weird crimes

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

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He Decided to Drive Himself to His Driving Test

This did not go over well with police

(Newser) - Points won for punctuality. Points lost for comically bad common sense. The AP reports that a man in Germany had the bright idea to drive himself to his own driving test. What's more, he parked the car right in front of the man who was there waiting to give...

Woman Stole $680K, Blew It on Gambling App With No Payout

Heart of Vegas doesn't pay out real money

(Newser) - You've heard variations of this one before: A person steals money to fuel a gambling addiction. What's unusual in the case of Rachel Naomi Perri is that she blew the hundreds of thousands of dollars she admitted to stealing from her employer on a gambling app that doesn'...

Attorney Who Thinks 'Like a Criminal' Is One Himself

Daniel Muessig, who put out viral ad, is now a felon in Pittsburgh

(Newser) - In 2014, Pittsburgh defense attorney Daniel Muessig got internet famous with a YouTube video in which he fishes for clients with the boast, "Trust me, I may have a law degree, but I think like a criminal.” Any guesses on what just happened? Correct: The 39-year-old became an...

US Marshals Say They Solved 52-Year-Old Robbery Case

Man who died peacefully at home was the culprit, they say

(Newser) - A 20-year-old bank teller in Cleveland walked out of work with $215,000 in a paper bag in 1969, then disappeared. Ted Conrad was indicted but never found. Tom Randele died of cancer in May 2021 in Massachusetts, surrounded by his loving family. The US Marshals Service says they’re...

Fake Hitman Website Fools Woman, Who Is Headed to Jail

Site's owner contacted Michigan police

(Newser) - A real woman tried to hire a hitman on a fake website. Wendy Lynn Wein, 52, found Rent-A-Hitman online and filled out a form asking for help killing her ex-husband. Unfortunately for Wein and perhaps fortunately for her ex, that site is owned not by a hitman but computer professional...

Cops: Wrong Order of Chicken Wings Led to Attempted Murder

Alika Suliafu arrested in Utah after allegedly firing gun at dad during argument

(Newser) - A squabble over a fast-food order between a father and son has led to an attempted murder charge in Utah. Insider reports that 31-year-old Alika Suliafu was arrested on Oct. 21 in Bountiful, about a 20-minute drive north from Salt Lake City, and it was all apparently over chicken wings....

Good News for Man Arrested Over 43 Cents of Mountain Dew

Felony theft charge against Joseph Sobolewski has been dropped

(Newser) - Pennsylvania prosecutors have dropped a felony theft charge against a man who underpaid for a bottle of Mountain Dew by 43 cents. In August, Joseph Sobolewski went into an Exxon in Duncannon and saw a sign advertising two 20-ounce Mountain Dew bottles for $3, he said. PennLive reports the 38-year-old...

Woman Allegedly Cut Rope Holding Painters 30 Stories Up

Incident happened in Thailand

(Newser) - A resident of a high-rise condominium in Thailand cut the support rope for two painters, apparently angry she wasn't told they would be doing work, and left them hanging above the 26th floor until a couple rescued them, police said Wednesday. (See a photo here .) The woman is...

Daycare Owner Sentenced for Hiding Kids Behind Fake Wall

Colorado Springs facility had 25 kids but was licensed for 6

(Newser) - A woman who kept more than two dozen kids behind a false wall in a basement was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday. Carla Faith was found guilty of 26 counts of child abuse, and some other charges, including running a daycare without a license, in August. Police found...

Man Steals Reporter's Phone, Has Face Seen by Millions

Egyptian man was arrested hours later

(Newser) - A Cairo-area reporter had his phone grabbed from his hands by a thief on a motorbike, but it wasn't exactly the perfect crime—the reporter had been livestreaming a broadcast at the time, and the thief's face was seen by millions. The Youm7 news site says its reporter,...

Guy Who Led Cops on Low-Speed Chase Tells a Familiar Tale

Man suspected of stealing tow truck said bomb would blow up if he stopped, a la 'Speed'

(Newser) - A man in a tow truck led police on an extremely slow chase through the streets of San Diego on Monday, never hitting speeds over 10mph. The pursuit began around 7:45pm as police went after an allegedly stolen tow truck. Over the course of an hour, officers followed the...

11-Year-Old Hits 110mph in Stolen Jeep: Police

Driver is too young to be held, so he went back to mom

(Newser) - Troopers chased down a stolen Jeep being driven at speeds reaching 110mph over the weekend, the Nebraska State Patrol said. When they caught it, the patrol said, troopers found an 11-year-old boy at the wheel—and two 14-year-old passengers. The chase began after the patrol received a report just before...

Professor Pleads Guilty to Brutal, 4-Hour Attack

Rie Hachiyanagi admits assault on Mount Holyoke colleague

(Newser) - Update: A former professor at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts has pleaded guilty to the vicious assault of a female colleague during a four-hour attack in the victim's home in 2019, reports the Greenfield Recorder . Prosecutors say Rie Hachiyanagi, 50, attacked her victim with weapons including a fire poker...

Police: Bank Robbery Suspects Caught While Switching Cars

Accused robbers with clever getaway scheme crashed, were caught

(Newser) - It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Three men police say are suspects in a bank robbery in Charlotte, North Carolina, stopped to switch to a different getaway car. Their planning fell through, however, and the police saw the switch take place, the Charlotte Observer reports....

Cops: Bumbling Thief Was Inspired by Very Slick One

Italian man allegedly told police he studied the show 'Lupin' on Netflix

(Newser) - In the very first episode of Netflix's Lupin, "gentleman thief" Assane Diop sets out to steal a staggeringly expensive necklace. A 21-year-old who said he was inspired by the show and studied Diop's moves allegedly set his sights on something a little less precious in Italy on...

A Ninja Attacked Army Special Ops Unit With a Sword

It was reportedly a katana

(Newser) - Some odd reports out of California are painting a bizarre picture of an attack on a US Army special operations unit--by a ninja. Or at least a man dressed as one. Per NPR , members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment were training at the Inyokern Airport in Kern County...

Stolen Kindergarten Gadget Reveals Alleged Thief

Policy say smart speaker for playing stories leads to arrest

(Newser) - German police say they have solved a burglary case at a kindergarten after a storytelling gadget the suspect had swiped revealed his location. Police said the 44-year-old suspect had stolen various items during a break-in at a kindergarten in the western town of Halver in April, per the AP . Among...

Man Gets Prison Time After Botched Castration in Cabin

Victim claims unlicensed surgeon Bob Lee Allen said he would eat his body parts

(Newser) - A man in Oklahoma arrested last year on charges of performing an illegal surgery has been sentenced to two years in jail and 10 years in prison. Bob Lee Allen, 54, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit unlicensed surgery, practicing medicine without a license, and attempted distribution of a psychedelic...

Coupons Get Virginia Woman $400K and 12 Years in Prison

Once caught, the woman, who went by MasterChef, explained the scam to investigators

(Newser) - A Virginia Beach woman is going to prison for 12 years in a massive couponing scam. Lori Ann Talens designed counterfeit coupons at home, complete with product photos and working barcodes, the Virginian-Pilot reports. Because coupons are so widely distributed and thus don’t each have unique barcodes, they’re...

He Allegedly Hid Devices Under Floor at Work to Mine Bitcoin

Christopher Naples accused of running up more than $6K in electric bills for Suffolk County

(Newser) - A county employee in New York state is accused of stealing from the job, but with an oh-so-modern twist. Authorities in Suffolk County say IT supervisor Christopher Naples mined cryptocurrency on the job and ran up at least $6,000 in electric bills in the process, reports the New York ...

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