By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Better return those overdue library books — they could land you in jail.
Jeremy Jones of Burlington, Wash., called police to his home on Feb. 22 about a case of mail theft.
But the cops found Jones had a warrant out for "detaining city property" and missing a related court date. They promptly clapped the cuffs on the 20-year-old man.
Turned out he had 18 books, worth a total of $268, long past due to the Burlington Public Library (search).
"I told [the police], 'They're right on the table, take them,'" Jones told KOMO-TV of Seattle. "They said, 'No, we have a warrant, we have to arrest you.'"
Jones spent about an hour in the county lockup before promising to appear in court.
"Most libraries just send it to a collection agency and have them deal with it," Jones told the Skagit Valley Herald of Mount Vernon, Wash. "This has gone beyond any comprehension of reality."
City Library Director Christine Perkins disagrees, insisting that the library mailed and phoned Jones several times since the books went past due in June.
"After months of dealing with this," she explained, "we sent a letter from the police chief giving [Jones] one last chance."
Jones says he never got the messages, or the court summons, because he changed residences, losing some of the books along the way.
"I could see them revoking my library privileges, but having me arrested is a little bit extreme," he said.
Perkins hopes the publicity around the case has an upside.
"I'm interested to see if we get a lot of books turned in in the next week or so," she said.
— Thanks to Out There reader Meagan C.
HALSEY, Ore. (AP) — A state panel plans to investigate a high school football coach who acknowledged licking a bloody cut on the knee of one of his players.
Central Linn High School (search) coach Scott Reed, 34, who also teaches science, acknowledged the incident last year after a parent complained. The school district placed him on probation and required him to take a "bloodborne pathogens" course.
Police investigated, but Reed was not arrested.
"Sometimes there are actions that are socially unacceptable or bizarre that aren't necessarily criminal," Linn County Sheriff Dave Burright said.
The student whose knee was licked told police Reed had given team members a pep talk about a coach licking and healing injured players' wounds so they could get back in a game.
Team members urged Reed to do the same for a bleeding scab on the student's knee, and Reed did after asking permission.
A witness said Reed seemed to be "joking around" and the licked athlete was not offended, the police report said.
— Thanks to Out There readers Elizabeth P., Aron H. and James M.
Radioactive Man Prompts Homeland Security Alert
ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP) — A man who recently had received treatment for a medical condition set off a radiation detector on a fire engine, prompting police to close down a roadway while authorities searched for a nuclear weapon.
The Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District (search) engine crew's radiation monitor sounded March 1 when the man and his friend walked past the crew on their way to fill a gas can.
The Nuke Alert monitor sounded again as the men walked back to their vehicle.
Firefighters notified the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (search) after they drove by the men's vehicle and the monitor sounded a third time.
Sheriff's deputies pulled over the driver and held him and his passenger for about an hour while they confirmed that the man was not carrying a nuclear weapon and that he had received radiation treatment.
The man's name and medical condition were not released.
— Thanks to Out There reader Don W.
How Do You Define 'Disappointment'?
FOSTORIA, Ohio (AP) — Thieves broke into an agency that serves the poor and made off with a safe.
The only catch — the safe was empty.
"It is really quite comical," said Susan Simpkins, director of the Fostoria Bureau of Concern (search). "It was very heavy, and they did us a favor by taking it."
She said the agency had wanted to throw out the safe but it was too big to move.
The thieves entered the agency through a back door after it closed for the day on Feb. 28 and took the safe, which was in the office.
They did manage to grab a small amount of money from the office's petty cash supply, police said.
Brothers Compete Over Bank Robberies
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Anthony and Maurice Askew had an unusual — and illegal — sibling rivalry: robbing banks.
Maurice Askew, 31, has been sentenced to 64 years in federal prison for a string of robberies. He had been serving 39 years, but U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab on Monday tacked on additional 25 years for robbing the First National Bank of Pennsylvania (search).
Meanwhile, his brother, Anthony Askew, 36, is serving 93 years in prison for his own string of robberies.
The brothers were rivals who competed over how many banks they could rob and how much they could steal, which amounts to a combined $700,000, federal prosecutors said.
While the brothers never robbed a bank together, they did share an accomplice. Anthony Williams, 34, of Penn Hills, is serving 35 years in prison for his role in the various robberies, but that could be reduced in return for his cooperation against the Askew brothers, prosecutors said.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Four members of a South Philadelphia family were facing aggravated assault charges for beating up a city trash collector.
Richard Meyers said it started after he passed a house that didn't have its trash curbside.
The members of the family, Eugene Dykes, 37; his wife, Latonia, 37; and their sons, Eugene Jr., 17; and Norman Cutright, 22, were being held Wednesday pending arraignments.
Meyers said he and co-worker Kareem Govan, 20, were slowly following their city trash truck and picking up trash bags to put in back when Eugene Dykes yelled for the truck to stop after it passed his house. The truck kept moving, though slowly enough for Dykes to put the trash in the back, Meyers said.
Meyers said Dykes got angry and he, his wife and sons began hitting and kicking him and Govan.
"The mom punches me, then the two sons hit me, one from the right and one from the left," Meyers said. "They hit me in both eyes. ... I dropped down under the truck for protection."
Town Celebrates Frozen Citizen
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Over the last three years, the cryogenically frozen body of a Norwegian man has become the center point of a quirky winter festival in a small Colorado mining town.
"Grandpa" Bredo Morstoel, who died in 1989, was frozen by his grandson and stored in a shed in Nederland, a town 35 miles northwest of Denver that began celebrating "Frozen Dead Guy Days" (search) in 2002 to increase tourism.
Now the man's daughter, 75-year-old Aud Morstoel, is hoping Norway's King Harald V and Queen Sonja will help her secure a visa to attend the festival.
The royal couple also have been invited by Nederland's Chamber of Commerce to visit and "partake in the fun and parody of the weekend."
Aud Morstoel was invited to serve as the parade marshal for the March 11-13 celebration, but her application for a visa has yet to be approved, her son said.
Trygve Bauge, who submitted the request to Norway's king and queen, said his mother's application has been held up in part because she was convicted for drunk driving in Colorado and she overstayed her last visa before returning to Norway.
"They should have given us this a long time ago," he said Thursday from Norway.
Bauge, who froze his 89-year-old grandfather in hopes he can someday be revived or cloned, was deported in 1994 for immigration violations. His mother returned shortly thereafter, four months after her visa expired.
A caretaker has replenished the ice when necessary since Bauge was deported.
Compiled by FOX News' Paul Wagenseil.
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