A Washington state woman found out the hard way that a lot of mid-'80s budget compact cars look alike.
Theresa M. Wilson, 43, of Curtis, Wash., went to visit her ex-boyfriend early Tuesday morning — only to find him with another woman.
They got in a fight, and she stormed out, reported KATU-TV of Portland, Ore., and KIRO-TV of Seattle.
About an hour later, she spotted what she thought was his maroon 1988 Chevrolet Spectrum (search) driving ahead of her.
So she did what many scorned lovers might do — she rammed him.
After only two slams into the rear bumper, she forced the car ahead of her off the road.
Then the driver got out.
"Oh my God, oh my God. That's not my boyfriend," she thought, according to a Washington State Patrol trooper to whom she explained the incident.
It turned out the hapless driver, 47-year-old Timothy Baars, had been driving a red 1987 Chevrolet Sprint (search), an Isuzu-manufactured hatchback marketed under the Chevrolet name that was very similar to the Spectrum, which was made by Suzuki.
Wilson was arrested on suspicion of vehicular assault. Both vehicles were damaged. There were no personal injuries.
— Thanks to Out There reader Sean W.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A man allegedly groped two home health care nurses while posing as a mentally retarded man who needed his diapers changed, according to criminal complaints.
William Warren Mucklow, 38, was arrested Tuesday.
The complaints, filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court, allege that Mucklow posed as his mother to respond to ads for home health care workers and hire two nurses to care for a man who has the mind of a 2- or 3-year-old.
Mucklow then posed as a mentally retarded person, said Charleston Police Sgt. S.A. Cooper.
The nurses, who worked separately in February and March, said Mucklow grabbed their breasts while they cared for him, the complaints allege.
Mucklow, who was charged with two counts of battery, was released from the South Central Regional Jail on a $10,000 cash bond Tuesday afternoon.
Two civil lawsuits — filed by women against Mucklow for allegedly groping them while they cared for him as he acted like a child — are pending.
Deborah McCorey is seeking $6 million in compensatory and punitive damages for emotional distress.
"After several hours of the plaintiff providing care for the defendant, the defendant 'slipped up' and did act as a 40-year-old man which completely upset and traumatized" McCorey, the lawsuit states.
Three women have made similar accusations against Mucklow, with two wanting to press charges, Charleston police Detective S.A. Dempsey said.
Meanwhile, Mucklow had announced earlier this month he was chartering a bus for people wanting to get flu shots in Canada.
That trip was canceled prior to the arrest, Mucklow told the Charleston Gazette.
— Thanks to Out There reader Greg M.
'Grandpa Gang' Drug Ring Shut Down
VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Austrian authorities said Wednesday they busted a group of older men dubbed the "Grandpa Gang" who allegedly were involved in selling cocaine.
An undisclosed number of suspects ranging in age from 55 to 70 were detained by police on suspicion of involvement in the ring, including the alleged leader, a 58-year-old man whose name was not released, Vienna police said in a statement.
Police arrested the suspects in a raid on a penthouse apartment in downtown Vienna, where they also seized cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $260,000.
Authorities said the drugs were brought from Belgium and the Netherlands for sale in Austria and had been hidden in letters and envelopes in the apartment. Police used drug-sniffing dogs to find the cocaine cache.
Several other suspected members of the group were arrested in May, and in September, authorities seized more cocaine that investigators believe belonged to the group, police said.
Violence, Drugs and Automotive Parts
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A man who unsuccessfully tried to barter with marijuana was arrested for stealing two auto tires after the deal was rejected, Roseville police said.
Joshua Dean Williams, 20, and another man allegedly tried the pot-for-tires swap at a Sears Auto Center (search), said police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther.
When the sales clerk refused, one of the men swung at the worker with a baseball bat, Gunther said. The worker avoided being struck and threw a rock at the car, shattering a window.
The suspects grabbed two tires and drove off, Gunther said.
The duo returned to the store about an hour later looking for the worker who broke their window, said Tim Thompson, assistant manager of the tire shop.
The two fled after workers recognized them, but police were able to nab Williams and arrest him on suspicion of robbery, Gunther said.
Williams was being held in the Placer County jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. The second suspect was still at large.
OSLO, Norway (AP) — A Norwegian who felt a bit chilly after a night on the town and decided to stoke his fireplace didn't really have money to burn. It just turned out that way.
What he realized too late was that the paper he used to start the blaze was a stack of bills, worth about 15,000 kroner ($2,400), the regional newspaper Avisa Nordland reported Thursday.
"I came home late at night after a party, and wanted a beer before I went to bed," he told the newspaper. "It was cold in the living room, but there was a glow in the wood stove."
So the man, identified only as being his 50s, grabbed a handful of paper next to the stove and tossed it in.
"I discovered too late that the envelope of money had fallen onto the floor with the kindling paper," he said. He said the cash had been payment for an artwork he had sold earlier in the day.
Had there been anything left of the bills, he might have been able to exchange some of it for undamaged bills at the state Bank of Norway, but the wood stove was too efficient.
The man, who lives on the Arctic Lofoten Islands of northwestern Norway, told the newspaper his tale of woe on the condition that it did not publish his name.
HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — A businessman's effort to defend his pumpkin-hurling title literally fell short.
Bruce Bradford and his nine-ton contraption held the World Championship Punkin Chunkin (search) title for two years until Sunday.
A rival's machine claimed the crown by shooting a gourd that soared 4,224 feet before a crowd of about 40,000 in Sussex County, Del.
Bradford's mechanical device finished second in the field of 100, sending an 8- to 10-pound pumpkin 4,056 feet across a farmer's field with a blast of compressed air.
"Well, we're first-place losers, so we're not too happy about that," Bradford, 57, owner of S&G Steel Erectors in Howell.
He even found a silver lining: Not having to lug home the trophy, which required a forklift to load it onto a trailer to bring it to the 18th annual competition.
"At least we don't have to haul that big ugly thing home," he said. "It's the ugliest trophy in the world," said Bradford, whose tournament record of 4,594 feet set in 2003 remained intact.
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Paul Wagenseil.
Got a good "Out There" story in your hometown? We'd like to know about it. Send an e-mail, with a Web link (we need to authenticate these things), to outthere@foxnews.com.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox