September 2011 Archives

Indiana residents Benjamin Sims and Danielle Howey are not your average babysitters. They're your less-than-average babysitters. The two are accused of using a baby as a decoy to steal alcohol.

How exactly was the toddler used as a decoy? Did they dress him up in a flashy but cute costume to distract store clerks? Sadly, their ploy was fair simpler than that.

They just used the 2-year-old to cover up their stolen goods.

Sims and Howey are accused of loading a cart full of alcohol, covering it with a blanket, and placing the child on top.

Remember Anthony Garcia, the New Mexico supermarket employee accused of feeding female customers semen-tainted yogurt?

Well, he's back. And apparently he's changed his mind. Reports indicate that he has decided to plead guilty to federal charges of adulterating food and lying to investigators.

Why the sudden change of heart? And what's with the bizarre charges?

An Arkansas man has a thing for toes -- and it's getting him in a lot of trouble. Dubbed the "Toe Suck Fairy," Michael Robert Wyatt was arrested Monday after two women identified him in a photo line-up as "that strange dude that asked to suck on our toes."

Okay, so they didn't actually identify Wyatt with those exact words.

But the 50-year-old man is accused of approaching the women in stores, complimenting their toes, and then asking if he could suck on them.

Wyatt is now facing two charges of criminal harassment.

The economy is down, bills are piling up, and some people simply just don't have enough money to make ends meet. Now the sluggish economy has even caused a Pennsylvania couple to steal copper to pay for their wedding.

April C. Cater, 24, and Joseph Russell, 23, allegedly stole copper wire from 18 utility poles. The total amount of copper they stole is valued at $7,146.

They stole the wire on August 9, just days before their wedding on August 13. Russell told police that he lost his job at an auto parts store and needed the money for the upcoming nuptials.

How much do Houston cops like pot brownies? Apparently, a lot.

Three police officers are accused of eating a tray of pot brownies confiscated during a May marijuana bust. The trio found the illicit treats in the home of Nicholas Hill, and supposedly ate them prior to his arrest.

Hill alleges that he was then taken to a patrol car, where the on-duty officers prattled about munchies and drove to the station while high.

In-car computers at least partially verify this story.

Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, has pled not guilty to charges that she sliced off her husband's penis and threw it into a garbage disposal last July.

Becker, from Garden Grove, California, was arrested and charged with felony torture and aggravated mayhem.

The strange and cringe-inducing crime started over an argument between Becker and her husband about her husband's male friend staying over, according to The Daily Mail.

The couple, who married in 2009, was already embroiled in divorce proceedings at the time.

A jury convicted Colorado state lobbyist Ronald Smith of second degree burglary and criminal mischief on Wednesday.

Embroiled in a bitter divorce and custody battle, Smith was accused of harassing his ex-wife and threatening to ruin her life.

Instead, he chose to ruin her home. The jury found him responsible for placing raw chicken into the home's vents, pouring bleach on her grand piano, and scratching the floors with metal cleats.

Why does a cop use a rubber penis?

To bust prostitutes, of course.

A Florida undercover cop caught 31-year-old Christina Hope Vavra using the "flaccid" plastic prosthetic decoy. He wrote a surprisingly detailed police report about the incident, including the appearance of a possum.

Here is a timeline of the actual event:

Jeremy Combs is a man who loves his Taco Bell hot sauce.

Combs likes the hot sauce so much that he apparently became more than a little irritated when he returned home from a Missouri Taco Bell drive-thru sans hot sauce.

He was so infuriated that he drove back to the restaurant. And no, he didn't just politely ask the employee for a few extra packs of sauce.

Combs went into a hot sauce-deprived rage and pulled out a shotgun, frightening the employee who scrambled to get away from the takeout window.

Crafters rejoice! Central Florida's drag queen gang has been caught!

The made-up men are accused of stealing thousands of dollars in fabric, sequins, feather boas, butt pads, and eyelashes from a number of hobby stores over the last year.

Their dedication was apparently so acute that "they could wipe out a whole section of boas in seconds."

They also may or may not have a certain fondness for red lace gloves.

Did you know that possessing alligator hatchlings is illegal in Florida? Apparently it is, and two Florida men may soon be facing jail time or fines for collecting one too many baby alligators.

Martin Duval and Christopher Cork Scroggins were caught with baby alligators in tow when they came ashore Lake Apopka last week.

No, the men didn't just have one baby alligator.

Duval and Scroggins were caught with 260 alligator hatchlings. Authorities also discovered concealed firearms and ammunition on their boat.

A federal judge in Kentucky is no fan of law-breaking hunters. The tough jurist sentenced North Carolina resident Rodney Poteat to a two-year, worldwide hunting ban earlier this month.

Convicted on charges of illegal hunting and removing wildlife, Poteat will serve out the ban as part of court-ordered probation.

He will also pay the state $5,300--the cost of licensing fees he failed to pay between 2002 and 2011.

How does one bite off an eyebrow? Is it kind of like biting into a rib, and then pulling the meat away from the bone?

If you've ever pondered such a question, you should chance a conversation with Luis Miguel Aguilar, a 29-year-old Buena Park, California, man who has been arrested for nibbling on his opponent's eyebrow during a fight.

Did I mention that he proceeded to chew it up and spit it out? Or that police describe the flesh as being "about the size of an egg"?

Delicious.

Officers with Iowa's Council Bluffs Police Department were dispatched earlier this month when a concerned citizen reported a man dressed in a hot dog costume standing near a school bus stop.

Turns out that the suspect was none other than a 6-foot-tall Hot Dog Man statute sporting an American flag cape and a pair of sneakers.

Police have taken the statue into custody and are treating it as a "found property" case. So, is the Hot Dog Man statute lost, mislaid, or abandoned property?

A Montana restaurant has sued a publishing company after it was erroneously listed in the yellow pages under "Animal Carcass Removal." The restaurant, Bar 3 Bar-B-Q, says its business has slowed down after the unfortunate misprint.

In fact, the restaurant was even made the butt of a joke during a Jay Leno segment, reports the AP. Leno joked about the listing during his regular "Headlines" segment on the Tonight Show on NBC.

Too bad defamation and negligence lawsuits aren't a laughing matter. Hunter Lacey, the owner of the barbeque restaurant, has sued Dex Media, the publisher of the yellow pages, the AP reports.

Cities are always looking for new ways to target graffiti, but San Francisco's recently released free iPhone app, Graff City, is certainly an innovative plan.

Using the iPhone's digital camera, the app presents an image of the user's surroundings. He can then use a finger to digitally spray paint--or virtually tag--any surface within the camera's view.

That image can then be emailed or uploaded to Facebook for "bragging" rights.

Accusing the hospital of failing to protect her medical records, former employee and pediatric nurse Kristen Haight has filed a $45 million 'virgin' lawsuit against NYU Langone Medical Center.

The lawsuit claims that, after being diagnosed with and receiving treatment for endometriosis, doctors, nurses and administrative staff accessed Haight's medical files, harassing her about her sex life and calling her a 41-year-old virgin in honor of the film.

The media has yet to confirm the appropriateness of the nickname.

Offended by the inability to fit into stationary booths at a White Castle located in Nanuet, New York, 290-pound Martin Kessman has sued the fast food establishment, alleging that its small seats violate his civil rights.

To make matters worse, the company responded to his complaints with coupons for free hamburgers.

That's right--not only are White Castle's small booths part of a nefarious plan to discriminate against its overweight customer base, the burger chain is forcing complaining customers to pay for cheese.

A man dressed up in a SpongeBob costume was attacked in Hollywood on Wednesday. Police questioned the Hollywood SpongeBob character and his attackers after the incident.

It all started when a man in a SpongeBob costume started goofing off a little bit too close to two women on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.

What started off as a playful encounter between the trio ended with some real violence. The women at first responded rather lightheartedly, going along with the SpongeBob's antics. But as they say, it's all fun and games until someone gets mad.

One has to wonder whether Christopher Anspach, 28, of Newton, Iowa is a really slow reader, or just incapable of meeting deadlines.

The Pizza Hut employee has been sentenced to serve 10 days in jail for overdue library books and videos he failed to return for seven months, despite repeated phone calls and certified letters sent by the Newton Public Library.

Unfortunately, the court has not released a list of Anspach's library contraband.

Florida vampire Josephine Smith, 22, was arrested on charges of felony aggravated battery on an elderly person late last week, accused of attacking 69-year-old Milton Ellis while outside a vacant Hooters in St. Petersburg.

Wheelchair-bound and asleep at the time of the attack, the homeless Ellis managed to escape and call for help, but not before Smith bit off chunks of his face and arm.

Police found a half naked Smith shortly, covered in blood.

A Florida woman decided the strippers at a Clearwater strip club weren't quite getting the job done. That's when Natalie Behnke, 25, strutted onto the Baby Dolls Lounge stage and started to disrobe and dance.

She took her clothes off, danced, and asked customers for money, according to the Huffington Post.

Baby Dolls Lounge is a gentleman's club, so why was Behnke's strip show so improper?

A "Gumby" robber tried - and failed - to steal cash from a San Diego-area 7-11 on Monday.

That's right; a man in a "Gumby" disguise literally showed up at the convenience store and demanded cash, according to the New York Daily News.

Would you take a "Gumby" robber seriously?

It's probably not surprising that the store clerk apparently thought this robbery was actually a prank. "I'm busy, I don't have time for this," the clerk reportedly told the costumed "Gumby" robber.

A Connecticut man tried to steal his own dog from a pound Monday morning - and failed.

Walther Scovish, 55, was arrested and charged with burglary and trespass, amongst other charges, after his unsuccessful doggy rescue attempt.

Why was Scovish's dog in the pound in the first place? It's because Scovish was arrested last week on charges of heroin possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to The Hartford Courant.

Cambridge, Minn. appears to be getting ready for Halloween a bit early this year, as reports claim that a 5-year-old girl named Zoe Zachrison was bitten by a bat at Walmart late last month.

The girl, riding in a shopping cart, was being pushed down the pizza aisle when a bat flew by, made a 180-degree turn, and then attacked, twice biting her in the leg.

Holly Townley, Zoe's mother, has requested that Walmart help pay the medical bills, but they have refused.

A man who had sex with an inflatable raft was arrested at his home in Hamilton, Ohio. Edwin Charles Tobergta admitted to the indecent acts and said that he has problems, the Journal News reports.

The alleged sexual acts with the raft took place in the alley behind Tobergta's house, according to the Journal News.

Tobergta, 32, was spotted getting frisky with the pink inflatable raft by the raft's owner early Sunday morning.

Twenty-one year old Arizona mom Jessica Callaway is accused of blowing marijuana smoke into her baby's mouth.

She also kicked and slapped her 10-month-old daughter.

Some of Callaway's actions were recorded on video by a friend, according to the Phoenix New Times. And, it comes as little surprise that she was arrested on charges of child abuse.

Race day spectators in Bristol, Tenn. were treated to an interesting view on Saturday when NASCAR streaker Joshua Greene, 23, took a naked spin across a crowded parking lot, leaving time for a short detour during which he shook his backside to music played by live band.

Shortly after the incident, police found Greene's girlfriend.

With a raccoon.

In a car.