The Dating Game

A 27-year-old woman told police she was on a first date with Terrance McCoy, 24, at a restaurant in Ferndale, Mich., but when the check came, he said he forgot his wallet in her car and asked for the keys. According to the Associated Press dispatch, McCoy then drove off in her car.

Curses, Foiled Again

Mitchel L. Legg, 26, was at a police station in Richmond, Ind., filling out an application to carry a gun, when officers and staff members noticed a telltale smell. “He reeked of marijuana,” Chief Kris Wolski told The Palladium-Item, “so they patted him down.” Besides marijuana, officers found a .22 semiautomatic handgun “in a little nylon holster under his shirt,” Wolski said.

Curses, Foiled Again

Daniel Niederhelman, 21, was charged with impersonating a police officer after he used a flashing red dashboard light to maneuver through traffic in Shreveport, La. One of the drivers he pulled over was Mayor Cedric Glover, who became suspicious, followed the car and called police.

Curses, Foiled Again

Less than two hours after three men robbed a woman in Columbus, Ohio, the victim notified police that one of them showed up at her home and asked her for a date. “We are not exactly sure what he was thinking at the time,” police Sgt. Shaun Laird told WBNS-TV after Stephfon Bennett, 20, was arrested. “She recognized him right away when he returned and was able to have her cousin call 911.”

Curses, Foiled Again

When Jarrell Paul Arnold, 34, walked into a credit union in Anchorage, Alaska, and inquired about his account balance, the teller asked for his name, account number and photo identification. After complying, he showed the teller a note that read, “I have a gun. Give me all the money in your drawer.” The Anchorage Daily News reported the robber stuffed the cash in his jacket and took off, only to be promptly arrested.

Robbery suspect Thomas James, 24, died after he spray-painted his face to conceal his identity, according to sheriff’s deputies in Richland County, S.C.

Curses, Foiled Again

Max D. Hinton, 21, was interviewing for a job with the Montgomery, Ala., police when he volunteered that he possessed child pornography and had sex with an underage girl. An investigation led to a trial, a conviction and a 30-year prison sentence but no explanation why Hinton mentioned the pornography.

Curses, Foiled Again

Police arrested Christopher Lee Anson, 23, for robbing a bank in Cannon Falls, Minn., after an officer stopped him for speeding during his getaway. According to the Rochester Post-Bulletin, the officer started writing a ticket but heard the call about the robbery and asked Anson for his address to mail him the ticket, then sped off to the crime scene. When the officer saw the bank’s surveillance video, he recognized the robber as the man he’d stopped for speeding. Police found Anson at the address he provided.

Tumbling Tubbies

Bigger butts reduce hip fractures, according to Canadian researchers, who found added weight provides more cushioning when overeaters fall. Since 1985, hip fractures among women have declined 32 percent, 25 percent for men, Bill Leslie, a professor of medicine at the University of Manitoba, told The Toronto Star. The researchers stressed that obesity should not be regarded as a hip-protection strategy.

A Berlin brothel began offering discounts to customers who arrive on bicycles. “The recession has hit our industry hard,” Thomas Goetz, owner of La Maison d’Envie, told Reuters. “Obviously we hope that the discount will attract more people. It’s good for business, it’s good for the environment, and it’s good for the girls.”

Curses, Foiled Again

Liquor store clerk Joseph Wescott, 59, told police in Roswell, Ga., that a man entered the store and tried to stab him in the chest. The knife hit the cell phone in Wescott’s shirt pocket but did not injure Wescott, who pulled a gun and shot the would-be robber in the abdomen. He then used the cell phone to call police, who reported finding suspect Carlos Jean Pierre, 34, at a nearby hospital. Both the gun and the phone were gifts from Wescott’s son, a police officer.