Recently in pranks gone wrong Category

A gagged and hog-tied Brooklyn man faked his own kidnapping as a way to explain his absence to his demanding girlfriend, investigators say.

As one law-enforcement source told the New York Post: "He's a total moron."

Police say Rahmell Pettway, 36, admitted to spending two weeks away from his home. Unable to explain his extended absence to his girlfriend, Pettway allegedly came up with the fake kidnapping idea, the Post reports.

If this plan seems ill-conceived, the execution was not any better.

If you believe the Mayan calendar, then December 21, 2012, may just be the end of the world.

Of course, not everyone agrees that existence will end or that a new "cosmic dawn" will rise. Even the Mayans don't think the end of days is coming this year, according to CNN. But there are a fair number of people who are bracing for the end, or at least thinking about the things they'd want to do before existence as we know it is snuffed out.

Sure it's a great excuse to take some chances and have a good time. But there are some things you probably don't want to do just in case the world is still there on December 22. For example:

Self-proclaimed "Chick Bank Robber" Hannah Sabata successfully robbed a bank and shared her accomplishments on YouTube. So no one was surprised when the teenager was busted by the cops shortly thereafter.

The 19-year-old Sabata held up a bank in Waco, Nebraska, and stole a car, according to her own YouTube confession. She bragged about her crimes in a video clip that runs nearly 8 minutes long.

Unfortunately for Sabata, her video also alerted police. Even more embarrassing, she didn't make it difficult for them to find her.

Easton Pennsylvania police are being criticized after they arrested an Occupy protester who was holding signs inside a Bank of America.

In their defense, one sign said "You are being robbed" while the other referenced armed bank robbery.

Police were defending their actions before robbery charges against David Gorczynski were dropped. "We can't allow the perceived idea of protesting to be a defense to criminality," said police Chief Carl Scalzo.

But in some cases you might. Like this one.

Teenyboppers don't fret - authorities thwarted a Justin Bieber "kidnapping" plot over at a Florida mall last week. The thief, David Dowling, 23, and an unnamed juvenile accomplice decided it would be a hilarious joke to nab a Justin Bieber cutout from a F.Y.E. store.

Well, the joke is on them.

It seems the thieving pair has proved that stealing a life-sized cutout is the complete opposite of "inconspicuous." An assistant manager from the store chased the duo and retrieved the cardboard cutout, reports E! Online.

New Jersey partygoers Jeffrey Olson, 21, and Ryan Letchford, 22, got a little more than they bargained for early Saturday night while hanging out at a friend's house in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

In a fit of drunken revelry, the pair broke into a police van.

And then they couldn't get out.

They've since been charged with attempt to commit theft from a motor vehicle, public drunkenness, and criminal mischief.

Three men from Linden, Michigan were arrested late last month after they were caught with a stolen alligator tied to the top of a Ford pick-up truck.

Though alcohol was involved, it's unclear why they broke into a local barn and captured the 14-foot flattened and stuffed creature.

However, it appears as though they wished to return him to his original habitat, as the trio was later found introducing the stolen alligator to the concept of off-roading.

There are two types of people in this world:

The kind that wish they could get rid of sell a kid on eBay and those who would immediately freak out if they ever saw an ad touting a kid for sale.

This story involves both of types of people--a 20-year-old Michigan woman who offered her cousin up on eBay, and a buyer who just wanted the ad to be taken down.

"Lock the Door. It's Domino's."

Two Domino's Pizza employees in their formative early-30's have been fired and now face criminal charges after they filmed some gross goings-on in the restaurant kitchen, and then posted the video on a little mom-and-pop operation known as "YouTube.com."

The video shows one of the workers, Michael Setzer, putting cheese up his nose and waving salami slices near his rear end while making a sandwich at a Domino's in Conover, N.C. The other Domino's employee, Kristy Hammonds, filmed the action and can be heard providing descriptive commentary for anyone having difficulty with the intricate twists and turns of the plot.

The Truth Is Out There: You Two are Morons

Two New Jersey men were assessed fines and ordered to community service this week for trying to prank Morris County and Hanover residents into believing that UFOs were in the area.

Chris Russo, 29, of Morris Plains, and Joe Rudy, 28, of Chester were sentenced for staging a not-so-elaborate hoax in which they tied road flares to helium balloons and set them aloft in a local field. The two ended up calling a local television station themselves to report the "sighting," which is a little like responding to your own online dating profile just so you can say someone did.