This is a list of weird, wacky, and other unusual stories that we found around the web. It is for September, 2021.
At this point, it’s an addition to read these, isn’t it?
In the UK, don’t call 999 for non-emergency reasons – especially if you are calling to see if you got hired as a cop
We’ve all been there. When you apply to a job, you are always super curious to see if your application is going well or not. Of course, some people just can’t push that curiosity aside and wind up contacting someone handling the applications. Usually, that’s a recipe for disaster. In this case, however, someone who applied to be a police officer ended up calling 999 to check the status of his application:
People have been using the emergency line for ‘ridiculous reasons’ and the North Wales Police control room has now urged people to stop doing this because ‘it takes valuable resources from people who are in real trouble’.
The force revealed among the time-wasting callers was a man who put himself forward to be a police officer and wanted to check how his application was coming along.
Chief Inspector Mark Williams said there was ‘absolutely no excuse’ for the police officer applicant to call and follow up about his application.
He was ‘clearly not cut out for the job’, Mr Williams added.
So… I take that as a “no” then.
No License Plate? No Problem! Sharpie It!
Don’t get involved in the illegal drug trade. If you do get involved in the illegal drug trade, don’t transport illegal drugs. If you do transport illegal drugs, don’t do anything illegal in the process. If you do do something illegal in the process, don’t let it be “license plate was written with a Sharpie“:
In a probable cause affidavit filed in support of the arrest, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper said he first spotted the car, with its handwritten license plate, headed northbound on I-15 on Saturday, Aug. 28. In addition to the homemade tag, trooper Scott Mackelprang wrote that he noticed illegally dark tinting on the windows, including over the third brake light in the rear window. Additionally, he said the driver followed a semi with a distance of under two seconds.
After pulling over the vehicle, Mackelprang said he noticed possible signs of drug use.
“I noted that his eyes were glassy, bloodshot and red,” Mackelprang wrote. “He had facial tremors and was sweating.”
A preliminary search of the vehicle uncovered two small packages of a white substance believed to be methamphetamine.
In addition to the invalid license plate, UHP said the driver’s California license was either suspended or revoked. The car did not have a valid registration. A further search of the vehicle uncovered three more large bundles of suspected methamphetamine. In all, it added up to more than 7 pounds.
… and I thought using a Sharpie to draw eyebrows was bad.
Beware of the Underwear Thief
It takes effort to make international news for stealing women’s underwear, but one Japanese man managed to accomplish this:
Police officers in the southern Japanese city of Beppu have accused a man of stealing 730 pieces of women’s underwear from coin laundries.
Authorities were first alerted by an unnamed 21-year-old female college student, who accused Tetsuo Urata, 56, of pilfering six pairs of underwear from her at a laundromat on August 24, per local news broadcaster Abema TV.
The city police showed up on Urata’s doorstep that week, where they found 730 pieces of underwear stashed in his apartment. Urata has been arrested and has admitted to the authorities that he stole the underwear found in his possession, according to Yahoo Japan News.
“We haven’t confiscated such a large number of panties in years,” a Beppu city police department spokesman told Abema TV.
I’m pretty sure the number of people who devote their whole life to becoming a police officer solely wanting to issue a statement in the international media about how they nabbed an underwear thief is exactly zero, but that’s just my guess. Likewise, I’m not sure how I’d feel being that officer to issue that statement knowing I’d be world famous for that reason.
The Proud Boys Are Licking Each Other
Resolving disputes is often a difficult task. According to Proud Boys chairman, Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys apparently have and… odd… way of resolving disputes:
Tarrio, who was sentenced last month for burning a Black Lives Matter banner stolen from a church in Washington, D.C., and for carrying two high-capacity firearm magazines, said that members have an interesting way of resolving their disputes.
He said:
“At our national event, every year, we put a boxing ring together, or I rent an octagon, the guys put gloves on, and they just f****** go ham on each other.”
But, he added, members don’t always want to fight. In fact,
“…they don’t even want to fight. They get drunk, they slap each other’s asses, they kiss each other on the f****** cheek, lick each other in the f****** face, you know?”
“And I’m like, you guys were just f****** calling each other the most stupidest thing just a month ago.”
Tarrio referred to these bonding sessions as “pretty magical.”
What the **** did I just read???
Never Fake a Hit and Run With a Tesla
There are certainly people who like to fake collisions. Often, it’s for insurance fraud reasons. It’s a pretty big reason why car owners are getting dash cams even. Of course, not all would-be scammers are catching on to this and try to commit this kind of fraud anyway. As one person found out, you probably shouldn’t fake collisions with a Tesla:
Police in Slidell, La. said the man called 911 around 4:00 p.m. local time to report he was injured.
He told them he was hit by a Tesla in a busy gas station parking lot.
The man, identified as 47-year-old Arthur Bates Jr. told officers the Tesla backed into him, causing him to fall to the pavement.
He said the driver took off after the incident.
Bates was complaining of back, leg, and neck injuries, so an ambulance and fire truck were called to the scene.
Slidell police officers later found the Tesla and spoke to the driver of the vehicle.
The driver stated that Bates intentionally jumped behind his vehicle and staged the accident.
Bates man not have known but the Tesla recorded the incident with its rear camera.
When Slidell police reviewed the video, it became apparent that Bates was lying and staged the entire event.
The link contains a full video. Yup, busted!
Pothole Problem? Plant a Palm Tree! It’s the Florida Way!
A pothole that hasn’t been fixed in a while was apparently filled… with a palm tree:
FORT MYERS, Fla. – It might look like a typical banana tree — but it’s not growing in a typical place.
Someone planted the tree in a pothole in the middle of a Fort Myers street to make a point: the pothole is so deep, you can plant a tree in it.
The unusual sight caught drivers by surprise.
“I pulled up, and I’m like, ‘Is that really a tree in the middle of the road?'” resident John Hulker told WINK-TV.
“Me and my wife started instantly laughing,” Nicholas Angus, who lives in the area, recalled to the news outlet.
For those with a good memory, yes, two months ago, I posted a story about someone planting tomatoes in a pothole. I’m beginning to think this is becoming a trend here.
That Moment When UK Police Borrows a Bicycle to Catch a Suspect
A UK police officer took what seems like a rather unusual tactic to catch a suspect. He ended up borrowing someone’s bicycle to catch that suspect. Of course, there is also video:
Police bodycam footage has been released of an officer borrowing a bike to chase down a suspect across a park in Birmingham
PC Tom Harris spotted a suspect across the park on Hob Moor Road while out on a domestic abuse call out.
The West Midlands Police officer then chased him on foot, before borrowing a mountain bike to reach the 23-year-old suspect.
He asked fellow officers to return the bike after he arrested the man.
Hey, whatever works, right?
Police Officer of the Year Indeed
When you think of “Officer of the Year”, you might think of a very upstanding police officer who goes above and beyond the call of duty. Maybe even a squeaky clean record on top of it all. Well, in Orange County Florida, that officer would later have criminal charges laid against him:
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office has filed criminal charges against a former Orlando Police Officer, “Officer of the Year,” sources tell News 6.
State Attorney Monique Worrell has filed charges against Jonathan Mills for sexual battery by a law enforcement officer, a first-degree felony, along with a second charge of battery.
In 2017, the Orlando Police Department praised officer Mills for helping a man fill out a job application near Lake Eola.
In 2018, Mills posted a photo after OPD named him Patrol Officer of the Year, but during his time with the department, Mills also had a string of allegations of showing racial bias and lying in police reports — and now come criminal charges.
Caila Coleman is an attorney and Chair of OPD’s Citizens Review Board and says Mills’ name is a familiar one.
“He has been involved in several investigations,” Coleman said. “His cases came before us several times, and every time we reviewed a case, his actions were egregious.”
Makes you wonder if the other winners are being looked at funny afterwards.
How Not to Tow a Boat
This is one of those stories where the picture says it all, but when you think of a vehicle towing a large boat, you might think a large truck or maybe even a van. Chances are, you don’t think of a Sedan as a vehicle meant for towing a boat. Well, that’s what officers Oregon pulled over recently:
EUGENE, Ore. — Police officers gave a warning to a driver for safety issues after the driver was spotted towing a boat that appeared to be rigged to the trunk of a sedan.
Eugene police says it received calls around 11 a.m. Tuesday about the car and boat near River Road and Division.
Police contacted the flotilla on NW Expressway and Chambers.
Just image the smoke coming off of those brakes while going down a hill.
They Found the Caveat to a “Free Car”
So, you found a car on the side of the road with the sign “free car”. The doors are unlocked and the keys are in the ignition. What would you do? Me, I might consider contacting authorities given the suspicious nature of it all, but maybe that’s just me. Some men, however, decided to drive it back at their place. When they took a closer look at the vehicle, they discovered a dead body in the trunk:
COPIAH CO., Miss. (WLBT) – According to Copiah County Sheriff Byron Swilley, a body was found inside of a vehicle in Copiah County.
Sheriff Swilley said a man drove the vehicle from Byram to Copiah County but realized that there was a body inside the vehicle’s trunk.
Coroner Ellis Stuart said two men found the car in Byram with a “free car” sign on it, with the key inside. They drove the car to Copiah County and looked inside after arriving at a family member’s home.
The body has been identified as 34-year-old Anthony Mccrillis. Stuart said his body had been in there for several days and was found without clothes.
My question in all of this is: how did they not notice the smell?
Don’t Like Porn? Please Find a Better Way to Protest it Than With Pipe Bombs
Some people are against the existence of porn. I get that. Some people take it to the next level and actually protest porn. Hey, it’s possible under the first amendment in the US constitution. Where things go too far is the use of those pipe bombs, though:
BAY CITY, MI — A Whittemore man has been federally charged with leaving pipe bombs at cellphone stores and threatening letters at cell towers. Allegedly, the man carried out these acts as part of a moral campaign to end porn and cursing, but also to get a $5 million payday.
Law enforcement on Tuesday, Sept. 21, arrested 75-year-old John D. Allen. Later that same day, Allen had his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in downtown Bay City, where he is charged with extortion and attempted damage or destruction of a building used in interstate commerce.
The former is a 20-year felony, while the latter is punishable by a minimum five years to not more than 20 years in prison.
Allen faces the same two charges in the Western District of Michigan, though he has not yet had his initial appearance in that jurisdiction.
The case against Allen began with a Charter Spectrum employee on Aug. 25 finding a letter inside a polka dot envelope near a telecommunication tower in St. Ignace. The letter contained a threat and extortion demand to AT&T, Verizon, and other carriers. The employee turned the letter over to the Michigan State Police, according to an affidavit contained in court files and authored by an FBI special agent.
Am I the only one that finds it a bit ironic that this guy tried to fight for morality with the use of pipe bombs?
Actual headline: “Tim Cook says employees who leak memos do not belong at Apple, according to leaked memo”
I can fully admit, there is no way I could possibly one up that headline. So, here’s the excerpt:
Tim Cook sent an email to Apple employees Tuesday evening about an all-hands meeting that leaked to The Verge last week. He said the company is doing “everything in our power to identify those who leaked” and noted that “people who leak confidential information do not belong” at Apple.
On September 17th, Tim Cook announced during an internal company-wide meeting that Apple would be requiring frequent testing for unvaccinated employees — but was stopping short of a vaccine mandate. He also said that he was “looking forward to moving forward” after the Epic v. Apple antitrust case. Shortly after the meeting, both pieces of news leaked to The Verge.
Now, Cook is tying the news to product leaks — which the company has historically gone to great lengths to track down.
You know you have a leak problem when…
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
