Watercooler Stories

Revolving door generates power for cafe

ZEIST, Netherlands, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- The owners of a Zeist, Netherlands, cafe said it has become the first to use its revolving entrance door to generate electricity.

Nature cafe La Porte said patrons using the revolving door can look at a meter telling them how much electricity their entrance generated for the establishment, Expatica reported Thursday.

Workers said one person entering the store through the revolving door creates about enough electricity to prepare a single cup of coffee.

Mars bar addiction blamed for attacks

CALLINGTON, England, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- A Callington, England, man who admitted to attacking his girlfriend twice in 10 days told the court his violence was caused by an addiction to Mars bars.

Marco Fella, 38, admitted to hitting his 34-year-old girlfriend in the face with a piece of rope and biting her finger a few days later when she refused to wear thong underwear instead of her "big pants," The Daily Mail reported Thursday.

Martin Pearce, Fella's defense attorney, said his client eats 10 Mars bars a day because of an addiction to sugar and he becomes aggressive when his sugar levels are low. Pearce said Fella has started an anger management course.

"My client's temper snapped because he felt his partner was not making enough effort in the relationship but he is now deeply sorry for his actions," Pearce said.

Fella's sentencing on two common assault charges was adjourned for probation reports after he admitted to the attacks.

Woman: Police confused tomatoes for pot

SHIELDAIG, Scotland, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- An elderly Shieldaig, Scotland, woman said police raided her home after mistaking the tomato plants in her window for marijuana.

Lulu Matheson, 79, and her son Gus, 47, said they were in the cottage Matheson has lived in for 53 years last week when a group of police cars stopped in front of the home, The Daily Mail reported Thursday.

"I got a terrible fright and I couldn't understand what they were doing here because I knew we had nothing more than tomatoes in the window. I don't know what the neighbors must be thinking," the 79-year-old widow said.

Gus Matheson said police insisted on taking samples of the tomato plants to test for cannabis and brought sniffer dogs from a police station two hours away to search the cottage.

"My 26-year-old nephew Stephen -- who hardly even smokes a cigarette, never mind cannabis -- lives with his girlfriend in a caravan next door and they went over and searched there too, after handcuffing him. It was a terrible carry-on," he said.

Matheson said he has filed a complaint with the police department.

"Despite leaving with their tails between their legs, the police didn't even apologize," he said.

Police spokesman Duncan MacLean confirmed the house was searched for drugs and no illegal substances were found.

Naked driver stunned by police after crash

SANTA ANA, Calif., Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Police in Santa Ana, Calif., say they were forced to use a stun gun on a naked male driver after he allegedly refused to put his hands up after a crash.

Santa Ana police said patrol officers stopped 22-year-old Jorge Aguirre on suspicion of fleeing the scene of a traffic accident Wednesday and the man allegedly refused to respond to officers' repeated requests to put his hands in the air, The Orange County (Calif.) Register said.

Police Cmdr. Larry Coleman alleged the man was also suspiciously moving about inside the vehicle as the officers made their demands.

That was when one of the officers used a Taser on the man, only to open the vehicle's door and learn Aguirre was completely naked.

Coleman said the incident began after another driver flagged down the officers' patrol car to report a van leaving the scene of an accident.

Aguirre was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Coleman offered no reason why the man was naked, but told the Register Aguirre's movements were likely an attempt to locate his clothes.