Strange Stuff: Weird Crimes, Crazy Laws, and Other Interesting News Stories - Page 180

Woman Shoots Ex Off Car Hood— Where He Clung for 10 Miles

Jan 28, 2013 2:52 PM CST

Woman Shoots Ex Off Hood of Her Car

...where he'd clung angrily for 10 miles

(Newser) - What a way to end it: A Florida woman fatally shot the father of her three children after he had clung to the hood of her car for 10 miles, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Nikki McNeil, 33, reportedly got into a dispute with her ex, 36-year-old Lamar Tucker, when she dropped...

Guy Starts Robbery, Changes Mind, Gets Free Pizza

He breaks down, says family is hungry

(Newser) - A man who apparently summoned the courage to rob a Montana pizzeria changed his mind as the clerk started to hand him money, broke down crying, and ended up leaving with a pizza to feed his hungry family. Just after midnight one night this week, a man wearing a hooded...

Iran Rolls Out
'Finger-Chopping Machine'

Jan 27, 2013 5:54 PM CST

Iran Rolls Out 'Finger-Chopping Machine'

New device an attempt to quell protest: activist

(Newser) - After publicly hanging two muggers , Iran has released photos of an apparent finger-chopping machine used for punishing criminals. The four images show a convicted robber and adulterer losing a finger before he is sentenced to 99 lashes and three years in prison, according to state media. But he shows no...

School Cans Guy Over
Moose-Butchering Fantasy

School Cans Guy Over Moose-Butchering Fantasy

John DeWind claims he was just trying to be funny. He failed.

(Newser) - This may just be the weirdest story of the week: A Columbia University-trained educator was booted from his volunteer gig at a Brooklyn school because he emailed a female teacher ... about butchering a moose. John DeWind, 64, tells DNAinfo.com he was just trying to show the teacher an example...

Irish County:
Drinking and Driving
OK on Rural Roads

Irish County: Drinking and Driving OK on Rural Roads

By coincidence, Kerry politician who introduced measure is a pub owner

(Newser) - Ireland's scenic County Kerry wants police to lighten up on this drinking-and-driving thing. The Kerry council backed a measure this week to allow people in rural areas to be able to knock back "two or three" pints at the local pub and drive home worry-free, reports the Guardian...

iPhone Stolen
—From Guy
Who Just
Stole It

Jan 26, 2013 3:44 PM CST

iPhone Stolen —From Guy Who Just Stole It

'Apple picking' amounts to 14% of NYC crime

(Newser) - How rampant is 'Apple-picking'—iPhone and iPad theft—in New York City? Well, last year saw 16,000 thefts, or 14% of total city crimes. Consider a case related by the New York Times , in which the same phone was stolen twice in an afternoon. A teenage girl...

New Zealand in Uproar Over Quest to Eradicate Cats

Gareth Morgan dreams of a country where birds can flourish

(Newser) - Gareth Morgan is not a cat lover—and a great many New Zealanders apparently aren't a Gareth-Morgan lover. The AP reports on the environmentalist's quest to make the country a haven for native birds by getting rid of cats, and the outrage that has quickly followed. Morgan has...

10K Escaped Crocodiles
Still Roaming Free in S. Africa

Jan 25, 2013 2:19 PM CST

10K Escaped Crocodiles Still Roaming Free in S. Africa

Farm had to open gates amid flooding

(Newser) - Heavy rains in South Africa forced a farm along the Limpopo River to release its animals to save them from floodwaters. But in this case, those animals happened to be crocodiles—15,000 of them, reports Reuters . Police have joined other farmers and hunters in tracking down the escaped crocs,...

Aussie Winery Pulls Out
of NRA's ... Wine Club?

Jan 25, 2013 2:00 PM CST

Aussie Winery Pulls Out of NRA's ... Wine Club?

You can find a nice Merlot and 'defend basic freedoms' at same time

(Newser) - Who knew? The NRA has a wine club, a revelation that surfaced this week when an Australian winery discovered to its dismay that its bottles were sold there, reports the Herald Sun . The owners of Yalumbu say they have no idea how that came to be and promise to get...

Tourist Jailed in NYC
When He Can't Pay Bill

Jan 25, 2013 1:24 PM CST

Tourist Jailed in NYC When He Can't Pay Bill

Italian lawyer says he forgot wallet, but restaurant is unforgiving

(Newser) - An Italian lawyer spent Monday night in a New York City jail because he didn't have his wallet when his $208 bill arrived at a swanky steak restaurant. Both the New York Post ("Mama Mia!") and the Daily News ("Crime Rib") love the tale....

German Soldiers Growing Breasts—on One Side

new report

Jan 25, 2013 8:06 AM CST

German Soldiers Growing Breasts—on One Side

Condition sparked by too much chest-thumping

(Newser) - As part of their training, elite German troops of the Wachbataillon do a lot of chest-beating, repeatedly whacking their rifles on the left side of their chests. That's stimulating unusual hormone production, according to experts. The result: The guys are growing breasts—just on the left side, the German...

Woman in Aptly Named
Crazy Love Movie Is Dead

Jan 24, 2013 2:06 PM CST

Woman in Aptly Named Crazy Love Movie Is Dead

Linda Riss Pugach was blinded by her ex-lover, later married him

(Newser) - "Ours was a storybook romance," Burt Pugach tells the New York Times for the obituary of his wife, Linda Riss Pugach. You be the judge: In 1959, the married Pugach hired three thugs to throw lye in the face of Linda when she ended their affair. She was...

Bosses Held Hostage Over
2-Minute Bathroom Breaks

Jan 24, 2013 11:22 AM CST

Bosses Held Hostage Over 2-Minute Bathroom Breaks

1K Chinese workers kept 18 managers inside factory for day and a half

(Newser) - Hundreds of Chinese factory workers held their Japanese and Chinese managers hostage for a day and a half over ... strictly timed bathroom breaks. About 1,000 workers at Shanghai Shinmei Electric Company kept the 18 managers inside the factory in Shanghai starting Friday morning until just before midnight Saturday. The...

Man Allegedly Tries to
Force-Feed Ring to Fiancée

Jan 24, 2013 10:07 AM CST

Man Allegedly Tries to Force-Feed Ring to Fiancée

Faron Thompson also allegedly pushed her while she was holding their son

(Newser) - We can't imagine why Faron Thompson's finacée wanted to move out of their apartment, but apparently when she tried to do so, he got a little upset. Orlando police arrested the 29-year-old Sunday, charging him with battery via strangulation and child neglect, after he allegedly tried to...

New Bestseller: Novel
About ... Hitler's Return

Jan 23, 2013 11:22 AM CST

New Bestseller: Novel About ... Hitler's Return

Germans apparently love it, and soon you can, too, dear English reader

(Newser) - Adolf Hitler doesn't seem like a hilarious subject, but a German writer did indeed write a comic novel about the Führer, and it's now a bestseller in the country. Er Ist Wieder Da ("He's Back") by Timur Vermes imagines Hitler waking up in 2011...

Sorry, Would-Be Neanderthal Moms: Story a Big Mix-Up

Jan 23, 2013 8:10 AM CST

Sorry, Would-Be Neanderthal Moms: Story a Big Mix-Up

George Church says the whole thing was a misunderstanding

(Newser) - If you were thinking of applying to be the "extremely adventurous" surrogate mom of a Neanderthal baby, we have bad news for you: The Harvard geneticist who was supposedly looking for such a woman now says the reports (which Newser got in on ) aren't true. "Definitely...

Cheese Fire
Closes Norway
Tunnel—for Days

Jan 23, 2013 3:43 AM CST

Cheese Fire Closes Norway Tunnel—for Days

Truck was carrying caramelized goat cheese

(Newser) - Motorists trying to use a road tunnel in Norway's far north have had their way blocked by 27 metric tons of burning goat cheese for nearly a week, the BBC reports. A truck driver abandoned his load of brunost, a highly caramelized brown cheese, after noticing it was on...

Exotic Dancers
Fight Over $1 Bill

Jan 22, 2013 5:15 PM CST

Exotic Dancers Fight Over $1 Bill

It gets worse

(Newser) - The weird crime-blotter item of the day comes from Wisconsin's Appleton Post-Crescent , which reports that police had to break up a nasty, hair-pulling fight between two dancers at an exotic dance club over who should get a customer's tip. Bad: The tip was all of $1. Worse: One...

Huge Swath of France
Smells Like Rotten Eggs

Jan 22, 2013 8:06 AM CST

Huge Swath of France Smells Like Rotten Eggs

No, not permanently

(Newser) - Insert Pepé Le Pew joke here: The northwestern part of France currently smells like rotten eggs, reports Reuters . The bizarre aroma is the result of a non-lethal leak of the gas Mercaptan at a chemicals factory about 75 miles northwest of Paris. Though the leak occurred yesterday, winds carried the...

Wanted: 'Adventurous' Woman to Birth Neanderthal

Jan 22, 2013 1:44 AM CST