Dateline: Pennsylvania— A 55-year-old truck driver who was choking on a piece of fruit was saved when he crashed into a concrete median and inadvertently gave himself the Heimlich. Police in Reading say Richard Paylor of Fairness Hill, Bucks County, was eating an apple as he drove along a busy highway on the morning of Tuesday, March 29. He began choking on a piece of the apple and blacked out, causing his tractor trailer to plow through a concrete divider on the West Shore Bypass between Reading and Exeter Township. Investigators believe the apple was dislodged when Paylor smacked his chest against the steering wheel. The Reading Eagle reports police recovered “a chunk of apple” from the dashboard of the vehicle. Dateline: Wisconsin— A 70-year-old Madison woman has been cited for “walking” her dog by allowing it to run free and following it with her car. The Capital Times says the woman told police she is disabled and walks her dog like that all the time. Police spokesperson Joel DeSpain told the newspaper, “the officer was sympathetic but explained she had to find another way to exercise her canine." The woman was issued a $114 citation for permitting her dog to run at large. The officer, who was responding to complaints from neighbors, suggested the woman get a fenced yard for the small white dog. Dateline: Illinois— An angry customer went from cheap to murderous after allegedly shooting and killing a Chicago car wash worker who accused him of being a lousy tipper. Marcus Gordon, 40, was denied bail last week by Judge James Brown after prosecutors outlined how he allegedly murdered Cesar Rosales, 43, following an argument at the Citgo car wash in Logan Square in August. Gordon got into a fight with staff after they refused to dry his Toyota Camry because he had a reputation for not tipping. Gordon left the car wash but returned 30 minutes later and shot Rosales in the chest, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Morgan Creppel said in court. Gordon was identified by several witnesses, including Rosales who “stumbled into the store and made a dying declaration that the guy they had fought with earlier came back for him,” said Creppel. According to the Chicago Sun-Times , Gordon has several prior felony convictions. Dateline: Washington— A man who called 911 because his wife was suffering a heart attack evidently died of a heart attack himself while trying to revive her. Authorities at the Clallam County Sheriff’s office told the Peninsula Daily News that deputies and medics arrived eight minutes after the man phoned on the evening of Wednesday, March 23, to report that his wife had collapsed from a heart attack. The responders found 60-year-old Charles Lorme collapsed over the body of his 59-year-old wife Geraldine. Neither could be revived. According to police spokesperson Sgt. John Keegan, Mr. Lorme died of natural causes, most likely from a heart attack while trying to perform CPR on his wife. “Usually, events like this don’t happen in pairs,” noted Keegan. Dateline: Arizona— The third time is not a charm. The Kingman Daily Miner reports that a 28-year-old Mohave County repeat offender is in prison again after robbing a single small-town bank for the third time in 10 years. Keith B. Coggins was just 19 when he robbed the Stockmen’s Bank in Golden Valley twice within a three-week period in early 2001. Coggins was arrested 15 minutes after the second robbery with more than $25,000 in his car. He pled guilty to both robberies and was sentenced to five years in prison. Coggins was released in 2005. According to authorities, Coggins returned to the Stockmen’s Bank in January of this year and robbed it again, making off with more than $46,000. It took Mohave County Sheriff’s deputies all of an hour to track down Coggins and recover the stolen loot. Coggins pleaded guilty in late March to felony charges of robbery, theft and unlawful flight. As part of his plea agreement, Coggins will be sentenced 10 more years in prison at a formal hearing scheduled for April 15.
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. Email your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
