Monkey-suited man arrested
PERTH, Australia, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Police in Australia said they arrested a man who refused to give his name while dressed as a monkey in a shopping center.
Perth police said Brenton Green, 21, was spotted by two officers Sunday afternoon hugging shoppers, posing for photos and dancing for the crowd, PerthNow reported.
The officers said they asked the costumed performer his name and he responded by shaking his head and making "squeaking noises." They said they asked him a second time and he responded: "Monkey."
The officers arrested Green and charged him with failing to comply with a police request. He was released on bail on the condition that he not return to the city, but then he was arrested on his way to the train station by the same officer who had initially arrested him, who said Green violated the conditions of his bail.
Green spent Sunday night in the East Perth jail and appeared before a magistrate Monday. He was released with a spent conviction, a three-month community release order and ordered to pay $60 in court costs.
Woman allegedly used ninja sword in fight
LAND O' LAKES, Fla., Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A woman used a ninja sword to cut her boyfriend during a fight sparked by a phone conversation with his ex-wife, authorities in Florida say.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office said William Allen, 39, was talking to his ex-wife by phone Sunday night at the Land O' Lakes home he shares with his girlfriend, Dana Gordon, 37, when the couple began to argue, the Tampa (Fla.) Tribune reported.
Gordon told deputies Allen started the physical part of the fight by slapping her across the face, while Allen told police Gordon punched him in the face seven or eight times before he retaliated. He said she went to get the sword after he spit on her and slapped her to make her stop punching him.
Allen said Gordon poked him repeatedly with the sword, causing cuts to his arms, legs and torso. Gordon said she only held the sword up to Allen and told him to leave her alone, but deputies found Allen with several cuts after he wrestled the sword away from Gordon and called 911.
Gordon was arrested on suspicion of felony aggravated domestic battery and was taken to the Land O' Lakes Jail without bail.
Police: Man refused to wait for parade
ALLENSTOWN, N.H., Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Police in New Hampshire say a man who drove his car through a barricade, striking a police officer, was angry about his street being closed for a parade.
Investigators said Paul Boucher, 77, refused to wait for the Old Home Day parade in Allenstown to pass before pulling away from his home. He was confronted by an officer as he drove around a barricade, WMUR-TV, Manchester, N.H., reported.
"He told the officer he was going to go through the parade anyway," Allenstown Police Chief Shaun Mulholland said. "The individual cut the wheel, swerving his vehicle around and hit the officer."
Mulholland said an officer was able to grab Boucher's keys and stop his vehicle. He was arrested and charged with felony reckless conduct and felony second-degree assault. He is due back in court Sept. 8.
The injured officer was treated in a hospital for an injury to his right leg, but has since returned to duty, Mulholland said.
Web site seeks 1M giraffe drawings
STAVANGER, Norway, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A Norwegian man seeking to collect 1 million hand-created giraffes for his Web site said the total number of drawings and models has surpassed 130,000.
Ola Helland, 24, of Stavanger, Norway, said a bet with his friend Jorgen inspired him to create OneMillionGiraffes.com, which began receiving thousands of submissions each day after it caught the attention of Internet users on Facebook and Twitter, The Daily Telegraph reported.
"We were just small-talking and discussed the Internet and how amazing it is. I proclaimed that anything is possible nowadays, there are no limits anymore, and said I could easily get one million of anything if I wanted to," the British newspaper quoted Helland as saying. "Jorgen refused to agree with me and said there was no way I could get one million giraffes. So we made a bet.
"Two days later I made the Web site almost as a joke just to play around with the idea. I posted the link on my Facebook and Twitter account thinking I would get 10-15 giraffes from my friends and then it would just die off. I went out for lunch and when I came back I had 60 giraffes. By the end of the day I had 134. I started to realize that I had started something I immediately lost control over."
Helland said the only rule for submissions is that they must be created by hand. He said he hopes to reach the 1 million goal by the end of next year.
