Dateline: IndianaA high-profile white supremacist group has disbanded because of a love triangle that resulted in assault charges for their leader. According to The Daily Beast, Matthew Heimbach, leader of the Traditionalist Worker Party—a white nationalist Neo-Nazi group—was arrested last week for allegedly assaulting his wife and the party’s spokesman David “Matt” Parrott when confronted about an affair Heimbach was reportedly engaged in with Parrott’s wife. According to police, the alleged assault occurred at a TWP compound in Paoli, Ind. Reports allege Parrott’s wife Jessica was having an affair with Heimbach, who is married to Parrott’s stepdaughter from a previous marriage. The two were reportedly caught in the act by Parrott and Mrs. Heimbech while they were having sex. Following Heimbach’s arrest, Parrott released a statement indicating he was leaving TWP. “I’m done,” he told the Southern Poverty Law Center, “I’m out.” He also told reporters that the incident might put an end to the hate group, saying supporters had “lost faith in the party on every level.” Parrott took down the group’s website after leaving. Heimbech is currently free on bond.Dateline: AustraliaA New South Wales man was accused of fare evasion after he used a public transport card that he had implanted beneath his skin. The Guardian reports that Australian Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow pled guilty to charges of fare evasion related to an incident that occurred in August 2017. Despite an inspector confirming a “valid tap-on,” public transportation officials accused Meow-Meow of attempting to ride without a ticket. As part of a body modification experiment, Meow-Meow had the near-field communication (NFC) chip from an Opal transportation card cut out and encased in a bio-compatible plastic before having the chip inserted under the skin of his hand. Last year, Transport for New South Wales threatened to deactivate the chip, saying in a statement that the state did not wish to encourage experiments of that sort. Meow-Meow’s charge of fare evasion was issued last year by Sydney Trains. His penalty was over $1,200 in fines, but no conviction was recorded. Court documents show Meow-Meow’s Opal card had a credit balance of $14.07 when he was confronted by the inspector, more than enough to pay his fare. Meow-Meow reportedly blamed the penalty on fear of technology.Dateline: RomaniaA Romanian court has ruled that a man is dead, despite his protests to the contrary. Last week, a spokesperson for a Romanian court in the city of Vasului told reporters that 63-year-old Constantin Reliu appealed to the courts too late to contest a death certificate that had been issued in his name. According to the spokesperson, the ruling is final. According to reports, Reliu lost contact with his family in 1992 when he traveled to Turkey for work. In 2016, following decades of absence, his wife applied for a death certificate. Earlier this year, Turkish authorities found Reliu with expired papers and deported him back to Romania, where he found he had been declared dead. His request to change his status was denied by Romanian courts, however, because the appeal was not made within the time allotted. Reliu told reporters that he will be unable to find employment due to his current legal status.Dateline: FranceA French baker was fined for refusing to take a day off every week. According to reports, an Aube law requiring bakeries to close one day a week was violated by baker Cédric Vaivre in the town of Lusigny-sur-Barse last summer. In response, authorities reportedly handed him a €3000 (about $3,700) fine. According to the BBC, Vaivre is disputing the charges and has garnished support from a number of his neighbors—including the town’s mayor Christian Branle, who complained that the law discourages tourism. A petition calling for the charges to be dropped and the law removed from the books has reached over 3,000 signatures as of this printing. Vaivre is claiming that he only wants to keep his bakery open for the full week during the tourist season in the summer. Dateline: FloridaThe Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Tampa, Fla., reportedly impounded a goat last week. The Tampa Bay Times reports that law enforcement officers were called to a residence because a stray goat had been seen wandering in a residential area. Police officials posted notices about the animal, but received no response. Deputies say it appears friendly towards humans and was most likely someone’s pet. They now say that if the animal’s rightful owner will step forward before March 23, they will be able to take it home after paying a $75 impound fee. Otherwise, the goat will be placed up for bid at an auction in Thonotosassa on March 24.
Compiled by Joshua Lee. Email your weird news to josh@alibi.com.
