Free Republic

New York woman arrested for driving with a handmade license plate. On Friday, CBS News reported that Amanda Schweickert, 28, of Sardinia is in trouble for using a fake license plate. She is not supposed to be driving because she has a suspended registration and no car insurance. However, it did not stop her from using a little creativity. She decided to create her own license plate. Authorities say she used a piece of cardboard and painted blue text on it. Although the plate didn’t look too dreadful, it fooled no one. On Wednesday, a police officer pulled Schweickert over...

• Drunk driving suspect claims his dog was driving the car The dog was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t stop one drunk driving suspect from blaming his pet. Florida resident Reliford Cooper III was arrested after crashing his car and promptly gave police a rather unbelievable 'excuse'. "Who was chasing me?" he asked the officer, adding: "My dog was driving that car, I ran 'cause I wanted to. You ain’t gonna find no drugs or guns on me." Mr Cooper is alleged to have ignored a stop sign and travelled across two ditches before crashing into an occupied...

Arizona police arrest man for shooting at the moon PHOENIX (Reuters) - A marijuana smoker was arrested in Arizona after shooting at the moon with a handgun and wrestling with officers who were called by his girlfriend to subdue him, authorities said on Wednesday. Police went to a home in Prescott Valley, about 85 miles north of Phoenix, late last Friday where the woman told them her partner had fired several shots into the air after telling her and her teenage son he had seen Halley's Comet. Prescott Valley police spokesman Sergeant Brandon Bonney said Cameron Read, 39, was arrested...

Tulsa man accused of taking toddler on drunken horse ride A Tulsa man who was once charged on an out-of-state child endangerment complaint was arrested by police Monday after he allegedly was seen riding a horse with a 3-year-old child while intoxicated. Dennis Carl Byers, 38, was booked into the Tulsa Jail on child neglect and public intoxication complaints, jail records show. Byers was spotted by Tulsa police about 8 p.m. Monday in the 2000 block of East 56th North on a horse with a small child, Byers' arrest report said. Officers who stopped Byers observed that he had blood...

Man shot during bigfoot hunt in Oklahoma CATOOSA, Okla., Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Authorities in Oklahoma said one person was shot and three were arrested in an apparent sasquatch hunting mishap. Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton said Omar Pineda, 21, shot his friend in the back accidentally while the two were out hunting for the legendary ape, but it took a lot of questioning before deputies could uncover the truth, KXTV, Oklahoma City, reported Tuesday. Pineda, 21, was arrested for reckless conduct with a firearm and obstruction. The wounded man is expected to survive. Perry Don James, 53, Pineda's father-in-law,...

Alaska man feeds black bear barbecue meat, gets mauled for dessert The drunken man could be charged with illegally feeding wildlife after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says he 'pretty much goaded' the beast into the attack. Beer, barbecue and black bears are never a good mix. An Alaska man learned that the hard way this weekend when he threw a hungry bear a piece of barbecued meat — only to be mauled by the same bear. "He'd been drinking," Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen told the Anchorage Daily News of the man. The unidentified man was...

Elmo imposter hassles tourists for money and gets booted from Central Park Zoo Man dressed up as furry Sesame Street Muppet gets taken away on ambulance An Elmo imposter who has hassled tourists for money for years was taken away from Central Park in an ambulance Sunday afternoon after cops got a call about an emotionally disturbed person. “Elmo” began yelling obscenities when security guards booted him from Central Park Zoo for pestering tourists to pay him to pose for pictures. An emotionally disturbed man dressed as Elmo is taken away by ambulance after hassling tourists for money and shouting...

Man throws aluminum water bottle at UC Berkeley student’s face A man threw an aluminum water bottle at a UC Berkeley student Thursday evening on campus, causing minor injuries to the victim’s face. At about 5:09 p.m., the female student was approached by a man at “the northeast exterior of the Haas Pavilion,” according to a UCPD crime alert. The man asked the student if she was going to the protest on Sproul Plaza, and when the victim answered “no,” the suspect yelled at her. “People like you are the reason that California is in debt,” he said, according to...

Charges: Man Hunting Squirrels Shoots Bow Hunter November 20, 2007 STILLWATER, Minn. (AP) ― A 20-year-old Minneapolis man is charged with a felony after he allegedly fired a shotgun at what he thought was a squirrel and hit another hunter. Washington County prosecutors charged Neng Xiong with felony discharge of a firearm on Tuesday in the hunting accident that wounded a bow hunter in Bayport Wildlife Management Area on Oct. 25. The criminal complaint alleges that Xiong was hunting squirrels with a 20-gauge shotgun loaded with birdshot when he accidentally shot the other hunter, who was kneeling on the ground....