Thousands of people shop at Wal-Mart every day, but few do so at gunpoint.
WCMH-TV of Columbus, Ohio, reports that Jeremy Schumacher, 26, came home from work at about 2 a.m. last Thursday morning when two guys with a gun ambushed him outside his front door.
They told him they wanted to go shopping.
Rifling through Schumacher's wallet, they found no money, but did turn up a credit card belonging to his girlfriend, Pamela Logan, also 26.
Logan was inside Schumacher's home. The gunmen made her come outside as well.
Police say the hapless couple was forced into Schumacher's car, then made to drive to an ATM, where Logan was forced to withdraw cash.
After that, it was time to go shopping. The gunmen allegedly made Schumacher drive to a 24-hour Wal-Mart, and gave Logan a shopping list: two Sony PlayStations (search).
Schumacher was held hostage in the car as Logan went inside.
Once in the store, Logan ran into a problem, which quickly became a solution.
"They were out of PlayStations," Logan told the TV station. "So my next thing was, 'I really would like to speak to somebody — a security officer.'"
Police cars soon showed up, but before the cops could corral the bad guys, they made Schumacher drive off.
Against his will, he led police on a high-speed chase, with vehicles hitting 100 mph, before running into a residential dead end.
Out of options, the gunmen apparently tried one last hare-brained gambit.
"When we got here, the guy threw the gun in my lap," Schumacher told WCMH. "The cops were all with shotguns. [The gunman] says, 'Tell the cops it's your gun.'"
Schumacher, no longer at gunpoint, refused.
Stanley Carr Jr. and Hamp Allen, both 18, were arrested and charged with aggravated robbery.
— Thanks to Out There reader Erica W.
Free Ride Available Outside Jail
BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) — It's not an old saying, but it probably should be: Leave a truck idling outside a jail and somebody is going to hop in and drive it into a tree.
That's just what happened to Jon Courtney on Jan. 10.
Courtney, 27, had driven his 2001 GMC Sonoma (search) to the St. Clair County Jail to turn himself in on a warrant for criminal damage to property. Thinking he'd simply be given a court date and be allowed to leave, Courtney left the truck idling in the parking lot.
But Courtney was booked into jail. Courtney told sheriff's deputies about his truck, who cited him for leaving an unattended vehicle and then went outside to turn it off.
Unfortunately for Courtney, the time he walked into the jail apparently coincided with James Thomas was walking out, sheriff's Lt. Steve Johnson said.
"He must have passed Courtney, who was coming in, and spotted the running truck," said Johnson. The 17-year-old Thomas, Johnson explained, had stopped by the jail to see if there were any outstanding warrants against him. There weren't.
The next time the deputies saw the truck was later that evening in East St. Louis. They chased Thomas, who ran the truck into a tree, Johnson said.
Thomas, who started the night with no outstanding warrants, was arrested on burglary and possession of a stolen vehicle charges. He was booked into the jail.
Meanwhile, Courtney was able to post bond the same night he walked in. But he had to call someone for a ride home.
— Thanks to Out There reader Michael W.
CRESSONA, Pa. (AP) — An auto mechanic used a customer's sport utility vehicle to run an errand, left it in a parking lot with the motor running, then mistakenly took another running vehicle and returned to the garage, police said.
Police said after they informed Michael Brown, 47, that he had taken the wrong vehicle, he returned it to the bank, where the customer's vehicle was still running and unlocked in the parking lot, police said.
Brown mistakenly got into a pickup truck owned by Brian McHale, who parked two spaces from Brown's customer's SUV. McHale also left his truck running as he went into a bank.
State trooper John Powis said Thursday that he was unsure whether charges would be filed against Brown.
Neither the garage nor Brown has a listed telephone number. A woman who answered the phone at McHale's address said the bank called police when McHale noticed his car was gone.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A man here owns one hot car.
Police said the dark purple Ford was stolen three times in six days.
Lt. Mike Wardzinski said the car was first reported stolen on Jan. 20. It was found and towed back to the man's house early Jan. 25, only to disappear a few hours later. It was found later in the day.
The car was stolen again on Jan. 26. Police recovered the vehicle the next day.
Wardzinski said there were no keys inside the car and the doors were locked each time the car was stolen. The owner told police it didn't look like anyone had forced their way into the car.
Police have no suspects and are investigating the case. Wardzinski said it appears someone else has a set of keys to the car.
The thefts will likely stop now, Wardzinski said. One of the car's wheel assemblies was damaged in the most recent theft, he said.
Prison Inmate Gets Stuck in Ceiling
MOOREFIELD, W.Va. (AP) — A pair of shackles.
That's all that stood between a Potomac Highlands Regional Jail (search) inmate and potential freedom.
Edward E. Van Meter, 42, of Moorefield attempted to escape custody Tuesday after he was allowed to use the restroom at Hardy County Magistrate Court, State Police announced Wednesday.
Once inside, he allegedly removed several ceiling tiles and tried to make it out through the suspended ceiling.
Van Meter's shackles got caught, though. And pretty soon, so did he.
He was unable to go any further than the top of the duct work, said Sheriff Bob Ferrell.
Deputies removed a ceiling panel from the adjacent law library to get to Van Meter, who was returned to the jail to await arraignment on the new charge of in custody escape.
Ferrell said no date has been set for that hearing or the disrupted preliminary hearing that was based on felony charges in connection with an alleged domestic incident from Jan. 2.
Van Meter suffered some minor injuries in Tuesday's incident.
Beauty Salons Targeted in Attacks
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Police in southeastern Wisconsin are combing through evidence after a series of burglaries at hair salons, and they want to end the crime wave — permanently.
"It very well could be an organized burglary ring that's just passing through here," said Kenosha police Lt. John Morrissey.
The break-ins were reported at salons in his city and also in Pleasant Prairie, Racine, Burlington, Delafield, Franklin and West Allis.
In Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie, officers took at least four break-in reports Tuesday morning and two more on Wednesday.
The initial call to Kenosha police came about 5:35 a.m. Tuesday from Hair Unlimited, where someone apparently broke the glass window of a rear door and reached in to unlock the deadbolt. But nothing appeared missing.
More calls Tuesday came from Great Clips, The Hair Co. and Precision Kuts, all in Kenosha.
Reports showed the only thing missing was a cash drawer containing a few dollars in coins from Great Clips, but the intruders left smashed windows at each place.
"The damage that they're causing is more than what they're gaining," Morrissey said, adding that another police department said burglars got away with just $17 in one salon heist.
On Wednesday, police investigated a break-in at Cost Cutters in Kenosha and Salon Ives in Pleasant Prairie. Great Clips stores also were burglarized in Racine and Franklin.
"We're certainly operating under the assumption that these are the same people, but there's no way to conclude that until they're caught," said Pleasant Prairie Police Chief Brian Wagner.
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Paul Wagenseil.
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