Odds & Ends

Odds & Ends

Devin D. O'Leary
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5 min read
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Dateline: India— More than 63 people were arrested on suspicion of murder after a mob of workers bludgeoned to death the CEO who sacked them from an auto parts factory in a suburb of Delhi. The Times of London reports Lalit Kishore Choudhary, 47, head of the Indian operations of Graziano Transmissioni—a manufacturer of car parts that has its headquarters in Italy—died of severe head wounds last Monday after being attacked by scores of laid-off employees. The incident followed a long-running dispute between the factory’s management and workers demanding better pay and permanent contracts. Apparently, Mr. Choudhary had called a meeting with more than a hundred former employees who had been dismissed after an earlier outbreak of violence at the plant. He wanted to discuss a possible reinstatement deal. A spokesperson for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry said, “Such a heinous act is bound to sully India’s image among overseas investors.”

Dateline: England— Hoping to avoid his sentence after pleading guilty to child pornography charges, 26-year-old Gerald Hayslop fled to the English coast, bought a kayak and paddled 12 miles across the English Channel to Hatainville, Normandy. Julie Reddish, prosecuting, told Burnley Magistrates’ Court last Friday, “Whilst on bail he decided he couldn’t face prison. He went to Jersey with his girlfriend and bought the kayaks. He spent 12-and-a-half hours paddling to France in the kayak. He was arrested on an international arrest warrant.” Hayslop skipped bail in August of last year after being convicted at Burnley Crown Court on 20 counts of making an indecent photo of a child. The disappearance of Hayslop and his 21-year-old girlfriend prompted a major sea and air rescue. In December, Hayslop was arrested and jailed for a year on prostitution charges in Paris. Detectives from Lancashire jetted out to Paris this August to escort him back to the U.K. after he had served his French prison term.

Dateline: West Virginia— A man arrested for DUI was also charged with battery after allegedly farting in the arresting officer’s face. The incident began last Monday when Jose Cruz, 34, was pulled over by West Charleston cops for driving with his headlights off. Cruz appeared to be intoxicated. After failing a series of field sobriety tests, Cruz was arrested and transported to police headquarters. According to the criminal complaint, while being fingerprinted, Cruz allegedly “lifted his leg and passed gas loudly on Ptlm. Parsons. The defendant then fanned the air with his hand in front of his rear onto the officer. The gas was very odorous and created contact of an insulting or provoking nature.” Cruz later admitted that he had “farted multiple times,” but it “wasn’t directly in [the cop’s] face.” Asked if he had fanned the fetid air toward the officer, Cruz conceded he had, but said it was in retaliation for the officer asking him to take a breath test while suffering an asthma attack. “I said, ‘Here, put that in your Breathalyzer,’ ” recalled Cruz. After posting a $500 bond, Cruz was released from jail. A Kanawha County magistrate judge later dropped the “battery on an officer” charge on the request of an assistant prosecutor. Cruz’ DUI charge still stands.

Dateline: Indiana— According to the Indiana Daily Student , Indiana University Police Department officers were called last weekend when tensions among students flared during Saturday’s IU vs. Ball State University football game. At about 6:30 p.m., officers noted a crowd on the southwest corner of 17 th Street and Woodlawn began to throw beer and cups on one another. Indiana State Excise Police Officer Travis Thickstun said in a press release that people threw more than 100 bottles, cups and other objects through the air. IUPD called for backup to break up the crowd and told people to go into the nearby football stadium. Hostilities continued inside, however, and officers from the Bloomington Police Department and the Indiana State Police were added to help control the crowd. Overall, 97 tickets were issued and one IU student was arrested for suspicion of public intoxication. Police arrested Lucas Widdicombe after someone sitting near him said he had a cup and “had urinated in the cup and was going to throw it at Ball State fans.” The usher supervisor who found Widdicombe said the cup Widdicombe carried did smell like urine, according to the police report. Widdicombe told police he had not urinated in the cup and had no intentions of pouring it on people. Widdicombe said someone had simply given him a cup of urine while he was in the restroom, and he decided to take it back to his seat to show his friends.

Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. E-mail your weird news to devin@alibi.com.

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