Intellectually Challenged
Sad But True
Police in Wichita, Kansas, arrested a 22-year-old man at an airport
hotel after he tried to pass two (counterfeit) $16 bills.
A man in Johannesberg, South Africa, shot his 49-year-old friend in the
face, seriously wounding him, while the two practiced shooting beer cans
off each other's head.
A company trying to continue its five-year perfect safety record showed
its workers a film aimed at encouraging the use of safety goggles on the
job. According to Industrial Machinery News, the film's depiction of
gory industrial accidents was so graphic that twenty-five workers
suffered minor injuries in their rush to leave the screening room.
Thirteen others fainted, and one man required seven stitches after he
cut his head falling off a chair while watching the film.
The Chico, California, City Council enacted a ban on nuclear weapons,
setting a $500 fine for anyone detonating one within city limits.
A bus carrying five passengers was hit by a car in St. Louis, but by the
time police arrived on the scene, fourteen pedestrians had boarded the
bus and had begun to complain of whiplash injuries and back pain.
Swedish business consultant Ulf af Trolle labored 13 years on a book
about Swedish economic solutions. He took the 250-page manuscript to be
copied, only to have it reduced to 50,000 strips of paper in seconds
when a worker confused the copier with the shredder.
A convict broke out of jail in Washington D.C., then a few days later
accompanied his girlfriend to her trial for robbery. At lunch, he went
out for a sandwich. She needed to see him, and thus had him paged.
Police officers recognized his name and arrested him as he returned to
the courthouse in a car he had stolen over the lunch hour.
When two service station attendants in Ionia, Michigan, refused to hand
over the cash to an intoxicated robber, the man threatened to call the
police. They still refused, so the robber called the police and was
arrested.
A Los Angeles man who later said he was "tired of walking," stole a
steamroller and led police on a 5 mph chase until an officer stepped
aboard and brought the vehicle to a stop.
A 36 year old man who had lost his memory asked police in Hamburg,
Germany, to find out who he was. He wished he hadn't bothered when they
discovered he was wanted for fraud and arrested him.
Stopped for speeding at 80 mph, Michelle Radin told police in Indiana
that she had no oil in her car and was racing home as fast as possible
before the engine blew up.
Police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, charged Redmond McGee with breaking
into a woman's house and brushing her hair against her will.
The owner of a house in Gilroy, California, found that a burglar had
hung new curtains, made the bed, dumped the trash, done the dishes,
stacked newspapers, put dirty clothes in a hamper and put away the
ironing board. Nothing was taken except the old curtains, and the
burglar left a note signed 'Prince Eddie', saying: "Dear Sir, Ihope you
don't mind. I cleaned your house. Don't worry. I won't take anything
because my father is a duke in Spain..." Police later arrested a
mentally disturbed youth.
The victim of a car thief in Trevise, Italy, couldn't believe his luck
when the car was returned with a full tank and a note apologizing for
borrowing the car and offering dinner at a restaurant. Finding that a
table for four had been booked in advance, the man took his whole family
and their host even phoned to ask if they were enjoying the meal. When
they returned home they found that their house had been cleared of its
entire contents, including jewelry and $800 in savings.
Bank robber Anthony Colella was making a clean getaway with $1,300 he
had grabbed during a New York hold-up when he was stopped by a passer-by
who promptly mugged him. Deeply distressed, Colella went straight round
to the police station to report the mugging-- and was arrested for the
original robbery.
An unemployed US printer who turned to counterfeiting was caught because
he used black ink instead of bright green on his phony bills. It turned
out he was color-blind.
Pizza delivery man Troy Brewer was robbed of $50 by two men in Balch
Springs, Texas. He was in a phone booth when two men came up to him,
thrust a snapping turtle at his face and said: "Don't move or you're
gonna get bit!"