Curses, foiled again
Police arrested Lisa Roshelle Myles, 40, at a Target store in Oklahoma City after employees said they saw her stuff Blu-ray discs in her pants and try to waddle away without paying. The Oklahoman reported that a search revealed Myles had 33 discs in her pants.
British police nabbed three men who robbed a jewelry store in Guildford, Surrey, even though they fled the scene in a stolen high-speed Alfa Romeo, because getaway driver Neil Murray, 34, not only refused to break the speed limit, but at times was driving below the limit. The Daily Telegraph reported police caught up to the robbers within 30 minutes.
Vertical seating
China’s Spring Airlines announced it is considering selling standing-room tickets to allow it to handle the growing number of passengers. Airline official Zhang Wuan told CCTV that standees would actually be assigned bar stools equipped with safety belts. MSNBC reported the airline estimated the measure would increase plane capacity by 40 percent, trim costs by 20 percent and lower fares for all passengers.
Wedding-day blues
An Italian couple, hoping to add a twist to the traditional throwing of the bride’s bouquet, hired an ultralight plane to fly over the reception in Suvereto and drop the bouquet to the line of eligible women waiting below. Corriere della Sera reported that as pilot Luciano Nannelli flew by, passenger Isidoro Pensieri, 44, tossed the bouquet, but the flowers were sucked into the engine, which caught fire and exploded, causing the craft to crash. Nannelli had only minor injuries, but Pensieri was badly hurt and taken to the hospital — in a helicopter.
Incendiary devices
Two inmates at the Chatham County, Ga., jail were treated for minor burns after they started a fire trying to light a handmade cigarette with a spark from an electrical socket. Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Robinson told the Associated Press the inmates probably stuck a pencil lead into a wall socket in their cell, creating a spark that ignited a piece of cloth they intended to use as a match. But the burning cloth set fire to a bed sheet on a nearby bunk. “Some of these guys have serious habits and craving,” Robinson said. “They try to smoke a lot of things: lettuce, collard greens, turnip greens, whatever was served to them at lunch that day.”
Compiled from the nation’s press by Roland Sweet. Submit items, citing date and source, to P.O. Box 8130, Alexandria VA 22306.
