Curses, foiled again
After authorities investigating a store robbery in Chula Vista, Calif., identified Romeo Montillano, 40, as their suspect, they learned he was in Las Vegas, unaware he was wanted. They were able to arrest him, the San Diego Union- Tribune reported, because he returned to take an examination to become a police officer. Police official Bernard Gonzales said that as Montillano was being taken into custody, he asked whether he would still be able to take the exam.

Mellow yellow
A Hindu organization known for its opposition to “corrupting” Western food imports, notably Pepsi and Coca Cola, announced plans to launch a new soft drink made from cow’s urine. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) told Reuters the yet-to-be-named drink mixes urine with aloe vera and gooseberry.

“Cow urine offers a cure for around 70 to 80 incurable diseases, like diabetes,” said Om Prakash, the head of the RSS Cow Protection Department.

Love hurts
New Zealand authorities said Damon Ra Sturmey, 39, died after an argument with his fiancée by shooting himself three times in the chest with a nail gun. The Taranaki Daily News reported that New Plymouth coroner Timothy Scott concluded Sturmey apparently was trying to frighten Sarah-Lee Harlow, not commit suicide. “I don’t think he meant the wounds to be fatal,” Scott said.

Costume justice
Trahan Pires, 34, was fined $500 for assaulting a man in a Chuck E. Cheese mouse suit in Dartmouth, Mass. Pires told authorities he ripped off the mascot’s headpiece because he thought the victim had grabbed his son. The 19-yearold mouse man said he was just putting out his arms to get through a crowd of children trying to knock him over. Shawn Brim, 38, lost his job as a bus driver in Washington, D.C., after he climbed off a bus and punched a police officer dressed as McGruff the crime dog. Brim told a supervisor he was just trying to be funny.

Compiled from the nation’s press by Roland Sweet. Submit items, citing date and source, to P.O. Box 8130, Alexandria VA 22306.