Fun_People Archive
8 Sep
weird news

Date: Tue,  8 Sep 92 21:43:09 PDT
To: Fun_People
Subject: weird news

via <pep@research.att.com> from <schaefer@hri.com>

WRONG PLACE
    Bobby Joe Reid died in December in Taylors, S.C., of a seizure and
cerebral hemorrhage while having sex with his married girlfriend, on the
floor of her living room.  The frightened woman dragged Reid into her
backyard, then called police to report a prowler.  Reid still had his pants
around his ankles when police arrived.

SMOOTH REACTIONS
    James Patrick Summerville, 33, was arrested in Anne Arundel County, Md.,
in November after he chased and rammed a garbage truck with his car and
fired two shots at it at 5:45 a.m.  The truck's driver had declined to wait
for Summerville, who was carrying trash that he had forgotten to put out
that morning.

LEAST COMPETENT PEOPLE
    Huntington Beach, Calif., police Lt. Patrick Gidea reported in November
that officers conducting an undercover drug purchase sting continued to make
arrests of eager would-be customers even after large orange "police" signs
were placed in the area.  Said Gildea, "We actually had people coming up
and getting in line (to buy cocaine) when we had people (under arrest and
handcuffed lying) on the gound."

LEAST COMPETENT PERSON
    Michael Stohr, 26, was arrested for counterfeiting in Madison, Wis., in
September after clerks at a printing supply store tipped off federal
investigators about a man who had been browsing around.  Clerks said the
man lingered in the store holding dollar bills up to a color chart and
finally placing an order for a particular shade of green ink.

ANONYMOUS TIP
    Prison escapee James Sanders was captured by federal agents at his home
in Stinnett, Texas, in January after 17 years on the lam, during which he
had established a new life, married and fathered a daughter.  Agents were
tipped off when Sanders, out of curiosity, telephoned the FBI to ask whether
they were still pursuing James Sanders.

WHAT'S MY LINE?
    Thedford Browning, 20, filling out identification papers in a
Springfield, Mass., courtroom in October in an attempt to be released from
jail without a money bond after his arrest on a crack cocaine charge, listed
his occupation as "drug dealer."  The judge denied the request and imposed
a $20,000 bond.

HIGH-SCORER
    Dietrick Mitchell, 16, was charged with the vehicular murder of
pedestrian Daniel Goetsch, 16, near Aurora, Colo., last October.  According
to a passenger in Mitchell's car, Mitchell had aimed for Goetsch, whom he
did not know, on the street and announced "three points" for hitting him.

FIRST RULE OF CRIME: DON'T GET SIDETRACKED
    When a man pulled two guns on convenience store clerk Wazir Jiwi and
demanded money, Jiwi asked how much he wanted for one of the guns. He said
$100, which Jiwi paid him. Then Jiwi offered to buy the second gun. The
robber handed it over, grabbed the cash and headed for the exit. But Jiwi
had pushed a button under the counter that automatically locked the door.
    "He turned to me and asked what was going on," Jiwi says. "I told him
to bring the money back and I would let him go. He brought the money back,
and I opened the door."

STAYIN' ALIVE
    Doctors at University Hospital in Amsterdam, Holland, are piping disco
music into incubators to improve the breathing rhythm of premature babies.
The doctors say they started the technique with Perry Como records, but
found infant breathing was too slow and unable to keep a beat, so they
switched to disco.

© 1992 Peter Langston