NEWS OF THE WEIRD – Florida Weekly
Thursday, November 24, 2022
Florida Weekly Staff
Work ethic
Thieves broke into a Brink’s security tractor-trailer in July and made off with millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry — all while one of the drivers was asleep in the truck’s bunk and another was inside a truck stop getting food, according to a lawsuit filed by Brink’s against the jewelers who owned the baubles. The goods were on their way from San Mateo, Calif., to Los Angeles for the International Gem and Jewelry Show, the Los Angeles Times reported. The drivers had stopped at a Flying J truck stop along I-5, and the thieves made quick work of cutting the lock and removing 22 large bags of gems, gold and other valuables. The Brink’s lawsuit is in response to an earlier suit filed by 13 jewelers, alleging that their merchandise was worth $100 million and that the drivers were “grossly negligent.” Brink’s argues that the value was $8.7 million, as declared on manifests signed by its customers. No word on the fate of the drivers.
Just keep digging
Stephen McCarthy, 31, a physician’s assistant in Allentown, Pennsylvania, has been under suspicion of trafficking steroids and stimulants, LehighValleyLive reported. Federal agents were on the case, but no charges had been filed. That is, until McCarthy got in touch with one of the DEA agents, threatening to disfigure and rape him, on July 8. “I hope you get into a car accident and die,” McCarthy added for good measure. His attorney, John Waldron, said his client was frustrated with the ongoing investigation and “couldn’t deal with it anymore.” McCarthy was indicted on Aug. 4 and released on $100,000 bond on Aug. 9.
Sweet revenge
A 31-year-old man in Seoul, South Korea, has been ordered to pay his ex-girlfriend $1,150 after an argument ended with him urinating into her Louis Vuitton handbag, Oddity Central reported. The incident took place in October as the couple argued about her spending habits; the spiteful boyfriend retrieved the bag, unbuttoned his pants and let loose into the bag as the woman looked on. He later tried to cover up the evidence by pouring liquid deodorant into the bag, but DNA tests confirmed the presence of urine and tied it to him, and he confessed.
Awesome!
News of the Weird generally eschews world record stories, but this one seems happily adventurous. Peter McConville and Pavel “Pasha” Krechetov of Austin, Texas, and Abdullahi Salah, of Minneapolis, broke a world record by traveling to all 50 United States in five days, 13 hours and 10 minutes, starting on May 13. They started in Vermont, KXANTV reported, and finished the continental part in Washington, then flew to Alaska and finally Hawaii, having spent about $12,000 and 120 hours in a rental car. McConville said the Grand Canyon in Arizona was his most memorable moment of the trip: “I can’t even describe what that experience was, not only because we were so tired, but we were seeing so much at once,” he said. The group’s record is listed by All Fifty States Club, as Guinness discontinued listing speed records in 1996.
Update
Remember the fatal lightning strikes in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 6? Those shocking events were responsible for the deaths of three people, WUSA-TV reported. Amber Escudero-Kontostathis, 28, of Newbury Park, California, was with the group huddling under trees during the storm, and she was the lone survivor. Escudero-Kontostathis suffered burns down the left side of her body and initially couldn’t walk, but she’s now using a walker and looking forward to getting back to her job. What saved her? She and her mother, Julie Escudero, think the thick rubber soles on her Dr. Martens boots helped out. But she also credits the first responders and traveling nurses who happened to be in the park for their quick action. “The trauma doctor … said she’s an absolute miracle,” Julie said.
What’s in a name?
Allan Grainger, 61, of Derby, England, has two tattoos that include his first name, spelled with two Ls. His wedding certificate and his driver’s license both spell it the same way. But on July 30, when his family came across his birth certificate, they were all shocked to learn that his name is really Alan, with one L, the Daily Mail reported. The factory worker said he and his parents always spelled his name “Allan”: “I couldn’t believe it. I think it was a mistake on the birth certificate because my mum wouldn’t let me go through school spelling my name like that,” he said. Grainger has no plans to change his official name: “I don’t see what difference it would make.”
Great art
For the low, low price of $6,200, you can be the proud owner of “Pickle,” an unorthodox art installation at the Michael Lett Gallery in Auckland, New Zealand, Oddity Central reported. Australian artist Matthew Griffin is the creator of the piece, which comprises a ketchupy pickle from a McDonald’s cheeseburger stuck to the ceiling of the gallery. The art is described as a “provocative gesture” designed to question what has value. “As much as this looks like a pickle attached to the ceiling — and there is no artifice there, that is exactly what it is — there is something in the encounter with that as a sculpture or a sculptural gesture,” said Ryan Moore, director of Fine Arts Sydney, the gallery that represents Griffin. ¦
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