Watercooler Stories

Clerks give 'Spider-Man' robber a beating

JACKSONVILLE, N.C., Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Authorities in North Carolina said a man who attempted to rob a store while wearing a Spider-Man mask found himself on the receiving end of a beating.

Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown alleged Dale Foughty, 56, was wearing a Spider-Man mask when he walked into the Jacksonville convenience store Wednesday and threatened a clerk with a samurai sword, the Jacksonville Daily News reported Thursday.

Brown said the clerk refused Foughty's demands for money and struck the robber in the stomach with a broom handle.

The sheriff said another clerk joined the fight and the suspect was outmatched.

"It was at this point the suspect dressed as Spider-Man had his mask ripped off and part of his ponytail hair ripped out," Brown said. "The suspect, now unmasked, was just fighting to survive, got away and ran out of the store."

Brown said deputies found Foughty at a nearby house with a freshly shaven head.

"His hair was all over a table in the living room but the suspect was unable to get rid of the lumps on his head that were left by the broom handle," Brown said.

Foughty was arrested on charges of armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and injury to personal property. He was jailed in lieu of $100,000 bond.

Investigators said they were working to determine whether the incident was connected to a string of robberies committed by a man in a Spider-Man mask in Wilmington.

'Petoskey Batman' gets probation

PETOSKEY, Mich., Oct. 21 (UPI) -- A Michigan man nicknamed the "Petoskey Batman" after he was arrested while wearing a Batman costume on a rooftop was sentenced to six months of probation.

Mark Wayne Williams, 32, of Harbor Springs, was arrested May 11 after being spotted on a Petoskey rooftop while wearing a Batman costume and carrying weapons including a baton-like striking weapon, a can of chemical irritant spray and a pair of sand-filled Sap gloves.

He was sentenced to probation Monday in Emmet County's 57th Circuit Court, the Petoskey News-Review reported Thursday.

Williams pleaded guilty to one count of attempted resisting, obstructing a police officer and other charges, including felony weapons charges, were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

Williams, who said he had no intention of using the weapons and had climbed to the roof of the building to evade a group of people who were chasing him, also was sentenced to six months in jail with credit for two days served and the rest of the term held in abeyance.

Williams said he is part of an organized group of costumed "superheroes" who aim to prevent crime and reach out to the homeless in their areas. He was banned from wearing his Batman costume for the duration of his probation.

N.J. candidate: Sex tip was 'great'

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Phil Mitsch, a Republican candidate for the New Jersey Senate, says his advice to women to be a "lady in the living room, a whore in the bedroom" was sensible.

Mitsch, a retired real estate broker running in a heavily Democratic district in Camden County, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he was actually advising men with his Twitter post. He told his 44,000 followers on Sept. 2: "Women, you increase your odds of keeping your men by being faithful, a lady in the living room and a whore in the bedroom."

"That's a great tip," he said at a meeting Wednesday with the editorial board. "That shows the utmost respect for women. … What I was trying to say to men was, 'Men, look, if you got to go out and play around and you can't be honest with a woman and respect her, then you're better off just doing pay, play, and get the 'F' away.'"

State Republican leaders have urged Mitsch to drop out of the race, although he continues to have the support of the Camden County chairman. Democratic Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt, who represents the district where Mitsch is running, said the "thought process" behind the tweet is "disgusting."

Mitsch told the Inquirer he believes another tip he allegedly sent a follower by direct message is a fake. The follower who got the advice to tell women they can't talk but they can "moan" is now working for a Democrat outside New Jersey.

Expert: Reported UFO likely a meteor

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The National Weather Service said a flash of light over South Dakota, labeled a UFO by some, was likely a meteor entering the atmosphere.

Tim Masters, a technician with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, said the flash of light reported in the sky over the area around Brandon and Hartford around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday was likely a meteor, The (Sioux Falls) Argus Leader reported Thursday.

"It wasn't a UFO. It was a meteor," he said. "It lit up the sky pretty bright."

"We just know that it's probably just a little rock that fell through the atmosphere and probably burned up when it fell down," Masters said.

Masters said the meteor appears to have been isolated and was not a part of a meteor shower.

Peter Davenport, director of the non-profit National UFO Reporting Center in Washington state, said he received calls about the lights Wednesday. He said the only way to be sure the object was a meteor would be to interview witnesses.

"There are many, many events that occur which, when we get into the fine detail ... it seems obviously it could have not been a meteor," Davenport said.