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Chocolate train in Belgium holds record ... School driver flags down tractor for teen ... Six arrested at wild house party ... Police: Teen thief wanted to play Santa ... Watercooler stories from UPI.
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Published: Nov. 21, 2012 at 6:30 AM

Chocolate train in Belgium holds record

BRUSSELS, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Guinness World Records confirmed a train made of chocolate in Brussels is the longest chocolate structure in the world, a new category for the organization.

The 2,755-pound sculpture, by Maltese chocolate artist Andrew Farrugia, is on display at Brussels South station and measures about 112 feet, Britain's ITN reported Tuesday.

Farrugia, who spent more than 700 hours on the sculpture, said he decided to create the chocolate train after visiting the Belgian Chocolate Festival in Bruge last year.

"I had this idea for a while, and I said what do you think if we do this realization of a long chocolate train, you know, because a train you can make it as long as you like," Farrugia said. "Actually it was going to be much smaller than it was, but I kept on adding another wagon, and another wagon, and it's the size it is today."

Guinness officials said they measured the train and ensured no materials other than chocolate were used in its construction before certifying it as the record holder in the new longest chocolate structure category.


School driver flags down tractor for teen

BORAS, Sweden, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Officials in a Swedish city said they are investigating after a school transportation driver had a man on a tractor give a ride to a 14-year-old boy.

Mikael Heden, the boy's father, said his son, Johan, was receiving a ride home from the school transport service, which has been operated by taxi company Taxi Kurir since 2010, when the driver "ran out of fuel" about 5 miles from Heden's home, The Local.se reported Tuesday.

The driver flagged down a man who was running a tractor nearby and asked him to take the boy home. Heden said he and his son are not familiar with the man, who rode the tractor to his own home with the teenager and switched it out for a car.

"Neither I nor my son have any idea who the man was, but it was very kind of him to take Johan home," Heden said.

Christer Norberg, head of transportation services in Boras, said an emergency meeting has been called with the taxi company to probe the incident as well as other complaints.

"There have been too many complaints and we want to hear their version of events. We have clear demands and they must follow these," Norberg said.


Six arrested at wild house party

FIVE ROADS, Wales, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Police in Wales said six young people were arrested when a lottery winner's daughter threw a birthday party and 200 guests attended.

Investigators said Sandra Fosbrooke's home in the town of Five Roads was trashed when about 200 people showed up to the 17th birthday party for her daughter, Ffion, The Sun reported Tuesday.

Police said the mother, who shared a $20.4 million lottery jackpot with then-boyfriend Ken Henry in 2005, was at a pub she owned at the time of the party and police were called by a group of regular customers who checked in on the shindig.

The witnesses described the scene as chaotic, with fights everywhere.

Police arrived and arrested six of the young partygoers.


Police: Teen thief wanted to play Santa

ATHENS-CLARKE, Ga., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Police in Georgia said a 17-year-old caught stealing from a Walmart store told officers he wanted to play Santa Claus for his girlfriend's kids.

Athens-Clarke police said Matthew Dillion Sparks was detained by security guards Sunday at the Walmart in Athens after he pushed a shopping cart loaded with items, mostly toys, out of the store without paying for them, the Athens Banner-Herald reported Tuesday.

Police said the teen told officers he was planning to put the items on layaway and was taking them outside of the store so no one would "mess" with them while he went back inside to buy a drink.

However, the arresting officer wrote the story "did not make any sense to me, since there is no way to put the items on layaway outside the store in the parking lot."

The officer also took issue with the teen's claim of plans to purchase a beverage.

"I knew Mr. Sparks was not going to purchase any other items because he only had 18 cents on his person," the officer wrote in the arrest report.

"Mr. Sparks told me he wanted his girlfriend's three kids to have a good Christmas, and that's why he had all the toys," the report states.

Topics: Ken Henry, Santa Claus
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