Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Stolen cash allegedly used to pay fine INYOKERN, Calif., Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Police in Inyokern, Calif., say five men were charged with stealing up to $8,000 from the walls of a restaurant after one used the bills to pay a court fine. Advertisement Investigators said one of the alleged thieves used 10 bills, which had been marked by Homestead customers before being tacked to the restaurant's wall, to pay a fine and the money was recognized by a clerk, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. Police said they have recovered about $1,000 of the money that once decorated the walls of the Homestead. "Part of the place's charm was all the old bills, all the memories," said Michael Scott, senior deputy in the Kern County sheriff's office. "Everybody in town knew exactly where they came from." Officers said one of the alleged thieves also was found to have Homestead thumbtacks stuck in the sole of one of his shoes. Advertisement Police: Education official stole ketchup ORANGE, Calif., Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Authorities said a trustee with California's Orange Unified School District has been charged with stealing a bottle of ketchup from a university cafeteria. Sgt. Dan Adams of the Orange Police Department said trustee Steve Rocco was detained by Chapman University public safety officers after he allegedly took the ketchup bottle from the cafeteria at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday, the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise reported Tuesday. "One of the security guards saw him take a 14-ounce bottle of ketchup off of one of the tables," Adams said. "He concealed it and started to ride away on a bike." Adams said Rocco was detained by campus security while Orange police were called. Rocco was cited on a charge of petty theft and released. He could face a fine of up to $250. 66.6 mile marker repeatedly stolen TRENTON, N.J., Sept. 30 (UPI) -- The New Jersey Turnpike Authority said a metal sign at mile marker 66.6 has been stolen at least four times in the past two years. Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the authority, said officials have no idea who has been stealing the signs, WABC-TV, New York, reported Tuesday. Advertisement "Maybe it's just some kids with a devil-may-care attitude," Orlando said. He said the mile marker, which costs about $50 to replace each time it is stolen, is located in a sparsely populated area that is far from entrances or exits to the highway. "Given the symbolism of the number and the fact that it is obviously done in the middle of night, and in the middle of nowhere, I can safely say that I'm not eager to meet the rocket scientists doing it," Orlando said. The number 666 is is the "Number of the Beast" in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. Cow costume clad woman gets jail MIDDLETOWN, Ohio, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A Middletown, Ohio, court has sentenced a woman to a month in jail after she admitted to chasing children and blocking traffic while dressed as a cow. Michele Allen, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly conduct after police said she dressed as a cow Saturday night and chased children after urinating on a neighbor's porch, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Tuesday. Allen was ordered by an officer to go home and remain there for the evening, but later in the evening authorities received a call that a woman in a cow costume was blocking traffic. Police said she had alcohol on her breath when an officer arrived and she shouted and swore at the officer. Advertisement She was sentenced to one month in the Middletown Jail.
