in. Police said officers were called about 8:30 p.m. Sunday to the pharmacy of a medical center where witnesses said someone had tried to break in — but had left. Officers said as they were responding when the man returned with additional tools — but still couldn’t get inside. Police said the 30-year-old man was arrested for second-degree burglary as he was leaving the pharmacy the second time.