ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Man takes backpack stuffed with dirty socks to drug deal

ADRIAN, Mich.

A southeastern Michigan man who brought a backpack stuffed with dirty socks to a couple looking to buy a pound of marijuana is facing prison.

The Daily Telegram of Adrian reports the fraudulent July 8 marijuana sale in Lenawee County’s Raisin Township was described Wednesday in Circuit Court when Michael Rafael Suarez of Ypsilanti pleaded guilty to false pretenses.

The 33-year-old says he “didn’t bring any weed” and instead had “a bag of dirty socks.” He faces up to 71/2 years in prison when sentenced Sept. 3. An Ypsilanti couple who say they accompanied Suarez pleaded guilty to reduced charges.

Police stopped the three and a man told officers that he and his girlfriend were robbed. Authorities say $2,800 in cash was taken during the would-be drug deal.

Popular traffic barrel could soon be removed

CLEVELAND

Residents may no longer get to enjoy a dented, orange traffic barrel that has been stationed at the same Cleveland intersection for more than a year.

The barrel, known as “Barry the Barrel,” sat on a steel plate covering a hole in the road at West 144th Street and Montrose Avenue in the city’s West Park neighborhood, The Plain Dealer reported recently.

“Usually when you put up an orange barrel, it means you’ll be back to fix something,” said Adam Pate, a caricature artist and resident who created the barrel a Facebook page. “But they just slapped a plate on it and a barrel and took a mulligan.”

Besides the page, fans provided the barrel an umbrella during rainfall as well as balloons for its “birthday,” and a flaming sparkler for Independence Day.

“It’s not technically a cone, I know,” Pate said. “I was just goofing around one night, I was literally in bed, and I made the page and that’s the way it stayed.”

Cleveland City Councilman Martin Keane said he’s sent emails and pictures of the intersection for a year to the city’s Public Utilities department without action.

“It’s an absolute joke. It’s crazy,” he said. “Getting them to acknowledge and fix it has been unbearable.”

Keane added, “If it took a couple of months, I’d understand. But it’s been over a year.”

Crews from the city’s Water Pollution Control division are repairing a breach that created a void beneath the street, and the barrel could soon be removed.

Pate said he’d be disappointed.

“If he’s taken,” he said, “I think I’ll go around the neighborhood with a picture on fliers that say, ‘Have you seen me?’”

Associated Press