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Thief leaves his ID in victim's pants

EDMONTON, Alberta, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A would-be laundry thief made work easier for police in Edmonton, Alberta, when he left his wallet and identification in his intended victim's pants pocket.

An unidentified man in a subdivision told police he checked his laundry hanging outside on a clothesline Monday morning and spotted someone discarding old dirty clothes and putting on clean ones from the line.

The resident confronted the man and demanded he put his own clothes back on. The thief did and fled, and the resident said while he was waiting for police, retrieved his own clothes to rewash and found the wallet.

Investigators matched the description to an attempted home robbery nearby two hours earlier, the Edmonton Sun said.

In that incident, a woman said she discovered a man in her bedroom holding her laptop computer and cellphone. The thief left empty handed, police said.

Police are looking for a 32-year-old man with no fixed address in both theft attempts, the report said.

Attempted robbery foiled with beer

KELVEDON HATCH, England, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A British store manager said he chased off a knife-wielding thief by throwing cans of beer at the attempted robber.

Aman Singh-Mann, 29, manager of the Nisa store in Kelvedon Hatch, England, said the masked man came into the store around 5:15 p.m. Sunday and demanded a female staff member open the cash register, the Brentwood Weekly News reported Thursday.

"I was just out the back having a break when I heard the shouting," Singh-Mann said.

"It was a man shouting 'open the till'. Straight away I knew I had to do something and I just acted on instinct. I went out and saw the man and he was waving the knife around. I grabbed the first thing I could and threw it at him."

Singh-Mann said he threw beer at the robber until he fled the store.

Police said they are trying to identify a suspect.

Study: Girls' names change more than boys'

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A California-based genealogy Web site said the top names for baby girls since 1940 have changed seven times more than the top names for boys.

Findmypast.com said its study of U.S. Census data said social changes during the past 72 years may have led to more frequent changes in the popularity of girls' names than boys' names.

"Women's role in society has seen a revolution since 1940", spokesman Brian Speckart said. "Men's role has changed too, though far less."

The Web site said the top 10 girls' names from 1940 have fallen an average 707 places in the rankings, while the top boys' names from the year have dropped an average of 104 places.

Man paints proposal on billboard

NEW YORK, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A New York man said he climbed an empty billboard overlooking an expressway to paint a marriage proposal for his girlfriend.

Drew Henkels, 28, said the proposal he painted on the billboard overlooking the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in June is still in place near the Flushing Avenue exit, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

"I was mulling over a couple of proposal scenarios," Henkels said. "None really felt worthy, so when this idea struck me I couldn't let it go."

Henkels said he met his girlfriend -- now fiancee -- about a year ago in her native Australia. She visited him in November and moved into his apartment in April.

"I never felt like this in my life," he said. "I wanted to make sure she knew I was serious."