ODDLY ENOUGH

August 9, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

ODDLY ENOUGH

Store manager throws hot coffee into intruder’s face

CRESCENT CITY, Calif.

An attempted burglary at a California supply store was thwarted when the manager threw hot coffee into the face of a masked intruder.

Chris Hegnes, manager of the Englund Marine and Industrial Supply, was going into work last Monday morning when he encountered a man in a mask charging at him with a hammer.

Hegnes says he hurled his hot mocha at the man’s face and ran for it.

The man came after him for a few steps, then ran to a vehicle parked behind the store.

Hegnes says the man apparently had been trying to break into a safe using the store’s hardware tools. The man didn’t get away with much but damaged some tools.

The sheriff’s office is investigating.

Brazen black bear breaks into Montana houses to steal food

BILLINGS, Mont.

A brazen black bear with a late-night hankering for supreme pizza surprised a Montana resident last week, and it’s not the first time the animal has eluded capture.

The bear is believed responsible for about 21 break-ins in the Red Lodge area in south-central Montana over the past few weeks.

In the most recent heist, Marek Rosin said he awoke about 1:30 a.m. July 29 to find the bear had pushed open the door to his back porch and was raiding his chest freezer.

“He was about 4 feet from me with his head in the freezer, munching on a pizza,” Rosin said. “It was almost comical if it wouldn’t have been that close.” Rosin scared the bear off before it could eat anything more.

Shawn Stewart, a Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist, said he thinks a single adult black bear is causing most of the problems. Two culvert traps were set up, but the bear has avoided them. Another bear was captured and relocated.

Bank robber dressed as clown

BETHLEHEM, Pa.

Police in northeastern Pennsylvania have arrested a woman they say robbed a bank in a clown costume. Bethlehem police said the woman was captured about five minutes after the bank robbery late Friday morning. Her name has not been released.

Police said the suspect told bank employees she had a bomb and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. Arriving officers say they chased her to a nearby park and nabbed her changing out of the clown suit in her car.

A bomb-quad robot checked out items found in the car, including the clown suit and a multicolored wig. No explosives were found.

No one in the bank was injured.

Associated Press