weird crimes

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

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Texan Discovers $2M Pot Farm on His Land

Someone was secretly growing 5,500 marijuana plants

(Newser) - A Texas rancher noticing suspicious activity on a remote section of his property has discovered that he was housing more than just squatters. After calling the local sheriff for help on Tuesday, the two hiked three-quarters of a mile through dense woods to get to an area inaccessible by vehicle,...

Woman Leads Cops on 100mph Chase —to Preferred Jail

Grady County jail apparently not a place she wanted to spend time

(Newser) - So maybe you've been drinking and maybe you're speeding a little, but what to do when a cop tries to pull you over—presenting you with the very real prospect of doing a little time in a less-than-desirable county jail? Step on the gas, and lead police on...

Scores of Dead Rats Found in Arizona Trailer

Jeffrey Wendorff allegedly abandoned them after business dispute

(Newser) - It was a scene whose appearance was likely rivaled only by its smell: An Arizona man is facing animal cruelty charges after Yavapai County sheriff’s deputies, acting on a tip, discovered scores of dead or dying rats in and around a trailer, Reuters reports; a pen in the trailer'...

Groom Says Vows, Then Chases Thief

Groom, dad, and brother chase him through town

(Newser) - Jared Lightle didn't need his running shoes to chase a thief. After a renewal of vows ceremony with his wife, Stephanie, Lightle found himself running after one ... in patent leather shoes. The groom was loading gifts into his car in the parking lot at the Scottish Rite Temple in...

Woman Shot During Gun Show Demo

Pennsylvania vendor was demonstrating a holster at the time

(Newser) - A vendor demonstrating a concealed carry holster at a Pennsylvania gun show used a real gun instead of a plastic model on Saturday—and things went about as wrong as they possibly could. The semi-automatic .380 didn't have a magazine attached, but there was a round in the chamber,...

Woman Tries to Kill Spider, Ends Up With Arson Charge

You know what isn't a great idea? Setting a fire to kill a creepy-crawly

(Newser) - Listen up, arachnophobes: You do not fight spiders with fire. Or so goes the cautionary tale of 34-year-old Kansas woman Ginny Griffith, who has been charged with aggravated arson after she apparently tried to kill a spider—by using a cigarette lighter to set fire to some towels, reports the...

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week

Including yet another person felled by Facebook

(Newser) - This week's batch of alleged criminals encountered some unlikely obstacles: an observant 4-year-old and the ... Clean Air Act.
  • 4-Year-Old Foils Babysitter's Plot, Say Police : The first sign that your devious robbery plot has a few holes is that it can't pass muster with a 4-year-old. Such was
...

Would-Be Carjackers Should Have Learned to Drive Stick

70-year-old's devious 5-speed wins the day when kids can't drive it

(Newser) - Kids these days can't even jack an old lady's car correctly: KIRO brings us the tale of three teenage would-be carjackers in Seattle who were thwarted by a lowly manual transmission. Nancy Fredrickson, 70, was getting something out of the trunk of her Kia Saturday when three kids...

Boy, 12, Takes School Bus for 14-Mile Joy Ride

Michael Wade Propst facing a few serious charges

(Newser) - Employees at a Florida Walmart thought there was something weird about the school bus driving around their parking lot at 5am Tuesday. Its driver seemed to be having trouble parking, and the awkward way it was maneuvering made it seem "like he'd never drove one before," one...

Air-Conditioner Thief Gets Extra Time ... for Pollution

By releasing Freon, he violated Clean Air Act

(Newser) - When Martin Eldridge and his pals started stealing air-conditioning units around Columbus, Ohio, last year, it's a safe bet they didn't factor the Clean Air Act into their possible punishment. Big mistake: Because when Eldridge and company cut the tubing that connected the units to their buildings, they...

DNA Used to Catch Man Voting Over and Over

Robert Monroe cast 5 ballots in Wisconsin recall vote: police

(Newser) - How convinced may Robert Monroe have been that his vote in the 2012 presidential election mattered? So much so that the Wisconsin man allegedly cast an in-person absentee ballot in Shorewood on Nov. 1 then rented a car and drove some 250 miles to Lebanon, Ind., five days later, using...

After Historic Bank Heists, $500K Oddly Returned

'Trash Talking Bandits' aren't thought to be behind the return

(Newser) - A weird twist in what are being painted as two of the largest bank heists in Colorado history: Less than a week after two bank robbers dubbed the "Trash Talking Bandits" successfully made off with a $500,000 score from a Wells Fargo branch in Wheat Ridge, that same...

Cops: Cuffed Woman Steals Her Pot Back, Eats It, Forgets Crumbs

Yes. Florida.

(Newser) - Tavish Smith was having quite the night by the time she landed in the back of the cop car: Florida police say she was driving her truck the wrong way down a highway, crashed it, continued on, then crashed again—all while allegedly more than a little tipsy. But as...

Cops: Burglar Logs In to Facebook Mid-Burglary

... forgets to log out of victim's computer

(Newser) - It's generally not OK to log into Facebook during work. It's definitely not OK if you work as a burglar, and you're a little absent-minded about logging out. Police say Nicholas Wig, 26, broke into a home near Minneapolis and stole money, credit cards, and other valuables,...

Cops: 4-Year-Old Foils Babysitter's Plot

17-year-old makes up story about home invasion, say police

(Newser) - The first sign that your devious robbery plot has a few holes is that it can't pass muster with a 4-year-old. Such was the case in Washington state, where a 17-year-old babysitter is accused of concocting a story about two armed black men breaking into a residence to cover...

Graffiti Suspect Allegedly Tags His Courtroom

And catches felony charges for his trouble

(Newser) - True artists never stop working, and unfortunately for him, Francisco Canseco might be a true artist. The 18-year-old was in court in April to face misdemeanor graffiti vandalism charges when, police allege, he whipped out his paint pen and tagged the backs of courtroom chairs and hallway benches with his...

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week
 5 Craziest Crimes of the Week 
Jun 20, 2014 8:49 AM CDT

5 Craziest Crimes of the Week

Including a retirement-village meth lab

(Newser) - Some role models for how not to parent and a particularly brazen purse thief make the list:
  • Kids' Parties Gone Wrong Lead to Parents' Arrests : Two police reports illustrate what results when adult supervision at kids' parties is a little shaky: drunk fifth-graders and a tattooed 12-year-old. And that, unfortunately,
...

Cops: Man Tosses Football Full of Drugs Into Prison

It had cell phones, too, but the throw was off target

(Newser) - Points for creativity, at least. Michigan authorities say a man attempted to chuck a football filled with drugs and cellphones into the exercise yard of a state prison in Jackson. Two big problems: The throw fell short, with the ball landing between two fences instead of in the exercise yard....

Kids' Parties Gone Wrong Lead to Parents' Arrests

Alcohol and tattoos are not meant for the pre-teen set

(Newser) - Two police reports illustrate what results when adult supervision is a little shaky: drunk fifth-graders and tattooed 12-year-olds. The first case is from Rhode Island, where three 10- and 11-year-old girls ended up drunk and in the hospital, reports AP . They were hanging out at the home of one of...

Family of 5 Arrested in Amusement Park Brawl

... with police

(Newser) - A sentence that begins "A Vermont family goes to an amusement park" can end in any number of wholesome ways, and now this not-so-wholesome one: Five members of the Perry family are accused of brawling with police officers over a dispute involving knives on Monday, reports AP . The strange...

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