Bumbling bandits: Would-be thief injured as failed break in attempt is caught on camera

If you were going to take a lesson on how to be a successful criminal it wouldn't be from this pair of bumbling men in the US.

Police from San Antonio, Texas, released footage of the two would-be robbers' somewhat comical attempt to break into a home in the 26000 block of Fawn Mountain.

The clueless criminals can be seen lingering around the house, peering in through different windows and trying to figure out how to go about the robbery.

The man in the white shirt appears to make a phone call, while sipping on a drink and pacing along a porch - all the while his face clearly visible.

He then moves to a different part of the home to try his luck where he can be seen putting on gloves and taking a security screen off a window, but it is an unsuccessful attempt to get inside.

The pair is persistent though - the man in the white shirt moves back to the area of the home where he had been peering in earlier and takes the security screen of there as well and this time starts striking the glass with his lower arm.

After a couple of blows the window appears to shatter but the confused criminal seems to try to hit the window again, appearing to cut himself on a shard of glass.

He runs off grasping his injured arm.

The man on the lookout quickly grabs his friend's bag which the injured man then appears to wrap around his bleeding arm before the pair gives up.

Police from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook, "When one of the men severely cut himself on glass from the broken window, both men fled the scene."

The video was released by police on May 28 but the failed attempt occurred on May 24 at about 9:30 a.m.