UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Firefighters rescue man in Pooh-esque bind

WAIPOPO, New Zealand, June 22 (UPI) -- New Zealand authorities said they freed a man stuck like "Winnie-the-Pooh" in his electric dryer while trying to retrieve a pair of underpants.

Senior Constable Greg Sutherland of the Temuka police said a police officer, an ambulance and two fire crews were sent to the Waipopo home about 6:30 p.m. Sunday after the 42-year-old man's heard, arms and shoulders became stuck in the dryer while he was trying to retrieve a pair of underwear from the back of the appliance, The Timaru (New Zealand) Herald reported Monday.

"He got in through the door of the dryer, his shoulders got stuck and he couldn't maneuver," much like Winnie, the beloved children's story character who got his head stuck in a honey jar, Sutherland said.

Sutherland said the man, who had been drinking, was "fairly agitated" once responders arrived, but the rescue was simple enough: Two firefighters held the dryer in place while two others yanked the man out.

"We do entrapments ... This would be one of the more unusual entrapments," firefighter Rooy Hoogenraad said.

'Hero' dog saves family from burning home

DELRAN, N.J., June 22 (UPI) -- A woman visiting her parents in New Jersey credited her 7-month-old dog with saving the lives of her family in a house fire.

Nicole Kowalewski, 29, said she had brought her young bulldog Rocky back to her family's Delran home and she was awakened at 2 a.m. by the puppy's whimpering, the Burlington County (N.J.) Times reported Monday.

"I had him in the bed with me and he started whimpering and it's not like a bulldog. It's in their breed to just sleep and snore and cuddle, that's it," she said.

Kowalewski said she took Riley outside to try to calm him down, but he started barking after she brought him inside and circled the door leading to the garage.

"Something wasn't right so I opened the door and I saw the flames, like, shooting out of the walls. The door was fine, it was cool to the touch, but the (garage) wall was on fire," she said. "I woke up my parents, my sister and my nephews. I called 911 and they said to get everybody out of the house."

Kowalewski said Riley wasn't done rescuing his family.

"The dog jetted across the street," she said. "We all chased after him and within seconds there was a huge explosion and the window shot out, so it was almost him saying, 'I got you out of the house. Don't you get it? Get across the street!'"

"I'm just so proud of my puppy," she said. "I don't think I would have a family. My dog, he's my hero."

Police: Dye-covered robber wandered town

SEMINOLE, Fla., June 22 (UPI) -- Authorities in Florida said a man suspected of bank robbery was arrested after witnesses reported a drunken man covered in red dye.

Pinellas County sheriff's detectives said homeless local Michael Prance, 53, was first reported at 6 p.m. Thursday by someone who called police to say an intoxicated person covered in red dye had been seen at a pool in the Caribbean Mobile Home Park, the St. Petersburg Times reported Monday.

Detectives said Prance allegedly became covered in dye when he robbed the BBC Bank in Seminole earlier in the day. Prance was next reported by a bus driver reported seeing the suspect at a bus stop in front of Seminole Subs.

Deputies said Prance was holding a bag filled with a large amount of dye-stained money when he was arrested at about 7:30 p.m.

Prance was charged with bank robbery and disorderly intoxication.

Pot-smoking postman burned mail

YORK, England, June 22 (UPI) -- Authorities in Britain said a marijuana-smoking postal carrier burned thousands of letters that the weed made him too lazy to deliver.

Police said Neil Goddard, 32, of York, England, had $13,000 worth of marijuana plants growing in his home and allegedly smoked so much of his own stash that he was unable to keep up with his deliveries and burned the leftover mail, The Sun reported Monday.

Goddard set fire to about 10,000 pieces of mostly junk mail he had agreed to deliver to bolster his paycheck, authorities said. He was using cannabis heavily at the time to deal with depression over his mother's recent death, court officials said.

Goddard pleaded guilty to delaying post, three charges of claiming payment for junk mail he had not delivered and a charge of burning mail.

In an earlier trial, Goddard admitted in April to growing marijuana with an intent to supply the drug to others. After both trials, he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.