A man in Lincoln, Nebraska, claimed that his dog was a pit bull.
Neighbour Carlos Lupercio said the dog was clearly a Labrador
retriever. The 49-year-old Lupercio figured he would settle the matter by fetching a
crossbow from his home and firing it at the other man. Reportedly,
alcohol was a contributing factor in the incident.
Lupercio has pleaded no contest to charges of animal neglect and
making terroristic threats.
Many drivers honked their car horns at New York television reporter
Jennifer McLogan as she drove her WCBS news truck to a police press
conference. After a while, one of her fellow motorists was able to
catch her attention to tell her that there was a cat stuck in the
truck's rooftop satellite dish.
The television crew contacted the police officers at the press
conference to request assistance for the stray cat. After
establishing that this was not an April Fool's joke, officers
responded and removed a panel from the antenna to free the animal.
Convicted arsonist Julien Chautard, 39, was among the prisoners escorted off a security
van at Pentonville prison. For several hours, nobody noticed that he'd vanished a few
minutes after that. When his disappearance was noticed, CCTV footage revealed that a new
shadow had appeared under the security van and remained there until
after the van had been cleared to exit the gates. 'The circumstances around the escape
will be fully investigated,' the Ministry of Justice said in a
statement.
Chautard has been re-arrested, on the advice of his family and friends.
Undeterred by a 'bad gut feeling' about another man in the loo at a Holiday Inn convention centre in Pennsylvania, retired police officer John Comparetto emerged from a stall to find a handgun in his face. The man holding the gun demanded his money, which Comparetto surrendered. As the robber fled, Comparetto asked a hotel clerk to announce that an officer was in need of assistance. The robber was apprehended by about 10 of the 300 people who were attending the police officers' convention with Comparetto.
Peter Rogers insulted the mother of Charles Russell's girlfriend in a crowded Dublin pub. One of Russell's friends therefore hit Rogers from behind with a hammer. The hammer-wielder was hauled away by pub staff. Therefore, Russell had to do something himself, so he swung a samurai sword at carpenter Rogers, freeing him of his left hand. Rogers didn't realise until later that he had only a stump, and at one point in the ensuing fisticuffs, he punched Russell in the face with his wrist. Russell has been sentenced to nine years in jail.
The Service Employees International Union laid off about 75 workers, prompting employees to march outside their own union's Washington headquarters in protest. In addition, the Union of Union Representatives has charged the SEIU with unfair labour practices and of age- and race-based discrimination. Michelle Ringuette, speaking for the SEIU, described the protest as 'a sign of a thriving democratic movement'.
Connecticut's Robert Drawbough told emergency services dispatchers
that his estranged wife was biting him. He explained that he had
awakened to find her handcuffed to him and that the torso- and
arm-biting had started once he managed to dial 911 from his mobile
telephone.
The wife, 37-year-old Helen Sun, explained to the police that she
had simply wanted to talk with Drawbough without him leaving, after he
had sought a divorce. That's
why she'd changed the locks on the bedroom door and handcuffed herself
to him while he was asleep. She has now been charged with
third-degree assault, disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment, and
unlawful restraint.
Indiana state police stopped Kosciusko County Deputy Coroner Derrick Sadler for speeding and discovered that he had been driving while intoxicated. Troopers contacted the man's father, County Coroner John Sadler, to collect the vehicle. On his arrival, the officers noticed that the father, too, was intoxicated. Both men were taken to jail to await charges of driving while intoxicated.
A woman at a McDonald's drive-through in Salt Lake City, Utah, ordered from the lunch and dinner menu. The clerk delivered the bad news that, since it was 2am, only breakfast was being served, whereupon the woman drove on to the pick-up window. Then, two men got out of the car, one of whom fetched a sawn-off shotgun from the boot. He fired a shot or two through the drive-through window, and the men drove off, according to police reports.
San Diego police sergeant David Jennings said that a 63-year-old man, probably driving while intoxicated, crashed his pickup truck into a neighbour's house. The resulting hole was big enough that the police could clearly see a marijuana-growing operation inside. Officers obtained a search warrant and removed the plants. The residents are likely to face a few surprises when they return from their skiing holiday.
A prison guard in western Pennsylvania has a poor sense of humour, but opinion is divided as to which one. Blair County Commissioner Terry Tomassetti said a senior guard was 'just picking on a new employee', but the new hire was less amused, after having been locked in a cell for 20 minutes with a prisoner who had exchanged shots with police. It was the inmate who filed a complaint about the incident, with the NAACP.
Rebecca Kate Haley, 25, was parked outside an Alabama hospital's emergency room when a parking enforcement officer slapped a ticket onto the windscreen. About an hour later, a passer-by noticed Haley slumped over the vehicle's steering wheel and contacted the authorities. Haley had been in the vehicle, dead, for at least seven hours when the officer arrived.
A 20-year veteran with Oregon's Driver and Motor Vehicle Services department was placed on leave from this job after she was accused of driving at 165 kilometres an hour. Investigators said that the 53-year-old woman claimed she had been teaching her 10-year-old grandson about the dangers of speeding, having told him that this is how not to drive.
In Bithlo, Florida, two neighbours were unhappy with each other. Accordingly, it might have been unsurprising that Craig Allen Aylesworth chose to throw a Molotov cocktail at his neighbour's trailer home. What did come as a surprise - at least to Aylesworth - is that the wind would shift and carry the flames to Aylesworth's yard, cars, pickup truck, and trailer.
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© 2009 Anna Shefl