Dateline: IowaPolice say a man constructed a functioning bomb while sitting in a sushi restaurant to make a point. According to KCCI in Iowa, a man who said he was concerned that bomb threats aren’t taken seriously enough constructed a homemade bomb while dining at Akebono sushi restaurant in Des Moines last week. The device was reportedly similar to a hand grenade, and officials say it posed a legitimate threat to the restaurant’s patrons. The man accused of building the bomb, Des Moines resident Ivory Washington, told police he was concerned that people don’t take threats seriously enough, and wanted to point it out by publicly building a explosive device in plain sight and waiting to see if anyone would report it. According to restaurant staff, Washington was behaving strangely. Witnesses said he plugged devices into a wall jack and repeatedly approached the bar to throw trash away. Washington eventually called police himself. He initially said the device was fake, but subsequent testing by police officers proved that the device was an active explosive. According to officials, if the device had gone off in the restaurant, it could have injured those within a 25-foot radius and killed those within a 10-foot radius. Washington was charged with possession of an explosive or incendiary material. Akebono opened normally for business following the ordeal. The restaurant’s owner said he was unaware that Washington was building a bomb during the incident.Dateline: IndianaA school superintendent is facing fraud charges after she used her medical insurance to help a sick student receive treatment. The Herald Bulletin reports Casey Smitherman of the Elwood Community Schools in central Indiana was charged with insurance fraud, identity deception and official misconduct earlier this month, but was released on bond. Smitherman told reporters she’d visited a student at home when she learned he had been absent from school. She discovered the boy had strep throat and took him to seek medical attention. After being refused treatment at one clinic, Smitherman says she took the boy to another and claimed he was her son. According to reports, she later filled a $15 prescription for Amoxicillin in her son’s name. The claim was for $233. Smitherman and her husband have allegedly helped the student’s guardian in the past by providing clothing and cleaning their house. According to the probable cause affidavit, she had not contacted social services about the case because she didn’t want the child placed in foster care. “I knew he did not have insurance, and I wanted to do all I could to help him get well. I know this action was wrong. In the moment, my only concern was for this child’s health,” she said. Elwood Community Schools board president Brent Kane said the district is supporting Smitherman. “She made an unfortunate mistake, but we understand that it was out of concern for this child’s welfare,” he said in a public statement. Smitherman signed an Agreement for Withheld Prosecution with the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office last week which will allow the charges against her to be dismissed as long as there are no further arrests over the next year.Dateline: WisconsinBelieving his wife had damaged a collection of action figures, a man allegedly damaged his home with an ax last week. According to WMTV in Wisconsin, police were called to a Madison, Wis., home last week by a man who said he’d taken a log-splitting ax to a number of items at the home he shares with his wife. According to police, the man had been drinking and believed his wife had damaged some of his action figures. He said he overreacted and used the ax to destroy a television, its stand, a laptop and several other items in the house. He then allegedly proceeded outside, where he chopped off both side mirrors from the family car and attempted to smash the windshield. The ax became stuck in the glass of the windshield and was left there, where police officers found it upon arriving at the scene. The man was arrested for disorderly conduct and felony damage to property. The extent of damage done to the action figures has not been made clear.Dateline: IllinoisPatients at an Illinois medical office were met with a strange sign last week notifying them that the doctor had quit because a female nurse practitioner had been hired. Fox 2 in Illinois reports a note was left on the door of the Multicare Specialists Chiropractor’s Office last week informing patients that they would need to look for a new doctor. The note read: “Dr. Lupardus resigned from our office on Friday, 1/18/19. The reason he resigned is because his wife would not allow him to work here since we hired a ‘female’ nurse practitioner. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you. He will not be returning to this office.” The nurse practitioner in question made a statement, claiming she approached Dr. Lupardus with a question concerning one of his patients on her first day of work. According to her statement, he refused to speak to her and told her to direct her questions to another doctor. A patient posted a photo of the sign on Facebook, where it gained viral attention.
Compiled by Joshua Lee. Email your weird news to josh@alibi.com.
