Man who mistook broccoli for marijuana arrested

Man who mistook broccoli for marijuana arrested

A man who paid $500 for a pound of broccoli under the mistaken impression that it was marijuana was arrested for disorderly conduct.

Matthew Dietrich, 21, met Christopher Kratz, 20, behind a Philadelphia-area Walgreens and paid him $500 for four bags of broccoli that Kratz claimed was pot. 

The broccoli was clearly visible. “It’s not even like [Kratz] made an effort to hide it or disguise it,” noted police Sgt. Robert McDyre of Lansdale, Pa.

It’s not clear how Dietrich discovered his mistake, but when he did, he sought revenge by calling 911 and claiming that Kratz had beaten him up and robbed him. Police picked up Kratz, who told them the broccoli story. Both men were arrested.

Broccoli, a legal, cruciferous vegetable with many health benefits but no known hallucinogenic properties, has a street value of about $3.49 a pound in the Philadelphia area.

Source: The Morning Call

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Streaking teen chose wrong place, wrong time

A recent high school graduate who went streaking through a local park as a prank chose a bad time to do so — the exact moment when police entered the park in a manhunt for three hardened criminals.

Grafton Prewitt, 18, entered the park in Lodi, Calif., about 11:30 p.m. and intended to streak to a friend’s waiting car, but was chased off course by police dogs.

The naked Prewitt then hid in someone’s backyard, a bad choice since one of the criminals was hiding in the same yard.

Police arrested two of the criminals and Prewitt. Thinking they had rounded up all three suspects, they called off the search, which allowed the third criminal to escape.

Prewitt was arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure. If convicted, he could be forced to register as a sex offender for life.

Source: The Lodi News-Sentinel

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Atlanta City Council debates ban on baggy pants

A proposed law that would prohibit baggy pants and other clothing that reveals underwear in public received an initial hearing before the Atlanta City Council.

Sagging pants are an “epidemic,” according to the bill’s sponsor, council member C.T. Martin, who says visible boxer shorts are a “major concern” that threatens the future of the city’s children.

The bill would ban low-slung pants on both men and women; it would also prohibit women from wearing clothing that reveals a bra strap. At the hearing, supporters of a “belt brigade” squared off against a young woman who testified wearing clearly visible striped panties.

Some felt the issue did not require a legislative solution. Mark Johnson commented, “I cannot imagine that this particular phenomenon is among even the top 1 million issues facing this city,” while Chris Hosford wondered, “Is ‘plumber butt’ next on the list?”

Julia Lane, 31, asked, “Who’s going to enforce this? The police? My car was stolen two weeks ago, and you’re going to fine me if my bra strap is showing?”

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Patriots’ videotaping scandal comes into sharper focus

A South Carolina inmate has filed a lawsuit claiming that coach Bill Belichick and players Tom Brady and Randy Moss of the New England Patriots have engaged in “vast conspiracy” since the 1970s to illegally videotape “anything and everything with significant value.”

The handwritten complaint, filed by Jonathan Lee Riches in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, claims that the defendants:

•  secretly videotape people in bathroom stalls at Gillette Stadium and “have a monthly contract to sell the footage to Idaho Senator Larry Craig”;

•  got Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb to swallow a recording device by putting it in his Chunky Soup just prior to the 2005 Super Bowl;

•  made videos of underage girls for rapper R. Kelly and illegally taped the entire Watergate scandal; and

•  threatened to have Patriots owner Robert Kraft put poison in the inmate’s Kraft cheese.

The lawsuit also claims Belichick is “the real father to Tom Brady’s child.”

The inmate, who says “I think the mirrors are watching me,” is demanding $5 million and an injunction to prevent the defendants from making a fortune by selling recordings of his voice to Napster.

— Compiled by Thomas F. Harrison
Thomas F. Harrison is vice president of new business development at Lawyers Weekly.
He can be contacted at tom.harrison@exhibitAnews.com.