Jockstrip: The world as we know it

Whiz kid breezes through college

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., April 25 (UPI) -- A 19-year-old Michigan teenager is graduating from the University of Michigan after finishing her undergraduate degree in one year.

Nicole Matisse of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., began taking courses at community college when she was a junior in high school, the Detroit News said Wednesday.

She had completed 44 credits by the time she applied to the University of Michigan and was almost halfway through her sophomore year before she reached campus.

By August, she will have finished her undergraduate career in less than a calendar year. She has maintained a 4.0 grade-point average, the newspaper said.

"I've gotten my share of people who say they wouldn't have done it my way," Matisse said. "But I've come to realize there's something positive to be said about being different."

Man returns stolen Jeep to lot as trade-in

NORWALK, Conn., April 25 (UPI) -- A 29-year-old man arrived at a used car dealership lot in Connecticut last weekend with a Jeep stolen from the same location weeks earlier.

Jazrahel King brought the used Jeep Liberty into Wholesalers of America in Norwalk, Conn., last weekend as a possible trade-in vehicle, but was promptly arrested after a sales manager recognized it as a stolen item from the previous month, the Stamford (Conn.) Advocate said Tuesday.

Manager Diego Coleman said that when King drove the used Jeep into the lot Saturday, he was shocked to see the once-stolen vehicle return to its rightful owners.

"I was left speechless. I couldn't believe that he would try to take back another car and he didn't think we would recognize him," he said.

Coleman said King had visited the lot nearly a month ago and looked at the Jeep. Later that day, both the vehicle and King had vanished from the area.

Police told the newspaper little was done to disguise the vehicle as the dealer's temporary plates were still prominent and the dealership's ownership documents still sat inside.

Batmobile still a cool ride

NEW YORK, April 25 (UPI) -- Forty-plus years after it first appeared, the car Batman drove in the campy 1960s TV series still is a cool ride that attracts a crowd, as it did in New York.

"It's the wickedest car on the planet," said Rich Sheppard, who was among those who lined the sidewalk to get a look at the Batmobile. "I used to see it in my dreams."

The fictitious crimefighter's car was an attention-getter for Soundstation, a Mariners Harbor car audio shop in Staten Island Tuesday, the Staten Island (N.Y.) Advance reported. Also on hand was George Barris, the well-known car customizer who created the Batmobile in 1966. Barris was given $15,000 to build the original Batmobile. He took the body of a Lincoln Futura and in three weeks added the domed windshield and gadgets such as smoke blowers, nail spreaders and oil squirters.

"It's absolutely dynamite," said Andy Perillo, the guy who is usually behind the wheel when the car hits the road. "You go down the street and everybody yells and screams."

Perillo said the actor who played Batman on the TV show almost crashed the car. "Adam West doesn't drive very well," he said.

Receipt helps police track alleged thief

ORLANDO, Fla., April 25 (UPI) -- A teenager accused of robbing a Florida gas station was tracked down by police through a purchase receipt he left at the scene of the crime.

After police in Orlando, Fla., investigated the recent robbery of the Hess gas station on South Orange Blossom Trail, they discovered the suspect had left a receipt inside of a recently purchased gun case and promptly tracked him down, the Orlando Sentinel said Wednesday.

With such incriminating evidence, Orlando police arrested Eric Cunningham and charged him with Monday's armed robbery.

Police said such a mistake was certainly not indicative of a member of the prestigious Mensa intelligence group.

"Obviously, he wasn't a member of the Mensa society," sheriff's Cpl. Susan Soto said of the 18-year-old suspect.

The son of a retired New York police officer, Cunningham also faces charges from a pair of similar incidents and was being held without bail.