Dateline: South Africa A thief broke into a game preserve in South Africa’s Seekoei River Valley and made off with a potentially valuable rhino horn. Susan Lottering, who owns the Lombardini Game Farm, told reporters the thief first tried to break into a cash register inside the preserve’s lodge. When that proved futile, he turned his attention to a rhino head mounted to the wall. The rhino head was dragged outside and the horn sawn off. This isn’t too surprising, considering rhino horn is a prized aphrodisiac in China and other parts of Asia, often selling for more per gram than cocaine. As it turns out, however, this particular rhino horn won’t make very good medicine for any impotent Asians. The burgled bust was, in fact, a fiberglass replica. “I was angry at the time, but it was also funny,” Lottering told BBC News. Lombardini Game Farm has 15 live rhinos on the grounds, but all of them have been de-horned to dissuade poachers. Dateline: New York Police in upstate New York managed to locate a missing box truck with a helicopter, successfully spotting a suspect trying to bury the 26-foot vehicle with a bulldozer. The delivery truck went missing from a business in the town of Macedon in Wayne County late last month. Acting on a tip, police checked out Country Construction on the Monroe-Orleans Countyline Road. “Jeffery Paul was in the process of burying the box truck,” Investigator Corey Black told The Daily News . “He was bulldozing it under in a sand pit.” Paul’s father, David Paul, owns Country Construction and the surrounding 77 acres of land. Investigators called for ground units and the Pauls were taken into custody. In addition to the half-buried truck, Macedon Police found three stolen backhoes, one of which had been dismantled, and a stolen car. So far, the Pauls have not been charged with a crime, pending further investigation. “We’re still trying to determine ownership of the property,” Black said. “Some of the identification numbers were removed.” Dateline: Illinois An inept bank robbery led to the arrest of not one but two thieves. WBBM Newsradio in Chicago reports the suspect, Olga Perdomo, showed up to the Albany Bank and Trust around 5 p.m. on March 29. Wearing pajama bottoms and a hooded jacket, she handed the teller a note that said, “All of your money, no cops, no dye pack.” Rather than hand over the cash, the teller told the suspect that the bank was closed and she would have to return tomorrow. According to the criminal complaint, Perdomo left empty-handed. Although Perdomo did not return to rob the bank on Friday, she did come back on Monday. A bank maintenance worker, who had seen video footage of the attempted robbery, recognized Perdomo standing outside the bank. Police were called and Perdomo was arrested. While they were arresting Perdomo, officers spotted another man standing nearby. Willie Weathersby allegedly robbed the very same bank on March 23 and got away with $2,589 dollars. After a brief foot chase, Weathersby was cuffed as well—making it a two-for-one. It is unclear, at this point, if Perdomo and Weathersby were working together. Both have allegedly confessed to the individual bank robberies. Dateline: Idaho A 19-year-old has been charged with lying to police after submitting a false name to officers—despite the fact that his real name was prominently tattooed on his forearm. Early on the morning of March 31, an officer in Twin Falls spotted three men walking on the street with a dog. According to the Magic Valley News-Times , the officer asked them to move to the sidewalk. When one of the men looked like he might run away, the officer asked for identification. Dylan Edward Contreras identified himself as Emiliano Velesco. The name and birth date didn’t match any in the police database. On a whim, the officer tried using the birth date and the name tattooed on the suspect’s arm: “CONTRERAS.” That search pulled up Dylan Contreras’ information, along with three warrants for failure to appear on charges of providing false information and underage drinking. Dispatch personnel sent a photo of Contreras to the officer. “I showed the photo to Mr. Contreras and he became upset, knowing that he had been identified,” the officer wrote in his report.
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. Email your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
