SIDELINES...

DOG CART DISASTER

The Westland, Michigan, fire department issued a statement via Facebook saying, “There was a minor event last night at Blues, Brews, and BBQ in which the fire department’s Arson Dog, Bella, was sitting on the seat of a golf cart.” The dog, sitting in the driver’s seat, had jumped down and hit the cart’s accelerator. This set the vehicle in motion, and it ran over a four-year-old girl before the firefighter in the passenger seat could gain control. Fortunately, the girl, though shaken, was uninjured and “was back to jumping in the fire department bounce house” within minutes. wxyz.com, 6 Aug 2023

ZOMBIE TESLA

After totalling his Tesla car, Jay Yarrow sold it for parts to a salvage company in New Jersey. However, several months later, Yarrow started receiving messages from the car again. The vehicle had come back online and connected with his Tesla app, but now seemed to be in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. The car also logged into his still-connected Spotify account, which was being used by someone to listen to the rapper Drake. “I feel bad for logging them out,” Yarrow said. “They may have needed Drake to keep up the fighting spirit.” Sun, 12 Aug 2023.

BOND FIRE

An Italian man, concerned about burglars breaking into his Rome apartment, hid €20,000 (£17,600) of interest -bearing bonds in the chimney of a rarely used fireplace. However, he did not tell his wife, and when she lit a log fire the whole lot went up in flames. “When I saw the flames I nearly passed out,” he said. “Each year, before we use the fire, I used to move them; this time, I didn’t do it in time.” The post office, who issued the bonds, said they might be able to reissue them if he had kept the serial numbers. D.Telegraph, 30 Dec 2022.

DUMMY CRIME

Police in Harlow, Essex, released an alert for a man described as slim, white and in his 20s, with light-brown eyes and yellow teeth, who was believed to be responsible for four incidents in the town between February and August in which he pounced on people with babies and stole their dummies. Police later arrested homeless Josh Guilder, 23, who admitted that he stole the dummies to soothe himself in his tent. breakingnews.ie, 9+17 Aug 2023.