A tire-slashing dog tormenting an Italian village, a mysterious Santa in a Texas neighborhood, and an Indian pastor busted for a bizarre scheme involving a 'magical box' were among the weird and wondrous stories to cross our desk this past week.
With the holiday season in full swing, it should come as no surprise that this past week was replete with weird stories centered around this most unique time of year. In Minneapolis, a marketplace unveiled a rather nightmarish statue that will serve as their winter mascot for years to come and they are asking the public to help name the piece which resembles an unnerving yeti-like creature. Meanwhile, a Texas woman was stunned when she discovered that a possum had somehow gotten into her house and had crawled up into her Christmas tree and, in another part of the Lone Star State, residents of a neighborhood were delighted to find that a mysterious individual had installed a massive inflatable Santa in an empty lot on their street.
Photo: Sumter Police Department
This past week featured a pair of stories involving mischievous dogs, beginning with a case in Italy where authorities found themselves flummoxed by a mysterious serial tire slasher who had tormented a village for months. Following a rather exhaustive investigation involving undercover cops and hidden cameras, they were able to nab the culprit, which turned out to be someone's pet pooch who had a bad case of gingivitis and was gnawing on the tires for relief. Later in the week, police and firefighters in South Carolina came to the rescue of an inquisitive dog that got its head stuck in the dryer vent of a house. Fortunately, rescue workers were able to free him from the predicament and the pooch was no worse for wear.
Photo: Getty Images
Easily the weirdest story of the week came by way of India, where a pastor was arrested for allegedly duping a woman out of $400,000 in exchange for what he claimed was a magical box that would bring her good fortune. The scheme saw the ne'er-do-well first befriend his victim before eventually revealing the 'enchanted' object to her with the promise that it could be hers for a whopping $2.5 million. Over the next several years, she dutifully paid for the magical box in sizeable installments until he and an accomplice posing as a businessman pressured her to give them another $500,000. This caused the woman to have second thoughts about the odd transaction and, when they refused to return her money, reported them to police.
For more strange and unusual stories, check out the Coast to Coast AM website.