No shortage of weird and wacky crime in 2022 – Toronto Sun
Weird and wacky crime and police-related incidents in 2022 include a naked car thief, a dog startling a smuggler trying to retrieve handguns from a drone, and a woman bee-buzzing police.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Don’t have an account? Create Account
In addition, police successfully pursued an accused boat thief trying to escape on a riding lawnmower, a casket was battered during a family funeral brawl, climate protesters tossed potatoes and tomato soup at paintings, and an author who wrote about murder did just that.
From our newsroom to your inbox at noon, the latest headlines, stories, opinion and photos from the Toronto Sun.
A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Your Midday Sun will soon be in your inbox.
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
A drunken car thief who stole a Kelowna, B.C. couple’s car was not dressed for the occasion.
Around 6:30 p.m. on May 28 “an unknown, intoxicated and unclothed man opened the unlocked trunk hatch, jumped in and told them to drive,” the RCMP stated. After they fled, the intruder stole the car.
Officers spotted it abandoned and undamaged 45 minutes later. The naked suspect was soon arrested trying to stop another vehicle.
A Florida man who outran police in January was arrested In July after trying to flee on a riding lawnmower.
Sought for a $40,000 U.S. power boat theft, the 40-year-old jumped into a swamp and escaped, but was nabbed six months later when stun-zapped off a John Deere mower, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office stated. He was charged with grand theft, officer-resisting offenses, possessing a concealed revolver and a concealed handcuff key, plus drug paraphernalia.
Quite a few cows being prepared for motherhood were left standing.
Police in early December reported the puzzling theft of 60 containers of semen from a farm northeast of Cologne, Germany. Plans for artificial insemination there and on other farms were halted.
Supercooled bull sperm has been sold for up to $200 per vial in the United States in recent years — more if supplied by rare breeds. In 2019, 10 vials from an Australian bull sold for more than $67,000 U.S.
A Princeton, N.J. police sergeant and an animal control officer investigating reports from a “concerned citizen” about a “beautiful parrot in a tree” had no trouble finding it in March.
The unmoving critter was made of ceramics.
The caller sent police a photo, saying he kept his distance, fearing it might fly off. The ornament was taken to the police station for safe-keeping.
A Port Lambton, Ont. resident’s dog startled a smuggler seeking a plastic bag containing 11 handguns after its transporter — a $7,000 drone — flew into a tree.
Let out around 4 a.m. on April 29, the pet went to investigate movement. When the homeowner demanded to know the backyard intruder’s motives, he fled.
Ontario Provincial Police officers reported the guns, worth about $22,000 on Toronto streets, were the first case of a drone transporting illegal firearms across the St. Clair River from the U.S.
A handgun smuggled aboard a Haiti-bound plane at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida on Sept. 27 was an unusual find.
Stuffed inside a woman’s raw, plucked hen, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration reported a baggage scanner revealed the tape-wrapped firearm in carry-on luggage.
Passengers are permitted to transport unloaded guns in locked, hard containers inside checked bags, and must be declared, the agency’s website notes. No details were released about charges.
A woman was accused on Oct. 12 of unleashing bees on sheriff’s deputies during a protest against a court-ordered home repossession near Springfield, Mass.
While officers waited outside the mansion for its occupant to return from court, where he was appealing his ousting, an SUV arrived with a trailer buzzing with bees in hives, Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi said in a statement. The driver broke off a cover, “weaponizing honeybees” to swarm and “put lives in danger.”
Several injured deputies “are allergic to bees,” he added. Taken to hospital, a stung police photographer “was all right,” and thousands of bees were destroyed after bystanders were stung.
The 55-year-old apiarist – reportedly evicted from her home several years ago — was charged with multiple offences.
A casket containing an elderly mother’s remains was toppled by a car during a ruckus involving up to 20 relatives at her Aug. 6 funeral in Richmond, Calif.
The “chaotic altercation” began after a man and his estranged sister argued at the Rolling Hills Memorial Park. When her boyfriend intervened, he was beaten by her brother, Richmond Police said.
After driving his car at her a few minutes later, the brother hit another woman, knocked over the coffin, several gravestones, memorial vases, plus a water main that erupted. The 36-year-old driver was charged with assault with a deadly weapon plus vandalism after being whacked “several times” on the head by a cane-wielding relative.
One mourner told police she brought a stun gun to the graveyard, citing an ongoing feud.
Copying similar incidents around the world, two publicity-seeking climate protesters were arrested in Potsdam, Germany after tossing mashed potatoes onto a pricey painting in October.
The Museum Barberini in Potsdam reported the 1890 ‘Grainstacks’ canvas art by Claude Monet — which sold for a record $110-million U.S. in 2019 — was protected by sealed glass, but its gold frame was slightly marred. The crusaders were charged with trespassing and property damage.
Earlier that month, two Just Stop Oil activists glued their hands to a wall under Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ painting at the National Gallery in London, England after splashing its glass covering with canned tomato soup.
A self-published Oregon romance novelist who wrote a ‘How to murder your husband’ essay was convicted for doing just that.
Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, was sentenced to life in prison in June for the 2018 fatal shooting of chef and cooking school teacher Daniel Brophy, 63, in a bid for $1.2 million U.S. in life insurance.
The 28-year couple had financial difficulties before her husband’s murder, jurors were told. Surveillance footage showed she drove to and from the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland at the time, and evidence was found of her buying disposable parts for an automatic pistol she owned.
The parts weren’t found. She claimed to have no memory about the time of her beloved husband’s slaying, telling court the gun parts were acquired for book research.
Judge Christopher Ramras ruled Brophy’s essay, How to Murder Your Husband, which included several mariticide methods, was inadmissible because it was penned in 2011 for a writing seminar. A prosecutor, however, referred to it after Brophy took the stand in her own defence.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4
© 2023 Toronto Sun, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.
This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
