Weird News

Exotic dancer set on fire outside LA bar

LOS ANGELES -- An exotic dancer was set on fire outside the club where she worked early Thursday, burning more than 60 percent of her body, police said. They were searching for two suspects. A woman and a man called the 27-year-old dancer outside around 1 a.m. and then doused her with a flammable liquid next to the Babes & Beer sports club in the San Fernando Valley, police said. The dancer ran back inside and patrons came to her aid, police said.

Police identified the suspects as Rianne Celine Theriault-Odom, 27, and Nathaniel Marquis Petrillo, 22, both frequent patrons of the club. They were being sought for investigation of attempted murder, police said. "Given the condition of this victim, they may be responsible for ultimately her murder," Deputy Chief Michel Moore said. "This is a terrible, terrible attack."

Moore said the dancer, a mother of two, was in grave condition after being burned over more than 60 percent of her body. Her identity was not immediately released.A sign at the club indicated it was a sports bar. A message left at the club was not immediately returned.
 
NYC's mysterious syrup smell tracked to New Jersey

NEW YORK -- City investigators have tracked down the source of a maple syrup smell that has puzzled New Yorkers several times in recent years. No offense, New Jersey, but it was you. The harmless but long-confounding smell, which has drifted through swaths of the city at least nine times since 2005, was traced to a facility across the Hudson River that processes seeds for use as artificial flavorings.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that a team of odor investigators - environmental protection, health department and emergency management workers - "put our noses to the ground" to identify the culprit after another whiff in early January. The investigation involved mapping the time and place of all the odor complaints to the city's 311 hot line, data that were then compared with wind and atmospheric conditions. Those were checked against air sampling tests during the periods that New Yorkers reported smelling the odor.

Bloomberg said the odor has been detected by New Yorkers only a small number of times because the conditions apparently had to be quite specific. "You have to have a day with winds at the right speed, going in the right direction, and high humidity, but no rain," he said. Officials found that the highest concentration of calls often came from the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and that the odor reports tended to come on days when wind speed was moderate - fast enough to carry odors but slow enough that they were not immediately dispersed.

Investigators also found that the wind on the days in question generally moved from west to east, and narrowed the search to facilities in New Jersey that process food additives and fragrances. The probe found that one facility in Hudson County was processing fenugreek seeds on the evening of Jan. 29, when multiple odor complaints came in. Fenugreek is a common ingredient in curry powders, and its extract is also used in artificial vanilla, caramel, butterscotch and maple flavorings.

New Jersey and city officials say the facility, operated by a company called Frutarom, does not appear to be violating any rules or regulations. The mayor said it was possible that other such facilities in the area were also responsible. "We are officially closing the case," Bloomberg said.
 
Ex-parking head accused of stealing from Pa. city

NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A former parking official in a financially troubled Pennsylvania city is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from parking meters. Gary Stone Jr. was laid off last year as head of New Castle's parking authority. He was arraigned Thursday on theft charges. County officials say the 33-year-old New Castle resident reported that the meters collected $342 for all of 2006 and 2007. When police took over the meter collections for the first time last year, they took in more than $54,000.

Stone's home telephone is unlisted and he has not returned a message left with relatives. New Castle was declared financially distressed last year under a state law designed to help struggling communities. The declaration led to Stone's layoff.
 
60-year-old woman gives birth to twins in Canada

CALGARY, Alberta -- A 60-year-old Canadian woman has reportedly given birth to twin boys after undergoing fertility treatments.
The first-time mother Ranjit Hayer told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. from her hospital bed that she had tried for decades to conceive naturally and with medical intervention and eventually went to India for fertility treatments.

The broadcaster said she became pregnant with triplets, but one had to be terminated because of medical problems. Giving birth at that age is rare but not unheard of. A couple of years ago a 60-year-old Frieda Birnbaum of New Jersey gave birth to twins. And in November, a woman in India who claimed to be about 70 gave birth to her first child. Her age could not be confirmed because she had no birth certificate.
 
Sri Lankan watches TV 72 hours nonstop to set world record

STOCKHOLM -- Suresh Joachim has broken his own Guinness world record for nonstop broadcast-television watching, clocking 72 hours in the Swedish capital."I feel fine, I drank between 25 and 30 cups of coffee," Joachim said Sunday. His previous record was 69 hours, 48 minutes, set in 2005. Joachim, a Sri Lanka native who lives in Toronto, watched three seasons of the drama series "24" featuring Kiefer Sutherland, said Swedish TV4 spokeswoman Janina Witkowski.
 
Escaped prisoner turns up in Mich. judge's trunk

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. -- A Michigan judge says he's learned a lesson about locking his car after a 16-year-old prisoner who escaped from a courthouse cell was found hiding in the vehicle's trunk. The Macomb Daily reports the teen had vanished Friday after appearing in juvenile court in Mount Clemens on a probation violation. Sheriff's deputies searched for about an hour until a security officer became suspicious when he saw a picture that had fallen to the ground outside judge's car.

A deputy checked the car and found the boy in the trunk. Macomb County Circuit Judge Peter Maceroni says the teen likely used a button inside the unlocked car to open the trunk.The judge says that from now on he will lock the car when he's at the courthouse
 
Boy allegedly forced to use hands to unclog toilet

EAGAN, Minn. -- An elementary school principal could be disciplined for allegedly forcing a 6-year-old boy to unclog a toilet with his bare hands. The principal of Rahn Elementary has been on paid leave since mid-December while the school district investigated a complaint from the boy's parents. The school board proposed disciplinary action on Thursday. The nature of the discipline wasn't made public.

The boy's parents claim their son told them the principal made him clean out a toilet bowl that the boy had accidentally clogged on Dec. 12. The boy told his parents he wiped himself with paper towels, instead of toilet paper, causing the clog. The principal declined to respond to the claims Thursday. He also didn't say what disciplinary action was proposed and whether he'd appeal
 
Pittsburgh radio station fined for fake $1M giveaway

PITTSBURGH -- The Federal Communications Commission has fined the CBS radio affiliate in Pittsburgh $6,000 for a talk show prank promising $1 million to a caller. The FCC says KDKA host Marty Griffin told listeners the money was in a briefcase handcuffed to someone in the studio. The money was promised to the 13th caller on Thanksgiving 2007. That listener called in and stayed on hold for 45 minutes thinking he had won the money.

CBS argued the offer was "preposterous" and clearly a joke. But FCC investigations chief Hillary DeNigro said Thursday that Griffin misled listeners by calling the contest "the real deal." KDKA has 30 days to pay the fine or appeal. Michael Young, the station's senior vice president and general manager, had no comment.
 
Stranger rings doorbell, gives baby to Salt Lake City woman

A Salt Lake City, Utah woman didn't know what to do when she came home to find a stranger asking her to take a 7-month-old baby. Joy Johnson immediately called police, saying the man told her the baby was in a bad situation. Now the baby's mother is in jail, and police are still trying to sort out what happened."He's just there holding a baby in a car seat," Johnson said. "I thought it was his baby and he just couldn't handle having a baby anymore."

After talking to the man, she realized the 7-month-old girl wasn't his. "I said, 'Where's her mom?' And I started asking questions, and he said he took the baby out of a bad situation," Johnson said. She called police, took the baby, and the man left. The man also gave Johnson a diaper bag, which turned out to be a big clue. "We were able to track down mom through some information in that diaper bag," Salt Lake police Sgt. Robin Synder said.

Police arrested the child's mother, 26-year-old Dana Marie Averett. They also took her other child, a 3-year-old police were concerned for. "Both children seem to be healthy," Snyder said. The children were turned over to the Department of Child and Family Services. As for their mother, turns out she has two outstanding warrants: one for theft, the other for driving without insurance.

Johnson is just happy the man chose her for some reason and she was able to help. "I think he was trying to do what's best for the baby, but I don't know what his story is," she said. Police are still trying to figure out the man's story as well. They're not sure why, if he really wanted to get that baby out of a bad situation, he didn't call police in the first place instead of dropping her off with a complete stranger. Police know who he is, and they plan on talking to him.

As for the children, they'll be in state custody for at least 24 hours.
 
Computer cam catches Washington burglar in act

A built-in camera comes in handy for a lot of computer users. It can be especially useful to keep an eye on things when you're not home. On Mercer Island, it's giving a boost to a burglary case. Police are investigating a recent burglary at a Mercer Island office building. They say a man stole money, a gun and other valuables.

A lot of burglaries go unsolved, but in this case they have great video of the guy, better than most bank surveillance video. And the system is the same equipment you may have at home - the video was captured by a regular computer. When the suspected burglar approached Kris Sundberg's law office door, a camera perched inside captured a string of images. Once he broke through, he clipped a camera's gaze.

"When he got in, he noticed this one because he knocked it over," said Sundberg. But the burglar didn't notice another camera across the room -- a simple web cam, rolling video as the man rifles through the office. "I was pleasantly surprised that the system did work and did capture the images," Sundberg said. The best images come from a camera embedded inside a computer. The embedded camera is pretty standard on computers these days and can be set to roll video when motion is detected.

In the video, the burglar rifles through drawers, stealing valuables, completely unaware he's posing for his close-up. "So this is the burglar at my partner Dan's work station. And he's sitting right in front of Dean's iMac and going through the drawers in Dean's desk," said Sundberg. Police investigating the case say technology like this is serving up excellent evidence.

"These are better than most surveillance images that we get, and it struck me on the fact that we'll probably be able to identify who the suspect is," said Det. Peter Erickson, Mercer Island Police. "It's a great tool for us. Most commercial businesses have some type of surveillance. We wish that all businesses had surveillance as good as this, with crisp images. And this is how we solve a lot of crimes."

Those crisp images will likely be the key to solving the case. "If the guy gets caught I guess he'll feel pretty dumb to have done that," said Sundberg. Sundberg says he's no tech wiz. In fact, Sundberg said he had half-heartedly set up the cameras he'd initially bought to video conference with family. "So many people have computers with this capability now that it just kind of shows what the average person can do," said Sundberg. "If you've got one at home you can certainly set it up to do the same thing when you're away or on vacation."

Sundberg also had two simple Web cams set up around the office set to snap photos after hours, so he was able to give police several still photos as well. If you recognize the suspect, you are asked to call Mercer Island Police. The suspect is wanted for theft of a firearm and residential burglary.
 
Fla. man issued 50 traffic citations in 1 day

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -- Elvis has left the vehicle. A man was arrested on more than 50 traffic citations - all in one day. Police said Elvis Alonzo Barrett, 46, fled from police trying to stop him for a traffic violation Thursday morning. Police said he ran through red lights, crashed into another car and a fence. Police said they found crack cocaine and a crack pipe in his car.

Barrett faces several charges, including fleeing and eluding and reckless driving. He was also issued more than 50 traffic citations on charges including speeding, running red lights, and not wearing a seat belt. Police said Barrett has a lengthy criminal history and his driver license was suspended.

A phone number listed for him was not in service Thursday night.
 
British R coming _ but beware of road work ahead

LUBBOCK, Texas -- A hacked electronic highway sign in northwestern Texas carried an international message that seemed to predate, well, the use of electricity. The sign Friday briefly flashed: "OMG The British R coming. They R watching you." KCBD-TV reports the sign was in a construction area in southwest Lubbock.

A statement from Austin Bridge & Road says someone "with a questionable sense of humor" accessed the password on the message board. The portable sign that was hacked has since been removed, since a permanent exit sign has been installed.
No word yet on the culprits. Similar pranks in other states have transportation authorities worried that drivers may miss important information about upcoming road conditions.
 
UK milkman delivered cannabis with bottles of milk

LONDON -- A British prosecutor says an elderly milkman supplied customers with cannabis as well as bottles of milk. Robert Holding, 72, delivered marijuana as he made his daily rounds in the town of Burnely, in northwestern England. Prosecutor Sarah Statham said Friday that Holding offered the drug to elderly customers suffering from aches and pain. She says the customers left Holding notes on their doorsteps to order the drug.

According to Britain's dairy industry, around 1.5 million British homes have milk delivered by a milkman. Deliveries have declined over the last 20 years. Holding pleaded guilty to supplying the drug and was given suspended jail sentence of 36 months.
 
Police say Ohio bike rider was drunk

CINCINNATI -- Police in Cincinnati say a man was drunk while riding his bicycle in traffic. Police said they arrested 52-year-old Archie Johnson on Sunday after seeing his bicycle swerving. Police say Johnson stated that he had only one beer, but they say a blood alcohol test measured him at more than three times the legal limit for operating a vehicle.

He was processed and released from the Hamilton County Jail, pending a court appearance on charges of operating a vehicle under the influence and resisting arrest.
 
Woman who sang about fire charged with 7 arsons

DREXEL HILL, Pa. -- Police in a Philadelphia suburb say a 19-year-old woman accused of arson was caught on a surveillance camera singing, "The fire department is going to be mad at me." Police say Amanda Gessner touched off 7 blazes in trash and brush between 3 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. Tuesday within blocks of where she lives in Upper Darby Township. Officials say Gessner was witnessed earlier in the evening at a local convenience store singing the ditty about the fire department. Her tune was caught on the store's surveillance camera.

One fire damaged a home where a family of four was sleeping. They escaped without injury. Gessner is being held on $100,000 bail, charged with arson and related offenses. Authorities say they have no reason to believe she is connected to the recent arsons in Coatesville, a few miles away.
 
Cops arrest man who sought help removing handcuffs

BARNSTABLE, Mass. -- A Massachusetts man who walked into a police station and asked for help removing a pair of handcuffs dangling from one wrist ended up wearing another pair instead. Barnstable, Mass., police Sgt. Sean Sweeney said 21-year-old Allahmanamjad (el-ah-MAN'-a-jahd) Barbel showed up Tuesday claiming he couldn't get off the cuffs his sister slipped on him at a child's birthday party.

Police ran Barbel's name through the state warrant system and discovered he had outstanding warrants on charges of driving with a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident, threatening to commit a crime and making annoying phone calls. Sweeney said police removed the cuffs - then slipped on a new pair to arrest him. They never confirmed his story about the party.
 
Mayor has police escort him to the restroom

SNELLVILLE, Ga. -- Snellville politics have reached a low point. Jerry Oberholtzer, the mayor of the Atlanta suburb, has been asking for police escorts to the restroom in City Hall after a verbal altercation with city council member Robert Jenkins a few months ago. Oberholtzer says he no longer feels comfortable around Jenkins.

Jenkins says the mayor has no reason to worry for his physical safety and should only "fear me as a political opponent." The mayor has even had police Chief Roy Whitehead escort him to the restroom. Jenkins and Oberholtzer have butted heads for years. Last week, the mayor sent pictures of what he said are code violations at one of Jenkins' properties to police. Authorities issued a warning to the councilman to clean up by March 1 or face jail time.
 
Woman accused of making fake W-2 forms arrested

GREENVILLE, Miss. -- A 34-year-old woman accused of making fake W-2 forms to file false tax claims has been arrested and booked with forgery. Capt. Andrew Kaho of the Greenville Police Department said his department and the Internal Revenue Service began investigating the case about two weeks ago when a local tax preparer contacted the IRS after discovering a counterfeit W-2 in their possession.

Kaho said police executed a search warrant at the home and found more than 75 counterfeit W-2s.
 
Goats suspected of causing barn fire in Wyoming

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) -- These goats may have gotten a baaah-d idea from Mrs. O'Leary's cow. A fire destroyed a barn near Laramie, Wyo., on Monday. Firefighters suspect some goats inside the barn started the fire by nibbling through electric heater cords or knocking down a heating lamp.

Barn owner Dale Wood says the barn was a total loss and at least three female goats died. Neighbors alerted Wood's son to the fire, who called firefighters and tried to put out the flames. For years, legend had it that Catherine O'Leary's cow started the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
 
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