Dateline: Italy— A fan of the AC Milan soccer team, angry over the poor performance of Brazilian-born goalie Dida, put the player up for sale on eBay. The 33-year-old, who joined Milan in 2000, was a hero after the shootout win over Juventus in the 2003 Champions League final, but his popularity has slumped after a series of errors. Unfortunately, the goalie did not raise much interest on the popular auction site. His sale price, before the auction was shut down by eBay officials last Friday, had reached just 71 euros (about $116) after 25 bids. Dateline: Wisconsin— A Janesville real estate agent was shocked to learn that the house she was showing last Monday night contained a dead body. The Janesville Gazette reports that Linda Chabucos-Galow, a realtor with Shorewest, was showing the East side Janesville house to an interested married couple. Chabucos-Galow stood in the dining room while the couple walked through the house. She heard the wife scream as the couple stood in the doorway of the front bedroom. On the bed was the body of 55-year-old Linda L. O’Leary, the previous owner of the house. According to the coroner, O’Leary had been dead for at least two weeks. Gale Kent, the Coldwell Banker First United Realty agent who listed the house, told the Gazette the property has been for sale “for awhile,” but she declined to say how many times the home had been shown in recent weeks. Police do not suspect foul play and an autopsy has not been ordered. Dateline: Utah— Solve a crime, get a taco. Joe Cottam, owner of Melina’s Fine Mexican Restaurant, is offering a grand total of 500 free tacos for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons who stole about $3,000 from his establishment in Brigham City. “We are offering a food reward because all the cash got taken,” said Cottam. On April 24, someone broke through a glass door at the restaurant and stole cash and checks that had been prepared for deposit. Tacos at Melina’s cost more than $2, making Cottam’s reward worth more than $1,200. Dateline: Minnesota— Evening rush-hour traffic on Interstate Hwy. 694 came to a standstill last Wednesday after two women exited their vehicle and began fighting in the middle of the Minneapolis roadway. According to the Star Tribune , the odd scene began when Zion Johnson and Jerusha Monger of Sag Harbor, N.J., stopped the car they were in, got out and pushed, shoved and hit each other in the center lane of westbound traffic. The altercation at 5:20 p.m. tied up traffic for about 20 minutes as frustrated drivers tried to weave around the warring women until authorities arrived to break up the freeway fisticuffs.“The fact that they handled it in the middle of the road makes this one unique,” State Patrol Lt. mark Peterson told the Star Tribune . “Obviously, this is not the right way to handle this.” Johnson, 21, and Monger, 34, were arrested and booked into Anoka County jail, charged with disorderly conduct. The entire scuffle was recorded by a Minnesota Department of Transportation camera. Dateline: Washington, D.C.— Roy Pearson, a judge in Washington, D.C., is suing a family of Korean dry cleaners for $67 million after they allegedly lost a pair of his pants. Pearson says in court papers that he has endured “mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort” due to the sartorial loss. Jin and Soo Chung and their son, owners of Custom Cleaners, have spent more than two years and thousands of dollars defending themselves against Pearson’s civil lawsuit. After the pants for Pearson’s “favorite” suit went missing in May of 2005, he demanded $1,150 for a new suit. Lawyers were hired and an intense legal battle ensued. The Chungs eventually offered Pearson $3,000 in compensation. He turned them down. They offered $4,600. Again, Pearson turned them down. In the end, the Chungs offered $12,000 in compensation for the missing gray trousers with red and blue stripes. Pearson steadfastly refused, demanding $1,500 for each day the Chungs displayed a “Satisfaction Guaranteed” sign in their store. Of course, multiplying the damage by three, since there are three members of the Chung family. He’s also adding on $500,000 for emotional damage and $542,500 in legal fees, even though he is representing himself in court. Finally, Pearson is asking for $15,000 to cover 10 years’ worth of weekend car rentals so he can drive all his clothes to a different dry cleaner. Ironically, less than a week after Pearson dropped off the missing trousers in 2005, Soo Chung allegedly found them. She tried to return them to Pearson, she says, but the judge continues to insist they are the wrong trousers. The civil trial is set to begin in June. According to the court papers he filed, Pearson plans to call 63 witnesses. Dateline: New York— If you’re still searching for a definition of the word “irony,” the Ithaca Journal reports that renowned cat veterinarian James Richards died last Tuesday from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident that occurred when he swerved to avoid a cat in the road. According to his obituary, Richards was a former president of the American Association of Feline Practitioners and author of the ASPCA Complete Guide to Cats . Richards, the current director of Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Feline Health Center, was thrown from his motorcycle while traveling west along Route 221 in southeastern Cortland County, when he attempted to avoid a cat in the road, police records state.
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. E-mail your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
