Bank robber says it with flowers — plant too

Bank robber says it with flowers — plant too

NEW YORK

New York City’s bouquet bandit has a green thumb.

Police said Tuesday that a man wanted for robbing a Manhattan bank while armed with a bouquet of flowers has struck before — using a potted plant.

On Monday, police released a security photo of a man holding fresh flowers that were neatly bundled in pink tissue paper and plastic. Hidden inside the arrangement was a note demanding $50 and $100 bills and a message for the teller, “Don’t be a hero.”

On July 10, police say the same man appeared at another Manhattan bank, holding a threatening note under a leafy plant and handing it to a teller. He reached over the counter and grabbed the cash before he fled, leaving the plant behind.

Laptop accidentally sold for $5 at thrift store

COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho

The manager of an Idaho thrift store is seeking the return of her laptop computer, which was accidentally sold for $5.

Sandra Bechthold says she was shocked when she learned her 2-year-old Dell Inspiron and case were sold July 12.

Bechthold had to do some work offsite that day, leaving the Women’s Center Thrift Store in the hands of one staffer and a group of volunteers. The Coeur d’Alene Press reports Bechthold doesn’t know how her laptop ended up in the donation receiving room.

A volunteer said she decided on a $5 sale price because she once saw a laptop with no software sold for that amount.

Heart-attack victim saved by deliveryman

LAKEWOOD, Colo

Ordering a pizza may have saved George Linn’s life.

Linn’s wife says he had just gone into cardiac arrest Friday when the pizza deliveryman knocked on the door of their Colorado home to bring their order. Kami Linn says she opened the door to “some burly-looking dude” and immediately asked for help.

The deliveryman, Chris Wuebben, happened to be a paramedic recently returned from Iraq.

Kami Linn says Wuebben performed CPR on her husband and revived him. Other paramedics who later arrived then took over. George Linn remains hospitalized in the intensive-care unit.

Stolen Elvis statue found in Md. cemetery

ROSEDALE, Md.

An Elvis Presley statue, taken earlier this month from the roof of a Maryland diner, was recovered Tuesday between two angels at a nearby cemetery. Baltimore County police say a customer found the 80-pound statue at the Faith Cemetery in Overlea and returned it to the diner. Police say the customer is not considered a suspect.

The now footless Elvis — its feet were left bolted to the diner roof — was taken earlier this month from the Happy Day Diner in suburban Baltimore. Diner owner Maria Pigiaditis said after the statue was taken that a former owner bought the 7-foot-tall fiberglass Elvis for $1,500 in 2001.

Associated Press