BARRINGTON — Here’s a helpful hint if you’re planning to steal beer from someone’s house: try not to confuse the getaway car with a police car.

The advice comes too late for Bryce Beaver Hanrahan, who the police say entered a home on Laurel Lane just after 2 a.m. Sunday, and stole beer from the refrigerator. Then he and a buddy, Ryan T. Wirth, thought the sport utility vehicle coming down New Meadow Road was their ride.

Instead, the two Barrington men, both 21, flagged down Patrolman Gregg Koutros, who was cruising the area in the police department’s SUV. Both appeared to be drinking. Both ended up getting a ride to a different destination.

“It’s classic,” said police Chief John LaCross, who released details of the case yesterday afternoon.

The pair realized something wasn’t going according to plan when Koutros activated his police lights as Hanrahan allegedly waved glass bottles overhead. Wirth immediately moved to place something in a bush.

The bottles turned out to be very cold bottles of Miller Lite. More beer was recovered from the bush.

At that point, a nearby resident approached to report that someone had just broken into his house and stolen some beer.

Then their ride showed up: another Ford Explorer SUV driven by a young woman who told the police she was in the neighborhood to pick up some friends. The police sent her on her way.

The Laurel Lane resident, whom the police did not identify, said that when he had heard a noise and went downstairs, he found the door to his house open, a case of beer on the floor, and bottles missing.

The identification numbers on the glass bottles found by the police matched those from the case.

LaCross said Koutros tried to get an explanation from the pair, but they were uncooperative.

After being taken to the police station, Hanrahan, of 133 New Meadow Rd., was charged with felony counts of conspiracy and of breaking and entering into a home when a resident is present. He was also charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.

Wirth, of 7 Opechee Drive, was charged with conspiracy to commit a breaking and entering.

LaCross said the incident could have turned out badly, especially if the homeowner had come down the stairs armed.

“One guy could have got shot, never mind a guy coming down with a baseball bat,” he said.

gemery@projo.com