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The nation in brief

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 14, 2001


Theft victims find stolen car at bank

WOODSTOCK, Ga. -- A couple whose car and checkbook were stolen got a surprise when they went to the bank to close their account: Their car was in the drive-through lane, where two people were trying to cash one of the stolen checks.

The couple called 911, and a Cherokee County deputy chased the car into neighboring Cobb County, just north of Atlanta, Cherokee Sheriff Roger Garrison said. Cobb police joined the pursuit and caught the suspects.

Roderick C. Chatman, 36, and Juli Marie Levinge, 30, both of Atlanta, were charged Friday with forgery, the Cherokee Sheriff's Department said.

If they hadn't been caught, Garrison said detectives would not have had much trouble tracking them down. The forged check was made out in Chatman's name, and he left his driver's license with the bank teller.

Sen. Domenici spends night in hospital

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Sen. Pete Domenici was released Saturday from a hospital where he had spent the night for observation after complaining of grogginess and lethargy.

Doctors blamed his condition on a change in dosage of medication he takes for a neck injury.

Domenici, 68, was admitted to University of New Mexico Hospital on Friday and released at noon Saturday, hospital spokesman Malcolm Brenner said.

"He's doing fine. He will take a day of rest Sunday and he will return to his normal duties on Monday," hospital spokesman Malcolm Brenner said Saturday.

Woman drives dead mom from Colorado to Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A woman put her dead mother in the passenger seat of her car and drove her more than 1,000 miles from Colorado to an Oregon mortuary so she could be buried next to her husband.

Janet Levine was trying to save money on the costs of shipping the body of 91-year-old Mildred Catherine Wooten, said Sgt. Mike Julian of the Jefferson County, Colo., sheriff's office.

Transporting a body across state lines without a death certificate is illegal, but authorities said they will not press charges.

"Sometimes the shock of the death of a loved one makes people think kind of crazy," said Frank Ratti, deputy medical examiner of Lane County, Ore.

Gun-shaped jewelry gets third-grader suspended

PONTIAC, Mich. -- School officials have suspended a third-grade student under the state's zero-tolerance weapons law after he brought a 1 1/2-inch-long gun-shaped medallion to class.

The boy apparently found the piece of jewelry in a snowbank and brought it to Owen Elementary School on Wednesday, school officials said.

"State law takes precedence and requires us to take action even though it was a toy," said Donna Poag, director of elementary education for the Pontiac School District.

The item posed no threat to students but could frighten someone who didn't get a good look at it, Poag said. The boy, whose name was not released, never pointed the item or threatened anyone with it, she said.

Boy dreams parents are killed, jumps out window

NEW YORK -- A 9-year-old boy dreaming that his parents were being murdered was seriously injured when he tried to escape from a third-story window in his sleep, police said.

Edward Amonte fractured his hip and spine and sustained a brain injury in the fall early Friday. He remained in stable but serious condition Saturday.

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