Small Bits of News

Sex Toy Triggers Bomb Scare in Sweden
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - A Swedish bomb squad called out to disarm a suspicious package on Wednesday did not find a ticking bomb. But they did find a vibrating sex toy.
A janitor alerted police after he found the package in a garage of an apartment building in Goteborg, the country's second-largest city. The package was humming and vibrating suspiciously, so police took no chances and sent out a team of explosives experts. After having cordoned off the area, they opened the package with bomb disposal equipment, only to find the battery-operated device inside.

Hmmmm. Did I Leave the Water Running?
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Over watering your plants is never a good idea, especially if they're illegal. Police were called to a three-family house in New Haven Wednesday on a report of a water leak from a second floor apartment into the first floor.
Firefighters responded to the apartment, where they say they found a large marijuana growing system operation with a leaking watering system.
State and local police returned with a search warrant Thursday and found more than 331 marijuana plants with a street value of about $1.6 million, police said.
Mario J. Pena, 29, of New Haven, was arrested and charged with possessing marijuana with intent to sell, illegal cultivation of marijuana and operating a drug factory, state police said. He was being held on $500,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in court Friday.

76 Tickets Will Land You in Jail
HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) - Tickets for expired car registration usually doesn’t result in jail time. Unless of course, that ticket is a driver's 76th. Valerie Ortiz Sanchez, 31, was arrested Monday during a routine traffic stop when officers discovered she had 76 outstanding traffic warrants and nearly $19,000 in unpaid fines and court fees dating back nine years.
Sanchez was arrested on charges of having an expired car registration, no insurance and driving with an expired license, according to an arrest report. She remained in the Harlingen jail Wednesday, and it was unclear whether she had a lawyer.
Municipal Court Judge Valerie Garcia on Tuesday set bond at $1,000 for driving without a valid license and $1,500 as a minimum payment on the warrants, Harlingen police Sgt. John Parrish said.

So, That's Where the Money Came From?
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A $469,000 payroll error at a New Jersey company has earned an Illinois man a date with police. Anthony Armatys of Palatine, Ill., was arrested Wednesday on theft charges after allegedly receiving electronic payroll bank deposits from a New Jersey company he never worked for, authorities said.
Officials at Avaya Inc., a telecommunications provider located in Basking Ridge, discovered checks had been mistakenly direct deposited into his account for nearly five years, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.
Armatys, 34, had accepted a position with Avaya years ago, authorities said, but he rescinded the acceptance before he ever started working. However, a system error resulted in checks being deposited into Armatys' bank account from the fall of 2002 to March of 2007, when the company discovered the error, officials said.

Hey, You. You're on Jury Duty
ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (AP) - Faced with a shrunken jury pool, a judge resorted to some sidewalk justice in hopes of filling it out. It worked. Judge Harold Eaton, Jr., discouraged when a 34-person pool of would-be jurors for a sex case was reduced to 20 people, sent sheriff's deputies into the street to summon people to join in Wednesday.
Taking up positions on a sidewalk in front of the U.S. Post Office, Caledonia County Sheriff Michael Bergeron and three uniformed deputies stopped people, asking if they lived in the county. If they did, and were 18 or older, each was given a summons to report to the courthouse.
According to Bergeron, "99.9 percent were just excellent" about being summoned.
"They were great. We certainly appreciate that." "We hope it won't happen again."