UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Wild turkey crashes through window

NEW BADEN, Ill., March 18 (UPI) -- An Illinois man said he was bewildered when a wild turkey crashed through the front window of his home and covered the living room in broken glass.

Jeff Mavrogeorge, a New Baden, Ill., police officer, said he received a call from his wife, Lisa, at 7:45 a.m. March 6 and she told him the 20-pound bird had crashed through the double-paned window, the Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat reported Thursday.

"I've heard of deer going through a glass window and I've heard of birds crashing into windows, but I've never heard of a turkey flying through a window," Mavrogeorge said. "I looked at that turkey for a minute and couldn't believe it. I had no clue what to do."

"It looked like a bomb went off," he said. "There wasn't a spec of floor that was not covered in glass. It was in the furniture, on the table and toys. There was glass everywhere."

Mavrogeorge said he called some village employees with hunting experience and one was able to capture the turkey with a net. He said the bird was surprisingly uninjured.

"He wasn't even fazed," Mavrogeorge said. "It was amazing. They say those feathers are like armor. I guess that protected him. I'm surprised it didn't break his neck, because he had to be moving at a pretty good clip to break through that window."

He said the turkey caused about $300 worth of damage to the window and its frame.

Police: Woman texted agent about drugs

MAGNUM, Okla., March 18 (UPI) -- Police in Oklahoma said a woman was arrested for drug possession after she mistakenly text messaged a Drug Task Force agent about her stash.

A police report said Chris Counts, an agent with the District III Drug Task Force, received an apparent wrong-number text message from Mindy Lynn Neugebauer, 26, of Magnum, Okla., offering a "hit of this stuff," referring to illegal drugs, the Altus (Okla.) Times reported Thursday.

Counts sent a reply asking for an address and Neugebauer obliged, police said.

Officers arrived at her home and Neugebauer told then she thought the text had been sent to a friend. She told them the message referred to marijuana she had rolled in a cigar paper and that represented all the illegal drugs she had in the home. However, police said they found a substance during a search of the home that tested positive for cocaine.

Neugebauer was arrested on felony charges of possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a controlled drug with the intent to distribute. She was jailed in lieu of $25,000 bond.

Police: Inmate told mom where drugs were

ST. CLOUD, Fla., March 18 (UPI) -- Deputies in a Florida county said a man accused of drug trafficking incurred further charges by calling his mother and telling her where he had left cocaine.

The Osceola County Sheriff's Office said Franco Mayernik, who has previous convictions for robbery, called his mother from an Osceola County Jail phone after his arrest on drug trafficking charges last week, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported Thursday.

Officials said all phone calls made by prisoners and detainees in Florida jails are recorded and there is a warning message at the beginning of each call. However, the warning did not stop Mayernik from divulging incriminating information during a call to his mother.

"I listened to the phone conversation and heard his mother ask him if he left anything at Spank's house," a detective wrote in his arrest report, referring to the St. Cloud home of Christopher "Spank" Eaton and Alexandria Dykes, where Mayernik was arrested. "Franco told his mother he left two ounces of powder in the cushion on the couch. 'Powder' is street terminology for cocaine."

Deputies did not find cocaine in the couch, but they discovered four Ecstasy pills next to a TV and found 57 grams of cocaine and two grams of oxycodone hidden in an upstairs bedroom.

Prosecutors added a count of cocaine trafficking to Mayernik's charges. Eaton and Dykes were charged with cocaine trafficking, possession of marijuana, possession of controlled substances without a prescription and drug paraphernalia.

Man arrested for hitting door with hoe

ST. LUCIE, Fla., March 18 (UPI) -- Florida authorities said an 80-year-old man was arrested for attacking his neighbors' door with a garden hoe because he thought they stole his cookies.

The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said the St. Lucie residents called 911 Sunday and reported they were awakened by a "loud banging at the door" that turned out to be neighbor Gene Edward Chambers hitting the door with a garden hoe, TCPalm.com reported Thursday.

Chambers told a deputy who arrived at the scene that he first knocked on the door then fetched the garden hoe when there was no answer. He accused his neighbors of sneaking into his house during the night and stealing seven boxes of "Little Debbie Oatmeal Cookies."

A deputy who searched Chambers' home for signs of theft found five boxes of the snacks and a Wal-Mart receipt from the previous day confirming he had purchased five boxes.

"Chambers was mistaken thinking he had bought seven boxes," deputies wrote in a report.

Chambers was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief. The neighbors' door, which deputies valued at $200, was "damaged beyond repair," the report said.