Small Bits of News

Police find dude asleep at the wheel while driving
A 26-year-old St. Louis Park man was asleep at the wheel of his pickup as it drove down the street before dawn on Sunday. He didn't wake when the truck crossed the centerline, or when an officer ran up and jumped on the running board, reached inside and put the truck in neutral.
Then the officer got his attention. "Police had to shake the defendant's shoulder and yell at him to wake him up," the complaint said. Brito was charged with driving while intoxicated, refusing to submit to a test for alcohol and driving while his license was revoked. The charges are all misdemeanors. » Article here

Poor Planning Brings Down Thieves
Two men told a reporter that they regretted stealing 5,647 coins from their restaurant because the loot was too heavy and they couldn't carry it at all, a Qingdao newspaper reported today.
Local residents felt suspicious when they saw the duo, both of whom are in their twenties, exhausted and sweating as they carried a 50-centimeter-long bag at a slow pace at the Qiandao Railway Station, so they called police, the report said.
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Dude hang his wife in a haunted house (sort of)
A man is accused of luring his wife into their garage to see a haunted house and then hanging her. Police arrested 38-year-old Sean Allen Jennings late Tuesday night after the woman, who escaped death, reported the incident. The hanging happened Sunday night when Jennings asked his wife to come into the garage to see a surprise haunted house he had built for their two children. According to a press release on the incident, Jennings convinced his wife to put on a blindfold and then directed her up some steps on a ladder, handcuffed her and put a rope around her neck.
The couple were living together while going through a divorce. The woman told police that she became scared and asked Jennings to release her, but instead he pushed her so she fell. She balanced on a toe for a while to keep from hanging. The victim said that as she begged for help her husband told her that hanging her was better than getting a divorce.
Tired, she slipped and began hanging from the rope, but her husband pulled her up just as she lost consciousness. According to the police press release, Jennings then told his wife to put aloe vera on the rope burn around her neck and cover it with a neck brace to hide it. » Article here

Pizza Man Accused of Making Fake 'Dough'
DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (AP) - A pizzeria owner has been accused of making his own dough, counterfeit money, in a room behind the oven. Police said Wednesday that they found $6,000 in fake bills, along with printing equipment and cutting devices, in a back office at The Brick Oven Pizza Shop, near the village Police Department.
Frank Donato, 39, of Dobbs Ferry, owner of the restaurant and an adjacent ice cream stand, was arrested Tuesday and charged with 16 counts of forgery. Sgt. Harold Young said in a statement that Donato had used the equipment "to print and subsequently distribute counterfeit United States currency."
Donato pleaded innocent at his arraignment and posted $7,500 bail on Wednesday, said his attorney, Bruce Bendish.
Bendish said the equipment seized was "what you'd consider standard equipment in any kind of business." He said he would need time to investigate the charges and expected the case to be adjourned on Thursday.

Mom Charged With Helping Make Pipe Bombs
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - A 43-year-old woman has been charged with a felony after prosecutors said she helped her son make pipe bombs in her home.
Rae Lynn Funston was charged Tuesday in District Court with felony possession of explosives. She is jailed on $25,000 bail. Police said she told them she purchased the PVC pipe and helped her son make the explosives.
Court records said a juvenile probation officer was conducting a routine search of the Funston residence, which is a condition of her 16-year-old son's probation, when he found the pipe bombs in the boy's room.
Deputy Cascade County Attorney Matt Robertson says investigators still haven't determined the bombs' potency or their intended use.
Information from: Great Falls Tribune, http://www.greatfallstribune.com

Dog Saves Family From Fire Blamed on Cat
GREENVILLE, Maine (AP) - Thumper, a black Labrador retriever, is getting credit for saving a Greenville man when a fire swept through his home.
Roland Cote said his wife and their 7-year-old grandson were away when the blaze started early Sunday in a converted two-story garage. He said Thumper grabbed him by the arm to wake him, leaving just enough time for him to dial 911 before fleeing the fast-moving fire.
While the dog is the hero, a cat is the bad guy in this story.
Cote said the fire marshal investigator believes the blaze was started when Princess, the family cat, tipped over a kerosene lantern. Cote says he and his pets escaped safely, but he says Princess did get her tail singed by the flames.
Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

Springfield Bank Customer In Handcuffs After a Prank
A routine trip to the bank to make a withdrawal became anything but for a New Jersey man in Springfield on Monday morning.
The man, who regularly banks with Chase, stopped by the branch at 200 S. Dirksen Parkway about 11:15 a.m., picked up a blank withdrawal slip from a kiosk, filled it out and went to the counter, where he handed the slip to the teller.
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Hunter Finds Two Legged Chihuahua Abandoned In Woods.
WILMINGTON, NC -- Roo the 2-year-old Chihuahua is just like any other dog except that he only has two legs. On Monday, a hunter found Roo in the Rocky Point woods north of Wilmington, North Carolina.
The dog was limping around, malnourished, sick, and in desperate need of some love and attention. The hunter brought Roo to a veterinary hospital in Wilmington. Within 24 hours, Roo started eating again and he even has his own desk in the office.
The dog was named Roo because the workers at the animal hospital thought he resembled a kangaroo