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Okay, someone has to go with the kidnappee

By TIMES WIRES
Published January 30, 2007

You just can't trust kidnapping victims anymore. According to WSB-TV in Atlanta, two men held a woman against her will in a Cobb County apartment. Then, according to the woman, they drove her to a bank and told her to go in and make a withdrawal. Alone. While they went to Chick-fil-A. But instead of getting the money and going back to her captors, she told the bank employee, who called police. Police responded and caught one of the men trying to run from Chick-fil-A. The other suspect escaped.

Next time, I need to plan for dye pack

Clenzo Thompson is charged with robbing the Park Slope branch of the Commerce Bank in Brooklyn on Jan. 12. The New York Post reports that he initially got away with it, despite a dye pack that exploded right in his face. But he was undeterred: He did it again two days later. Same guy, same bank, new dye pack, same face. This time, the dye pack blew while he was in the back of his getaway cab (he had one waiting for him outside). Thompson briefly got away again, but cops traced him to a fingerprint left at the bank.

Voltage was high, but altitude low

Here in Florida, the weather can wreak havoc on our electricity. But at least we don't have the problems that they have in Juneau, Alaska, where a bald eagle flying with a deer head crashed into electric lines and knocked out power to 10,000 residents for about 45 minutes. "You have to live in Alaska to have this kind of outage scenario," said Gayle Wood of Alaska Electric Light & Power. "This is the story of the overly ambitious eagle who evidently found a deer head in the landfill." The weight of the head apparently weighed down the bird, which led to it not clearing the line, killing the bird.

In Michigan, 70 mph is the new 65

In Michigan, if the speed limit sign says 65, it's okay to go 70. That's what the cops say, according to the Detroit Free Press. It seems the state Legislature raised the limit on many freeways in the state, but did not appropriate the money - $1.2-million - for new signs. They hope to update the signs by June. Until then, police promise not to ticket anyone going 70 in what is marked a 65 zone. "It would not be a legally defensible ticket," said 1st Lt. Thad Peterson of the Michigan State Police.

A lawyer that can relate to his client

Patrick DePula of Madison, Wis., was locked up on a charge of drunken driving. When his lawyer Rick Petri heard at about 2 a.m., he high-tailed it right down to the station to help. Police stopped him on the way and drove him to the jail. Seems Petri, who used to prosecute DUI cases, had had a few drinks before going to bed, and his blood-alcohol level was still over the legal limit of 0.08. "I did not think I was intoxicated, and I was wrong," he said. "I can't tell you how humbled I am."

[Last modified January 30, 2007, 00:35:56]