oddly enough

oddly enough

Cops: NY man with $5,000 refuses to pay $12 fare

SYRACUSE, N.Y.

Police say a New York man who refused to pay a $12 taxi fare was carrying more than $5,000 when the cabbie drove him around looking for cheap cigarettes.

The Post-Standard of Syracuse reports that a 68-year-old man had the driver take him to two stores Monday.

Each time he came out empty-handed, saying the price of cigarettes was too high.

When the man had the cabbie take him to a third store, the driver asked for the $12.40 fare.

The passenger refused to pay and told the cabbie to call police over the issue.

According to the newspaper, the arrest report says the man became uncooperative.

Police handcuffed him and searched his pockets, finding more than $5,000 in cash.

The man is charged with theft of services.

Nebraska man changes name to Tyrannosaurus Rex

YORK, Neb.

A 23-year-old southeast Nebraska man has legally become Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The York News-Times reports that the man entered the York County courtroom Monday as Tyler Gold and left it with the moniker Tyrannosaurus Rex Joseph Gold.

Gold says in his public filing for the change that the dinosaur’s name is cooler.

He says that “as an entrepreneur, name recognition is important, and the new name is more recognizable.”

The newspaper report does not describe his line of business.

Judge Alan Gless asked Gold at Monday’s hearing whether he wanted a new name so he could hide from creditors or law enforcement. Gold said no.

Judge Gless noted that Gold had gone through the proper legal channels for changing his name, so the judge granted Gold’s request.

N. Ireland judge jails man for taking call in court

DUBLIN

Letting your telephone ring in a courtroom is rarely a good idea. Taking the call is worse.

A Northern Ireland man received a brief jail sentence Wednesday after his phone rang, the judge told him to turn it off, but instead he took the call and had a brief chat.

The judge ordered 36-year-old Paddy Sweeney behind bars for two hours, then fined him 200 pounds ($322) for willfully interrupting the court in Londonderry, Northern Ireland’s second-largest city. Sweeney had been watching a civil trial at the time.

Sweeney could have faced a maximum penalty of one month in jail and a 2,500 pounds ($4,025) fine.

Associated Press