Dateline: Canada— Toronto police are baffled by a bizarre multivehicle accident in which one severely injured driver raced out of her car looking for other ways to injure herself. Police say the woman fled the scene of the five-vehicle crash in the north Toronto area on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 5. The woman ended up in a nearby house, though it was not clear from reports if it was her own. Staff Sgt. Frank Barredo told Toronto’s Globe and Mail that the woman tried to set herself on fire using gas burners in the house’s kitchen. When that failed, she ran back outside and tried to set her hair on fire using a cigarette lighter. The woman was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. A 50-year-old male driver was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The three other drivers involved in the pileup were not injured. Dateline: Pennsylvania— It’s the feel-good story of the week. Or not. A man who allegedly robbed a wheelchair-bound woman during a home invasion stopped and joined her when she started praying. According to the New Castle News , Police in New Castle were summoned to the woman’s home around 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30. The resident told officers she had heard a knock and opened the door to find a man standing on her porch. The woman alleged the unknown man broke the chain on the door, entered the home and demanded money. She gave him $5, but the man told her, “That’s not enough. I know you have more.” He pushed past the wheelchair-bound woman and removed another $20 from her purse. “I’m sorry. I’ve never done this before,” said the robber. “I’m desperate.” That’s when the woman began praying out loud. In response, the robber got down on his knees and started to pray as well. Then, he took her money anyway. So much for the feel-good part. “To get down on your knees like that, yeah, that was definitely a little strange,” New Castle Police Chief Thomas Sansone told WYTV-33. Police engaged in a short chase with a suspect the night of the robbery. The suspect escaped, but not before dropping a backpack containing identification. Police arrested 32-year-old Christopher Perretti the next afternoon and charged him with burglary, robbery, theft and receiving stolen property. Dateline: Georgia— Police in small-town McDonough are looking for a suspect who broke into a car and stole a woman’s cell phone. They don’t know who he is, but they know exactly what he looks like. WXIA in Atlanta is reporting that the suspect managed to take a very clear photograph of himself with the victim’s phone. Police know this because the phone was set to automatically upload photos to the woman’s Facebook account. When the woman spotted the unknown mug shot shortly after reporting the robbery, she forwarded it to police. Local authorities are asking residents of Henry County for help identifying the man. Dateline: California— A 54-year-old man has put pot smokers who call 911 to report stolen dope to shame. Delhi resident Kraig Stockard is in jail after asking local police to help find his stolen child pornography. According the Merced County Sheriff’s Department, Stockard called police on Sept. 12 to report that two people had broken into his barn and stolen a pile of CDs. The two suspects, who turned out to be a 19-year-old and a juvenile, thought the discs were blank and turned them over to a relative to burn some music for them. The relative discovered the discs were crammed with child porn after inserting them into his computer’s hard drive. Investigators say the thieves immediately called police and explained the situation. Detectives who confiscated the discs reportedly found more than 30 of them were filled with child porn photos and videos. Police connected the stolen CDs to Stockard’s robbery report and searched the man’s residence, seizing three computers, three laptops and several external hard drives. Stockard admitted to possessing the porn and was booked into jail. The burglary suspects were not apprehended.
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. Email your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
