The Odd Truth, Jan. 13, 2005
The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Joey Arak.
A Shock For Nude Jogger
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. - Arkansas' naked jogger has been zapped.
For months, officers have been getting reports about a man making late-night runs in the buff. On Monday, police said they think they got their mystery jogger.
Fate Patterson, 39, of West Memphis, was arrested after he ran past a police car and failed to stop when he was ordered to do so by officers. Police chased him and were able to rein him in by using a Taser.
Patterson was charged with indecent exposure, fleeing and resisting arrest.
Mike Allen, assistant chief of the West Memphis police department, said that it did not initially appear that the man was mentally ill. He did not disclose his reasons for running without his clothes.
"You know, this one has just got me kind of speechless," said Allen.
Don't Order Coke
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - What the owners of The West Main Cafe were apparently cooking up at night has landed them in jail.
Police said they believe the operators of the restaurant were making methamphetamine in the kitchen on the same equipment they were using to cook food for customers.
Agents found meth in a room next to the kitchen, coffee filters with drug residue and other ingredients associated with the manufacturing of the drug, said Larry Johnson, director of the Fifth Judicial District Drug Task Force.
People eating at the restaurant at the time of a police raid on Wednesday were asked to leave, and their food sat on the tables as agents inventoried items seized from the cafe.
Johnson said the two restaurant operators were apparently cooking the drugs at night when the restaurant was closed. According to a police report, flammable chemicals also were found in the kitchen and could have ignited.
The restaurant was closed indefinitely.
Dinosaurs Finally Get Theirs
NEW YORK - Here's the paleontological version of man bites dog. In this case, it's mammal bites dinosaur.
A 130-million-year-old fossil of a mammal unearthed in northeastern China two years ago has the clear remains of a baby dinosaur in its stomach.
Paleontologist Meng Jin of the American Museum of Natural History says this discovery could change the way scientists look at the relationship of dinosaurs and mammals.
Until now, it was believed dinosaurs hunted small, timid mammals. This is the first evidence the hunt went both ways.
The mammal, something like a present-day Tasmanian devil, was about two feet long. The baby parrot dinosaur in its stomach was about five inches.
Please Don't Tempt The Lawyers
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Did you hear the one about the two guys arrested for telling lawyer jokes? It's no joke, it really happened outside a Long Island, New York courthouse. Harvey Kash reportedly asked Carl Lanzisera, "How do you tell when a lawyer is lying?" In unison, they said the old punch line, "his lips are moving." But one lawyer wasn't amused. The attorney asked the pair to pipe down. When they didn't, he reported them to courthouse authorities. A court officer arrested the men for disorderly conduct. Kash and Lanzisera aren't surprised. They founded Americans for Legal Reform. Kash says lawyers just can't take it.
Painter Nabs Pup Fly
FLORENCE, Ala. - A house painter has become a dog catcher -- literally. Gary Gallien was working on a crew painting an apartment complex in Florence, Alabama, when he caught a pooch falling from a fifth-floor balcony. He says as he stepped outside, he heard a woman scream and looked up. A white, furry object was falling toward him. He says he caught the small dog like it was a football and felt like running for a touchdown. He took the dog back up to the fifth floor and set it loose. Gallien says he just wishes someone with a camcorder had caught his dog-catching on tape, for one of those funny home video TV shows.
Teddy Bear Controversy
MONTPELIER, Vt. - A teddy bear is driving some mental health advocates nuts. They're asking the Vermont Teddy Bear Company to stop selling its strait-jacketed "Crazy for You Bear." A statement from Vermont Teddy Bear says it's designed to be a light-hearted depiction of commitment. But that's not how the Vermont chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill sees it. An official with the organization says a strait jacket isn't a symbol to associate with loved ones for Valentine's Day. Officials with the Teddy Bear Company say they'll discontinue the Crazy for You Bear, but not before Valentine's Day in about a month.