News of the Weird: Week of August 28, 2025

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The Passing Parade

Aug. 16 was just another happy Saturday at the Northeast Elementary School playground in Vernon, Connecticut -- until it wasn't. A 40-year-old man who became trapped in a tube slide had to be rescued by the Town of Vernon Fire Department, WKRC-TV reported. When first responders arrived, the unnamed man was stuck in the middle of the slide. He was provided oxygen, and ventilation was set up to cool the space. After about 30 minutes, which included taking the slide apart, the man was rescued and refused medical care or transport to a hospital.

Least Competent Criminal

              -- Those pesky home surveillance videos. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department took a missing person report on Aug. 12 in regard to Sheylla Cabrera, 33, KTLA-TV reported. But the next day, as detectives viewed video from a neighbor's Ring doorbell, they spied Cabrera's husband, 36-year-old Jossimar Cabrera, struggling to pull a heavy sack or sheet away from the home. Three days later, a sack containing Sheylla's body was found in the Angeles National Forest. Jossimar allegedly fled to Peru, where local authorities picked him up, then released him pending charges. The couple's three children were also found safe in Peru.

              -- Only in Iowa could you be arrested for "simulated public intoxication." KCRG-TV reported that on Aug. 18, Fayette County Sheriff's deputies were called about individuals lying in a ditch around 5:30 a.m. Kalab Barker, 31, was the only one still around when officers arrived; he was arrested and charged with the dubious crime of pretending to be drunk.

              -- In Hillsborough County (Florida), a drone crashed into a home around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 19, Fox5-TV reported. The homeowners retrieved the drone from the backyard before the drone's owner, Jason Brooks, 49, knocked on the front door, at which point they called police. Sheriff Chad Chronister said the homeowner found a cloth bag attached to the drone, with four other bags inside. "Three bags with fentanyl powder and one bag of methamphetamine," Chronister said. "Each bag has a person's name written on the bag." When deputies arrived, they found Brooks outside. He told them he was flying his drone and "I believe it crashed in this area, and I'm going in the backyard trying to find my drone." Brooks is a 15-time convicted felon; he was charged with possession with intent to sell or deliver, among other charges, and held without bond.

But Why?

              -- As landscaper Brian Hanson mowed a lawn in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Aug. 14, he was interrupted by a man in full jester costume approaching him with a 12-inch dagger, The Smoking Gun reported. Hanson positioned his mower between him and the threatening cosplayer, Anthony Marzola, 51, who lives nearby. Marzola was allegedly unhappy about the sound of the mower and yelled at Hanson that he "cannot be mowing." Police believe Marzola's get-up may be related to his business, the Psychedelic Jester smoke shop; why he was in full costume at home was not explained. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

              -- David Hampson, 54 -- known to locals as "Silent Man" -- has been arrested again in Swansea, Wales, for standing in the middle of busy roads in the city, the Telegraph reported on Aug. 12. By "again," we mean for the 12th time. Hampson, who has no fixed address, has been repeating his strange behavior since 2014, but he won't explain himself to law enforcement or health officials and won't even confirm his name in court. But he's not mute, his brother said: "He never stops talking. He's a spoilt brat. He just does it to have a comfy life inside prison."

Well-Done

Firefighters with the Doolittle (Missouri) Rural Fire Protection District responded to a truck fire on Aug. 18, Fox5-TV reported. Inside the trailer was 40,000 pounds of rib-eye steaks -- which, while a total loss, had to smell AMAZING! Probationary firefighter Jenna Ulrich, the only vegan in the department, fought her first fire that morning alongside her dad, Glenn Ulrich.

Suspicions Confirmed

              -- The Wynn Encore resort in Las Vegas and nightclub DJ Gryffin got punked when Justin Bieber impersonator Dylan Desclos, 29, showed up at the venue, Huff Post reported on Aug. 19. The pseudo-Bieber danced and partied, allegedly racking up a $10,000 bar bill, before his "team" alerted Gryffin that he wanted to perform "Sorry," one of his big hits. "Dark venue and loud music didn't help here," Gryffin posted after discovering he'd been had. A spokesperson for the Wynn Encore said Desclos had been granted access to the stage after an "elaborate and multistep ruse by him and his advance team." The resort banned him for life after learning he wasn't really Bieber.

              -- When Fujiyoshi Shindo, 93, was found dead in his home in Daisen, Japan, on Aug. 18, police initially suspected he had been mauled by a bear, The Japan Times reported. Bear sightings have become more common in northern Japan; more than 200 people were attacked in the 12 months leading up to March 2024. But as investigators looked into the incident further, they found that the man's wounds were more consistent with a knife attack. On Aug. 19, his son, Fujiyuki Shindo, 51, was arrested for allegedly murdering his elderly father. The younger man lived with his parents, and detectives seized several knives from the home in an effort to identify the murder weapon.

The Tech Revolution

Visitors to Judong No. 3 Park in Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea, may rub their eyes when they see a life-size, uniformed policeman, Oddity Central reported on Aug. 15. That's because the officer is a 3D hologram that patrols between 7 and 10 p.m., assuring people that "in emergencies, the police will respond immediately" and "there are surveillance cameras everywhere." The specterlike officers are intended to increase people's perception of safety, and since their installation in October, data show they've had a significant impact on crime in the park, decreasing incidents by 22%.

Smooth Reaction

Last week, News of the Weird reported on a group of teenagers sought by police in East Greenbush, New York, for pulling ding-dong-ditch pranks on residents. So it was only a matter of time until things escalated. According to KDFW-TV, in Frisco, Texas, 58-year-old Damon Wolfe "ran out into the street, fired shots at a vehicle as it was coming his direction and as it had already passed him," police said, after the three teenagers in the car had ding-dong-ditched Wolfe's house in late July. Police discovered the car had three bullet holes in it, and the kids admitted the prank. Police Chief David Shilson called the incident "completely senseless and avoidable had better decisions been made by all involved."

Inappropriate Behavior

Turkish authorities are searching for a "foreign tourist" who offended "the nation's moral values" when she performed a pole dance on a Turkish flagpole, AFP reported on Aug. 21. The case was opened after a 12-second video was posted to social media showing a woman wearing leggings and a T-shirt while dancing. "The governor's office is closely monitoring this heinous incident," the governorate said in a statement. The offenses carry jail terms of at least two years.

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