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You Can’t Make This Stuff Up – February 2016

Got Gator?
Gator wasn’t on the menu but one did make an appearance inside a Wendy’s in Florida. And it wasn’t by choice. A Jupiter man threw it through the restaurant’s drive-thru window, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission incident report. FWC officials say 23-year-old Joshua James pulled up for his order and after a server handed over a drink and turned around James reached into the back of his truck and tossed the 3-and-a-half foot gator through the drive-thru window. James faces charges of aggravated assault and unlawful possession and transportation of an alligator.

Have it Your Way
Police say a woman tried to get a couple to rob the Pennsylvania fast-food restaurant where she worked. 23-year-old Alayna Weishner-Rush asked the duo to rob a Burger King in, Pennsylvania. The suspect wanted them to rob the restaurant while she was working the drive-thru window, so she could split the money with them later. But police say the couple instead contacted police about the plan and no robbery occurred. Charges were filed last week and the suspect faces a preliminary hearing on two counts of criminal solicitation on Feb. 16.

Something Is Fishy in the UK
Two drinking friends used a credit card scam to go on a massive bender and got into scrapes worthy of the movie The Hangover. By the time they sobered up they had bought almost a ton of fish worth £35,000, chartered a private jet for £3,600 and ordered three kitchen stoves costing £4,000. Sozzled Scotsmen Jamie Abernathy and Brian Darroch also treated themselves to meals and vast quantities of alcohol after stealing credit card details from members of a gym during a drunken trip to Blackpool. A court heard it was not known what happened to the huge catch of fish bought from a seafood wholesaler in neighbouring Fleetwood.

Facebook Helps Track Down Snake Thief
A St. Louis-area man is accused of stealing a Brazilian rainbow boa constrictor from a pet store, then losing it inside a Lowe’s home improvement store. Authorities say surveillance photos posted on the pet store’s Facebook page led to the suspect, 20-year-old Marshall Parsons of Festus. He was charged Wednesday with stealing an animal, and is jailed on $5,000 bond. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that snake remains missing — Parsons allegedly told authorities he lost it inside a Lowe’s in Festus. Charging documents say Parsons was seen on surveillance cameras taking the snake from its case Nov. 30 at the Exotic Amphibian & Reptile Center in Lemay. The owner posted surveillance photos of the man he suspected taking the snake. Facebook friends identified the suspect as Parsons.

Shoplifting Can Wear You Out

Police say they caught a shoplifter after she passed out twice at a K-Mart in a suburb of Salt Lake City. KUTV-TV reports that West Valley police say employees found the woman unconscious in the store and began to give her aid. Authorities say the woman eventually got up and went to another part of the store before passing out again. Officer Julie Jorgensen says K-Mart employees then called emergency services and the woman was taken to the hospital. Jorgensen says hospital staff noticed stolen merchandise under the woman’s clothes and called the police, who say she now faces shoplifting charges.

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