Friday Snippets and Soundbites

It's mid-August and many students (at least where we live) have started back to school. What's a better way to get the weekend (and a few days away from school) started than with some slightly off-kilter news stories we found in this week's news coverage?

You've come to the right place! It's time for "Snippets and Soundbites." And remember: if this edition of the news of the weird isn't enough for you, check out page 38 in this month's (and every month's) issue of ec.

He lived where? 

Ever joked you wanted to live somewhere a little strange? Your favorite store? A coffee shop? The church basement? Well, it appears a New Jersey man lived unnoticed in the local library for two weeks. Last Friday night, the custodian noticed the man, 26-year-old Charles Jones Jr, peeking out of the basement window of the Ocean Township library in Monmouth County. He called the police, who discovered Jones in the library basement. Jones, who is homeless, told the officers he'd been living in the library for two weeks and no one had noticed. When they investigated, they found Jones' stash of books in the basement. He'd also taken food from the employee break room. Jones has been charged with burglary and theft, but was released on a criminal summons. To learn more, go here.

He's not dead . . . yet.

Michael Rosen of Salem, Mass., had a problem: he was charged with driving without a license and didn't want to face the charges. So what did he do? He tried to fake his death in order to get out of trouble. Yep, that's right. Rosen's plan needed a little work, though. He sent another man to court last week to file paperwork that said Rosen had died during the previous week. The judge presiding over Rosen's case then dropped the charges against him. But then, a probation officer got a little suspicious. He heard from a colleague in a nearby town that Rosen had checked in with a probation officer 4 days after he had reportedly died. The probation officer checked into the certificate Rosen's friend had filed in court saying he was dead and discovered it was full of spelling errors, incorrect info regarding Rosen's place of birth, lacked a raised seal, and was printed on the wrong kind of paper. Rosen, who is very much alive, has now been charged with forgery and counterfeiting—in addition to his original driving without a license charge. Read more here.

Hey, Mom!

In our last tale today, we have the story of a criminal who needed more pockets. Or at least somewhere to keep his cellphone safely on his body. The man apparently broke into an elementary school in Athens, Ga., on Monday. An alarm went off and police responded, just in time to see the man run through the cafeteria and out the back door. Police were unable to capture the man, but he had dropped his phone as he ran. So the officers simply picked up the phone, searched through the contacts, and called the number marked "Ma." The woman identified her son and the police instantly had a lead. If you'd like to know more, go here.