oddly enough

oddly enough

Embarrassed ‘victim’ charged with false report

IRWIN, Pa.

Police have charged a man with faking a mugging in a hotel tavern bathroom because he was too embarrassed to acknowledge that he passed out and hit his head on a sink.

Reid Hilinski, 23, of North Huntingdon Township, declined to comment Thursday.

Irwin police arrested two men after Hilinski told officers they punched him in the face and stole his wallet at the Conley Inn early Oct. 14.

Based on Hilinski’s description, a bartender told police about two men staying at the motel and Hilinski confirmed they were his attackers, leading police to charge them.

But police Chief Joseph Pocsatko says surveillance video didn’t support Hilinski’s account of the incident.

In an odd twist, the men Hilinski falsely accused remain in jail because police say they’re wanted for unrelated crimes.

Colorado house cat gets close look at mountain lion

BOULDER, Colo.

Gail Loveman’s 11-year-old cat named Zeus usually stands tall and hisses when he sees a squirrel outside his owner’s home. He wasn’t as much of a tough guy when the animal on the other side of the glass was a mountain lion.

Loveman tells The Denver Post the encounter lasted about five minutes before the mountain lion wandered off from her house near the foothills west of Boulder.

Loveman says she was in her home office recently when she heard a noise and turned to see the mountain lion on the porch.

Zeus entered the room and walked to the sliding glass door for a closer look while Loveman snapped photos.

Loveman went upstairs and spotted a second mountain lion. She says both jumped a fence and left.

Burglars leave dead deer in northwestern Pa. church

KERSEY, Pa.

State police say somebody left a deer carcass in a northwestern Pennsylvania church after breaking in and stealing a stereo and a table.

Troopers from the Ridgway barracks are investigating the burglary at the Gardner Hill Community Church in Fox Township, Elk County. That’s about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Police believe the break-in happened sometime between 8 a.m. Monday and 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, when the dead animal was discovered.

Police have not charged anyone or named any suspects and are asking for the public’s help in catching the burglars.

Associated Press