Weird news stands out in 2006
The odd news stories often involved animals.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A parrot attacked a burglar. An alligator lunged at a man delivering newspapers. A woman waved snakes at police. A teenager was acquitted by a jury after climbing onto the roof of his high school wearing a gorilla mask.
When weird news happened in Pennsylvania in 2006, it often involved animals.
In January, Matthew Pattison was acquitted of disorderly conduct and trespassing by a Berks County jury for his 2005 experiment with gorilla theater.
The stunt caused the FBI, a bomb squad and a state police helicopter to respond and Pattison was taken into custody at gunpoint.
"His intent was in no way criminal. His intent was to make his friends laugh," said his attorney, Kenneth L. Millman.
Also in January, James Erb's pet parrot attacked a man who broke into Erb's apartment in Williamsport. The bird, named Sunshine, had blood on its beak and the intruder, Michael L. Deeter, 44, had marks on his hand consistent with those made by a parrot, police said.
Deeter told police that he was too drunk to remember anything but breaking glass in a door to enter the apartment and then being attacked by the parrot.
Early morning surprise
In June, Bobby Kish, 46, was delivering newspapers at 5 a.m. in Pottstown when he got out of his truck and walked between two parked cars to retrieve an errant paper. He was met by a hissing alligator.
"His mouth was open," Kish said. "I was about five feet away. It was enough to get my attention." Police taped the gator's jaws shut and it was logged in to the Montgomery County Prison as "Al E. Gator."
In October, a woman threatening to harm herself waved snakes at Shamokin police officers. She was bitten on the arms and face, and taken to a hospital.
Police Chief John Brown kept the snakes -- two western diamondback rattlesnakes, a pygmy rattlesnake and two copperheads -- in his office for a while.
"I can't get my evidence guy to put them in the evidence locker," Brown said.
There were also plenty of odd stories involving only humans.
In April, a man driving a Dodge Ram van filled with potato chips used it to ram a state police barracks, but wasn't able to dodge arrest.
The driver, a 31-year-old man, had previously expressed a hatred for state troopers. No one was hurt, but there was major damage to the building.
Clear conscience
Plenty of others were kind to authority figures, but John Gedge stood out. In June, he mailed in a payment for a 15 speeding ticket he got in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park in 1954. Gedge was living in a nursing home in East Sussex, England, when he found the citation in the pocket of an old coat.
"I thought, blimey, I've got to pay, that's it," Gedge said. He mailed a five-pound note, which was worth about the amount of the citation in 1954.
"I'm very sorry I left it all that time. But my conscience is clear," he said.
And who thinks sharing is a bad thing?
In May, a Westmoreland County girl was suspended for three days for giving away chewing gum because it contained caffeine. Burrell School District Superintendent said the suspension was mainly based on the girl's decision to share the gum with others.
"What if the gum had been given to a student with a heart condition?" Palermo said.
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