weird crimes

Read odd news stories and other latest weird crimes news from around the world on Newser.com

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Woman Sent to Jail for Not Returning Movie Rental

South Carolina resident forgot about her 2005 VHS tape

(Newser) - The weird part of this story is that a woman had to spend the night in jail because she failed to return a movie rental from 2005 to a business that no longer exists, reports WYFF-TV . The sad part is that she went to jail not for Capote, or Brokeback ...

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week
 5 Craziest Crimes of the Week 
Feb 14, 2014 8:57 AM CST

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week

Including a sister who went to extremes to break up a wedding

(Newser) - A woman who went way too far in trying to foil her brother's wedding day and a potential break in a cold case are on the list:
  • Woman Cancels Brother's Wedding, Goes to Jail : A UK woman who really, really didn't like her brother's fiancee impersonated
...

Woman Cancels Brother's Wedding, Goes to Jail

Today in the Department of Bad Ideas...

(Newser) - We've heard of not getting along with your in-laws, but one UK woman took things exceptionally far: She didn't like her brother's fiancee, so she pretended to be the woman, called up the Plymouth Registry Office, and canceled the wedding. Needless to say, things did not end...

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week
 5 Craziest Crimes of the Week 
Feb 7, 2014 8:44 AM CST

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week

Including a hero's turn for Big Mouth Billy Bass

(Newser) - This week's unusual crime stories include a singing novelty fish and a Super Bowl viewing that ended very badly:
  • Big Mouth Billy Bass May Have Foiled Burglary : Remember when Big Mouth Billy Bass, a motion-activated, singing bass, was all the rage? It seems the nearly inanimate object is now
...

Big Mouth Billy Bass May Have Foiled Burglary

Singing novelty fish fell from his perch during alleged would-be crime

(Newser) - Remember when Big Mouth Billy Bass, a motion-activated, singing bass, was all the rage? It seems the nearly inanimate object is now being lauded as a bit of a hero by authorities in Rochester, Minn., who say the novelty bass thwarted a robbery on Sunday night. The owner of Hooked...

Man Could Get 18 Months in Jail for Peeing on Alamo

Texan pleads guilty, will have to pay hefty fine, too

(Newser) - On April 14, 2012, Daniel Athens just couldn't hold it any longer, so he ducked under a chain and relieved himself on the big building behind it. Because that building happened to be the Alamo—as in, the Alamo—the 23-year-old found himself in a San Antonio court yesterday...

Paris Jewel Thief Caught After He Kissed Hostage

He was trying to 'ease her trauma,' but the DNA did him in

(Newser) - Ah, l'amour. Police have captured an admitted jewel thief in Paris, and all because he made the last-second mistake of planting a kiss on his hostage. In April the 20-year-old, identified only as "Pierre G," and an accomplice allegedly followed a 56-year-old jewelry store employee home, where...

Woman Captured After Escaping Prison—in 1977

Judy Lynn Hayman caught, 36 years later

(Newser) - Judy Lynn Hayman has finally been caught ... more than 36 years after she escaped from a Michigan prison. Hayman, who was then 23 and serving a 16- to 24-month sentence for attempted larceny, fled the Huron Valley Correctional Facility on April 14, 1977. She had served 10 months of her...

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week
 5 Craziest Crimes of the Week 
Jan 31, 2014 8:30 AM CST

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week

Including an apparent cartel hit in Wyoming

(Newser) - An apparent drug-cartel slaying in remote Wyoming and a 911 dispatcher accused of serious misconduct make this week's list:
  • Cartel-Style Beheading Stumps Wyoming Cops : A gruesome find on a dirt road has police in Wyoming fearing that Mexican drug cartel-style violence has found its way to one of the
...

Cops: 911 Dispatcher Takes Call, Warns Her Boyfriend

She phoned him instead of putting information into the system, say police

(Newser) - A 911 dispatcher in Delaware took a Jan. 9 call about shots fired at a particular address, and then passed the information along. The problem is that police say she passed it along not to patrol cars but to her boyfriend, as a warning, and he in turn passed it...

Teacher Stabs Friend in Poetry vs. Prose Dispute

Russian men were drunk at the time, say police

(Newser) - A Russian man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing and killing his friend, because that friend preferred prose to poetry, police revealed today. You will be shocked to learn that both men were drunk. The alleged killer, a 53-year-old former teacher, had been lodging in the 67-year-old victim's home...

Cops: Teacher Laced Potluck Meal With Pot

San Francisco woman charged after co-workers felt the effects

(Newser) - Beware those San Francisco potlucks: A first-grade teacher has been charged with lacing food she brought to a party with marijuana, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . She apparently wasn't subtle with her secret ingredient because several who attended reported feeling the effects, and two went to the hospital feeling...

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week
 5 Craziest Crimes of the Week 
Jan 24, 2014 8:20 AM CST

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week

Including a driver who ended up with a bicyclist in his windshield

(Newser) - One of the strangest car-hits-bicyclist story ever and mob arrests in a famous heist of long ago make this week's list:
  • Cyclist: Driver Didn't See Me Stuck in Windshield : You've heard of leaving the scene of an accident. But here's a driver accused of bringing the
...

Family: Young Teen Killed Sister Over Laundry

Justice Toliver had reportedly bleached her brother's clothes

(Newser) - A 14-year-old girl allegedly stabbed her younger half-sister to death on Tuesday, telling the 11-year-old she was ungrateful for the older girl's housework as she did so—and shockingly, it's not the only alleged chore-related teen murder of the week. A 17-year-old girl was shot to death in...

Wanted Man Posts Mugshot, Gets Captured Immediately

Anthony James Lescowitch shared police department's post

(Newser) - Note to those wanted by police: If your goal is not to get caught, it's probably not a good idea to "share" your mugshot on Facebook after the police department posts it . That's what Anthony James Lescowitch did Monday, police say; not surprisingly, the move led to...

Cyclist: Driver Didn't See Me Stuck in Windshield

Despite the fact that he actually spoke to the driver, Steven Gove says

(Newser) - A Wisconsin man who became lodged in the windshield of a car that struck him said he turned to the driver and said, "Hello, I'm the guy you hit on the bicycle." The driver did not respond, but continued on, running a stop sign and hitting another...

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week
 5 Craziest Crimes of the Week
Jan 17, 2014 8:15 AM CST

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week

Including would-be car thieves who couldn't drive a stick

(Newser) - Hapless car thieves and the Florida shooting over movie texts are among the cases causing a double-take from the police blotter this week:
  • Would-Be Crooks Stymied by Door, Stick Shift : Two stories this week showcase would-be criminals thwarted by ... themselves. One involves car thieves in Massachusetts who apparently need a
...

'Swiss Cheese Pervert' Caught in Philly: Cops

41-year-old accused of harassing scores of women

(Newser) - It's not every crime story that involves the phrase "indecent acts with dairy products," but this one involves a suspect called the "Swiss Cheese Pervert." Philly police arrested 41-year-old Christopher Pagano today, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer (which had no choice but to use the aforementioned...

Would-Be Crooks Stymied by Door, Stick Shift

Manual transmission and push-not-pull doors are difficult concepts

(Newser) - Two stories this week of would-be criminals thwarted by ... themselves:
  • In Massachusetts, a delivery driver was delivering a food order when three men, one with a knife, approached him. They took the food and his keys, but when they got into his car ... "not one of them knew how
...

Thieves Try to Steal Sigmund Freud's Ashes

Police still looking for crematorium burglars

(Newser) - Daddy issues? Police are hunting burglars who tried and failed to steal the ashes of Sigmund Freud from a London crematorium. Police say a 2,300-year-old Greek urn containing the remains of Freud and wife Martha was severely damaged in a break-in at Golders Green Crematorium around the first of...

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