UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Pit bull credited with saving fallen woman

CARNEGIE, Pa., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania man said he is proud of his 2-year-old pit bull for saving the life of an elderly woman who fell into a ditch.

Jimmie Belchick of Carnegie said Cobain, his American pit bull terrier, a breed often in the news for attacking people, found the woman crumpled against a grate at the bottom of a ditch about 1 p.m. Saturday and quickly ran to alert his master, WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh, reported Tuesday.

"My dog put Lassie to shame. He came and alerted me when somebody needed help and what more can you ask for out of your dog," Belchick said.

Belchick said the woman appeared weak and had trouble speaking. She was taken to Allegheny General Hospital, where paramedics said she is expected to be fine.

Belchick said he is proud of Cobain for acting fast.

"He's one in a million. I tell him that every day, but now, that's some proof right there," Belchick said.

Bag of fish shuts down baggage claim

ATLANTA, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Police in Atlanta said a suspicious unclaimed package that shut down an airport baggage claim area for about an hour turned out to contain fish.

Investigators said baggage handlers at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport opened the luggage Monday afternoon and called police when they found strange leaves and a lot of aluminum foil at the top of the bag, WSB-TV, Atlanta, reported Tuesday.

About half of the baggage claim area was closed off while a police bomb squad investigated the bag.

Police said the bag received the all-clear from bomb detection equipment so they emptied the package and discovered a large amount of fish. Police said the unknown traveler, who is still being sought, likely tried to bring the fish in from overseas and spice it up inside the luggage.

Nude car washer gets probation

ATTLEBORO, Mass., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A 65-year-old Massachusetts man pleaded guilty to open and gross conduct for washing his car in the nude at a public car wash.

Judge Daniel O'Shea of Attleboro District Court sentenced Robert Bailey of Cumberland to one year of probation after he entered his guilty plea Monday, The (Attleboro) Sun Chronicle reported Tuesday.

Prosecutors said Bailey washed his car in the nude about 11 a.m. May 31 at the Economy Car Wash in North Attleboro. A female customer at the establishment called police and officers arrived to find Bailey wearing a pair of shorts.

Bailey, who was ordered to undergo counseling and will be required to register as a sex offender, was placed on probation in 2002 for a similar charge after the case was continued without a finding.

Police: Man asked to suck toes

VILONIA, Ark., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Police in Arkansas said they arrested a man accused of asking two women he approached in public places if he could suck their toes.

Conway Police Department spokeswoman La Tresha Woodruff said Michael Wyatt, 50, was arrested Monday at his Vilonia home and cited with two counts of misdemeanor harassment after two women picked him out of a lineup and said he approached them at two different area businesses, the Log Cabin Democrat reported Tuesday.

Police said Wyatt commented on the women's feet, told them he liked feet and asked if he could suck on their toes.

Wyatt pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and criminal impersonation in December 1990 after a woman told police he claimed to be a podiatrist at a woman's clothing store so he could fondle and suck on her toes, the Conway newspaper said.