St. Petersburg, Russia.

It was a case of third time unlucky for a hapless but determined Croatian thief who was arrested three times on the same day for three different crimes, a report said.

Identified only as Merlin, the 34-year-old was caught breaking into a car on this Tuesday morning and taken to a police station in the St. Petersburg suburb of Idza, the Idza Police Dept. reported.

He was released after giving a statement but returned a few hours later after causing a car accident in another stolen vehicle.

Once again he was released.

Following two more failed car thefts, Merlin's luck ran out when he broke into an apartment and was caught again, this time however he was detained pending trial.

"<i>I really tried hard to be a good thief, but i don't know what went wrong</i>," declared Merlin to local press.

<center><img src="http://images.google.co.cr/images?q=tbn:DssOSSEZT2cJ:ism.infinityprosports.com/Uploads/30/StaffManager/105.jpeg.300.jpeg"><h5>"Merlin" is said to be releasing 'Thievery for Dummies' next month.</h5></center>