Dateline: CanadaA much-loved Canadian biker evidently doesn’t want to go out to sea. A bottle containing the ashes of Hugh Robert Nisbet, known as “Biker Bob,” washed up on the shore of Clayoquot Island earlier this month, marking its third landfall. “I was coming down the beach on the ATV … noticed a bottle with a message in it, picked it up and realized it was Biker Bob,” Dave Watson told the CBC. “I heard the story of him and just put two and two together. I thought it was pretty neat.” Nisbet’s widow, Maudine Previl, tried to honor her husband, who died in a motorcycle accident at age 71, by sending his ashes out to sea in November 2015 near Nanaimo, British Columbia. That attempt ran into trouble as Nisbet’s dog repeatedly brought the bottle back to shore. A few days later, 29-year-old Justin Bevis found the bottle washed up near Victoria, some 68 miles south. Inside was a note reading “If you find me turn me loose.” Bevis shared a beer with the ashes before consigning them to the ocean again. In late February, Caleb Harding and his girlfriend Bethany James discovered the ash-filled bottle on China Beach, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and posted about the find on Facebook. Watson, the most recent recipient of Biker Bob’s remains, has pledged to take the bottle out for a ride on his Harley Davidson before sending him back to the ocean. “We’ll take him a mile offshore so he’ll be good and free then,” Watson said. “Maybe next time he’s found in Alaska.”Dateline: New MexicoPolice in Las Cruces have arrested a man suspected of breaking into a convenience store in the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 28—so he could buy some cigarettes. Ellis C. Battista, 24, reportedly went to purchase a pack of cigarettes at Bradley’s convenience store at around 3:30am. The store normally operates 24 hours a day, but the clerk was not on duty at that time and the store was locked. Store surveillance cameras captured Battista pounding on the store’s front door several times. Battista then allegedly kicked the door’s lower glass panel, which broke. Battista entered the store and selected a pack of his favorite smokes. According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, he then “ensured that cameras captured images of him leaving $6 for the merchandise.” A witness called 911 to report the break-in, and police officers located Battista nearby. Damage to the store’s front door was estimated at $800. Battista, who is believed to have been intoxicated at the time, was charged with one count of breaking and entering—but not for theft, since he actually paid for his pack of cigarettes. Battista was booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center and was released on bond.Dateline: South CarolinaA sheriff’s deputy responded after a 2-year-old called 911 with an emergency—she needed help putting on her pants. The Greenville County Sheriff’s office says Deputy Martha Lohnes was dispatched on Wednesday, March 2, to investigate a 911 call that “sounded like a baby had accidentally dialed the emergency number.” In a post on the department’s Facebook page, Lohnes wrote, “I show up and she comes to the door with her pants half on, saying she can’t get them on. So I sit down on the stairs and help her put pants on. And then she proceeds to ask me to pick her up and hug her…..and that would be the best part of my shift today.” Deputy Lohnes praised the toddler, named Aaliyah, for knowing how to call 911. Pebbles Ryan, the girl’s mother, said she was surprised to learn of the incident from her father, who was home watching Aaliyah while Ryan was at work. “I came home to ‘Oh, the police helped your daughter put pants on.’ I was like, ‘Oh! OK?’ Then she wouldn’t let the police leave because she wanted hugs,” Ryan told local reporters.Dateline: OhioIn this week’s least shocking news, an Ohio man who ate his roommate’s brain has been denied parole for a sixth time. David Allen Chapin, 60, was deemed “unsuitable for release” by the Ohio Parole Board earlier this month. Chapin shot his roommate Donald Liming in the eye in their apartment in Milford, Ohio, during an argument over religion on Oct. 3, 1978. Chapin was Baptist while Liming claimed to be a Catholic, a Buddhist and a pagan. At the time of the shooting both men were 23 and longtime friends. During the subsequent murder trial, Chapin pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He told a court-ordered psychiatrist that he ate part of Liming’s brain as part of a “mutual agreement” between the roommates. Chapin is currently serving a life sentence at the Allen Correctional facility in Lima, Ohio. He will be eligible again for parole in December 2018.
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. Email your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
