Jarrad McKay and Matthew Baker paint themselves into a criminal mischief complaint

A Flickr photo

The culprit.

Jarrad McKay, 21, and Matthew Baker, twenty, haven't been accused of committing the perfect crime. Instead, they've been charged with taking part in a really stupid one -- and then making it jaw-droppingly easy for the cops to bust them for it.

Early this morning, officers from the Boulder Police Department discovered seven cars that had been splashed with white paint. How to find the vandals? By following the trail of paint, which led to a home occupied by McKay and Baker -- both of whom had paint on them.

Disappointingly, both of them confessed, rather than explaining that, well, um... Okay, they didn't have a lot of options -- other than to have cleaned up after themselves. Get the rest of the details from the BPD release below:

Police Arrest Two in Criminal Mischief on University Hill

On May 18, 2010, at approximately 1:05 a.m., police responded to the area of 17th St and Aurora Ave, after a passer-by discovered a car covered in fresh paint. When they arrived in the area, 5 vehicles in a nearby alley and 2 vehicles on the street were discovered with white paint on them. Officers were able to follow a trail of paint to the home of one of the suspects, in the 800 block of 17th St. Officers were able to contact two males, who had white paint on them. Both admitted involvement in the crime. They told officers that the paint was stolen from the University Hill Elementary School.

Arrested were Jarrad McKay, 21, and Matthew Baker, 20, both of Boulder. Both were charged with Criminal Mischief and Theft.

The case number for this incident is 10-6179.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact Officer Chris Clark at (303) 441-3333. Any additional victims are asked to contact the Boulder Police Department at (303) 441-3333.Those who have information but wish to remain anonymous may contact the Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or 1-800-444-3776. Tips can also be submitted via the Crime Stoppers website at www.crimeshurt.com. Those submitting tips through Crime Stoppers that lead to the arrest and filing of charges on a suspect(s) may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 from Crime Stoppers.