| Here are a collection of some of the bizarre | | | | jacket and enough food for four days inside |
| and strange stories over recent times. | | | | the tent. When they were traced on Saturday, |
| | | | the men confessed to driving away in a panic |
| Good Samaritan arrested for drunk driving | | | | after hearing the noise. The abandoned |
| | | | campsite equipment has now been returned to |
| A German man was arrested for drunk driving | | | | the men, who do not wish to be named. |
| after he mistook a police spot check for a | | | | |
| breakdown and stopped to help. Officers | | | | Santa vs shoplifters |
| inspecting a car by the roadside suspected | | | | |
| the 37-year-old passing motorist was under | | | | A German Santa turned crimefighter when he |
| the influence of alcohol when he lurched from | | | | leapt into action to chase two shoplifters. |
| his vehicle to offer assistance, reports | | | | Santa Claus Dieter Thurn, 52, was in his |
| Reuters. | | | | grotto in a department store in Bremen when |
| | | | he saw the crooks filling their rucksacks |
| "Obviously his optical assessment of the | | | | with expensive cosmetics, reports |
| situation as he drove past was that this was | | | | |
| a vehicle breakdown," the police said in a | | | | Thurn flew after the pair and managed to hold |
| statement. The man was arrested and banned | | | | them down until the police arrived. |
| from driving. | | | | |
| | | | Daniel Ingeborg, six, who was visiting the |
| Shanghai goes the extra smile | | | | store with his mother, told local press: |
| | | | "Santa's so cool. He gives presents and |
| Eager to put on its best face for foreign | | | | fights crime. He's like Superman but better." |
| guests ahead of the 2010 World Expo, Shanghai | | | | |
| is sending teams of "smiling volunteers" onto | | | | Raffled lobster wins freedom |
| the streets to teach stony-faced citizens to | | | | |
| beam at strangers. Forty university students | | | | A giant lobster has been saved from the |
| have signed up to smile at people in public | | | | cooking pot after persistent lobbying from |
| places, after a survey showed that only 2 | | | | restaurant diners. The Miami Herald reports |
| percent of Chinese people smile at strangers, | | | | that 50 year old monstroa is 37 inches long, |
| reports Reuters. | | | | and has 15-inch-long claws. He had been |
| | | | living in the lobster tank at a Massachusetts |
| Team-leader Xu Xiaohong said: "We ask all the | | | | restaurant, and while half the customers |
| members to practise smiling at home. "We | | | | wanted to eat him; the other half felt sorry |
| smile at the mirror to determine whether our | | | | for him. |
| smiles are acceptable. We not only smile with | | | | |
| our mouths but also with our eyes." | | | | Restaurant owner Fred Cunha decided to raffle |
| | | | at $1 a ticket to reach Monstroas retail |
| Attempts to generate warmth among strangers | | | | price of $150, and let the winner decide his |
| in China have had mixed success. In October, | | | | fate. Winner Claire Lupton returned Monstro |
| volunteers offering "free hugs" to people in | | | | to the ocean, saying that a lobster that big |
| a busy shopping street in Beijing were | | | | and old shouldn't end up on a dinner plate. |
| detained by police for questioning. | | | | |
| | | | Armed robber foiled in Lego heist |
| Giant mirror takes village out of darkness | | | | |
| | | | Police in Florida are looking for a little |
| A village in the shadow of the Italian Alps | | | | girl who pulled a knife on a shop assistant |
| has installed a giant mirror on a | | | | as she tried to steal two boxes of Lego on |
| mountainside to reflect sunshine into its | | | | Tuesday night. The girl, aged about seven or |
| main square. Viganella, in the narrow Antrona | | | | eight, hid the toys under her coat and tried |
| valley, north of Turin, saw no sun for three | | | | to walk out the door. |
| months of the year before the project, | | | | |
| reports CBC News. | | | | A store employee was watching and approached |
| | | | the child, asking her to turn over the Lego |
| The 48 sq metre steel sheet is controlled by | | | | blocks. Police say the little girl then |
| computers to follow the path of the sun and | | | | opened her jacket and displayed a ten-inch |
| reflect its rays down into the village square | | | | carving knife. |
| for at least six hours a day. Viganella, with | | | | |
| a population of only 197, formerly suffered | | | | The employee talked the girl into putting |
| from a complete lack of direct sun from | | | | down the knife and the toys. The girl then |
| November 11 to February 2. Mayor Pierfranco | | | | rode away on her bicycle. |
| Midali presented the project for approval in | | | | |
| January of this year to help lift his | | | | Thief leaves police vital tip-off |
| community out of darkness, and the 70,000 | | | | |
| pound cost was met by local government and a | | | | Criminal stupidity appears to be on the |
| private bank. | | | | rise.Germany provides another example of |
| | | | illegal imbecility. |
| 999 'for emergencies only' say police | | | | |
| | | | A careless burglar provided police with a |
| Devon and Cornwall Police have recently | | | | crucial clue at a break-in when he sliced off |
| revealed some of the time-wasting 999 calls | | | | the end of a finger on a broken window, |
| they have received. A woman dialled 999 when | | | | Reuters reports. Police wasted no time in |
| she realised her trousers didn't fit. Another | | | | matching the piece of finger with existing |
| woman rang the emergency services to report a | | | | prints of a 15-year-old from the town of |
| pigeon in her garden, while another caller | | | | Hildesheim. The youth initially denied |
| asked for a pizza to be delivered. Other | | | | breaking and entering, but confessed when |
| calls included complaints of a phone battery | | | | police produced the digital remnant. |
| running out, builders making too much noise | | | | |
| and a report of a large owl sitting on a | | | | "We usually find fingerprints at the crime |
| telegraph pole. | | | | scene, but it's not every day that thieves |
| | | | leave the original there too," said a police |
| According to the Sun, Chief Inspector Nick | | | | spokesman. "I don't know if the fellow asked |
| Jarrold said: "There is a funny side, but I | | | | for it back afterwards." |
| don't know what goes through their heads when | | | | |
| they dial 999 to ask about changing their | | | | South African court fines 'pregnant' man |
| trousers. "An emergency call is when it is a | | | | |
| life-or-death situation, people are injured | | | | A South African man has been fined $140 for |
| or the baddies are still at the scene." | | | | taking a week off work, telling his employers |
| | | | he was pregnant. Charles Sibindana, 27, stole |
| NE manhunt sparked by 'scary noise' | | | | a certificate from a clinic during his |
| | | | pregnant girlfriend's checkup, the BBC |
| Two men who sparked a manhunt when their tent | | | | reports. He then added his own details to the |
| was found empty have admitted abandoning | | | | note, submitted it to his employers and took |
| their camp after hearing a "scary" noise. | | | | seven days off work, seemingly unaware that |
| About 50 volunteers joined the search when | | | | only women consult gynaecologists. |
| the empty tent was found in remote Harwood | | | | |
| Forest, near Rothbury, Northumberland, on 5 | | | | His employers became suspicious and |
| December. Sniffer dogs and a helicopter with | | | | investigated the matter. On passing sentence |
| a thermal imaging camera were also used, | | | | Magistrate Bruno Van Eeden warned Mr |
| according to the BBC. | | | | Sibindana "not to walk around faking sick |
| | | | letters from gynaecologists. |
| Police had been concerned after finding a | | | | |