'Confessions of a stupid criminal'

La Crosse - A Wisconsin man debuted on You Tube this week when the man he allegedly stole a video recorder from uploaded his self-recorded confession and titled it "Confessions of a stupid criminal.”

Chris Rochester, 25, La Crosse, said his camera was stolen from his boss’s car and La Crosse police recovered the camera and returned it. When Rochester realized the man that apparently stole it recorded his face, home and announced his name, he decided to post the video. The alleged thief actually confesses to stealing the camera with a smile. The video camera was stolen from Republican state Senate candidate Bill Feehan’s car. After police recovered the camera and returned it to Rochester, he set it aside. Recently, Gov. Scott Walker visited La Crosse and Rochester filmed the event. When he retrieved the video from his recorder he discovered 20 other segments including the one featuring the suspect. Most of the video contains unremarkable scenes of a modest home, each about 15- to 20-second clips. However one video got Rochester's attention. "This is my house, yes, and a stolen camera that I stole. But it's OK, the cop won't figure it out," the suspect says in the 79-second video, as he pans around a home and points out the kitchen and bathroom. Later he adds, "Oh yeah, to introduce you, my name is Houaka Yang. So yeah, how do you do?" Incredibly, the man finally angles the camera at his face and says with a smile, "And this is me. Hi." Rochester said he almost deleted the videos, thinking he'd accidentally hit the 'record' button. "Then it hit me pretty quickly as to what it was," he said. "I was astounded. I was like, 'Wow, I can't believe this.'" Yang was already in custody since police tracked him down through an accomplice but Rochester decided to put the video on YouTube and share it with friends under the title "Confessions of a stupid criminal: Thief is sure he won't get caught."