It’s almost 7:00 a.m. in Black Hawk, Colorado. That’s a place that may have invented cold. It’s January, and for that reason Mary Sue starts her car up so it’ll be toasty warm as she drives to work.

While she’s in her kitchen topping off her cup of coffee, an opportunistic thief hops into her car and drives off. Mary Sue should have known better.

Many times stolen cars are used to commit other crimes such as robbery. Leave your running car in front of a convenience store and I can almost guarantee you it’ll be stolen.

But Mary Sue is apparently ignoring the advice police everywhere give out freely: "Don’t leave your car unattended with the engine running."

Car’s like Mary Sue’s are called "puffers" because they’re idling in the driveway with an occasional puff of exhaust coming out of the tailpipe—giving the message, "steal me, steal me."

Ironically, police in nearby Greenwood Village were conducting a campaign, "Operation Lockup," patrolling residential neighborhoods similar to Mary Sue’s looking for unattended cars sitting in driveways with the motors running.

Several days before the theft of Mary Sue’s car, seven police officers in Greenwood Village found 40 "puffers" running unattended in private driveways. The same seven cops also found 140 other cars left unlocked in driveways with valuable property lying on the front seat.

What sort of things did police find in these unlocked cars? "We found a check for $58,000," said a traffic sergeant. "We also found a rifle, and in another car we found a pharmaceutical salesman’s sample case containing prescription drug samples."

Meanwhile, back in Black Hawk, police are looking for a white 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue with a government tag. A government tag, you say?

’fraid so. Actually the stolen vehicle was an unmarked police car. You see, Mary Sue is a lieutenant with the Black Hawk P.D.

Our thanks to Sarah Huntley of the Rocky Mountain News for her story that tipped us off on Mary Sue’s most embarrassing moment.