Friday Snippets and Soundbites

Welcome to Friday, ec fans!

Let's get your day (and your weekend) started right with some crazy news stories we've come across this week. You know you want to. . .

(And if today's installment just isn't enough randomness for you, check out page 38 in this month's—and every month's—issue of the magazine!)

Ready for some fun? Let's go!

I'm a cop. Yeah, that's it. 

At least that's what a New Hampshire woman tried to say when a couple caught her in their kitchen. The homeowners walked into their kitchen on Wednesday to find a woman they didn't know standing there. When they asked her who she was and what she was doing, the woman said she was a police officer, then added that she had been chasing a burglar from their home. The couple asked for identification and the woman claimed the burglar had run of with it. (What?) She then pretended to call her sargeant, told the homeowners she had to go back to the station to type up her report, and left. The couple still wasn't convinced and wrote down the woman's license plate number and called the police. The woman was later arrested after a car accident. She is charged with burglary, impersonating a police officer, driving under the influence and simple assault. To learn more, go here.

Whistle while you walk. Except don't. 

Charleston, S.C., is a fun city, right? There's all the historic stuff, plus it's just a great city with a lot to do. But in one of its suburbs one thing you probably WON'T be doing if you visit is walking down the street singing or whistling a tune. Why? The town council of Sullivan's Island has given initial approval to an amendment to its noise ordinance. It would make it unlawful "for any person to yell, shout, hoot, whistle or sing on the public streets." The restrictions will be most heavily enforced during the hours of 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., but the amendment also says they can be enforced at any other time when noise is annoying or disturbing the quiet for the townspeople. Sullivan's Island isn't alone in their decision to ban singing and whistling on the city streets. The municipal codes of Richton Park, Ill., Florence, Ky., and La Mirada, Calif., are among those that ban whistling and singing. For more on this story, go here. Want to read about other strange laws? Go here.

What? He paid the bill.

While we're on the topic of laws and law breakers, we might as well tell you the story of a New Jersey man who counterfeit money to pay his bail. Yes, you read that correctly. He use FAKE money to pay his bail. Apparently the man had been arrested on July 7 and was accused of shoplifting at a Cinnaminson, N.J., supermarket and clothing store. Police realized he had two outstanding warrants and put the man in jail. The man quickly paid his bail with $400 in cash—that the police later discovered wasn't even real bills. But then the story gets stranger. . . before the police could go in search of the man to arrest him on the counterfeiting charge, he showed back up at the police station arguing that his bail should have only been $200 and asking for a refund. He was promptly arrested and charged with counterfeiting. He has a $5,000 bail—which he has yet to pay. To learn more, check out the story here.