An elderly Canadian woman ended up in the morgue a bit too early.
The unnamed 87-year-old resident of a Surrey, British Columbia, extended-care facility, was sleeping deeply Saturday night when her roommate quietly died.
An ambulance driver came to pick up the dead woman, but forgot to check wristbands to make sure he had the right patient.
"The individual did not follow proper protocol by checking identification," Helen Carkner, spokesman for the local health authority, told The Province newspaper of Vancouver, B.C. "For whatever reason, he took the wrong person."
The healthier roommate slept on as she was placed on a gurney, put in an ambulance and driven to Surrey Memorial Hospital (search) across the street.
She woke up, very much alive, lying on the gurney in a hallway in the hospital's morgue.
Morgue workers had already noticed that their freshest corpse's legs were still moving.
The ambulance driver, recently hired, was immediately fired.
"It was a very unfortunate mix-up," said Carkner. "No harm was done."
— Thanks to Out There readers Cassie S. and Jamie A.
Artillery Shell Blows Up Back Yard
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah (AP) — A 105mm Howitzer round fired for avalanche control missed its target, went over a hill and exploded in the back yard of a home, Pleasant Grove police said.
It was believed the round had been fired in the Bridal Veil Falls (search) area.
No one was injured in the explosion Wednesday afternoon, but there was property damage, police Lt. Jim Tauffer said.
Tauffer said the residents of the home were inside at the time of the explosion.
— Thanks to Out There readers Scott S. and David and Jessica F.
Manhole-Cover Thieves Strong of Arm, Weak of Brain
(AP) — With the price of scrap iron up, thieves have turned to pilfering manhole covers in several Ohio cities.
Akron, Columbus and Dayton say dozens of manhole covers and sewer grates have been disappearing, leaving gaping holes up to 20 feet deep in streets.
The thefts are costing the cities thousands of dollars and raising safety concerns.
So far, there have been no reports of anyone being injured from driving or falling into a hole, but the potential for accidents worries officials.
Scrap iron is selling for about five cents a pound — five times what it was going for a couple of years ago.
Still, that's a lot of heavy lifting for seemingly marginal returns. A manhole cover can weigh up to 125 pounds, which means a thief would get only $6.25 for it.
— Thanks to Out There readers Katherine L. and Shannon O.
Little League Bleachers Stolen
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Fans looking forward to watching boys and girls play ball this season for the Medford American Little League (search) had better pack their lawn chairs.
Two sets of bleachers at the six-field Bear Creek Park (search) complex were dismantled last week by thieves who drove their vehicle over a city-owned sign in the middle of the night and made off with about $2,000 worth of aluminum benches, Medford police Lt. Mike Moran said.
With opening day set for April 11, league officials say some spectators will have to make their own seating arrangements.
"People will probably be OK without the bleachers, but they will have to use their own chairs," league President Laura White said.
Moran said police have notified several scrap-metal business owners of the theft, instructing them to phone authorities if anyone turns up trying to sell the benches.
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (AP) — A woman was charged with stealing money and other items in recent weeks by walking up to six elderly victims, giving them a big hug — and then stealing their wallets or other loose items in the process.
Mary Ann Johnson pretended to know the victims, who were too polite to refuse her hugs, police said.
It wasn't immediately clear Tuesday if Johnson had an attorney.
Violet Lawton, 79, said Johnson approached her at a supermarket March 15 and talked about seeing her at church.
"I knew I didn't know her, but I didn't want to be rude so I didn't say anything," Lawton said. A short time later, Lawton found her wallet missing from her purse.
Teacher Caught Cheating on Exam
NEW YORK (AP) — A Bronx schoolteacher was charged with coercing a former homeless man into taking his state certification exam for him, authorities said.
Wayne Brightly, 38, allegedly bullied a former college classmate into taking the exam in July, using a fake identification and Brightly's Social Security card, the city Department of Education said Tuesday.
Authorities said Brightly's stand-in was Rubin Leitner, 58.
Leitner had met Brightly when the two were students at Brooklyn College in the late 1980s and had tutored him for the exam beginning in 2001 after Brightly failed at least twice, authorities said.
Leitner, who suffers from mental problems, scored so much higher than Brightly had on his previous attempts that authorities began to investigate.
Brightly has pleaded innocent to charges of coercion, falsifying business records and other crimes.
Compiled by FOX News' 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