Strange crimes that made headlines in 2014
Beware of the banana gun?
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Nathan Rolf Channing, a 27-year-old Colorado man, was booked on two counts of felony menacing charges because two Colorado sheriff's deputies say they thought a banana he pointed at them was a gun.
According to an arrest affidavit, Mesa County deputies Joshua Bunch and Donald Love said Channing pointed the fruit at them while crossing a street in December.
There is no word on whether Channing will "a-peel."
RUI - "Riding" under the influence
BOULDER, Colo. - In September, police in Boulder arrested a man suspected of riding a horse under the influence of alcohol, CBS Denver reported.
The man was taken into custody by the University of Colorado police.
No details were given as to the man's blood alcohol content - or of the horse, for that matter - although police did say the animal was disrupting traffic.
Police said the horseman was riding around with beer in his saddlebags, and that he also had a dog in his backpack.
Breast pump bandit in New Jersey
BRICK TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Police were looking for a man in December wanted in repeated attempts to steal breast pumps from Burlington Coat Factory stores, reports CBS New York.
Surveillance video captured the man walking into the store in Brick Township, N.J., on Dec. 1, when he tried to steal three Madela Freestyle Breast Pumps, priced at $339 each, police said.
An employee stopped the man outside, but he dropped the pumps and took off.
This isn't the first time the suspect has struck, authorities said. They also believe he recently shoplifted breast pumps from a Burlington Coat Factory in Freehold, N.J.
Most shoppers seemed puzzled by the bizarre crime, but some mothers told CBS New York that the expensive pumps are a hot commodity on the black market.
Faking a heart attack for toys
LAKE WALES, Fla. -- Authorities say a man faked a heart attack inside a Florida Wal-Mart store so his friend could steal toys.
The men - 30-year-old Tarus Scott and 27-year-old Genard Dupree - were arrested in December on grand theft charges.
The Polk County Sheriff's office says the men filled a shopping cart with a motorized power wheel Barbie car, Leap Frog tablet and a Barbie Glam vacation house. They walked through the store together.
Video surveillance shows Dupree on the floor near the store entrance, clutching his chest, in a purported fake heart attack. As concerned citizens checked on him, Scott walked out of the store with the cart.
Once Scott was outside, Dupree got up and walked out. They left in a silver SUV, but deputies caught up with them.
According to CBS affiliate WKMG, deputies said Scott and Dupree have extensive criminal histories. They said Scott was recently released after serving 10 years in state prison.
31 going on 15
LONGVIEW, Texas - In June, a 34-year-old woman who posed as a teenager to enroll as a sophomore at an East Texas high school pleaded guilty to failure to identify.
A judge in Longview sentenced Charity Johnson to 85 days in jail in a plea agreement.
Johnson was arrested May 13 after a woman who let Johnson stay at her apartment called the police when she discovered Johnson was not a teenager. Police gave her a trespass warning. New Life Christian School officials said Johnson enrolled last October with a guardian and indicated she was 15 years old.
Johnson told police she was born in 1997. Authorities later determined she was much older.
Johnson served nearly a month in jail before being released.
Sasquatch found
DELHI TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- A southwest Ohio family is searching for Sasquatch no longer.
The Spence family in Delhi Township, near Cincinnati, says their 400-pound concrete statue of the mythical beast was stolen in November but was later recovered.
Sixty-one-year-old Ralph Spence says his two sons bought the statue for him several years ago. They affectionately call it "Squashy."
Though it started out as a practical joke, the statue sort of became part of the family. They even dress it up for holidays.
Spence says he received a call from a friend who saw the statue in a nearby open field. A note found with the statue poked fun at its weight, and was signed by "the body building bandits."
Spence says Squashy, the statue, is "a legend around here in the neighborhood."
As for the real Sasquatch... keep looking.