This Week in Weird, Aug. 21

Attention, shoppers: Beware of the foot-licker

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Cambridge Police are on the lookout for a middle-aged foot-licker with a penchant for accosting high-heeled shoppers outside a local organic food store.

An Arlington woman told police she was walking into a Whole Foods about 4:15 p.m. Aug. 15 when a man stopped her at the entrance to the store.

“I like your shoes. I like high heels. I do shoes,” the foot fanatic allegedly told the woman.

“What, you wear them?” police said the woman reportedly responded.

“No, no, I have a Web site,” the foot aficionado allegedly said.

The woman went into the store to shop and as she left the grocery store, the man appeared again and asked if he could take a photograph of her shoes.

That’s when the foot fetishist allegedly lowered himself to the ground and kissed and licked her right foot.

Police said the man then got up and walked away.

Teen driver hits, kills black bear

MARLBORO TWP., Ohio - A 249-pound black bear died Wednesday night when it darted onto the street and was struck by a 17-year-old driver.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol investigated the incident that occurred about 9:54 p.m.

The agency said the driver was going east in a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am when it struck the bear. The driver was uninjured. The bear was killed and a officer of the Ohio Division of Wildlife retrieved it.

Marlboro Police Chief Ron Devies said his officers have been getting phone reports of a black bear in the area all week.

The bear, a 3- to 4-year-old male measuring 69 inches long, was sighted Tuesday.

Wildlife officials said there are 50 to 100 black bears in Ohio.

Woman hits Cracker Barrel clerk with apple juice and a Slim Jim, cops say

HINGHAM, Mass. - A Hingham woman was arrested after police say she became enraged and assaulted a Cracker Barrel clerk with a bottle of apple juice and a Slim Jim snack.

Police say the woman was angry because the store didn’t have an item she wanted. She also believed she had been overcharged.

Police said the woman threw the bottle of juice at the clerk, striking him in the head. She then allegedly punched him and threw the Slim Jim at him. She drove off in a black Saab convertible after tearing down the store’s front flag.

Police searched the area and put out a lookout alert for the woman. They had no leads until the next day, Aug. 8, when Hingham officer Daniel Leary noticed that the driver of a Saab convertible in Hingham Square was playing music loudly and singing.

Police linked the driver, Nancy A. Ward, 46, to the earlier assault. She was arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, disorderly conduct and malicious destruction of property.

Woman suing zoo after slipping at dolphin exhibit

BROOKFIELD, Ill. - A Chicago woman is suing Brookfield Zoo, claiming she suffered injuries while visiting the dolphin exhibit in August 2008.

In a lawsuit, Allecyn Edwards states she was walking along the floor where the bleachers are at the dolphin exhibit when the dolphins splashed water on her, causing her to slip and fall.

The lawsuit says that zoo employees “recklessly and willfully trained and encouraged the dolphins to throw water at the spectators in the stands, making the floor wet and slippery,” along with failing to provide warnings of the slippery floor or slip-resistant surfaces for visitors to walk on.

Brookfield Zoo public relations director Sondra Katzen could not comment because the case is pending litigation. Calls to Edwards and her lawyer, Edward G. Proctor, Jr., went unreturned.

Edwards is seeking in excess of $50,000 to compensate for lost wages, medical expenses, pain and suffering and physical and emotional trauma, all of which are permanent, according to the lawsuit.

Police: Woman had crack in her bra – 19 bags of it

QUINCY, Mass. - A woman was arrested after admitting to police that she had 19 bags of crack cocaine hidden in her bra.

Detectives with the police drug unit were watching a building shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday after receiving information that a heavyset woman with black hair would be delivering crack cocaine, Police Capt. John Dougan said.

A woman matching the description, later identified as Sandra Sanborn, 33, of Malden, Mass., arrived driving a gray Chevrolet Tahoe and parked at the rear of the building, Dougan said.

Sanborn was holding a bag containing crack cocaine in her hand when detectives confronted her, he said.

When asked if she had any more, she produced 19 more bags that she had in her bra, Dougan said.

Sanborn was arrested and charged with possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute, and police seized two cell phones and the SUV.

GateHouse News Service