News of the Weird newspapers illustration
Oh, Rats!
The San Diego Humane Society was summoned to a convenience store parking lot in Del Mar, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 8, after law enforcement officers responded to calls of concern about a van parked there, near one of San Diego’s toniest neighborhoods. Officers found a woman living in the van—with more than 300 rats. Humane Society Capt. Danee Cook told The San Diego Union-Tribune, “This was not a cruelty case. This was pure negligence.” The unidentified owner said she had started with two pet rats, but the situation had gotten out of control, and she agreed to surrender all of them, many of which were juveniles or pregnant. Officers spent several days tearing the van apart and recovered 320 animals, about half of which were put up for adoption. Meanwhile, the woman has found a place to live with the help of a GoFundMe page.
Blackwell Not Well
Andrew Blackwell, 25, has his sights set on a particular home in Salt Lake City, Utah, and apparently will stop at nothing to make it his own. Since late August, Blackwell, a neighbor of the property, has been repeatedly entering the home, according to court papers, even after being told by police that he does not have authority to do so. He has been doing work around the house, including removing trees and shrubbery, installing new locks and telling other neighbors he had bought the house. Blackwell told police he offered the elderly owner of the home, who lives elsewhere, $9,000 for her property, which has a market value of $363,000. Court documents state that, after the owner refused the offer, he told her he would “forge any document needed to get the property from her,” according to KUTV. Finally, on Friday, Oct. 18, police issued a warrant for Blackwell’s arrest on charges of burglary, forgery, stalking, theft, three counts of criminal trespassing and criminal mischief.
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Rough Day for Roaches
Truck driver Cesar Schmitz of Eneas Marques, Brazil, was just trying to make his wife happy when he launched an effort to rid their backyard of cockroaches. “She begged me to destroy their nests under the ground once and for all,” Schmitz, 48, explained. After chemicals failed to do the job, The Daily Mail reported, Schmitz decided setting fire to their holes would work, so on Friday, Oct. 18, he poured gasoline into them and tossed in lighted matches. After a couple of misfires caught on his home’s security camera, one match worked, perhaps a little too well. Schmitz and his dogs are seen ducking for cover as the resulting explosion sent turf and lawn furniture flying through the air. The gasoline itself had ignited, but it had also set off the highly combustible methane from the bugs’ venom that had accumulated in an air pocket under the grass. “I wish I’d thought this through,” Schmitz said. For the time being, however, the cockroaches are gone.
Cody Gets Cozy
Twenty-year-old Cody Meader of St. Petersburg, Fla., entered a Pinellas Park Target store on Tuesday, Oct. 22, where he sought out a large “Olaf” stuffed doll from the Disney movie Frozen, the Smoking Gun reported. Meader then placed the doll on the floor, climbed on top of it to… have his way with the doll and, after “finishing,” he returned the character to the shelf and proceeded to the toy department, where he “selected a large unicorn stuffed animal” and repeated his bizarre, offensive behavior. Meader was detained in the store and later charged with criminal mischief. His father told police that his son “has a history of this type of behavior.”
I Give You Jail
A quick-thinking employee of a Boost Mobile store in Philadelphia helped police catch a thief on Tuesday, Oct. 22. According to CBS3, the employee was in the store alone when a 19-year-old man entered, pulled a gun and demanded money. “Can you wait a few minutes?” the employee responded. “I give you money. I have another employee outside and he took the key, but after that I give you,” he explained. The robber agreed, and the employee left the store, locking the door from the outside and trapping the criminal inside until a SWAT team arrived. The frustrated suspect shot his gun through the glass door, but no one was hurt.
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