Watercooler Stories

Simpson's Rolex does little to reduce debt

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The lawyer for O.J. Simpson said this week that the former U.S. football star used a fake Rolex watch to pay off a small portion of his mounting debt.

Lawyer David Cook said that the expensive-looking Rolex watch that the former NFL running back presented to the family of murder victim Ron Goldman was actually fake and worth next to nothing, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

Cook said that while he plans on getting the gold watch appraised this week, it likely is only worth $125 at best.

"I'm going to take it to Shreve & Co., one of the largest jewelry stores in California, and get an appraisal tomorrow," Cook said.

"It would be tragic if it appraised for less than my Southwest plane ticket from San Francisco to L.A," he added.

Simpson was ordered by a Los Angeles judge on Tuesday to hand over the watch as part of his ongoing payments to the Goldman family.

The Hall of Fame football player was ordered to pay the Goldman family $38 million as part of a civil verdict regarding Goldman's death in 1994, but the family has received few assets.

Before the civil trial, Simpson was acquitted in the killings of his ex-wife and Goldman.

Decoy number traced back to suspect

BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Authorities in Bellevue, Wash., arrested a man this week who allegedly attempted to cover up a robbery scheme through the use of a decoy phone number.

Bellevue police allege the 31-year-old suspect used an Internet phone service to set up a decoy number in a recent robbery scheme, but persistent police work eventually unearthed the unidentified perpetrator, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said Wednesday.

The suspect allegedly lured a local woman to a shopping mall under the guise of a business deal using the phone number, only to attempt a robbery once she arrived.

Police spokesman Greg Grannis said that while the unusual criminal attempt did prove daunting to police, the tricky method only offered a temporary reprieve from justice.

"It's unique because we've never seen anybody try that with the forwarding service before," Grannis said. "We'd like for any others who might be considering it to know that it doesn't work."

The newspaper said police used a search warrant on the online call-forwarding service to get an e-mail address that ultimately led them to the suspect.

Class gets lesson in dirty politics

NORWALK, Ohio, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- High school seniors in Norwalk, Ohio, got the spicy version of the legislative process when a nude photo popped onto a screen during a presentation.

Turns out, the nude photo was part of an entire directory of inappropriate photos on the flash drive Ohio state Rep. Matt Barrett says he received from a legislative liaison from the state library, The Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria reported.

"I was shocked," Barrett said. "I didn’t know where it was coming from -- if it was coming from the flash drive or what."

The image popped up when he plugged the portable memory storage device into the teacher's computer. Barrett said he immediately closed the computer, apologized to the students and continued with his presentation on the legislative process without the overheads.

"There was just a handful of students that noticed it. It was up for less than three seconds," Barrett said.

After the class, Barrett, the teacher, the principal, the district’s technology director and Superintendent Wayne Babcanec discussed the incident.

The Ohio Highway Patrol, which is in charge of the investigation, confiscated the teacher’s computer, Barrett’s computer and the flash drive.

Crime-stopping cardboard cop stolen

BELPER, England, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The police officer at a British shop didn't move a muscle when thieves carted him away -- he couldn't because he was a cardboard cutout.

Just days after police officials heralded the cutout's effectiveness in deterring shoplifting, the cutout itself was lifted, the Daily Mail reported.

Police said thefts dropped by an average of 36 a month to just one after the replica of police officer Bob Molloy was put up in shops in Belper.

Inspector Andy Picken said the cutout was used to help engage the community so "the theft is a bit disappointing. But the project has not been hampered by this incident."

But apparently the 2D replica did some good his last day on the job -- a thief paid for his articles before snatching him.