Rebel without a car
Thomas Williams may not drive, but that didn’t stop him from cruising down the interstate recently to make a doctor’s appointment.
When the 73-year-old Milwaukee man realized his transportation service wasn’t coming, he decided to take his own vehicle: his motorized wheelchair. Unfortunately, after taking a wrong turn, Williams found himself on busy I-43, the main highway between Milwaukee and Green Bay.
Doing a brisk 5 mph, Williams stayed on the shoulder of the highway and used a hand mirror to monitor approaching traffic. Traffic began to back up, though, as motorists slowed in order to avoid Williams, and no doubt to get a good look.
A sheriff’s deputy finally caught up with Williams and escorted him to the closest exit ramp. Williams was warned that if he ever drove down the highway in his wheelchair again, he could face a $159 fine.
We all scream for ice cream
Police in Kansas City, Mo., experimented with an interesting rewards program in July. Patrol officers were to pull over motorists whom they saw driving safely and give them coupons for free ice cream.
Paula Talley was almost late to work one morning after being pulled over for wearing her seat belt and yielding to traffic. “My job probably wouldn’t have cared about free ice cream,” Talley told the Associated Press.
Bill Calvert was stopped for driving under the speed limit and using his turn signal. He agreed that drivers “in the wrong frame of mind” might not appreciate the inconvenience.
After just three days, police pulled the plug on the program after their legal counsel advised them to stop. The police sergeant said he plans to “revamp” the program soon, though.
Raining cash
As Tim Titterington and his 16-year-old son, Dylan, were driving to their farm outside Milford, Ill., recently, they passed a van that seemed to be spilling confetti all over the road. As they looked closer, they noticed the confetti was actually $20 bills.
The van belonged to Jody Gardner of Omaha, Neb., who was driving home with her portion of her dead father’s estate: $20,000 in cashier’s checks and $1,000 in cash. She put the money in her billfold as she left the bank, but after stopping to buy groceries, Gardner accidentally left the billfold on the roof of her van.
The Titteringtons spent an hour picking up Gardner’s money, as well as the remains of her billfold, from the side of the road. Among the contents, they found an emergency contact number that led them to the home where Gardner was staying.
When the Titteringtons showed up with Gardner’s money, she still had no idea it was even missing. She offered the good Samaritans a $100 reward, but they refused.
Easy rider
A 39-year-old dentist in Nanticoke, Pa., may have taken his mid-life crisis a step too far recently when police caught him riding his motorcycle with a naked female passenger.
Not surprisingly, the woman showed signs of intoxication. Once in custody, she tried to dispose of a pipe believed to be used for smoking crack or marijuana, and then she kicked an officer twice in the groin who tried to retreive it. The dentist paid a fine of $277.50 and promised to always make his passengers wear helmets in the future.
Dangerous game of chicken
Last month, a California motorist saw his dinner flash before his eyes. As he was driving along Highway 99, a chicken flew by his car and became entangled in the wiper blades.
The man pulled over, but the chicken still couldn’t get free. Not wanting to handle the bird himself, the man drove to a nearby police station in Yuba City. An officer at the station thought turning on the windshield wipers might free the bird, but it only set off a “wing-flapping, screeching frenzy,” police said.
Finally, one brave officer donned rubber gloves and carefully let the chicken loose. It was unharmed in the ordeal, but it managed to get away from the officer.
After a brief attempt to catch the chicken, the officers said they decided they’d rather not be seen in a prolonged “chicken-chasing venture” and left the chicken to hang out in front of the station “to do whatever chickens do” until an animal control officer could pick up the bird the next day.
