Dateline: Connecticut– Police in Bridgeport say they arrested a man after he ordered his pet python to attack two officers. Police arrived at Victor Rodriguez’ apartment after receiving a report that the 21-year-old was threatening his girlfriend with his 9-foot-long albino python. After the building’s superintendent opened the apartment door, Rodriguez allegedly threatened officers with the reptile and told it to “Get them!” Unfortunately for Rodriguez, snakes are deaf. And not very obedient. Rodriguez was taken away and charged with threatening officers and disorderly conduct. The python was taken to the city’s animal control shelter. Dateline: Vietnam– Authorities at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport are mystified by a Boeing 727 that appears to have been abandoned on the runway. The plane was flown in from Siem Reap in neighboring Cambodia in late 2007 and has sat unclaimed ever since. An airport official told the BBC they believe the owners could be an airline based in Cambodia. The plane does have a Cambodian flag on its fuselage and is emblazoned with the name Air Dream, but the authorities say they have no information about the airline. Earlier, one security official at Noi Bai told the BBC’s Vietnamese Service that the plane might belong to bankrupt Cambodian airline Royal Khmer. Online newspaper VietnamNet reported that the owners could be unable or unwilling to pay the required airport parking fees. If the plane continues to sit unclaimed, officials say it will have to be sold for scrap. Dateline: Romania– Some rural villagers re-elected their dead mayor because they preferred him to his living opponent. Neculai Ivascu, 57, had run the village of Voinesti since 1990 but recently passed away from liver disease. That didn’t stop him from winning the mayoral election, beating his opponent by a margin of 23 votes. “I know he died, but I don’t want change,” one resident told Romanian TV. The Central Election Bureau kept the poll open in the wake of Ivascu’s death because “the law does not foresee such a situation,” a spokesperson said. In an apparently controversial decision, election authorities awarded the post to runner-up Gheorghe Dobrescu of the ruling National Liberal Party. Some villagers and members of Ivascu’s powerful opposition Social Democrat Party have demanded a new vote. Dateline: Kansas– A fight over possession of a nickname ended with one man getting stabbed in the back. Sgt. Lem Moore told the Wichita Eagle that nine people were gathered in the 3000 block of Old Lawrence Road last Friday night when two teenagers began arguing over which of them should be allowed to use the nickname “C-Thug.” A 44-year-old woman, identified as a resident of a nearby house, intervened and stabbed one of the young men. The 19-year-old—known as either C-Thug No. 1 or C-Thug No. 2—was treated for minor injuries at Via Christi Regional Medical center. The woman was arrested. Dateline: Texas– Friday the 13 th was an unlucky day for one would-be bank robber. Police arrested Larry Don Enos, 57, and charged him with aggravated robbery after he allegedly held up a Wells Fargo Bank in Fort Worth. Police spokesperson Lt. Paul Henderson told the Star-Telegram that, at about 11:30 a.m., a man disguised in a fake beard, mustache and wig walked into the bank, pointed a revolver at a bank employee and said, “This is a robbery. I want the money from the drive-through and the money from the cash registers.” The robber, who apparently used a taxi cab to get to the scene of the crime, then demanded that the teller act as his getaway driver. When the teller informed the robber that he wasn’t allowed to leave, the bandit ordered the teller to hand over his keys. The teller did so and described the car they belonged to; but out in the parking lot, the robber discovered the teller was lying. The robber then attempted to carjack a woman in the ATM drive-though. She said she needed to pull forward, so he could open the door. He allowed her to, at which point she drove off. Frustrated, the robber then tried to carjack another woman. This woman said she needed time to get her children out of the vehicle. While waiting for her to unload the kids, the robber was tackled by two soldiers and two other bystanders who detained him until police arrived. “The police department doesn’t condone that level of intervention,” said Lt. Henderson. “However, they certainly deserve a high-five for what they did.” Henderson was eventually transferred to a holding facility in Mansfield and is awaiting bond. “He probably picked the wrong date to commit a bank robbery,” Henderson said.
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. E-mail your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
