It's usually a good idea to report a stolen car — unless you're the one who stole it.
Gregory Alston, a 20-year-old from Baltimore, called the cops Tuesday morning to say his white Nissan Maxima (search) had been taken, the Baltimore Sun reported.
But Officer Ronaldo Morales, who responded, already knew all about it — two hours earlier, he'd had the car towed after its real owner had spotted it in front of Alston's apartment building.
"Again, this really happened," Detective Gregory Jenkins signed off on his incident report.
The whole saga began April 20, when Sunday Smith reported that she and a friend had been carjacked by a masked man with a gun.
Because the car had temporary plates, the numbers of which Smith couldn't remember, police couldn't put out a bulletin for a specific vehicle.
In fact, Alston was twice stopped by police while driving the car, once even getting a citation.
It wasn't until Smith saw the car herself that police had any leads. But before they could even dust it for fingerprints, Alston solved the case for them.
After responding to Alston's call, Morales brought him down to headquarters, where he was interrogated by Jenkins and Deputy Maj. Jim Rood.
Alston tried to say he'd bought the car in March, but was a bit hazy on the particulars.
"He didn't know who he bought it from," Rood said. "He didn't know anything. So finally he just owned up and said it was a robbery."
So why exactly did Alston want police to find a car he knew he'd stolen?
He'd left his wallet inside and, according to Jenkins' report, "was trying to retrieve it without drawing suspicion to himself."
Said Jenkins to the newspaper: "Another detective told me, 'Greg, you had to make this up.'"
— Thanks to Out There readers Patrick H., Tracey S., Janet C., Scott H. and Nachum H.
The Customer Is Not Always Right
WARREN, Mich. (AP) — Police said a woman angry about repairs to her pickup truck deliberately crashed into the shop that did the work.
They said she nearly hit an employee when she drove through the plate glass window at the shop in Warren.
The woman had complained that her Ford pickup was stalling despite service earlier last week. Police said she returned once and got new parts free.
She called later and said she was still having trouble, and an employee told her to bring it back again.
That's when the crash occurred.
The woman was arraigned last Thursday on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of property.
— Thanks to Out There reader Greg M.
WEEHAWKEN, N.J. (AP) — A pregnant woman traveling home in a taxi went into labor and gave birth last Thursday while her cab was stuck in traffic at a tunnel tollbooth.
Fatmaelzahraa Ibrahim and her son, who weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces, were both doing fine, Port Authority (search) spokesman Alan Hicks said.
Ibrahim went into labor as the taxi approached the Lincoln Tunnel (search) during the morning rush hour to take her and her husband back to Queens after a visit with friends in New Jersey.
Police and transportation authority agents assisted in the birth, and the mother and newborn were taken to a hospital in nearby Hoboken.
The boy, who was born at full term, has not yet been named.
— Thanks to Out There reader Greg M.
ROCHESTER, Ind. (AP) — Two brothers, ages 3 and 5, took their mother's van on a 5-mile ride in northern Indiana, crossing a four-lane highway, before crashing into a pile of dirt and emerging unhurt, their family said.
The boys began Saturday morning as usual watching cartoons, but later took the van keys from their mother's purse and took off, their family said.
Chase and Chandler Bright both sat in the driver's seat to steer the van, leaving their mother, Heather Bright, wondering how they reached the pedals.
"It amazes me," she said. "I was like, 'Oh my God, No! This cannot be happening.'"
The boys said they wanted to go visit their grandfather, a police accident report said.
The boys' other grandfather, Mike Bright, found them at the U.S. 31 bypass, where he said older brother Chase was careful and looked both ways before successfully crossing the four-lane highway some 45 miles south of South Bend.
But the boys later missed a turn onto a street, drove through a fence of a fertilizer business and crashed into a pile of dirt. They emerged without a bruise, and the van only had a flat tire and some minor damage.
Chase, who is fascinated with vehicles, apologized for wrecking the van, his mother said. And security at their home was tighter now.
"We got this house locked down like Fort Knox," she said. "I'm going to have to sleep with the keys around my neck now."
Really Loud Truck Finally Silenced
ALEXANDRIA, La. (AP) — A judge has ordered a teenager who blasted his pickup truck stereo to remove all non-factory installed sound equipment for violating a noise ordinance.
Calvin Bennett Jr., 18, got the loud-music ticket in 2004 but missed his initial court appearance. Last Monday, he was arrested for contempt of court and spent the night in jail. He appeared Tuesday before district Judge Thomas Yeager on the loud-music citation.
The teen pleaded guilty, got a 90-day sentence suspended and was given probation. As a condition of probation, he had to turn in his driver's license for 30 days and remove his stereo equipment.
Yeager said he ordered the sentence to try to deter young adults from disturbing their communities with loud music.
"It is a big problem but one that has a solution," he said.
The Pineville and Alexandria police departments stay busy fielding loud-music complaints. Both cities have ordinances addressing loud noise, including drivers playing their radios too loudly.
"The sentence isn't going to stop me playing music," Bennett said. "I love my music."
Ohio May Become a Little Bit British
FINDLAY, Ohio (AP) — Drivers on a stretch of highway in northwest Ohio may soon find themselves on the left side of the road.
Officials with the Ohio Department of Transportation (search) said they are considering reversing the normal flow of traffic on U.S. Route 224 in an effort to reduce congestion.
The switch would allow traffic turning left from Route 224 onto Interstate 75 to move continuously in both directions.
The transportation department said the design would be the first of its kind in the United States. It is based on a pattern at a highway junction in Versailles, France.
Officials said switching the traffic flow would be cheaper and quicker than other options such as widening the road to add turn lanes.
Compiled by FOX News' Paul Wagenseil.
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