ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Garage in Pennsylvania won’t allow exit if tickets damaged

WASHINGTON, Pa.

Emergency officials in a southwestern Pennsylvania town say they are used to getting calls from motorists stuck in a downtown parking garage.

That’s because one or two times a week, motorists who park in the Washington parking garage on Franklin Street can’t get out because the tickets used to exit are crinkled or folded or the magnetic strip on the back gets somehow compromised.

Washington County’s public safety director says there is an informal agreement with the city and 911 to help motorists who can’t get out.

A sign at the garage exit tells motorists who to call if they get stuck.

Officials tell the Observer-Reporter of Washington that they’ve looked into the problem, but there’s nothing they can do.

They say the automated system works fine — it’s only motorists who damage their tickets that have a problem.

Cops: Bicycle bandits in NY wore gorilla, chicken suits

ROCKY POINT, N.Y.

Police say the thieves who stole a New York teenager’s bicycle were, well, animals.

Suffolk County police say two people in gorilla costumes and a third in a chicken suit took the boy’s bike Monday in Rocky Point, on the north shore of Long Island.

Police say the three confronted him while he was riding along Route 25A around 1:15 p.m.

Police say one of the gorilla-suit suspects punched the teen in the head and knocked him off his bike, and the person in a chicken costume rode off on it.

The ape-suit duo ran away.

The teen was treated at a hospital for minor injuries. He’s been released.

Detectives are searching for the suspects.

In Rhode Island, Columbus statue is defaced on holiday

PROVIDENCE, R.I.

A statue of Christopher Columbus in Providence, R.I., was doused in red paint and a sign reading “murderer” was hung around its waist over the Columbus Day holiday.

WJAR-TV reports the vandalism was discovered Monday morning.

The statue of a standing and pointing Columbus sits at a busy intersection in the capital city.

Police say they are investigating it as vandalism.

A representative of the Sons of Italy tells WPRO-AM that he would like the vandalism to be investigated as a hate crime against Italians.

Associated Press