oddly enough

oddly enough

Police chased tractor-trailer 34 miles, dodged thrown fridge

BELLE VERNON, Pa.

A tractor-trailer driver threw items from his cab at police — including socks, shoes and a small refrigerator — as he led them on a 34-mile chase in western Pennsylvania, authorities said Sunday.

Police in Westmoreland County said a man called emergency dispatchers just before 2 a.m. Saturday and said he planned to wreck his truck. State troopers tried to stop the vehicle near Washington Township, but the driver disregarded the emergency lights and sirens, and a pursuit began along Route 70 and later the Pennsylvania Turnpike, police said.

“During the pursuit, the driver threw numerous items at pursuing troopers from the cab” including a steel canister that struck a Greensburg state police unit and disabled it, police said. The driver also threw a mini refrigerator before the truck was stopped with spike strips shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday.

The driver refused orders to leave the cab, police said, so troopers entered and used a stun gun to subdue him. He was taken to a hospital because officers believed he was under the influence of a controlled substance, namely Xanax, and for injuries, police said.

“It should be noted that during the pursuit the operator threw his shoes and socks at troopers. When the windows were broken to make entry into the cab, the operator’s feet were cut during his resistance to arrest,” police said. At the hospital, he was treated for cuts on his feet, and a blood sample was taken for testing.

The driver, identified as Christopher Charles Boyer, 47, of Mifflintown, is charged with aggravated assault, fleeing or attempting to elude, reckless endangering, resisting arrest and other counts. Court documents indicate he had requested representation by the public defender’s office.

State police told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Boyer was the only occupant of the truck, which hauls sand used in the hydraulic-fracturing drilling process, known as fracking. Police did not disclose his employer.

Romanian envoy fired after invites have rude notes on guests

BUCHAREST, Romania

The Romanian Foreign Ministry says a diplomat has been fired after its embassy in Paris sent out invitations to a reception containing rude remarks about the guests.

The embassy had emailed invitations to mark last week’s visit by President Klaus Iohannis, but inadvertently attached a spreadsheet that described some guests as “undesirable” and one as “ghastly.”

Calling the situation “inadmissible and profoundly regrettable,” the ministry said Wednesday that a diplomat had been recalled and fired. It said a second diplomat also was summoned to Bucharest, but another institute is responsible for firing her. No names were given for the two diplomats.

The Romanian ambassador to France, Bogdan Mazuru, wrote a letter of apology to the Romanian writer who exposed the gaffe.

Associated Press