NEWS QUIRKS

Curses, foiled again

Camden, N.J., police Sgt. Jeffrey Frett, 40, plotted an early retirement by having his wife meet him while on patrol to shoot him in the leg so he could claim he’d been the victim of a random shooting. The scheme unraveled after a plainclothes officer passed the couple and noticed the wife’s van. A few minutes later, the officer heard Frett’s voice over the police radio reporting he’d been shot, then saw the van drive by. He gave chase and captured the “assailant.” Meanwhile, because her aim was off, she’d only shot Frett’s pants leg. Frett later pleaded guilty to making a false police report, lost his job and forfeited his pension. (Cherry Hill’s Courier-Post) Robert Williams was arrested after he applied to join the San Diego Police Department and answered yes to two questions on his application about having had sexual contact with a child and viewing child pornography. Police searched his car and apartment and confiscated computers and hard drives. Williams released a statement objecting to being arrested for “telling the truth during the hiring process” and declared he “is seeking expert counsel, pro bono.” (San Diego’s KGTV-TV)

Stimulus Package

One consequence of the deadlier-than-usual tornado season in the United States has been record-breaking sales for the roughly 100 companies that sell safe rooms and storm shelters. Prices range from $3,000 for a concrete bunker to thousands of dollars for elaborate steel rooms. Not all shelters being sold, however, meet proper safety standards in a field that is largely unregulated, according to Ernst Kiesling, executive director of the National Storm Shelter Association. Noting “almost anyone can start up a shelter business and build shelters,” Kiesling said some shelters on the market are little more than septic tanks rigged to accommodate people or use materials so flimsy that a high wind can rip off the doors. (The New York Times)

Slightest Provocation

Authorities accused Ilona Sales, 62, of beating her younger sister at the home they share in Plainfield, Ill., when the two fought because they couldn’t agree whether to set the thermostat at 67 or 68. Will County Judge Brian Barrett found Sales not guilty because he couldn’t tell which of the sisters started the brawl. (Chicago Tribune) Police arrested brothers Jonathan R. Pippert, 32, and Jared J. Pippert, 27, at the home they share with their mother in Sheboygan, Wis., after they fought over a bottle of shampoo. The Pipperts agreed the fight began when Jonathan took the shampoo from Jared’s room while Jared was sleeping, but each insisted the other one threw the first punch. (Sheboygan Press) Karl Ludwig Eichner, 68, was arrested in Naples, Fla., after being accused of attacking a woman with his swim noodle and then punching her in the face because she threw his watermelon into the Gulf of Mexico. (Naples Daily News)

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