Cell phone stops heart-bound bullet

COVINGTON, La., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A Louisiana man said a stray bullet left him with only a bruise after the slug struck a cell phone in a pocket covering his chest.

Ronald Richard said he was mowing his lawn Saturday when he felt a sharp impact on his chest, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Thursday.

Richard initially thought he had been hit by a rock sent airborne by the lawn mower, but when he removed the nylon case of his Motorola Razr phone from a pocket on the bib of his overalls -- over his heart -- a .45 caliber bullet fell to the ground.

"I don't look at any of this as coincidence," said Richard, who suffered only bruising on his chest. "I look at this as God telling me to put my cell phone in that pocket, and I'm grateful and humbled."

St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain said investigators were trying to determine the origin of the bullet. He said the shooting did not appear to be intentional.