CLOWN CAR“This van is under attack,” announced a security van (armored car) in Gillingham, Kent, England. “Please call the police.” Two officers arrived to help. The first opened an escape hatch and climbed in the back to check the guard – and was promptly locked in. The other officer went to the front to check the driver – and was promptly locked in. There was no robbery: The van crew had apparently accidentally triggered the anti-robbery system. “I kept thinking some TV presenter and a camera crew will come along in a minute,” said Craig Scott, 21, who watched as more and more people got stuck in the van. “It was one of the funniest things I have seen.” (London Metro)PLAYING WITH FIREFire department officials in Belfair, Wash., are upset with the local water district: Officials there ordered padlocks put on all fire hydrants. They didn’t bother to tell firefighters of the move, nor did they provide keys to the locks. Belfair Water District Manager Dave Tipton said he doesn’t understand firefighters’ concerns. “We’re trying to protect our resource,” he said, noting that the water district loses 8-10 percent of its water to leaks and thefts, and that he has even been “driving around at night trying to catch somebody,” apparently with no success. “Any significant amount of time [waiting for a water district official to come unlock a hydrant] can have a disastrous outcome on an emergency situation,” said Fire Chief Beau Bakken, noting the fire department has solved the problem by buying bolt cutters to cut the locks off. (Kitsap Sun) … Except the chief has ordered his men to never cut the lock on the hydrant by Tipton’s house.THE ZERO TOLERANCE MENTALITY, PART 4,260 IN A LONG SERIESAdam Hernandez, 15, a freshman at Shorewood (Wisc.) High School, was arrested, handcuffed and booked on a charge of theft after a friend let him have his lunch. The friend was part of a free lunch program, and Hernandez wasn’t, so eating the $2.60 chicken nugget meal was “stealing,” school officials said, and they called police. But Police Chief David Banaszynski finally decided to drop the charges just before the boy went to trial; the school principal agreed with the decision. “It shouldn’t have gone this far,” Banaszynski said. “There are other means and methods to handle this kind of situation.” When asked whether his officers should have made the arrest in the first place, Banaszynski said the arrest was perhaps “a bit over the top,” but “there’s more than one side of the story.” (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) … Right: There’s the ridiculous side, and then there’s the outrageous side.Source: www.thisistrue.com
