Dateline: EnglandPolice in Leeds are searching for a man dressed as a giant penis, who is wanted in connection with a serious street assault. The 26-year-old victim was left with a shattered shin bone, torn ligaments and a dislocated knee after he was attacked by a group of 10 men in Leeds City Centre in the early morning hours of April 2. According to West Yorkshire Police, one member of the group was wearing a “distinctive fancy dress outfit.” Police issued a stock photo of a costume like the one worn during the assault. It consisted of a human-sized inflatable penis, complete with testicles. “The victim was very badly injured in this attack and will still require further surgery,” Det. Constable Gaynor Burt told BBC News. “While the nature of costume worn by one of the group might be amusing to some, we are hoping that mentioning it will jog someone’s memory and assist in tracing those responsible for what was a serious assault that has left the victim with long-term consequences.” The attacker in the penis costume is described as a white male, about 6 feet tall with a shaved head. Dateline: NevadaThe Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas is being sued by a guest who claims he injured himself trying to flee a life-sized mannequin in his room. Kent Jacobs Boutwell, of southern California, filed a lawsuit earlier this month against Planet Hollywood seeking at least $10,000 in damages. “I’ve had some experience handling hotel casino cases,” Boutwell’s lawyer, Richard Johnson, told the Associated Press. “This was certainly a new set of facts.” According to Boutwell he was shocked and surprised by a human figure when he entered his darkened hotel room in May 2015. As he tried to escape the room thinking there was a person inside who was there to hurt him, Boutwell says he suffered serious injuries. It turns out the human figure was a mannequin inside a locked glass cabinet displaying a “Miller Lite” racing suit. The lawsuit claims the mannequin caused Boutwell to suffer undefined injuries to his body, limbs, organs, mind and nervous system. Dateline: NebraskaA judge set bail earlier this month at $100,000 for a man accused of hiring prostitutes to strip on his neighbor’s front porch. According to the Omaha World-Herald, Elkhorn resident Douglas Goldsberry is charged with just one count of felony pandering. But authorities say that visits from strippers have occurred at least 75 times, going back as far as May 2013. The neighbors, a couple in their 30s with sons ages 3 and 1, said the stripper visits began about a month after they moved in. Sometimes they were alerted to the visitors by a kick to the door or a ringing doorbell. Sometimes pimps peered in their windows. Occasionally the women became irate because they expected to be paid by someone inside the house. The homeowners finally called police in March after strippers showed up at the house eight days that month. Deputies interviewed some of the women involved and learned that they were hired through Backpage, a classified advertising web site that features ads for escorts. The Sheriff’s Office retrieved information from the women’s phones that led to Goldsberry, who lives across the street from the house frequented by the stripping prostitutes. Goldsberry, 45, was arrested on Wednesday, May 10, by Douglas County sheriff’s deputies. Prosecutor Eric Fabian said Goldsberry had fled from his house and was found at an Omaha hotel with a suicide note and a power cord tied into a noose. After his arrest Goldsberry allegedly admitted that he masturbated inside his home while watching the strippers. Goldsberry’s lawyer, Nathan Lab, attempted to get his bail amount reduced, arguing that the man—who works as a chef—is a “productive member of society.” Douglas County District Judge Derek Vaughn rejected Lab’s request for lower bail and ordered Goldsberry to have no contact with his neighbors. Dateline: South CarolinaAn online real estate listing is causing quite a stir thanks to the the realtor’s warning to potential buyers: “Don’t bother asking” about the mysterious person living in the attic. The listing on Zillow is for a home in Cayce, S.C., near Columbia. Wording on the site says that the home’s buyer cannot see the upstairs living space and will have to assume responsibility for the mysterious person living there—who does not pay rent. “Upstairs apartment cannot be shown under any circumstances,” states the listing. “Buyer assumes responsibility for the month-to-month tenancy in the upstairs apartment. Occupant has never paid, and no security deposit is being held, but there is a lease in place. (Yes, it does not make sense, please don’t bother asking.)” The odd posting spread quickly thanks to Twitter, causing some online to dub the run-down residency the “nightmare house.” Owners are asking $156,293 for the partially viewable, partially occupied, four bedroom, three bath house.
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. Email your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
