ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Police: Thieves stole over $40K in rare insects, reptiles

PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia police say current or former employees at an insectarium stole over $40,000 worth of rare insects and reptiles.

Authorities say the suspects stole about 90 percent of the animals at the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion on Aug. 22 and possibly other days. Police say staff uniforms were found stabbed into a wall with knives.

Police are searching the three suspects’ homes for the animals but no arrests have been made. They say some of the insects, including a Mexican fireleg tarantula, have been returned.

Insectarium chief executive Dr. John Cambridge believes the animals were stolen to be resold.

The organization has started a fundraising campaign to help replace the missing insects. Insectarium officials say they hope to restock their collection in time for the Philadelphia Oddities Expo in November.

Venomous rattlesnake found near Mass. go-kart track

BRAINTREE, Mass.

Police responding to a Massachusetts go-kart track found a venomous snake wrapped around a tree in the parking lot. Braintree police say the timber rattlesnake was discovered Aug. 29 near X1 Boston.

Experts think the rattlesnake likely came from the nearby 6,000-acre Blue Hills Reservation, which has a known rattlesnake population.

Environmental Police officers captured the snake and released it “far, far from Braintree,” back in the reservation.

The snake is an endangered species in Massachusetts, and it is illegal to kill one.

While a bite from the snake can kill, there have been no reported human fatalities in the state since 1791.

Sprinting naked man leads LA police on pursuit

LOS ANGELES

A naked man who sprinted with Los Angeles police officers running after him and a police helicopter overhead is in custody after a lengthy chase.

The pursuit at dawn Aug. 31 captured live by TV news helicopters began after the man abandoned a suspected stolen truck on a freeway east of downtown.

Illuminated by a police helicopter spotlight, the man sprinted along dirt footpaths, through a homeless encampment and scaled a fence.

Officers closed in as he hid under trees, but the man then ran down an embankment and across several busy freeway connector roads, dodging cars.

The man disappeared into a hilly wooded area behind residences but officers caught up with him.

He was not immediately identified.

Associated Press