A man and a car both got their backsides hit hard on a Washington state freeway last week.
Police say Nathan Allen McClain, 22, was sticking his bare bottom out of a car window Thursday morning as the driver, 20-year-old Dwayne Crandall, spanked it.
The two made obscene gestures and menaced other drivers as they careened south on Interstate 5 heading for Portland, Ore., according to The Columbian of Vancouver, Wash.
"I think they were just doing it for the shock value," Washington State Patrol Trooper Garvin March told the newspaper.
Commuters heading for Portland first noticed the spanking display at about 6:15 a.m. as Crandall's white Acura (search) sped past Ridgefield, Wash.
If McClain's exposed posterior failed to get a reaction from neighboring cars, Crandall made sure a quick swerve into the other cars' lanes would.
"He was driving so erratically that he almost caused a collision with a semi," said March.
Other drivers called 911 on their cell phones and tried to box in Crandall and McClain's car, but the caravan made it another 10 miles before it reached Vancouver, just across the Columbia River (search) from Portland.
That's where March pulled up behind the Acura, ready to turn on his flashers.
Crandall noticed the police car, looked back — and promptly rear-ended a Dodge at the end of the long line to cross the I-5 bridge over the river into Portland.
The Acura was totaled, and the Dodge seriously damaged, but the only injuries suffered were to the Dodge's driver, who said her neck and back were sore but declined treatment.
Crandall, of Vancouver, was given tickets for aiding and abetting indecent exposure and reckless driving. McClain, of Portland, got tickets for indecent exposure and not wearing a seat belt.
— Thanks to Out There reader Jan K.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — A Klamath Falls man has been arrested on a charge of driving a snowplow while drunk.
Garrett Done's city-owned truck ran through a fence and crashed into a utility shed on Hill Street earlier this week.
The 36-year-old was booked at the Klamath County Jail (search) on charges of driving under the influence of an intoxicant, criminal mischief, hit-and-run driving and reckless driving.
When police learned that a city employee and vehicle were involved, they requested the Oregon State Police take over the investigation.
Troopers say Done admitted he had been drinking prior to starting his shift at 2 a.m. A soda bottle with the odor of an alcoholic drink mixed into its contents was found in the snowplow.
A Klamath Falls official says Done was suspended with pay while the case is being investigated.
— Thanks to Out There reader Neal L. for the story and the headline.
Making It Too Easy
CALLAWAY, Fla. (AP) — Help, police, someone stole my pot!
A Panhandle couple is under arrest after notifying police Thursday that their quarter-pound stash of marijuana was stolen and that they needed the weed back, because they were going to later sell it.
"They're America's dumbest criminals," said Lt. Ricky Ramie, head of the Bay County Sheriff's Office narcotics task force.
Deputies arrested 18-year-old John Douglas Sheetz and 17-year-old Misty Ann Holmes and charged the duo with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to the police report, the couple returned to the home they share and found the home broken into and a quarter-pound of marijuana missing. They immediately called authorities to report the break-in and theft.
Police said the couple told them they were going to resell the marijuana and allowed the detectives to search the apartment.
Investigators discovered several marijuana stems among other drug paraphernalia during the search, The News Herald in Panama City reported for Saturday editions.
They were taken to the Bay County Jail (search) and are each being held on $17,500 bond.
— Thanks to Out There readers Rebecca T., Gabe B., Robert B. and Chris R.
MILFORD, Conn. (AP) — A man and woman who tried to bail out a friend were arrested after police said they brought a crack pipe and drugs to the police station.
Robert Amato, 42, of New Haven, and Valerie Lawler, 20, of Wallingford, were arrested by Milford police at about 1:15 a.m. last Monday.
Police said Amato drove Lawler to the Milford police station to bail out her friend, but when Lawler opened her car door to get out, a crack pipe fell to the ground in front of a police officer.
The officer then investigated further and found a plastic bag of cocaine in the center console of the vehicle, police said.
Lawler was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and conspiracy and was held in lieu of $1,000 bail following arraignment Monday in Superior Court.
Amato, who was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine and disorderly conduct, was held in lieu of $6,000 bail.
Milford police spokesman Officer Vaughan Dumas said Amato and Lawler weren't even at the right police station.
The friend had been arrested by Milford police on an outstanding warrant from New Haven and was quickly turned over to New Haven authorities, Dumas said.
HARBORCREEK, Pa. (AP) — An Erie County homeowner returned from a Florida visit to even warmer climes — his house, where police say someone had broken in and had turned up the man's thermostat all the way.
Whoever broke into Paul Rogala's Harborcreek Township home did so by forcing open a basement window.
The person then used duct tape to cover a hole in the window — but before leaving, turned up the thermostat and turned on the furnace fan so it was running constantly, state police said.
Rogala turned the thermostat down to 50 degrees when he left Nov. 20 for the visit to 80-degree Florida. He and his family returned Monday, police said.
The house was not otherwise ransacked or disturbed, and nothing appeared to be stolen, Rogala said Wednesday.
Cheese Takes Title of World's Stinkiest
LONDON (AP) — A soft, pungent cheese from northern France has topped a British researcher's study of the world's whiffiest cheeses.
Academics at Cranfield University north of London said Friday that Vieux Boulogne (search), a Normandy cheese made from cows' milk, was the smelliest of 15 cheeses tested.
Two other Normandy cheeses, Pont l'Eveque (search) and Camembert (search), came in second and third.
Scientists at the university used human sniffers and a computer-linked "electronic nose" to rank the cheeses by odorousness.
Stephen White, who led the research, said the smelliest cheeses were those whose rinds had been washed in brine, brandy or — as with Vieux Boulogne — beer.
"There was no obvious correlation between the age of the selected cheeses and smelliness, nor type of milk origin, although cows' milk cheeses did dominate the smell chart," White said.
Vieux Boulogne owes its distinctive orange color and pungent smell to the brushing of its rind with beer during the two months it spends aging in cellars around the town of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.
The smelliest dairy products in the survey, commissioned by a group that promotes French cheese in Britain, came from France.
Munster (search), a cow milk's cheese from the eastern regions of Alsace and Lorraine, was fourth, followed by Brie de Meaux (search) and Roquefort (search).
Hard cheeses, such as Parmesan (search) and English cheddar (search), were the least smelly of those tested.
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Paul Wagenseil.
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