Picture taken from video of suspects which led to their capture

It's easy to get frustrated with the NYPD with all the reports of quotas, stat manipulation, and improper bike-lane usage, but once in a while they get to do some real detective work and prove themselves entirely capable. Or maybe just lucky: the NYPD announced that they have arrested four men who are charged with perpetrating a three-month crime spree, robbing 19 businesses across the city. And we have a NJ detective to thank for the catch.

The four men knocked over six 7-Elevens, a Baskin-Robbins, convenience stores and gas stations, stealing $200 to $600 in each instance from workers and cash registers, in order to raise enough money to start their own record label (why didn't they use the tried-and-true method?). After their most recent robbery, police released a video of the suspects taken from a prior gas station heist. An unidentified cop in Palisades Park, NJ, with a sharp memory recognized the suspects; he had arrested them in an August car stop for stolen license plates and possession of a BB gun, which the NYPD believes was used in the robberies.

"He had the names of the individuals. We ran one fingerprint that came from a robbery and we were able to identify one of the individuals and put him under surveillance and he then came together with three other individuals and all four have been arrested for this pattern of robberies," said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. The four arrested were identified as Joseph Suce, 24, and Fred Littles, 41, both of Brooklyn; Xzavian Woney, 21, of The Bronx and Arvel Bullock, 40, of Manhattan.

Best of all, the story was a keen opportunity for both the Post and the News to sneak some snarky lines about the would-be musicians prematurely ended careers. The Post noted solemnly that, "Their musical specialty was not immediately clear." The News ended their article: "No one was seriously hurt [during the robberies]. No record albums were released."