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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (UPI) – Police in Massachusetts said a 31-year-old pregnant woman was miraculously unharmed after accidentally backing her car off the fourth story of a parking garage.

Springfield Police Lt. Rupert Daniel said the woman, who was alone in her car at the time, accidentally put her Hyundai Sonata in reverse and drove off the fourth story of the downtown garage, plunging 40 feet to the sidewalk below, WWLP-TV, Springfield, reported Tuesday.

The woman was treated for minor injuries at Baystate Medical Center and released.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

CHICAGO (UPI) — Chicago authorities say an error while testing equipment led to a man with a license plate reading “0″ receiving about 170 tickets he did not deserve.

The Chicago Department of Revenue said it has been using “0″ as a placeholder license plate for testing parking ticket equipment and officials were unaware Tom Feddor had that number as his official plate, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Feddor said that beginning in 1997, his mailbox has been filling up with citations for violations, including parking at expired meters, parking during street-cleaning hours, running stop signs or traffic signals, and parking a truck, recreational vehicle, bus or taxi on a residential street.

Feddor said he went to the Revenue Department and the Department of Administrative Hearings for help, but was unable to resolve the issue. Hearing officer Zipporah Lewis made several calls to officials in an attempt to help Feddor, but he said “the people she encountered at the other end of the phone seemed to be annoyed and bothered by her. Most tried to quickly end the call.”

Revenue Department spokesman Ed Walsh told the Tribune officials were unaware there was a “0″ plate in circulation — Feddor’s family has been using it for 40 years — or that he was receiving tickets from the equipment testing. He said the tickets would be wiped out and any fines paid by Feddor would be refunded.

“The test violations should have been dismissed in the database. The majority of the cases (Feddor) contested successfully. But we are taking steps to rectify the situation so in the future an actual registered plate number will not be used to do the testing,” Walsh said.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

NORTHOLT, England (UPI) – A British woman said her 10-week-old puppy survived a trip through her house’s plumbing after her young son accidentally flushed the small dog down the toilet.

Alison Blair, 40, said her young son, Daniel, dropped the puppy into the commode at their Northolt, England, home for a bath after he became muddy during a walk and the dog disappeared down the drain after Daniel hit the toilet’s flusher, The Sun reported.

Blair said she was afraid the family had seen the last of the puppy but she called the fire department after hearing the pooch’s muffled cries coming from a drain.

The firefighters brought in specialist Will Craig, 22, of plumbing firm Dyno-Rod to locate the puppy using a special camera and nudge him toward a spot where he could he freed.

“I pushed him really slowly and watched the poor thing wriggling around,” Craig said. “Eventually I pushed him far enough for the firemen to grab. Suddenly everyone started cheering.”

Blair said her family is ecstatic that the puppy — named Dyno in honor of his rescuer — received a clean bill of health after his ordeal.

“I never thought a dog could survive being flushed down the loo. He’s a real little fighter,” she said.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

ALBUQUERQUE (UPI) – A pair of New Mexico fast food workers were hoodwinked by a prank caller into stripping to their underwear and breaking the restaurant’s windows, sources said.

The sources told KOAT-TV, Albuquerque, that the two male What-A-Burger employees received a phone call Monday night at the restaurant from someone claiming to be a representative of the fast food chain’s corporate office.

The caller told the men to test the fire suppression system and warned them to shed their clothes after they were covered by the yellow powder released by the system. The caller then told the men to break the restaurant’s windows for ventilation, the source said.

Some witnesses dialed 911 while the men used rocks to smash the windows.

“He was actually talking to somebody on the phone and he looked like he was nervous. He said, ‘OK, hold on’ and he threw the first rock,” one 911 caller said.

What-A-Burger manager told police $10,000 worth of damage was done to the store.

“This situation is completely unacceptable,” the vice president of What-A-Burger said in a statement Tuesday. “What-A-Burger is working with the Albuquerque Police Department to identify the individuals responsible for these actions and will pursue full compensation for damages.”

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

ARLINGTON, Wash. (UPI) – Washington state prosecutors say a burglary suspect allegedly had three boys from the Little League team he coaches assist in a break-in.

Snohomish County authorities said George Spady Jr., 31, was accompanied by his son, his nephew and a third player from his Little League baseball team when he allegedly broke into a vacant shop and stole overhead lights and bolts, the Everett (Wash.) Herald reported Tuesday.

Deputy prosecutor Edirin Okoloko wrote in court documents that the boy who was not related to Spady told his stepfather that he had broken into an Arlington shop with his coach. The stepfather contacted police and the boy told them that Spady’s son had crawled through a vent behind the shop and opened the door to let his father inside.

The boy said Spady and the other two boys took light fixtures and other items from the shop but he refused his coach’s insistence that he help carry the items.

Spady was charged with second-degree burglary. The boys are not expected to face any charges, authorities said.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

FLOWER MOUND, Texas (UPI) – A 10-year-old girl was arrested and charged for fighting in a park with her 13-year-old sister, police in Texas said.

The older sister said the fight broke out after her younger sister refused to follow her instructions, KDFW-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth reported Tuesday.

“She pushed me, so I just walked away from it,” the 13-year-old said. “The third time she pushed me, we just started fighting.”

The girls, who were visiting family in Flower Mound with their mother, returned to the family home with a police officer in tow.

“‘This is criminal, and one of them is going to have to go to jail and it’s probably going to have to be your younger one because she was the aggressor,’” their mother quoted the officer as saying. “And I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ and he said, ‘No, no.’”

Lt. Clay Pierce of the Flower Mound Police said it was being treated as a case of family violence. The girl was charged with Class A misdemeanor assault.

“By state law we are required to take action and what we did, we detained the youngest one,” he said.

“Both of them had some injuries. The one showed more serious injuries, so the other one was detained.”

The case has been turned over to the Denton County district attorney for further review.

The girls’ names are not being reported by UPI because they are juveniles.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

MINNEAPOLIS (UPI) – A Minneapolis man said he was preparing to leave his foreclosed home for the last time when contractors boarded up the house while he was still inside.

Ted Poetsch, 53, said he was finishing packing and loading his cat into its carrier May 12 when he heard drilling coming from the frame of his front door, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

Poetsch, who walks with a cane, said he descended the home’s stairs to find the contractors had already completed boarding up the house without making sure there was nobody inside.

City officials said Poetsch had been warned the contractors were coming that day, but they admitted boarding him up inside was a mistake that was unprecedented for the city.

Poetsch said he escaped his with the help of his one-time lawyer, Josh DuBois.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

SHEPTON MALLET, England (UPI) – Judges at Britain’s Smelliest Cheese Championships said the winning concoction, called Stinking Bishop, smells like a rugby club changing room.

Stinking Bishop — which was made by Charles Martell of Gloucestershire cheese maker Martell and Son — was chosen over a cheese called Driftwood by Whitelake Cheeses and a dairy product known as St. Oswald by Gorsehill Abbey at the contest, which was part of The Royal Bath and West Show in Shepton Mallet, England, The Daily Telegraph reported.

“I’m thrilled and surprised to win,” Martell said. “I hope more people will get into eating more speciality cheeses because there are so many in Britain — more than in France.”

“The cheeses were all fantastically smelly but Stinking Bishop absolutely knocked us out,” said Tim Rowcliffe, chair of the judging panel.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

Tired of blaming GPS on petty mishaps like the destruction of cars, a demolition crew in Georgia has managed to accidentally destroy an entirely wrong house based on GPS coordinates. Oddly enough, it wasn’t even the first time they’d been by: the man who cuts the grass noticed that the power box was missing from the home and holes were punched into the walls about a month ago — it was suspected as vandalism, but it now seems that the stealthy, directionless demolition company was to blame. The demolition company says it had “paperwork” authorizing the destruction, complete with the coordinates and a description of the home, which the owner’s father had built with his own hands “brick by brick.”

Story from Engadget.com

Update 6/21/09:

CARROLL, Ga. (UPI) – A Georgia man said he received a phone call saying the three-bedroom house his father built had been successfully demolished — by mistake.

Al Byrd said he was shocked when the Marietta demolition company told him the Carroll house, which was vacant but filled with family heirlooms, had been destroyed, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“It’s just incredulous that something like this can happen and no one contacts the owner,” Byrd said.

He said the demolition company told him the work crew’s paperwork and GPS coordinates had led them to the home. He theorized the vacant house across the street was the house sought by the company.

“We had heirlooms in there,” Byrd said. “My mom’s dining room set, her hutch with her dishes in there.”

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (UPI) – A Canadian man in Winnipeg told police he was only trying to get party guests to leave his home before 4 a.m. when he accidentally shot himself in the arm.

Neighbors who heard the shot called police early Tuesday and the unidentified 37-year-old victim first told officers someone had shot him, said police spokesman Constable Blair Good.

However, it was determined there was no other suspect, the Winnipeg Sun reported.

“He was handling the handgun incorrectly and he shot himself in the (right bicep),” Good said.

The man said he wanted about eight guests to leave and so he brought out a gun, although his intentions weren’t clear, Good said.

He did manage to clear everyone out of the house, as all the guests took off after the shooting, the Sun said.

The man faces some 10 unregistered weapons charges when a court date is set, Good said.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International