The Odd Truth, June 15, 2004
The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum.
Honesty: Not The Best Policy
SALT LAKE CITY - Being able to apologize is a virtue. But for one alleged thief, it became the quickest way to jail.
Police say Peter Shelley, 24, punched a convenience store clerk and stole a pack of cigarettes on June 6 after he refused to show the clerk his identification.
But last Saturday, police say Shelley returned to the gas station and apologized to the clerk - twice.
The clerk called police, who caught Shelley in his car near the gas station and arrested him.
Shelley was arrested and faces felony strong-armed robbery charges.
Fake Passports Never Tasted So Good
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Fake passports and work permits have been smuggled into Malaysia from Indonesia in packets of instant noodles, police said.
Police made the discovery in a raid on an apartment in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. They arrested six Indonesians and seized 374 passports and more than 700 work permits, police Assistant Commissioner Hasanudin Hasan said.
Some of the passports were found still inside packets of instant noodles - 14 passports to a pack, Tuesday's New Straits Times newspaper said in a report headed "Have instant noodles, will travel."
"If you examine the packets you would think they were instant noodles because they also left some bits of noodles and the sachets of seasoning in them," another officer, Fauzi Shaari, was quoted as saying.
Police said a syndicate of smugglers had been buying the passports and forged work permits in Indonesia and selling them to illegal immigrants in Malaysia.
Those arrested face charges under the Passport Act, which carries a maximum penalty of six years imprisonment, large fines and whipping.
Malaysia is one of Southeast Asia's wealthiest countries and is a magnet for foreign workers from its poorer neighbors, including Indonesia and the Philippines.
The Drunk Leading The Blind
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - A blind man drove a golf cart for two miles through the winding streets of Peachtree City, accompanied by his guide dog - and an inebriated friend giving instructions - before running into a parked car, police said.
Nobody was hurt, but Samuel McClain, 35, of Stockbridge and Michael Johnston, 47, of Peachtree City were charged with reckless conduct "due to the blatant disregard for public safety," a police report said.
The report said McClain was driving the cart Saturday while Johnston gave directions after having six or seven beers and "admittedly under the influence of alcoholic beverage." Also on the cart was McClain's golden retriever guide dog.
The city of 34,000 about 25 miles south of Atlanta has about 80 miles of paved cart paths and 9,000 registered carts that residents use for daily tasks like going to the grocery or taking children to school.
The Little Obsessive That Couldn't
NEW YORK - A man who has been arrested 20 times for illegally posing as a subway motorman, bus driver or transit token taker has been arrested again - this time for walking through a rail yard carrying several sets of transit keys and wearing a worker's vest and hard hat, police said.
Darius McCollum, 39, was on parole after serving prison time for his last arrest when transit police found him Friday in the rail yard for Long Island Rail Road.
He was accused of trying to take a locomotive and train from the yard in the New York borough of Queens and was charged with attempted grand larceny, criminal impersonation and other offenses, prosecutors said.
It was unclear how McCollum got the uniform and several sets of keys, including ones that would give him access to trains, said Tom Kelly, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The agency was investigating.
In 2001, McCollum pleaded guilty to an incident the previous year in which, posing as a transit supervisor, he tripped a switch that caused a subway train to stop. He was sentenced to 2-and-a-half to five years in prison and paroled in April.
Although McCollum has not been diagnosed, some medical experts said they believe he suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a mental condition characterized by obsessive and anti-social behavior.
McCollum has never worked as a paid transit employee. His mother, Elizabeth McCollum, once said that by the time he was 8 he had memorized the city subway system and could direct a person to any point on it without consulting a map or guide.
Robber Caught In Strip Club
LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A man accused of robbing a convenience store was arrested about an hour later after bragging about the theft at a strip club, where he had spent more than $100 of the $156 he stole, authorities said.
Police arrested Arthur Melandeo Ramirez Jr., 35, of Lafayette, on charges of robbery, theft, confinement and intimidation.
The convenience store's cashier said a man waited Sunday night until other customers made purchases before demanding money and indicating that he had a gun. Investigators used the store's surveillance video to obtain a description of the robber.
About 75 minutes later, the staff at a strip club called police about a customer who was bragging to dancers that he had just committed a robbery, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Monday in Tippecanoe Superior Court.
Police said Ramirez, who was arrested at the club, had spent much of the money taken in the robbery to buy drinks and tip dancers.
Ramirez was being held Tuesday in the Tippecanoe County Jail on $25,000 surety bond.
Orange Cauliflower Hits U.S. Market
ALBANY, N.Y. - You don't need to have your eyes checked if that cauliflower in the supermarket produce section looks orange. After its discovery in a Canadian marsh more than 30 years ago, orange cauliflower is finally hitting the U.S. market. The cauliflower hybrid now being sold in garden catalogs was developed by breeders at the New York State Agricultural Station in Geneva. Researchers say orange cauliflower has caught the attention of restaurant chefs because of its superior appearance. The hybrid also has about 25 times more vitamin A than its pale cousin, making it more appealing to health-conscious consumers. The first mutant cauliflower plant was found in a marsh north of Toronto in 1970. Researchers later crossbred the orange plant with standard cauliflower for better flavor. After years in development, the vegetable is now available to commercial growers and home gardeners.