An angry passenger on a crammed bus in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro set the vehicle ablaze after it broke down and the driver ordered everyone off.The bus stopped with a boiling radiator in the poor Campo Grande neighborhood Monday and the driver told passengers it would not complete its route, a fire department official said Tuesday.
One passenger returned with a bottle of alcohol, sprayed it inside the bus and set it alight, ignoring a fare collector who was still inside.
The fare collector jumped out just in time to avoid the fire but the blaze destroyed the bus and also damaged nearby electricity and telephone wires.
Police were searching for the arsonist, who fled.
Residents of Rio’s slums sometimes torch buses to protest police killings of innocent people during raids against drug gangs. But police said this case was different. “It was just one furious, stressed out passenger,” a police officer said. reuters
COTTONWOOD, Ariz. It’s the case of the naked burglar.
It occurred early today at a home near Cottonwood. The Yavapai County sheriff’s office says a man house-sitting for his father found a naked man in a bedroom holding two of his dad’s rifles.The man got the rifles away from the intruder, who then fled. But once outside, the suspect asked the victim for a pair of shorts, which the victim gave him.
Deputies called to the scene found a pair of wet pants and socks that the intruder had left behind.
Then, investigating banging sounds coming from next door, deputies found the suspect laying on the front seat of a car. He allegedly had been trying to hot wire it.
Thirty-three-year-old Nickos George Kopsaftis was booked for investigation of two counts each of burglary and attempted theft.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
(09-29) 13:39 PDT COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) –The Danish Air Force said Thursday it paid about $5,000 in compensation to a part-time Santa Claus whose reindeer died of heart failure when two fighter jets roared over his farm.
The animal, named Rudolf, was grazing at the farm of Olavi Nikkanoff in central Denmark when the screaming F-16 jets passed overhead at low altitude in February.
The reindeer collapsed and died, leaving Nikkanoff with the prospect of only one animal pulling his sleigh next Christmas.
He complained to the air force, which agreed to compensate him for the cost of the reindeer and veterinary expenses.
“We got a letter from Santa complaining about his reindeer’s death and looked into it seriously,” air force spokesman Capt. Morten Jensen said. The air force checked flight data and veterinary reports and concluded the planes had caused the animal’s death.
Nikkanoff said he would use the money to buy a new reindeer before Christmas.
Victorian authorities believe a man built up at least 30,000 volts of static electricity in his jacket simply by walking around the western Victorian city of Warrnambool yesterday.
The man left a trail of scorch marks and molten plastic behind him.
It was yesterday afternoon when Frank Clewer walked into a Warrnambool business and got his first shock.
“It sounded almost like a firecracker or something like that,” he said.
“It was at the reception area. Within say, around five minutes, the carpet started to erupt,” he said.
Burns the size of 10-cent pieces were left on the carpet where Mr Clewer had been standing.
The Country Fire Authority evacuated the building and those around it, fearing the power could cause larger electrical problems.
But Mr Clewer’s worries continued when he got back in his car.
“I actually scorched a piece of plastic I had on the floor of the car,” he said.
Scientist Karl Kruszelnicki says it is likely the electrical build-up was caused by a number of factors, such as the synthetic clothes the man was wearing.
“This poor guy has built up static electricity thanks to an unfortunate combination of insulating clothes that he’s wearing, static, synthetic clothes, just walking along and he’s just building up this static charge everywhere,” Dr Kruszelnicki said.
“I’ve read of it but I’ve never heard of it here in Australia.”
The CFA has Mr Clewer’s jacket and says it is continuing to give off voltage.
Victorian authorities believe a man built up at least 30,000 volts of static electricity in his jacket simply by walking around the western Victorian city of Warrnambool yesterday.The man left a trail of scorch marks and molten plastic behind him.
It was yesterday afternoon when Frank Clewer walked into a Warrnambool business and got his first shock.
“It sounded almost like a firecracker or something like that,” he said.
“It was at the reception area. Within say, around five minutes, the carpet started to erupt,” he said.
Burns the size of 10-cent pieces were left on the carpet where Mr Clewer had been standing.
The Country Fire Authority evacuated the building and those around it, fearing the power could cause larger electrical problems.
But Mr Clewer’s worries continued when he got back in his car.
“I actually scorched a piece of plastic I had on the floor of the car,” he said.
Scientist Karl Kruszelnicki says it is likely the electrical build-up was caused by a number of factors, such as the synthetic clothes the man was wearing.
“This poor guy has built up static electricity thanks to an unfortunate combination of insulating clothes that he’s wearing, static, synthetic clothes, just walking along and he’s just building up this static charge everywhere,” Dr Kruszelnicki said.
“I’ve read of it but I’ve never heard of it here in Australia.”
The CFA has Mr Clewer’s jacket and says it is continuing to give off voltage.
By Rebecca Nolan
The Register-Guard
Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2005A Eugene man allegedly gave new meaning to the term “drug trafficking” this week.
Police spotted Dwayne Earl Anthony Etzel, 18, pedaling a bike down Polk Street on Monday with three uprooted marijuana plants under his arm - perhaps not the best plan, since it was 5:40 p.m. and still light out.
Narcotics Detective Scott Vinje happened to be driving through the neighborhood at the time. The bicyclist had a big smile on his face, he said.
“I see this guy riding up the street with what looked like a big old bush under his arm,” Vinje said.
“It didn’t click right away that it was marijuana. Then I smelled it.”
Etzel remained in the Lane County Jail on Tuesday on charges of felony burglary, drug possession, criminal mischief, escape and trespassing.
Etzel rode off, police say, right into the path of Detective Jeff Drullinger, who also was in the neighborhood.
He pulled up alongside the bicyclist, showed him a badge and ordered him to stop.
Instead, the bicyclist got off his bike and tossed it at the truck Drullinger was driving, Vinje said.
He then climbed back on the bicycle and rode away, leaving the marijuana plants behind.
Officer Steven Timm found the man riding near West 12th Avenue and Van Buren Street. Timm ordered him to stop, but the cyclist kept rolling as he tried to pull a baggie of dried marijuana out of his pants pocket, Vinje said.
He rode toward Timm, who gave him a shove on the shoulder and knocked him to the roadway.
The cyclist tried to get up and get away several times, prompting one of the officers to deliver a short blast of pepper spray to his face, police spokeswoman Kerry Delf said.
After that, the suspect relented and was taken into custody with incident.
Around the same time, a man who lives near West 10th Avenue and Tyler Street called police to report three of his medical marijuana plants stolen.
The man said he was watching television when a noise drew him to the rear of his house.
He looked in his marijuana growing area and saw a man standing inside, with an uprooted marijuana plant in his hand. The thief ran away with three plants.
September 7, 2005 4:33 p.m. ESTHector Duarte Jr. - All Headline News Staff ReporterBrussels, Belgium (AHN) - Belgian news agency Belga reports a drunk woman died in a freak accident, when she ended up beneath a heavy grave stone at a cemetery.
The 33-year-old was on her way home from a bar in the town of Pulle when she decided to take a short cut through the cemetery during the early hours of Saturday.
She got the urge to go to the bathroom, ducked down between two gravestones, losing her balance and grabbed one of the gravestones, which gave way and landed on her.
The public prosecutor’s office says she died of suffocation as she could not lift the gravestone off her.
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This is MzHartz with strange and unusual stories from around the world. Weird Newz is a collaboration between Freeze Frame Radio forum members MzHartz and Garougal. Join us Wednesday mornings during the Breakfast Club on Freeze Frame Radio.
