Small Bits of News

Chicago's Dumbest Thief
CHICAGO - Chicago Police say no one could make this story up...
An 18-year-old man entered a muffler shop in the 2600 block of North Laramie Avenue yesterday and declared a robbery. He allegedly waved a gun around and demanded money, according to police.
When he was told the money was in a safe and that the manager who knew how to open it was not there, the suspect had a brilliant idea; at least he thought it was brilliant.
He gave the shop employees his cell phone number and asked them to call him when the manager arrived so he could open the safe for him.
The man left and the employees opted to call 911. Authorities stationed plain clothes officers in the shop and called the would-be robber back. The suspect showed up again, and waved his gun around again, but this time was shot in the leg by an officer. The man had surgery at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and is said to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
One officer with 20 years on the force said this is one of the more “unusual” cases he’s seen.
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Bandit pre-ordered loot on phone
WINDSOR, Ontario, March 25 (UPI) -- Police in Windsor, Ontario, said they are holding a burglary suspect they allege phoned ahead to a convenience store to demand the loot be bagged and waiting.
Staff Sgt. Al Brown said around 2 a.m. Monday, a clerk at a convenience store received a phone call from a man asking how much cash was in the register, the Windsor Star reported. "Somebody called up and said put some money in a bag, sit it next to the store and don't call the police," Brown said.
The clerk mostly followed instructions and an unmasked man appeared soon after. Once he took the bag from the sidewalk, he was arrested by officers watching from a distance, Brown said. He said there have been two similar robberies recently in which the loot was demanded by phone, and the 40-year-old in custody is suspected in those as well, but not charged as yet.
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Holdup suspect nabbed after ending up at same bar as his pursuers
Stop us if you've heard this one. A man walks into a bar. He runs into the young couple who chased him after a gift shop robbery earlier in the night. The man walks out in handcuffs. Police say that was the scenario in the Torch Club on Friday night, following a stickup at Joann's Elegant Gifts near 10th and L streets.
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Man Nabbed for Pot-Smelling Cash Deposit
STURGEON BAY, Wis. (AP) - The musty smell of a man's money led to his arrest on possible drug charges. The 21-year-old Sturgeon Bay man tried to deposit money smelling of marijuana at a bank. The $4,000 in bundled bills did not smell like burned marijuana but had a musty odor of ground sweet leaves, the report said. The smell was so strong and distinct that a teller put the cash in a plastic bag. Sturgeon Bay police tested it for marijuana, and it came back positive, the report said. The man was arrested when he returned to the bank to make a withdrawal. Police later found bagged marijuana at the man's home.
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Naked Bottom Woman Gets Out of Car
YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) - Suburban New York police say a drunken driver had a suspended license and had marijuana in her car. Oh, they also say she didn't have any pants on.
Yonkers police say 22-year-old Long Island resident Angelica Buchanan was found Saturday standing bottomless in a street near her car. They say she was so drunk she had to be hospitalized.
Police say she claimed she wasn't wearing pants because she needed to use the bathroom. They've charged her with driving while intoxicated, unlicensed operation of a vehicle and marijuana possession.
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Man went "POSTAL."
Man drives car into post office, gets another car, does it again
A Jackson County man remains in jail after he drove two cars into the post office in Ravenden Springs. Randolph County Sheriff Gary Tribble said Glenn Irvin Sparling, 65, drove one vehicle into the post office on Sunday and fled the scene. The car stopped running, the sheriff said, and Sparling went home and got another vehicle a red antique sports car, and headed back to the post office. A deputy spotted Sparling and gave chase, Tribble said. The pursuit ended when Sparling ran the sports car into the post office. Sparling wasn't hurt, the sheriff said, but there is an 8-foot by 8-foot hole in the post office.
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Woman pulls gun on deliverymen for not taking shoes off
Two furniture deliverymen fled a home after a customer produced a gun because they wouldn't take their shoes off. Two employees of Howell's Furniture Gallery were making a delivery to a house.
The homeowner, who was not identified, asked the deliverymen to take off their shoes. They replied removing their shoes was against company policy and pointed out they were wearing protective covers so as not to damage her carpet, the report stated.
An argument ensued, which expanded to cover other problems the woman had with the store, and the woman got a handgun. The delivery men told police she never pointed the gun at them, but they left anyway and called police.
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Man Shooting Hole Through Wall Kills Wife
Man fatally shoots wife while installing satellite TV system
Officials are trying to decide whether to file charges against a Missouri man who fatally shot his wife while trying to install a satellite TV system in the bedroom of their home.
Patsy Long, 34, of Deepwater, died after being shot in the chest with a .22-caliber handgun on Saturday. Her husband, Ronald Long, fired the shot from the inside of their home after several unsuccessful efforts to punch a hole through the exterior wall using other means.
Henry County sheriff's deputies said the woman was hit by the second of two shots fired by her husband.