brainless wonders

Dec 3 2006 - Associated press
The principal of Rio Grande High School could be in trouble for taking one of his students to a barber shop without permission of the pupil's parents.

Al Sanchez could face disciplinary action, Albuquerque public school district officials...

Dec 5 2006 - AP
 Two Swedish border control officers risk disciplinary action for keeping a photo collection of "exceptionally beautiful" women that passed through their checkpoint, police officials said Tuesday.

The officers, who were working...

Dec 5 2006 - AP
Three relatives of a deceased northeast Missouri man admitted burning his body, then cashing his Social Security disability checks for nine years.

Betty Joanne McWilliams, 59, her 36-year-old son Kris McWilliams and her 39-year-old daughter...

Dec 5 2006 - AP
An aspiring actor who landed a "Law and Order" part after his release from Sing Sing prison has been charged in a series of robberies in which police say he claimed to be wrapped in dynamite sticks.

David Wayne, 47, of Croton-on-Hudson,...

Dec 6 2006 - Reuters Life!
It may be one problem airline security officials never envisioned -- a passenger lighting matches in flight to mask odors from her flatulence.

The woman's actions resulted in an emergency landing on Monday in Nashville of an American Airlines...

Dec 8 2006 - AP
A teenager arrested for shoplifting had filled her pockets with so many items that her weighted-down pants dropped to her ankles as she tried to run out of the store, police said.

Cheyanne E. Dwiggins, 18, is accused of trying to steal several...

Dec 9 2006 - AP
Santa must have a trick. A man who was locked out of his house in this Denver suburb tried to get in by sliding down the chimney early Friday, but he got stuck and had to be rescued, authorities said.

The man, whose name wasn't released,...

Dec 9 2006 - AP
A married woman stole items worth tens of thousands of dollars in a string of burglaries to make her boyfriend think she had a high-paying job, authorities said.

Nickey Davidson, 25, is charged with three counts of aggravated burglary and theft...

Dec 11 2006 - AP
 A Wichita man called 911 to report he was the victim of an armed robbery. The theft? A pound of marijuana worth about $1,100 that he had been trying to sell at his home.

The victim told police Thursday that a buyer had pulled out a sawed-off...

Dec 12 2006 - Reuters
A Texas real estate agent looking to add more bang to her business is offering clients in law enforcement a free Glock pistol if they buy a home from her.

Julie Upton, a Houston-area real estate agent, spurned traditional buyer incentives like...

Dec 13 2006 - AP
Police say a man stole nearly $500 of baby formula at a supermarket then led police on a brief chase on Interstate 93. James Lavoie, 37, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of theft, resisting arrest and disobeying a police officer.

Police said...

Dec 14 2006 - AP
Two men were arrested on battery charges Thursday after a road rage incident led one to attack the other with deer antlers and then a handgun, authorities said.

Ronny White, 35, and Keith Ransford, 23, both of Ft. Pierce, were booked at the...

Dec 14 2006 - Reuters
 Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for a would-be Canadian robber this week and led to his quick arrest.

While trying to rob a convenience store in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday the man slammed the till with an aluminium...

Dec 15 2006 - Reuters
A drunken businessman who fell asleep on a railway track causing rush hour disruption was sentenced to 180 hours' community service on Friday.

Network Rail staff took half an hour to try and wake company director Kevin Craswell after he...

Dec 15 2006 - AP
A trucker is accused of throwing iron ore at passing motorists over the past three months because he was angry they wouldn't turn off their bright headlights.

Glenn Rogers Jr., 40, of Elyria, told Geauga County Sheriff deputies that he...

Dec 16 2006 - AP
A Cape Girardeau woman reportedly infected with the Hepatitis C virus faces felony charges for biting a police officer's finger.

Lillie Dry, 39, was charged with first-degree felony assault of a law enforcement officer. If convicted, she...

Dec 18 2006 - AP
If a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, what will four birds in a pocket and three in a fanny pack bring? If border agents notice, a $1,000 fine and maybe worse.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents said Monday they seized seven...

Dec 20 2006 - Reuters
A woman sent her 1-month-old grandson through an X-ray machine at Los Angeles International Airport, security officials said on Wednesday.

The woman, who spoke little English and was travelling to Mexico, put the infant in a plastic bin used...

Dec 21 2006 - AP
A 29-year-old woman allegedly forged documents and assumed the identity of an Annapolis attorney, apparently for the sole purpose of having sex with an inmate at a Baltimore prison.

"It was an elaborate scheme," said Maj. Priscilla...

Dec 22 2006 - AP
Six people were booked on drug and weapons charges after a 16-year-old apparently shot and killed himself during a game of Russian roulette, authorities said.

Jacob White, of Prairieville, and the older friends were playing the game and smoking...

Dec 22 2006 - Tyler Morning Telegraph
A Longview man who authorities suspect was trying to steal copper from a downed power line was electrocuted Thursday.

Robert Boyd Southard Jr., 37, was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Sam Lawson, who ordered an autopsy,...

Dec 23 2006 - AP
A man used flammable liquid to light himself on fire, apparently to protest a San Joaquin Valley school district's decision to change the names of winter and spring breaks to Christmas and Easter vacation.

The man, who was not immediately...

Dec 26 2006 - AP
Brian Bruggeman caused a stink at the Lincoln County Jail earlier this month and will now have to answer for it in court. Another inmate, Jesse Dorris, alleges that Bruggeman's flatulence, passed in close proximity to Dorris, sparked a Dec. 14 fight...

Dec 27 2006 - Reuters
 A 21-year-old German woman who did not feel like going to work at a fast food restaurant sent her parents a text message saying she had been kidnapped.

Police in the Bavarian town of Straubing said Wednesday they had launched a massive...

Dec 27 2006 - AP
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Police say a man they pulled over for driving drunk continued to swig his beer during his arrest. Patrick Allain, 35, faces numerous charges after his arrest Monday night, the fourth time he's been arrested for driving while intoxicated....

Dec 28 2006 - AP
A carjacker called 911 and turned himself in to police after he crashed a stolen SUV twice and got lost during his escape from the crime scene. Claude King, 31, called police from a Palm Springs pay phone and confessed to stealing the GMC Envoy Tuesday...

Dec 28 2006 - AP
Officers searching a suspect's car found almost $6,000 hidden in a sock in the trunk, money the suspect allegedly offered to share. Antonio Marcius Williams, 29, of Bastrop, was booked with public bribery, simple possession of marijuana and illegal...

Dec 29 2006 - Reuters
A 21-year-old German tourist who wanted to visit his girlfriend in the Australian metropolis Sydney landed 13,000 kilometres away near Sidney, Montana, after mistyping his destination on a flight booking Web site.

Dressed for the Australian...

Dec 29 2006 - AP
As crimes go, this one was for the dogs. According to police, James Clay had the munchies early Friday morning so he headed for the hotdogs at a local convenience store. Although his craving appeared satisfied, there was a little problem — he decided...

Dec 30 2006 - UPI
A police officer in Venice, Italy, reportedly has been fired for cross-dressing in public while off duty.

The officer, whose name was not released, was seen on multiple occasions dressed in a small T-shirt, a mini-skirt and women's earrings...

Dec 31 2006 - UPI
A civilian jail employee in Cincinnati faces serious charges for stealing toilet paper, paper towels and hygiene kits.

While the monetary value of Nicholas Diehl's alleged thefts is small, Hamilton County prosecutors say the crime is a...