Police: Inmate faked seizures before taxi call
BEAVER, Pa. — Sheriff's deputies say a western Pennsylvania county jail inmate faked the seizures that prompted jail officials to take him to a hospital where he tried to hail a taxi to escape.
The Beaver County Times reports Friday that sheriff's deputies have now charged 23-year-old Holden Wooley with escape and other crimes stemming from incidents Saturday night at Heritage Valley Beaver Hospital on Saturday night.
The deputies say Wooley told another patient he was faking the seizures and was "going to skip" — meaning he planned to escape.
While at the hospital visit Wooley went outside to hail a cab in his orange-and-white striped prison jumpsuit, but the driver refused to pick him up. Police found him a couple hours later.
Online court records don't list an attorney for Wooley who remained jailed Friday.
Man jailed in assault, wooden alligator theft
TYRONE, Pa. — A central Pennsylvania man is jailed on charges that he walked into an unlocked mobile home and beat up the resident before stealing the man's wooden alligator.
State troopers from the Hollidaysburg barracks tell the Altoona Mirror that 40-year-old Todd Pensyl was arrested shortly after the incident which occurred about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at a mobile home park in Tyrone. That's about 95 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Police say the man who lived in the mobile home confronted Pensyl, who then punched the man in the face and head before pushing him out of the home's emergency rear door.
Police say Pensyl then kicked the downed man in the face before stealing the $175 alligator and fleeing.
Online court records don't list an attorney for Pensyl who remained in the Blair County Prison on Friday.
Phoenix mom accused of putting beer in sippy cup
PHOENIX — A Phoenix mother has been arrested after authorities say she put beer in her 2-year-old son's sippy cup.
Phoenix police were called to a pizza restaurant Tuesday night after witnesses say they saw 36-year-old Valerie Marie Topete pour beer from a pitcher into her son's cup and then the child drank some of it.
Phoenix police say Topete admitted pouring the beer in the cup because the child kept reaching for the beer pitcher.
Officers examined the contents of the cup and determined the liquid was consistent with beer.
The child was taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons and was later released to the care of his father.
Topete is being held on suspicion of child abuse. Police didn't know if she has a lawyer.
Twitter helps find dog that took train to Dublin
DUBLIN — When Patch hopped aboard the train to Dublin, it took the power of Twitter to reunite the dog with his owner.
Irish Rail sent a "Lost dog!" tweet with a photo attachment after the Jack Russell terrier arrived with Wednesday morning commuters on a train from rural Kilcock, County Kildare, an hour's ride away.
After more than 500 retweets in just 32 minutes, the photo found Patch's owner, Deirdre Anglin, who tweeted the state railway: "That's my dog!"
The episode underscored the ubiquitous use of mobile-friendly social media sites in Ireland, a tech-savvy corner of Europe where cell phones were the norm long before they were in the United States.
Man pays off mortgage with pennies
MILFORD, Massachusetts — A man who pledged to make the last mortgage payment on his home with pennies has fulfilled that promise.
After warning his bank, Thomas Daigle dropped off about 62,000 pennies weighing 800 pounds in two boxes for the final payment on the home he and his wife, Sandra, bought in 1977.
He tells The Milford Daily News he just wanted to make his last payment on April 24 "memorable."
He started saving his pennies when he moved in.
The optician says his wife laughed whenever he would pick up a penny he found on the ground and say it was going to the mortgage.
Daigle says he's just glad to have the coins out of his house.
Man hits $180,000 lottery jackpot 1 day after son wins $1,000
CRANSTON, R.I. — Perhaps there's luck in their genes.
A man from East Providence has claimed more than $180,000 in lottery winnings, a day after his son won $1,000 in a different game.
Rhode Island Lottery officials say the man on Monday claimed the $180,599 jackpot from the Wild Money game's Saturday night drawing. He was accompanied to lottery headquarters in Cranston by his wife and son, who had just won $1,000 of his own on an instant ticket on Friday.
Lottery officials didn't release the winner's name.
The winner says he wants to take his wife of 35 years on a vacation, but he's not sure how else he'll spend the money.
He bought the ticket at an East Providence convenience store.
Woman puts soul up for sale on eBay
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An Albuquerque woman has something for sale on eBay that most of wouldn't even consider selling at any price — her soul.
KOB-TV reports that a woman identified as Lori N. recently put her soul up for bid starting at $2,000 on the online auction site. So far, nobody has made a bid.
The woman told KOB-TV she put her soul up for sale after a string of bad luck. She was a passenger in a car struck by a drunk driver in 2007. Lori was in a coma for three weeks, and woke up suffering from a stroke, a broken hip, broken pelvis, leg, collarbone, sternum, ribs, and a collapsed lung.
Lori said she realizes her ad may offend some people's religious beliefs.
