Stupid News

WICHITA, Kan. - A botched kidnapping ended with one of the assailants shooting himself in the groin, Wichita police said.

The man had just stuck the gun back into his waistband when it fired, shooting him in the left testicle. He cringed, causing the gun to fire again and strike him in the left calf.

When the shooting ended, the 23-year-old man managed to walk himself into the hospital for treatment, police said. He and his two accomplices, ages 18 and 20, were arrested for aggravated attempted kidnapping and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The men were attempting to kidnap a teen in a dispute over stereo speakers, police said.

PORTLAND, Maine - A Democratic activist who was arrested after he was spotted on a highway overpass dressed as Osama bin Laden on Halloween faces additional charges for the stunt.

Tom Connolly was charged Wednesday with terrorizing and reckless conduct, in addition to the original charge of criminal threatening, prosecutor Stephanie Anderson said. All three charges are misdemeanors.

"Halloween or not, in this day and age you do not get to dress as an international terrorist and wave what appears to be an AK-47 at rush hour traffic," Anderson said.

Police responded to calls from motorists on Interstate 295 about a man on an overpass wearing a white robe and carrying a fake assault rifle. The costume included a rubber mask, plastic dynamite and grenades, in addition to the toy assault rifle. Before he was arrested, Connolly walked toward officers as plastic grenades tumbled onto the ground, an officer said.

Anderson said Connolly created an "incredibly dangerous" situation for motorists, for police — and for himself. "He's lucky he didn't get shot," she said.

Connolly's lawyer, Daniel Knight, said Wednesday there was no mistaking Connolly for a terrorist on Halloween.

"His protest involved a plastic squirt gun that was not used in any menacing manner whatsoever while Tom was in a costume on Halloween," Knight said.

Furthermore, he said, Connolly was holding a sign with a political statement about the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, which was defeated by voters Nov. 7. Police said at least one person who saw a sign held by Connolly thought it said "Taliban."

Connolly, 49, a defense lawyer, made headlines when he divulged President Bush's drunken-driving arrest days before the 2000 election. He also has been known to don a George W. Bush mask and dance for passing motorists.

Anderson, a Republican, said Connolly probably would have been charged even if he was wearing a George Washington costume instead of an Osama bin Laden costume. The problem, she said, was that the gun looked real and that he pointed it at people.

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail, but a lengthy jail term was unlikely, Anderson said. A trial was scheduled for Dec. 19.

NEW YORK - A small wild turkey wandered onto a busy New York City bridge toll plaza, halting traffic for about 15 minutes as workers chased the fowl down.

No one knows how the 10-pound female bird ended up on the Triborough Bridge, which connects the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels officials received a call that there was a loose bird just before the start of the evening rush hour, and six officers chased it around the Manhattan toll plaza.

The frightened turkey skittered back and forth across the plaza, evading capture for 15 minutes. Bridge officers finally cornered it, and a construction worker snatched it.

MTA officials talked with state and city animal control authorities and released the turkey into a wooded area on nearby Wards Island, which has acres of open land inhabited by pheasants, rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks.