Thief Wears Box on His Head While Burglarizing Miami Store

Florida's alleged crooks are getting creative -- this guy tried to conceal his identity with an oversized cardboard box while burglarizing a store, but he made one crucial slip-up and wound up in handcuffs.

It all started early Saturday around 4 AM ... surveillance video captured the moment the box-wearing bandit used a hard object to smash a glass display case after allegedly breaking into a Miami Gardens phone repair shop.

The footage, obtained by NBC 6 South Florida, shows the man scooping up piles of iPhones and shoving them into a bag slung over his shoulder. Might have been the perfect crime, except ol' box top decided to lift his cover for just a moment so he could see what he was grabbing -- and the big reveal of his face was captured on camera.

Jeremias Berganza, the store's owner, told NBC the culprit fled with 19 iPhones and $8,000 in cash -- but he didn't get very far.

Berganza reviewed the security footage showing the man's face and began searching for him in the shopping center while notifying police and asking other business owners to be on the lookout.

The suspect was eventually found boozing with his buddies at a liquor store nearby. Cops from Miami Gardens PD arrested the man but have yet to release his name.