Dateline: AustraliaA 33-year-old man allegedly ate almost $500 worth of seafood at a beachside restaurant and then tried to swim away without paying the bill. Queensland police said in a public statement that the scarf-and-swim bandit consumed “a substantial amount of seafood and alcohol” from the Omeros Bros Seafood Restaurant on Seaworld Drive. The man then ran from the Gold Coast restaurant without paying for the items. Police say the man was “chased on foot by staff from the restaurant across Seaworld Drive.” He “subsequently entered the surf at Main Beach.” Lifeguards eventually towed police officers out to the man on the back of jet skis. According to Queensland Police, officers tried to negotiate with the man to exit the water of his own accord, but he refused. “Police were then forced to enter the water and apprehend the man,” according to the report. The suspect—later identified as Terry Peck of Labrador—was charged with one count of stealing and two counts of serious assault of a police officer. Several news sources noted that Peck is “an aspiring rapper” who goes by the stage name 2pec. According to an ABC News report, 2pec knocked back 2 lobsters, 21 oyster shooters, a half-dozen oysters on the half-shell, a baby octopus and 4 beers, resulting in a $621 bill ($468 American) at Omeros Bros. Peck was banned from the restaurant but said he would not return anyway after complaining to staff that both his lobster mornays were “overcooked.” “We cook our lobsters perfectly here,” assistant manager Mark Hunnybun told ABC. “We pride ourselves on cooking our lobsters perfectly.” Haley Robertson, who represented Peck in court, told Magistrate Joan White that, “Alcohol is an issue for him, and it is something he needs to address.” Dateline: TexasA waste pipe clogged with condoms led Austin Police to a prostitution ring operating out of a massage parlor. KEYE-TV, a CBS affiliate in Austin, reports that Jade Massage Therapy was part of a weeks-long investigation. On Feb. 7, police received a tip from a property management company about a possible prostitution ring operating out of the business. Seems the property company became aware of the problem when a waste disposal unit at the business became clogged with “hundreds of condoms.” Just two days before police were contacted by the property management company, Jade Massage owner Juan Wang was stopped by TSA agents at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport with $30,000 in duct-taped bundles in her baggage. Wang was allowed to continue on her way, but police took down her contact info. On March 22, police executed a search warrant on Jade Massage Therapy. They found two naked men on the premises and $60,000 cash in a safe at the owner’s home. Wang and her husband, Joseph Emery, are now charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and money laundering.Dateline: MarylandIn celebration of Easter, the world’s no. 2 competitive eater broke his own record, scarfing down 255 marshmallow Peeps in five minutes. Matt Stonie of San Jose, Calif. completed the feat at the National Harbor World Peeps Eating Championship in Maryland. Stonie bested last year’s record of a mere 200 Peeps to claim his share in a $3,500 cash purse.Dateline: South DakotaA Sioux Falls man is fighting a pair of $95 tickets, handed out by animal control because he failed to put leashes on his pet pythons. Jerry Kimball said he took his 4-month-old fire bee ball python and 4-year-old boa constrictor to Falls Park in Sioux Falls on April 1 for an impromptu “educational meet and greet” with curious members of the public. Kimball says he was approached by an animal control officer after he set the snakes down in the grass so they could take a bathroom break. “He was like, ‘Technically you have to have your snakes on a leash.’ And I was like, ‘Sir, they don’t make such an item,’” Kimball told KDLT-TV. On his Facebook page, Kimball shared images of the two $95 fines he was issued for “animals running at large.” Speaking to the Argus Leader newspaper, Kimball pointed out that, “They’re not fast creatures. They’re not going to run away.” Sioux Falls Animal Control Supervisor Julie DeJong told KDLT that snakes are allowed in public parks, but all animals must be on leashes or in containers according to city ordinance. Kimball said he would try to fight his fines in court. “I’m not the most educated man on the world,” Kimball told reporters. “But I have 20 years experience, and I’m smart enough to know you can’t physically put a snake on a leash.”
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. Email your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
