The SMT 911
Backhoe Break In
Marshalls Creek, PA – It’s amazing what children will do when their parents are away…even when they are in their 50s. A Pennsylvania man used a backhoe to break into a museum owned by his father – the pioneering fantasy artist Frank Frazetta – in an attempt to steal 90 paintings valued at $20 million. “Some of these paintings are worth a million a piece,” said a District Attorney. The elder Frazetta, 81, is renowned for his work on characters including Conan the Barbarian, Tarzan and Vampirella. The son, 52, is now renowned for trying to steal this work after he and another man used a backhoe to enter the Frazetta Art Museum in the Pocono Mountains region while his father was in Florida. A trooper responded after an alarm was set off and was told by the son that he had been instructed by his father “to enter the museum by any means necessary to move all the paintings to a storage facility.” However, the father did not say this and the backhoe burglar was charged with theft, burglary and trespass with a $500,000 bail.
Of Dragons and Drugs
Cairns, Australia – When you’re pulled over by police and pass the breathalyzer test, it’s probably best to keep your mouth shut if you are on some kind of hallucinogenic drug. This happened to a young man who passed his breath test, but blew his cover when he started talking to police about mystical dragons. When he 22-year-old was pulled over during a random breath test he returned a negative blood alcohol reading…but then said that he was being followed by mystical dragons, which sparked a fresh round of inquires. Police asked him to get out of the car and he was unsteady on his feet and his speech was slurred. In the end he was charged with driving under the influence of drugs and possessing a dangerous drug. Remember, if the dragons don’t get you…the law will.
Salami Clubs and Daggers of Cheese
Aachen, Germany – When you see someone reaching for the same grocery cart in a supermarket, in the spirit of the Christmas Season, let them have it…if not you could find yourself in a battle with salami and cheese. Two Germans needed hospital treatment after they fought a battle in a supermarket with salamis used as clubs and a chunk of Parmesan cheese brandished like a dagger. When the 74-year-old man reached for the cart, you would assume that the 35-year-old woman would let him have it, but he had to wrestle it from her hands. At this point the woman’s 24-year-old brother stepped forward and punched the old man. Then together, with their 53-year-old mother, the brother and sister t took the cart into the supermarket. But the man was in hot pursuit and followed them to the cheese counter where he clubbed the younger man with a salami stick as his mother tried to fend him off with a sharp four pound piece of Parmesan. The woman was pushed onto a glass countertop and by the time police arrived two of those involved were treated in hospital for minor injuries.
