ODdly ENOUGH

March 3, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

ODdly ENOUGH

Associated Press

80-year-old burglar gets 3 years in Calif. prison

TORRANCE, Calif.

An 80-year-old woman with a criminal record stretching back to 1955 has been sentenced to three years in state prison for ransacking and stealing cash from a Southern California medical office.

Doris Thompson thanked a judge recently for not sending her to Los Angeles County jail, which she didn’t like, and said she deserved a longer sentence.

She also told the judge, “God bless you.”

State records show Thompson, who has used 27 aliases, has repeatedly been arrested during the past 55 years, mainly for petty theft and burglary. She’s gone to jail several times.

Thompson slipped into the medical office Dec. 19 and stole money from drawers. She pleaded guilty to burglary and was ordered to pay about $1,400.

Unpaid $68 dental bill dogs Utah homeowner

SALT LAKE CITY

A Utah woman who lost title to her house over an unpaid $68 dental bill has been given a reprieve.

The Utah Court of Appeals ruled Capri Ramos is entitled to another opportunity to void the sale of her house at a county auction for $1,550.

The collection agency North American Recovery sued Ramos in 1995 over the dental bill.

She didn’t contest the lawsuit, not realizing the consequences.

Her house in the Salt Lake City suburb of Glendale was sold the next year to a group of investors.

Last week, The Utah Court of Appeals sent the case to 3rd District Court for a hearing on whether Ramos had proper notice of the sheriff’s sale and whether the sale price was “grossly inadequate.”

Pa. county at odds with toilet-clogging inmates

UNIONTOWN, Pa.

A southwestern county prison board says a permanent solution to toilet-clogging inmates at the county jail could cost up to $200,000.

The Fayette County commissioners, who head the prison board, say inmates clog the county jail’s outmoded sewer lines by flushing sheets, pants and other items — even light bulbs — down the toilets in their cells.

A county engineer estimates it could cost $50,000 to $200,000 to install equipment that could grind up or screen out such obstructions.

For now, such items must be removed by hand.

That’s complicated by the fact that the prison was built in 1886 and has outmoded four-inch sewer lines.

The jail is expecting a $1,200 bill to fix clogs inmates caused by flushing debris on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.