Curses, foiled again
Albert Bailey, 27, and a 16-year-old accomplice phoned a bank in Fairfield, Conn., and said they’d be by in 10 minutes to pick up $100,000 in large bills. Their call warned no dye packs and threatened “a blood bath” if the money wasn’t ready. Bank officials immediately notified police, who showed up in time to stop the suspects after they picked up the money but before they could make their getaway. The robbers got what they wanted but “didn’t expect police to be in the takeout line,” police Sgt. James Perez noted, adding, “You can’t make this stuff up.” (Connecticut Post)
Reasonable explanations
After police arrested Anthony Coffman, 28, for using a hunting knife to cut open meat packages in a supermarket in Edinburgh, Ind., and then throwing the raw meat on the floor, Coffman explained he’s a vegetarian and gets upset when others eat beef. He insisted God sent him to ruin the meat, adding he was trying to save little girls from food he believes would make them “chubby.” “He thought if he could save one chubby girl, he’s done his job,” police Deputy Chief David Lutz said. (WRTV News)
Look Ma, no eyes
Turkish pop singer Metin Senturk, who has been blind since he was 3, wept for joy after learning that he had become the world’s fastest unaccompanied blind driver. His average speed of 292.89 kph (181.59 mph) broke the previous record of 284 kph, held by a British bank manager. Former rally driver Volkan Isik followed Senturk in a separate vehicle and guided him by radio. (Reuters)
Well-heeled thief
South Korean police arrested a 59-year-old man suspected of stealing shoes, which Koreans customarily remove before entering homes, restaurants and funeral parlors. A subsequent search found 170 boxes packed with 1,700 pairs of expensive designer shoes, sorted by size and brand. “Shoe theft is not unusual here,” Detective Kim Jeong-gu said. “But we gasped at this one.”
Unkosher for Passover
Cigarettes may contain traces of pig blood, according to Dutch researchers, who found cigarette companies using pig hemoglobin to make filters to trap harmful chemicals before they enter smokers’ lungs. Although cigarette manufacturers voluntarily list the contents of their products on their Web sites, those are proven-dangerous ingredients. They lump pig’s blood under undisclosed “processing aids,” which “do not functionally affect the finished product,” said Australian public health professor Simon Chapman, who pointed out Jewish, Islamic and vegetarian smokers would find inhaling pig’s blood “very offensive.” (Australian Associated Press)
Compiled from the nation’s press by Roland Sweet. Authentication on demand.
