ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Police: After a burglary, thief gets stuck in the mud

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.

Police say a man who robbed a Foxborough home had to call a tow truck after getting stuck in the mud while making his getaway.

Chief Edward O’Leary says a man broke into the home last Tuesday, and loaded up his pickup truck with two TV sets, a camcorder, camera, jewelry and other items.

As he made his escape, he backed off the driveway and onto the ground softened by rain. He got stuck.

He used rock salt, wood and even a throw rug under his tires to get traction without success before finally calling for a tow.

O’Leary told The Sun Chronicle that the suspicious tow-truck driver alerted police, who tracked the truck to a Taunton man who had just been released from prison. Police are still looking for him.

Police: NM woman unmasks robber, finds grandson

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

Police say a New Mexico woman who confronted a masked intruder in her home stumbled upon a shocking discovery when she ripped off his disguise — the robber was her grandson.

KRQE-TV reported that 22-year-old Thomas Clark is facing robbery charges after police say he stole his grandmother’s purse during a robbery.

According to police, the woman confronted Clark, dressed in black with a purple bandanna over his face, last week when he broke into her Albuquerque home.

Police say the woman yanked off the mask but Clark pushed her and fled with her purse. He was arrested later at his parents’ home.

Police say he confessed and said he did it for casino money.

It was unclear if he had an attorney.

NYC airport builds turtle barrier to guard runway

NEW YORK

Officials are building a 4,000-foot-long barrier to protect a runway at New York City’s Kennedy Airport.

But the obstacle isn’t for terrorists. It’s for turtles.

The busy airport has been plagued in recent years by waves of Diamondback Terrapins that climb up out of Jamaica Bay looking for a place to nest.

During last year’s mating season, airport employees had to carry 1,300 turtles off the tarmac.

The New York Post reported that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey hopes an 8-inch-wide barrier made of plastic piping will keep the turtles off the runway.

Hofstra University biologist Russell Burke tells the Post that it is hard to say how the turtles will react.

Associated Press