Curses, foiled again

When a man wearing a jacket hood over his face entered a bank in Columbus, Ohio, a bank employee informed him of the bank’s “no hats, no hoods” policy. Apparently hoping to avoid attracting attention, the man lowered the hood, according to FBI Special Agent Harry W. Trombitas, but then robbed the bank. Because his hood was down, however, surveillance cameras got a clear picture of his face. (The Columbus Dispatch)

Flight-plan follies

Dan Reeves spent nine years and $40,000 building a two-seater, single-engine airplane in the basement of his home in Cumberland County, Pa., assembling pieces as they arrived. When it was finally ready to fly, he had to spend another $5,000 to knock down a basement wall — the only way he could get the full-size plane out. (Harrisburg’s The Patriot-News)

Slightest provocation

James Dillard, 40, a barber in Trenton, N.J., bit the ear of a 24-year-old customer nearly in half after he complained Dillard was taking too long to cut his hair. (Trenton’s The Times) Police arrested Joseph Hayes, 48, in South Memphis, Tenn., after he threatened the host of a child’s birthday party with a gun because his children didn’t get any cake or ice cream. According to a police affidavit, Hayes yelled at the victim, “Y’all didn’t save my kids no damn ice cream and cake,” then left the party but returned with a small handgun, which he showed to the victim. “I ain’t scared to go to jail,” he told her. “Just take care of my kids.” (Memphis’s The Commercial Appeal) When a 33-year-old man showed up at his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend’s apartment in Hoquiam, Wash., carrying a dead animal and looking for his girlfriend, the ex asked the man why he was carrying a weasel. He told police the man replied, “It’s not a weasel, it’s a marten,” then punched him in the nose and fled. Explaining that the dead animal was actually a mink, police Chief Jeff Myers said the attacker was later arrested. (Associated Press)

When guns are outlawed

After buying a can of beer from a gas station in Burton, Mich., a 45-year-old man was walking home when an unknown man pulled a knife on him and demanded money. The victim responded by swinging the bag containing the beer and hitting the attacker in the side of the head. The suspect ran off. (The Flint Journal)

Guilty with an explanation

Authorities in Will County, Ill., arrested Joshua Price, 26, for leaving a flash drive with child pornography on it at a Joliet Junior College computer lab. They searched his home and found more child pornography and some 1,700 photos of dismembered women. Sheriff’s Detective Joseph Fazio testified that Price told him the porn was “the only thing that kept him from killing his wife and children.” (Chicago Tribune)

Compiled from the nation’s press by Roland Sweet. Authentication on demand.