The Odd Truth, Aug. 19, 2003

Bridal Rage; Peeing On Prisoners; Spit On A Mugger; Clowns Crack!

(CBS/AP)  The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum. A new collection of stories is published each weekday. On weekends, you can read a week's worth of The Odd Truth.

Bridezilla Wreaks Havoc!

SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. - A North Haven bride spent part of her wedding night in a jail cell, after police said she hurled things at reception hall workers who closed the bar.

Adrienne T. Samen, 18, was arrested on criminal mischief and breach of peace charges Saturday after police responded to The Mill on the River restaurant.

When workers there closed the bar, Samen allegedly began throwing things, including wedding cake and vases. Samen left the restaurant, and police found her walking down the road in her gown.

While being taken into custody, police said she kicked the door and window of the police cruiser and tried to bite an officer.

She posted a $1,000 bond and was released Saturday night, police said. She was on her honeymoon Monday.

She is due in Manchester Superior Court on Aug. 28.

Komodo Gets Acupuncture

SINGAPORE - An 8-foot-long Komodo dragon lizard in Singapore's zoo has been receiving traditional Chinese acupuncture treatment for a nerve disorder.

“Tirto is now more relaxed and is beginning to enjoy his treatments,” a spokesman for the Singapore Zoological Gardens, Vincent Tan, said Tuesday.

He said the 8-year-old, 94-pound male lizard, has been receiving twice-weekly treatments for a neurological disorder from veterinarian Oh Soon Hock - who is also a qualified acupuncturist - for the past three weeks.

Komodo dragons, the world's largest lizards, are prehistoric-looking reptiles that can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh more than 200 pounds. They have long claws and serrated teeth that help them tear meat from the animals they prey upon.

Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years in many parts of Asia, where it's believed that pricking a patient with stainless steel needles in strategic places helps nerve and circulatory functions.

Tirto had been having problems swallowing and eating. The zoo initially tried steroid treatment, but eventually turned to the ancient traditional treatment still widely used in this wealthy, modern Southeast Asian country with an ethnic Chinese majority.

Guard Sentenced For Peeing On Inmates

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A former guard was ordered to scrub toilets while serving 15 days behind bars for urinating from a roof onto inmates playing basketball.

Greene County Circuit Judge Don Burrell said Monday he hoped the sentence would help Justin Hastings better understand what it was like to be dependent on those with power.

Hastings, 23, also was given two years of probation and 150 hours of community service. He was convicted in June of four counts of assault.

Four inmates said they were splashed by the urine as they played basketball in July 2001 at the Greene County Jail.

Hastings admitted during the trial that he knew prisoners were in the room when he and another jailer urinated through a roof grate.

A DNA expert testified that urine samples taken from the jail roof could be linked to Hastings. But defense attorneys contended there was no proof that Hastings' urine - and not the other jailer's - hit the inmates.

Both guards have resigned. Greene County also paid a total of $100,000 to the four inmates.

Guilty Mugger Asks Women To Spit On Him

MADRID, Spain - Police in Barcelona say they've arrested a well-dressed serial mugger who would target women, express remorse and ask them to spit at him.

The 29-year-old man was arrested last week and is suspected of robbing 19 women in one month to finance a slot-machine addiction, the National Police in Spain's second largest city said.

The suspect always used the same tactic: corner women in apartment building doorways or elevators and hold a box cutter to their throat, inspector Benjamin Blanco told the newspaper La Vanguardia.

After taking money, the man would apologize, say he knew he was doing something bad and ask the women to spit at him, Blanco said. Some did, he added.

“I've been at this for 27 years and I swear I've never come across anyone who asked their victims to do something like this,” Blanco was quoted as saying.

Burglar Spooked By Bacon Face

LIVERPOOL, England - It looked like something out of one of the Hannibal Lecter movies. But it was a case of mistaken bacon. Police in Liverpool, England, broke into a house after a repentant burglar reported seeing a human head in a jar. But the only offense may have been to good taste. Police say what the burglar took for human remains was actually a mask made of bacon. It's the creation of artist Richard Morrison. He admits his bacon mask is a “very macabre piece of work,” but he never expected this sort of reaction. He made the bacon mask for an art course two years ago and preserved it in a jar of formaldehyde. Police have apologized and promise to fix Morrison's front door.

Even Clowns Have A Breaking Point

MEXICO CITY - Authorities in Mexico City aren't laughing at a stunt pulled off by a couple of clowns. Police say teens dressed as clowns climbed aboard a microbus near Mexico City's airport. They did a song-and-dance routine, then robbed everyone on board. Apparently, none of the 20 passengers gave the kids spare change after they did their act. So, authorities say the clowns pulled out knives and demanded cash. The suspects weren't too hard to spot. Police say the teens were arrested at nearby park.

Disabled Man Fends Of Crook With Crutches

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - Larry Klein may be disabled - but he's not helpless. A would-be robber found that out the hard way. Klein used his crutches to beat off a crook who was trying steal his wallet. Klein has a prosthetic leg and uses metal-tipped crutches. He says he noticed that a car with two people followed him into his apartment complex in Delray Beach, Florida. Klein says the other car blocked his way and the driver demanded his wallet. But Klein wasn't about to submit. He says he poked the bad guy in face repeatedly with his crutches. After about ten seconds the robber gave up and drove away. Police are still looking for the suspects.

Airline Pays Big Bucks For Lucky Number

SHANGHAI, China - An airline in southwestern China has paid $282,000 for the phone number “88888888,” saying it hopes to make its customers happy.

Many Chinese consider the number “eight” to be lucky because it rhymes with the Chinese word for getting rich.

“Everyone at the company believes the number was worth the price we paid,” said Xing Bing, of Sichuan Airlines' corporate culture department.

Xing said the number, to be used as a customer-service hotline, had already had a “good advertising effect.”

The use of such traditional practices as choosing lucky numbers and consulting “feng shui” experts has become common in recent years, though communist authorities frown on what they deem “feudal superstitions.”

Yet the auction was officially sanctioned, with proceeds to go to charity.

Buying the number was not a way of promoting superstition but of pleasing customers, Xing said.

“The number is easy to remember,” she said. “It's a number that will make customers happy when they call.”

This Sounds Like A Bad Dream

OMAHA, Neb. - Final exams in college are stressful enough, but Joy Conner had even more to deal with while taking four finals in one day.

She went into labor.

The expectant mother's contractions started Wednesday as she was in the middle of her second final exam of the day at Metropolitan Community College.

Her due date was not until Friday. She was hoping the baby could wait. However, her labor pains were only five minutes apart while taking the test.

“I took the test and after every question, I'd kind of sit there and breathe,” she said.

Even though she had a good reason to quit and make up the tests later, she completed all her finals for the day before heading to the hospital and eventually giving birth to a daughter, Evelyn Leigh.

The respiratory therapy student said she is happy she completed the tests, even as the contractions got worse. She said she wanted to finish the tests so she could concentrate on the birth and her baby.