The Odd Truth, June 16, 2004

The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum.

Bank Robbery Yields $50

NORRISTOWN, Pa. - The robbery of a Plymouth Township bank yielded only a single $50 bill, a Montgomery County detective said Monday.

Detective Jeff McGee said a man entered a Madison Bank branch on Friday and handed a note to a teller that read, "Give me all your hundreds and fifties FAST." That man left the bank with one $50 bill and got into a car driven by a woman.

A witness took note of the license plate number, leading to the arrest of two people in Philadelphia: Andre Lamar Henderson, 30, and Lisa Terry Hanna, 41.

"Philadelphia police detained both suspects," McGee said. "I watched the videotape from the bank's surveillance system and positively identified Henderson as the robber."

Henderson had $336 in his possession when arrested, including the $50 bill stolen from the bank on Friday, authorities said. McGee said Henderson is also a suspect in bank robberies in Harrisburg, York and Manheim Township, Lancaster County.

Henderson and Hanna were both in custody Monday night; it was not immediately clear if they were represented by lawyers.

Nine Million Bees Unleashed On Highway

BOZEMAN, Montana - A tractor-trailer overturned on a curve on a highway, spilling its load of hundreds of bee hives and unleashing some nine million angry honey bees.

The bees buzzed furiously as driver Lane Miller, his arm scraped to the bone, struggled to flee his rig after it overturned Monday in Bear Trap Canyon west of Bozeman. The truck slid across the highway before coming to a stop between guardrails.

"I had to kick the windshield out of the front of the cab and the bees were on me from that moment," said Miller, 41. "I've never felt so much fear in my life."

Miller walked away from the crash, and two people picked him up and took him to the hospital. Miller underwent surgery on his arm and suffered bruises and about 20 stings.

The state road was closed for 14 hours as crews and beekeepers cleaned up the 512 hives Miller was hauling from Idaho to North Dakota.

In spite of bee suits and extra clothing, beekeeper Gary Clark said he counted about 60 stings of his own.

"Everybody had literally thousands of bees on them, in their hats and on their suits," Clark said. "When we pulled the boxes out, big globs of them would fall on us."

Drug Gang Used Spiritual Advisor

NEW YORK - As the spiritual adviser to New York City drug dealers, Mercedes Osario allegedly was paid to warn if police were in their future. Prosecutors say her mystical powers failed miserably.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes on Tuesday announced a 133-count indictment against 15 people, including Osario and alleged members of a drug crew that used its own fleet of cars to make cocaine deliveries to regular customers.

Osario, 53, was charged with misdemeanor weapons possession, which carries a maximum one-year prison term. A woman answering the phone at her home on Tuesday said, "She doesn't know anything about this," but she declined further comment.

Authorities portrayed Osario as a practitioner of the Afro-Caribbean Santeria faith and "business adviser" to the gang. Santeria blends African spiritual beliefs with Roman Catholic traditions.

Osario was put on the gang payroll "to foresee the future," said chief gang prosecutor Deanna Rodriguez.

The crew, Rodriguez said, would inquire, "We're going to do this drug transaction. Is it the right time?"

Despite Osario's advice, the gang missed the fact that investigators had been watching them last autumn, authorities said. Wire taps on crew members' phones picked up more than 30,000 conversations, including many with their customers.

Investigators learned that the gangsters - with headquarters in two apartments in the city's Brooklyn borough - used mobile phones to take orders from customers. They then would dispatch a fleet of seven vehicles, including two Lincoln town cars, to make deliveries of powder or crack cocaine.

Many of the customers were gainfully employed, authorities said. They included a plumber, a mechanic, a small business owner and a manager at a high-end Manhattan department store.

Osario was arrested on April 29 in a raid on her home. Investigators said they found a locked box containing four handguns.

"I always sensed evil in that box," she allegedly told them.

Take That Bush Senior!

CAIRNS, Australia - A 101-year-old man is believed to be the world's oldest skydiver after he accepted a dare from his friends and jumped out of an airplane Wednesday.

Frank Moody, from Holloways Beach on Australia's northeastern coast, beat the record set by a 94-year-old Norwegian in 1999, said Amanda Pilkington, from Skydive Cairns, which organized the jump.

Moody jumped in tandem with an experienced skydiver Wednesday morning from more than 9,900 feet, she said.

"He's an absolute legend. It was a bit of a drunken dare by some of his mates at the local Holloways Beach football club. He said: "'Sure, I'll go jump out of an airplane,"' Pilkington quoted him as saying, adding she nearly fell off her chair when she first heard Moody wanted to try the Guiness record attempt.

"We decided to attempt to beat the record as well as giving Frank an awesome experience and one that he'll remember for the rest of his life," she said.

Pilkington said the club would send footage of the jump and other details to the Guinness Book of Records head office in London and expects confirmation back within weeks.

Moody went down to the football club with his son John after the jump to have a Guinness beer to celebrate and collect on the dare from his mates.

"He's been given his footage and photographs so he's got proof and evidence that he's done it," Pilkington said.

French Fries Classified As 'Fresh Vegetable'

WASHINGTON - They may not look like a vegetable - but they'll be treated like one. The Agriculture Department says batter-coated french fries will be considered a fresh vegetable. And it says a federal judge's ruling backs that up. But the department cautions the classification applies only to rules of commerce - not nutrition. The department says it doesn't plan to repeat its much-maligned attempt to classify ketchup as a vegetable in school lunches. The judge's ruling allows batter-dipped fries to be considered fresh vegetables under a federal law. But a Dallas-area food company challenging the classification says the law was meant to protect growers of fruits and vegetables, especially small farmers - not the large food-processing companies that churn out the fries.

City Mulls Cat Leashing Rule

LINCOLN, Neb. - Ever tried walking a cat on a leash? It's basically an exercise in futility. Well, city officials in Lincoln, Nebraska, are considering implementing a leash law for cats. The felines would be required to be on leashes when not on their owners' property. City officials say they're getting too many complaints about the number of kitties running free.