Every repo man knows the basic rule: Always check the trunk. But a repo man in Lead, S.D., should have checked the back seat.
A 4-year-old girl got the ride of her young life Wednesday when a repo man repossessed her mother's car while the child slept in the back seat, the Black Hills Pioneer reports.
The girl's mother called police when she found her car missing from a downtown parking lot, but an investigation quickly discovered that the car had been repossessed, said Lead Police Chief John Wainman, who declined to give the names of the girl, the mother or the repossession company.
The girl was returned, the car was not.
Wainman noted that the repo man did not do a thorough investigation of the vehicle before taking possession of it.
Florida Sheriffs Fight Crime One Lap Dance at a Time
Sheriffs in the Tampa Bay area can't complain about the fringe benefits.
Officers at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spent $6,400 on 92 lap dances at just one bikini bar, Lil Tootsie's, over the course of a two-year vice investigation, the Tampa Tribune reported Tuesday.
As Out There told you Monday, bikini clubs in Hillsborough County, Fla., have sued over a law that prohibits customers from touching bar employees who are wearing nothing but bathing suits; county law prohibits the rarely lethal, but often rowdy combination of nudity and alcohol consumption.
Lt. Gary Ganey says the detectives rarely consumed more than a beer or two while undercover at Lil Tootsie's.
"They can't go in there, drink five or six drinks and then drive back to the office to file a report," he told the Tribune. "That doesn't happen. At most they might have two drinks, and that's it. They want to get in and get out."
The officers contend that the money was well spent, as the women in these VIP rooms frequently take it all off; 41 misdemeanor nudity charges were filed against 15 dancers. Yet, there were 34 dancers — with names like Luscious, Cherry and Heaven — whom the detectives didn't charge because they couldn't make a positive ID.
Ganey said it would have been impossible to charge the dancers on the scene as it would have uncovered the undercover cops.
"They have very specialized training," Ganey said. "You don't want them to reveal themselves prematurely and then have them exposed and have to train someone new to replace them. This places them in danger. There are bouncers and tough people in these places."
Dude, Where's My Car?
ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Rogersville police Officer Chad Christian said he was patrolling late Saturday night when he saw a young man standing in the road, waving his arms to stop the cruiser.
Christian stopped and Daniel Paul Steinbach ,19, asked him for a ride to "a house on the hill," the officer said.
Steinbach was unsteady on his feet and appeared to be intoxicated, police said. They arrested him for public intoxication.
Asked if he was on medication that might explain his demeanor, Steinbach replied he'd been smoking marijuana, police said.
When Steinbach was frisked, police found six bags of marijuana — close to an ounce -- and arrested him for possession for resale.
Steinbach told them he had been selling dope to pay his bills, police said. Steinbach is free on bond, scheduled for arraignment next month.
Bag an Antelope, Get a Free Car Wash
MILES CITY, Mont. (AP) — The state wildlife agency, a group of sportsmen and several businesses are jointly offering hunters free washing of their vehicles, to remove weed seeds that could be dispersed during hunting trips.
The offer is for hunters heading out for the Oct. 8 opening of the antelope rifle season.
Sponsors are the Miles City regional office of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the Custer Rod and Gun Club, two car washes in Miles City and other businesses.
Hunters may receive one washing Oct. 5-7 at Big Sky Car Wash or at Nyacor Lube Center's TLC Car Wash.
The spread of noxious weeds is a concern to land management agencies and private landowners throughout Montana.
Wanted: John Ashcroft-Minded Art Teacher
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — School board members have voted to not renew the contract of a veteran art teacher who was reprimanded after one of her fifth-grade students saw a nude sculpture during a school trip to a museum.
Sydney McGee has been on paid administrative leave from Fisher Elementary School since Friday, said her attorney Rogge Dunn.
McGee's contract runs through the end of the school year and it was unclear whether she would remain on leave until then. Her attorney said he would wait for written confirmation and clarification from the school district to decide how to proceed.
He said McGee, a 28-year veteran teacher, was upset about the Monday decision.
"If they had good reason to fire her, they would have, but they don't," Dunn said. "It's mind-boggling."
Board members declined to take questions after their closed meeting and a message left with the Frisco Independent School District wasn't immediately returned.
McGee has said her troubles started after taking 89 students on a school field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art in April.
The principal at Fisher elementary, Nancy Lawson, later admonished McGee about the trip, telling her a parent complained about a student seeing nude art, said Dunn, a Dallas labor lawyer. School officials didn't reveal which parent made the complaint.
McGee also said it was the principal who urged her to take the students to the museum, Dunn said.
District officials have said the museum field trip didn't spark reprimands of the teacher. They have repeatedly pointed to other performance issues.
The district rejected McGee's request in August to transfer to another Frisco school. They said they didn't want to give her a chance to move elsewhere without addressing other issues, including lesson-plan preparation.
Canada Haunted by Ghosts of Politicians Past
OTTAWA (AP) — The spirits of political skullduggery once again stalked the streets of the Canadian capital Monday.
In fact, one such spirit just about shucked off his very mortal coil fleeing through downtown traffic, draped in a bed sheet.
What prompted this reincarnation of scandals-past was word from the Liberal leadership race that Canadians from beyond the grave were enlisted in the all-important membership drives by at least two leadership camps.
Liberal MPs Joe Volpe and Michael Ignatieff both stand accused of signing up bogus party members — including some dearly departed — as the race approaches this weekend's critical delegate-selection vote.
"I can't explain it," the widow of Filipe Sciarra said Monday from her home in Ignatieff's west Toronto riding, where her husband appears on the party's membership list. "My husband left us four years ago."
"Nobody in any campaign, especially mine, is interested in signing anyone up who is not going to show up [to vote]," Volpe argued during a firefighting news conference Monday. "It defies logic."
New Democrat Charlie Angus called the latest shenanigan by the opposing party "a B-grade horror movie on the political landscape of this country."
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Sara Bonisteel.
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