Watercooler Stories

Bungling dognapper nabbed in Boston

BOSTON, April 27 (UPI) -- A Boston man has been reunited with his tiny 11-month-old puppy who was being held by a dognapper demanding a $500 ransom, the Boston Globe said Wednesday.

Timothy Connors lost his pickup truck, dog and cell phone Monday morning when he left his keys in the vehicle at a convenience store.

He called his cell phone and a man answered, screaming he wanted $500 for the 2-pound Pomeranian and Maltese mix and would kill the puppy if Connors called the police.

With two friends, over several hours and more than 12 calls to the dognapper, an exchange location was agreed upon. Connors said the envelope only had $43 in it, bulked up with other paper. However, the man didn't look inside and bolted, only to be pursued by Connor and his friends, two detectives and two police officers who tackled the suspect.

Connors' truck, dog, phone and ransom money were all recovered.

Michael Cyr, 43, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of attempted extortion by threat of injury and receiving a stolen motor vehicle.

Bonding session leaves staff 'bombed'

LONDON, April 27 (UPI) -- A British employment tribunal has heard that a liquor company's booze-stoked staff bonding retreat ended in drunken, lecherous rampaging.

Diageo PLC, the world's largest liquor company, arranged the weekend retreat last June at an upscale Edinburgh hotel, the Times of London reported Wednesday.

By the end of the corporate bonding session one employee had been suspended and another was seeking legal redress for alleged sexual improprieties.

Denise Swinton-Mitchell told the tribunal this week Diageo provided staff with so much free alcohol that they ended up running amok.

She also said a colleague, who was later suspended, punched coworkers and threatened her after she declined his advances.

Swinton-Mitchell says she later was unfairly dismissed after Diageo found pornographic e-mails on her computer.

"Diageo breached their alcohol policy by not ensuring appropriate transport or accommodation arrangements had been met," she testified. "Nor did they give an appropriate time to the event, allowing staff to continue drinking 'til they dropped."

Would-be car thief hits marked police car

CHERRY HILL, N.J., April 27 (UPI) -- A car that wasn't returned from a test drive to a New Jersey dealership was identified by a Cherry Hill policeman when it drove into the back of his cruiser.

A car dealer called state police midday Monday to report a man had not returned a green 1997 Chevy Cavalier from a test drive, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Two hours later, the missing car rammed the Cherry Hill police car, which was stopped in traffic, Detective Sgt. Joe Vitarelli said. No one was injured and damage to the cruiser was estimated at about $1,000.

The driver, Anthony Smith, 39, told the officer he had borrowed the car, but a computer check revealed it had been reported stolen that morning. He was charged with auto theft and remained in jail, unable to post a $7,500 bond.

Phone-photo of spider saves man's life

BRIDGWATER, England, April 27 (UPI) -- A British chef saved his own life by snapping a cell phone picture of a spider that bit him.

Matthew Stevens, 23, was bitten in the kitchen of a Bridgwater pub when he grabbed a dish cloth. When he reached for the 5-inch spider, it bit him again and he flung it into the freezer. He then used his mobile phone to take a picture of it, The Times of London said Wednesday.

He went to the hospital with a massively swollen hand and dizziness, but was sent home to rest. Soon after, his girlfriend called an ambulance and he was admitted. He told the doctors about his picture, which they then sent to experts at the Bristol Zoo.

They identified it as a Brazilian Wandering Spider, or phoneutria fera, with venom glands containing enough poison to kill 225 mice. It likely had arrived in a box of bananas, officials said.

Health inspectors later captured the spider, which was still in the pub's kitchen.