In a scene straight out of a Hollywood heist movie, two L.A. residents decided to quench their thirst for the finer things in life by helping themselves to thousands of dollars worth of top-shelf liquor from Ventura County stores. But their grand plan to stock up on the good stuff went down about as smoothly as a shot of cheap tequila.

John Daniel Johnson, 37, and Dhati Mack Conley, 34, thought they’d hit the jackpot when they waltzed into a Target store in Thousand Oaks on June 12. Little did they know, their shopping spree was about to come to an abrupt end.

As they were loading up on bottles that probably cost more than most people’s weekly grocery bill, eagle-eyed security crews spotted the pair. Faster than you can say “last call,” our not-so-smooth criminals made a dash for it.

But their getaway was about as successful as trying to open a wine bottle with your teeth. Deputies caught up with them as they were peeling out of the parking lot, putting the brakes on their boozy adventure.

When the cops popped the trunk, it was like they’d stumbled upon a millionaire’s liquor cabinet. We’re talking about $5,000 worth of high-end hooch, lifted from both Target and Ralphs. Talk about expensive taste!

Now, Johnson and Conley are facing felony charges for organized retail theft. And given their rap sheets are longer than a cocktail menu, a judge slapped them with a $200,000 bail. Looks like they’ll be trading in their top-shelf dreams for some jailhouse pruno.

The Ventura County Organized Retail Theft Task Force is on the case, determined to keep sticky fingers out of store shelves. They’re asking anyone with info to give them a ring at 805-383-8703. Or, if you prefer to keep it on the down-low, you can always drop an anonymous tip to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers.

Remember folks, crime doesn’t pay – but it sure can cost you a pretty penny.

The man charged with the alleged hate-crime fatal stabbing of a former gay classmate in Foothill Ranch testified Thursday he was high on marijuana when he realized the victim had unbuckled the defendant’s pants and was touching him before the attack.

Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 26, is charged with the Jan. 3, 2018, killing of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein.

Testifying in his own defense, Woodward said that after the pair had reconnected and were talking on Snapchat, Woodward suggested getting together, so Bernstein sent him his address where Woodward picked him up. The two then went to nearby Borrego Park, where Woodward opened a sleeping bag stuffed with snacks, drinks and marijuana, he testified.

Woodward said he took a “couple of puffs” of a heady strain of marijuana that relaxed the nervous defendant.

“I continued to tune in and out” under the influence, Woodward said.

He said the marijuana helped distract him from “how ridiculous I must have looked,” explaining that others had viewed him as behaving outrageously while under the influence.

Woodward, who has been diagnosed as autistic, testified earlier about his difficulty in developing romantic relationships or friendships, and about his difficulty communicating with others. The long, shaggy-haired and bearded defendant often looked down as he testified, prompting his attorney, Ken Morrison of the Orange County Public Defender’s Office to remind him to get the hair out of his face or to look up.

Woodward testified Thursday that he felt something on his leg, making him think he perhaps had urinated on himself as he had done in the past while under the influence of the strong strain of marijuana.

Woodward felt himself “nodding off” as the feeling persisted, but then, “I snapped open and I literally looked right next to myself. I saw a hand on my crotch with my pants unbuckled.”

Opening statements in the trial of Samuel Woodward are expected to begin Tuesday more than six years after he was arrested for the stabbing death of his former classmate, Blaze Bernstein. NBC Los Angeles’ Hetty Chang reports.

He added, “I looked right up and (Bernstein) had his phone in his hand. … His hand was in the innermost area of my thigh.”

Woodward, who had been staring downward, was cajoled by Morrison to make eye contact with the defense attorney. He admitted it was “very difficult” to talk about Bernstein touching his private parts.

“Sam, please look at me,” Morrison said. “Do you believe Blaze Bernstein deserved to die that night?”

“No,” Woodward said.

The defendant said he “came undone” as he realized Bernstein was touching him as they were lying on the ground at the park.

“I went into a state of … terror,” he said. “I remember just asking, `What are you doing? … I just remember asking again and again what are you doing?”

Bernstein said “something like calm down … or it’s not a big deal,” Woodward testified. “All I remember is him telling me something that sounded like ‘`’It’s already done,’ and ‘I got you, I got you.'”

Woodward will continue testifying Thursday afternoon.

Source: NBC Los Angeles