UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

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Goat trees Utah paperboy for an hour

SMITHFIELD, Utah, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A Utah woman says odd things happen to her teenage son, who found himself treed by an angry goat as he made his morning paper delivery rounds this week.

Jodee Gessell said she and her husband called Smithfield police Tuesday after their son, Jaxon, 14, failed to return home from delivering papers in the neighborhood.

"If something like this is going to happen, Jaxon is the one it's going to happen to," Gessell told The (Logan, Utah) Herald Journal. "Weird things always occur with him and his dad. It's like they both have glowing bull's eyes pasted on them."

The latest strange episode for Jaxon began he was blindsided by a goat that knocked him off his bicycle. Gessell got back on his bike but the goat continued chasing him and knocked him down again.

Jaxon hustled up a nearby tree to wait for his antagonist to go away, but wound up in an hourlong standoff. "He just sat under the tree staring up at me," he told the Herald Journal.

The surly goat eventually forced Jaxon's hand when it took off after three girls passing by. Jaxon was able to grab the goat by its collar and eventually turned it over to police officers who had been summoned by the neighbors.

"Just another day in the life of the Gessels," his mother said.

Man: Bathroom cam was for supervising

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Police in Florida said a JCPenny worker accused of planting a camera in the women's bathroom said he wanted to make sure his co-workers were doing their jobs.

Authorities said the Loss Prevention Officer at the West Palm Beach Store noticed the ceiling fan in the bathroom was dislodged just after 9 a.m, Monday and a closer examination revealed a cellphone aimed toward the bathroom's toilets was recording video, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Wednesday.

The officer told police she suspected employee Raphael Dieguez to be behind the incident and the found phone rang when officers called the number the worker had given his employers.

Police said Dieguez revealed during questioning that his real name was Marco Bartolon-Velasquez, 26, and he had been using his brother's name for "employment purposes" because he had been in the country illegally for four years.

Bartolon-Velasquez said he had been filming in the bathroom since last Christmas.

"He went on to say that he had only done it today to monitor how well his employees were cleaning," the police report says.

Police did not say what position the suspect held at the store. He told police he had never filmed inside the men's bathroom.

Bartolon-Velasquez was charged with video voyeurism.

Man claims deputies 'mad Obama won'

PALM COAST, Fla., Nov. 14 (UPI) -- An alleged drunken driver in Florid said he was only being arrested because he is "black" and the deputy "was mad Obama won," authorities said.

The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said Reginald Arnez Roberson, 52, was pulled over while allegedly speeding 35 mph over the limit and running a red light about 2 a.m. Monday and nearly fell to the ground when deputies asked him to exit his car, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Wednesday.

Roberson, of Palm Coast, allegedly told deputies to "just take me to jail. I know I had too much to drink."

However, deputies said he soon became belligerent and said he was only being arrested because he is "black" and the deputy "was mad Obama won."

Roberson allegedly threatened the deputy's family and called him a "dumb redneck."

Roberson, who had previous arrests for disorderly intoxication, was jailed on a drunken driving charge.

Man wins $100K while working Sandy relief

TRENTON, N.J., Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A man who returned to his native New Jersey to assist with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts won $100,000 from a scratch-off ticket while he was there.

John Turner, 38, who traveled from Chicago to New Jersey to help with relief efforts, said he bought a scratch-off ticket Sunday and soon realized he won $100,000 -- or about $70,000 after taxes -- from the Garden State lottery, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

Turner, proprietor of National Catastrophe Solutions of Chicago, brought his equipment and know-how to help people empty out their flooded homes.

He said families who were hit particularly hard by the storm received his services free of charge.

"Some people didn't have insurance coverage," Turner said.

The Garden State lottery said officials were pleased to have Turner as a winner.

"We are very grateful that John has given his time and skills to help the people dealing with the challenges brought on by Sandy and that New Jersey is giving a memorable thank you back to him," the lottery director said in a statement.

Turner said he wants to give some of his winnings to a family hurting after the storm. He said the rest will go toward his business and his church.