A young driver in Buffalo, Minn., earned an epic fail on her driver’s test when she rammed the car into the examination station before she’d even pulled out of the parking space. The 17-year-old shifted her 2014 Chevy Equinox into drive instead of reverse and hit the accelerator, causing the car to lurch forward, jump the curb and crash through the window of the station, located in a strip mall. While the driver was not hurt, the examiner, 60, was taken to a hospital with noncritical injuries. Buffalo Police Chief Pat Budke told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that no charges would be filed.
Extreme Measures
Shannon Dean Egeland, 43, of Kuna, Ore., was found guilty in an elaborate scheme to delay a prison sentence and collect insurance. The Idaho Statesman reported that shortly before Egeland was to begin a 10-year jail term in 2014 for his role in a $20-million housing scandal, he took out a disability insurance policy and talked his then-17-year-old son into shooting him in the legs with a 20-gauge shotgun. He thought the wound would delay his prison term and let him collect on the new insurance policy. After the teenager shot him, Egeland called police and said he’d been assaulted. Police became suspicious when they found Egeland’s wallet and BMW were still at the scene. U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown tacked three years and 10 months of additional time onto Egeland’s original sentence. Egeland, who eventually lost his left leg, stood before the judge on his prosthetic leg and said he’d had a lot of time to reflect on his crimes and realized he needs mental health counseling. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Bradford called him a “menace to society.”
Trained Owl Danger
A traditional March wedding at Peckforton Castle in Tarporley, Cheshire, England, was briefly interrupted when an owl trained to deliver the rings to a waiting best man changed its mind about where to land. The betrothed Jeni Arrowsmith and Mark Wood of Wrexham watched as the barn owl flew down the aisle toward the best man. But a seated groomsman then pointed at the bird, which it took as a signal to fly to his hand. “The owl just dived in and hit the guy, who is terrified of birds!” said wedding photographer Stacey Oliver. “He fell off his chair.”
Stealing A Car To Go To Court In
Jonathan Rivera, 25, of Hartford, Conn., appeared in Hartford Superior Court to answer charges of stealing a car. While he waited his turn, parking authority agents outside the courthouse spotted a 2014 Subaru Legacy with license plates that had been reported as stolen. The car itself had also been stolen from Newington, Conn. Police waited for the driver to return and arrested Rivera as he started to drive away in the Subaru. He was charged with second-degree larceny and taking a car without the owner’s permission.
The Flying Cocaine
Fort Pierce, Fla., police pulled over a car on March 21 after they observed it swerving down the roadway. As they approached, they smelled marijuana. During the ensuing search, passenger Kennecia Posey, 26, claimed she was shocked when police found two bags in her purse: one with marijuana and the other with cocaine. Posey admitted the marijuana was hers, but told officers: “I don’t know anything about any cocaine. It’s a windy day. It must have flown through the window and into my purse.” Posey was charged with felony possession of cocaine and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
And Officer, Could You Super Size It?
Lizabeth Ildefonso, 44, drove up to the security booth at the Suffolk County, N.Y., jail at 10:12 am on March 16 and tried to order a “bacon, egg and cheese” sandwich. Deputy Sheriff Yvonne DeCaro explained that she was at the jail, but Ildefonso “insisted that she really wanted a sandwich.” The deputy noticed Ildefonso’s eyes were dilated and glassy, and that she had white powdery residue in her left nostril. DeCaro also checked her license and found it was not valid. After failing a field sobriety exam, Ildefonso was charged with felony driving while impaired by drugs and driving without a valid license.
Fighting Protests With Deer
In Toronto, a group of animal rights advocates started protesting outside a restaurant called Antler. Over the weeks, the numbers of protesters grew, and Antler’s co-owner, Michael Hunter, had had enough of the “murder” signs and “you’ve got blood on your hands” chants. So on March 23, he told the Globe and Mail, he figured, “I’m going to have my own protest. … This is who we are and what we do. So I went and got a deer leg.” Hunter brought a cutting board, knife and the hindquarter of a deer into the front window and butchered the meat while the protesters looked on. As a result, Hunter and the protesters are now trying to open a dialogue, and reservation requests at Antler have increased.
Doing Weird Stuff To Stairs
Neighbors in Gainesville, Fla., called police on March 11 after finding a set of stairs barricaded in their condominium complex. The Gainesville Sun reported that Derrick Lamar Walker, 34, told officers on their arrival that his neighbors had been stomping in the stairwell outside his apartment to “get back at him for his several (insurance-related) lawsuits,” according to a police department report. In retaliation, Walker had covered the stairs with fishing line, thin rubber gaskets, duct tape and cooking oil to try to keep the neighbors away. He was arrested on a criminal mischief charge and was held at the Alachua County Jail.
Least Competent Criminals
John Silva and Derrick Irving thought they had a foolproof plan to cover their tracks after they broke into a mutual acquaintance’s apartment in DeLand, Fla. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said the men stole appliances and a flat-screen TV from the home, then stopped before leaving to set a pot of spaghetti sauce on a hot burner and place a washcloth nearby so it would catch fire and destroy evidence. The victim had been alerted to the break-in by security cameras and called police, who stopped the two and found among the stolen goods in their car an empty jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce. Both men were charged with unarmed burglary, grand theft and arson.
89 Tickets Written Despite Sign
On March 6, Royal Canadian Mounted Police participating in an awareness campaign set up several large electronic signs in North Vancouver, B.C., that warned drivers “POLICE AHEAD — STAY OFF YOUR PHONE.” Despite that, within two hours, officers ticketed 89 drivers, 74 of them for distracted driving, which results in a $368 fine, plus a $175 penalty payment on a first offense. “It is evident there is still more education and enforcement needed to make our roads safer,” remarked Cpl. Richard De Jong.
Landlord Problens
On Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., Leah Bassett, artist and longtime resident of Aquinnah, leased her home to an employee of Mile High Distribution. Beasley didn’t realize Mile High was a pornography production company. In March, 2015, Joshua Spafford of Mile High informed Bassett he had left the house because he was fired. This prompted Bassett to ask her parents to stop by and check it out. They were “shocked by the deplorable state of condition in which they found their daughter’s personal residence,” according to court documents. As “circumstances evolved,” Bassett began reviewing internet sites maintained by Mile High, which “publicly boasted about their porn shoots on chic and tony Martha’s Vineyard.” Bassett filed suit in late March in U.S. District Court, alleging the sites featured photos showing her home, artwork and furnishings, “utilizing nearly every room of her home” including scenes on top of her dining room table, sofas and in her laundry room. Defense lawyer Stephen A. Roach said the suit “arose out of a basic landlord-tenant dispute.”
Dangerous Food
Some people don’t like ham. When Beverly Burrough Harrison, 62, received a gift of ham from her family on Feb. 12, she waited until they left, then set it on fire and threw it in a trash can at the Bomar Inn in Athens, Ala., where she was living. As smoke filled the room, AL.com reported, Harrison took her dog and left without alerting anyone to the fire. As a result, she was spared from being a victim of the ham bomb that blew out the front wall of the room when a can of butane fuel was ignited. Harrison was held at the Limestone County Jail on a felony arson charge and could face life in prison if convicted.
Failure To Communicate
Things went from bad to worse for soccer player Sanchez Watt during a match in Hertfordshire, England. Awarded a yellow card, Watt was asked his name by referee Dean Hulme, who mistook “Watt” for “What.” As Watt repeated his name over and over, the referee became perturbed and changed the yellow card to red for dissent, BBC Sport reported. Hulme rescinded the card when someone explained the mix-up. “I think everybody found it amusing afterwards, including the referee,” said team chairman Dave Boggins. “He was very apologetic.”
Our Weird Addiction
On March 6, Royal Canadian Mounted Police participating in an awareness campaign set up several large electronic signs in North Vancouver, B.C., that warned drivers “POLICE AHEAD — STAY OFF YOUR PHONE.” Despite that, within two hours, officers ticketed 89 drivers, 74 of them for distracted driving, which results in a $368 fine, plus a $175 penalty payment on a first offense. “It is evident there is still more education and enforcement needed to make our roads safer,” remarked Cpl. Richard De Jong.
Comments are closed.