xxxNews Of The Weirdxxx
Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.
Chicago police arrested six people in June and charged them with running an insurance scam, which was allegedly led by a 39-year-old man known as Bonecrusher; police said homeless men consented to have Bonecrusher administer compound fractures of the arm or leg, and they would then be taken to staged accident scenes and instructed how to make quick settlements with insurance companies of up to $100,000 (but getting to keep only about $1,500 of it).
Sue the Victim (continued):
–Kenneth J. Lewis II, serving 12 years in prison for burglary, filed a $140,000 lawsuit against property owner Nina Baugh, who had chased after Lewis and shot him in the arm (Bentonville, Ark., April)
— Willie Brown, 44, serving four years in prison for a convenience store robbery, filed a lawsuit against the clerk who had shot him (with Brown maintaining, “(T)here was no need for the use of deadly force,” even though Brown had claimed to have a gun) (Muncie, Ind., April).
–And in a court filing in May opposing early release for farmer Tony Martin, who had been convicted of killing a burglar, Britain’s Home Office argued against parole, maintaining that the government must protect burglars from violent homeowners.
Sally Carden Davies, 48, was awarded the equivalent of US$310,000 by a court in Sydney, Australia, in March for falling off an odd-looking chair in a cafe, and suffering various injuries, including the loss of her sexual urge, which she said caused a romantic relationship to falter. Davies said her injuries have also affected her practice as a horse dentist.
Sheffield Hallam University (Sheffield, England) announced in May that it would inaugurate a Master’s degree program in creating video games; a spokesman for a Sony UK company said, “We hope more universities will start offering (curricula) like this.”
Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, Fla. 33679 or [email protected]
Copyright © 2001 by Chuck Shepherd
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
