Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Alleged scammer finds hair in food SANFORD, Fla., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Police in central Florida say a local man has been trying to scam restaurants by claiming that he found a hair in his food and demanding a refund. Advertisement George Jolicoeur of Sanford is also suspected of impersonating a police officer when he tried to get his money back for six milkshakes bought at a Steak 'N' Shake, the Orlando Sentinel reported. "We think he's consuming the food," Seminole Sheriff's Dept. spokesman Steve Olson said of the 500-pound Jolicoeur. "The $31 worth of milkshakes -- that's a lot of milkshakes." Allegedly, Jolicoeur has usually failed to get refunds, with employees chasing him away or frightening him by threatening to call police. But in one case, a Firehouse Subs gave him a $36 refund after he made a scene, police said. A judge has issued a warrant for his arrest. Advertisement 'Chute fails, pregnant woman survives LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A Missouri woman's pregnancy appears to have survived along with her after her parachute failed, and she landed face-first in an Arkansas parking lot. Shayna Richardson of Joplin, Mo., told KTHV-TV, Little Rock, she is recovering well after many surgeries, and is expecting her child in June. However, at the time of her accident in October when she was making her first solo jump in Siloam Springs, Ark., she didn't even know she was pregnant. Her instructor caught her fall and crash landing on videotape. She hit at 50 mph. "In the hit, I eggshelled my entire face ... and I broke my pelvis in two places and broke my fibula in my right leg," Richardson said. She said once she's had her baby, she'd like to be skydiving again by August. 'Spelling bee bandit' jailed for 'robri' RIVERHEAD, N.Y., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A New York man who tried to look stupid by making spelling mistakes in more than 15 bank hold-up notes has been sentenced to up to 14 years in prison. Bart Thomas, 44, of Long Island, was dubbed "the spelling bee bandit" by investigators who hunted him for two years. His notes referred to his crime as a "robri," ordered a teller to be "qwik," and warned against booby-trapping the money with "die." Advertisement His attorney, Hank Jones, told Newsday the mistakes were deliberate "He thought if he misspelled the notes, the police wouldn't have thought it was a person like him," Jones said. He said his client was an educated and hard-working family man with no criminal history who fell into trouble with debt, drugs, alcohol and "problems in his personal life." In addition to the sentence, Thomas was ordered to pay back the $18,000 he stole. Mystery gassy geysers pop up in Oklahoma KINGFISHER, Okla., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Soil, water and air samples were being studied in Kingfisher, Okla., Tuesday after several mysterious gas-belching geysers suddenly appeared during the weekend. The geysers popped up along a 10-mile stretch of Winter Camp Creek, and were first reported by a hunter. While some are spewing water and mud 12 to 15 feet, others are more subdued, the Oklahoman reported. "It's weird. It's really weird," said Tony Cupp, district manager for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission's oil and gas division. Various officials suspect the gassy discharge is not linked to natural geological processes, but to equipment failure in a natural gas well somewhere in the region, as the faint odor was similar to that of model glue. Advertisement National Guard Lt. Col. Kevin Staring said the water could be harmful, and he urged farmers living along the creek not to let livestock drink from it until the source of the geysers is determined.
