A 12-year-old boy with a BB gun has robbed another youngster who was running a lemonade stand, US authorities have said.
The child approached the 10-year-old boy with what appeared to be a handgun in his pocket and threatened him, according to police in Johnstown, western Pennsylvania.
Sergeant Patrick Goggin said the pair “got into a wrestling match over the money box” before the older boy took $30 (£20) and ran away.
Three other children chased the suspect home and helped police track him down. Officers then determined the child had a BB gun.
Police are not identifying the suspect because he will be charged in a juvenile court where most cases remain confidential. Johnstown is about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.
The world’s smallest fire engine
A Lincolnshire pensioner has built the world’s smallest working fire engine – out of a three-wheeled Reliant Robin.
John Ward spent four months converting the tiny car into a fire engine complete with six water cannons, a winched escape ladder and sirens.
The vehicle can be driven on the road and features a brass bell, blue and red lights, a 50-litre water tank and a top speed of 60mph.
It has two water cannons on the roof, two on the bonnet and two on the back of the car, which are all operated by a button on the dashboard.
Mr Ward, from Spalding, modified the car following radical Government plans to merge fire forces and use retained staff on call at home, instead of full time firemen.
“With all these cuts to the fire service I wondered how small you could go and there isn’t much smaller than a Reliant Robin, unless you go down to a bike,” he said.
“I take it for drives around the country lanes and I get lots of grins and beeps from other cars. If you have a fire in a phone box we can put it out for you.”
The fire engine can seat two “firemen” in the front and carries the motto: “You’ve not been put out until we put you out.”
Mr Ward has taken his fire engine to several classic car shows and is using it to raise money for the Firefighters’ Benevolent Fund
Inventor creates flying ostrich
A Dutch inventor says he’s created the world’s first flying ostrich – by attaching propellors to a stuffed bird.
Bart Jenson has spent the last 12 months working on his OstrichCopter, reports Metro.
“I thought it was really funny to make fly a bird that can’t. It’s quite a challenge to get the thing flying,” he said.
He previously made headlines when he turned his beloved dead cat Orville into a helicopter after it was tragically run over by a car.
For his latest project, Mr Jenson got a dead ostrich from a farm and took it to a taxidermist to have it skinned and tanned.
He and and his sidekick, technical engineer Arjen Beltman, then set about fitting it with engines and propellers,
Their hard work paid off when they recently took the remote-controlled flying ostrich for a successful test flight.
Pastafarian wins ID card battle
A man who claims his religion forces him to wear a sieve on his head has been allowed to use a photo of himself in the bizarre headgear on his official ID card.
Lukas Novy – from Brno in the Czech Republic – claims that his Pastafarian faith means he has to wear the sieve at all times.
Officials ruled that turning down the request would be a breach of the country’s religious equality laws.
Novy claims to be a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, when it emerged in the USA in 2005 as a spoof on organised religion.
Members claim to believe that an invisible alien made of spaghetti and meatballs created the universe after “drinking heavily.”
But Brno City Hall spokesman Pavel Zara explained: “The application complies with the laws of the Czech Republic where headgear for religious or medical reasons is permitted if it does not hide the face.”
Post published in: World News