Sarkozy gives hostage warm welcome to France

Sarkozy gives hostage warm welcome to France

PARIS — Arriving to a hero’s welcome in France, Ingrid Betancourt said Friday that she cried a lot during her six years as a prisoner in the Colombian jungle. Today, she said, “I cry with joy.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, above, met the French-Colombian politician on the tarmac of an air base southwest of Paris, showering her with hugs, kisses and smiles.

Betancourt, 46, became a cause celebr in France after her abduction in 2002 while campaigning for Colombia’s presidency. During her captivity by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, supporters around France held candlelight vigils and benefit concerts to attract world attention to her plight.

Police: Wis. man faked heart attacks to avoid bills

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) _ A 52-year-old Milwaukee-area man has been accused of faking heart attacks to avoid paying restaurant bills and cab fares.

Police say the Waukesha man took a cab to a mall Monday and pretended to have a heart attack. The cab driver left unpaid.

Authorities say the man then ran up a $23 bill when he had a steak dinner at Applebee’s. He again pretended to have a heart attack.

This time the fire department took him to a hospital. A doctor there recognized the man as having pulled the same stunt in the past few weeks.

He was charged Thursday with defrauding a restaurant as a habitual criminal. He could get up to nine months in prison and a $10,000 fine.