OFFBEAT NEWS:

Dog Survives Being Picked Up By A Tornado

Duke is one strong dog. The pup was picked up and thrown one thousand feet by a tornado in North Carolina and managed to survive.

The owner, Lewis Vannoy, says Duke was tossed “just like a rag doll” and was left with his leg broken in multiple places and his retina damaged. After multiple surgeries and some time at the vet, Duke is recuperating at home.

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Woman Turns Her Garden Into A Portrait Of Her Son

Think your mom is a bit over the top? Meet Michelle Foley. The British art student has been turning her garden into a family portrait. So far, she’s shaped her 12-foot-tall bushes to look like her 21-year-old son, Brennan Black, and her partner Andrew Batterham.

“I’m really interested in gardening too so when I had to cut my hedges it only seemed natural that heads came out,” Michelle explains. “Andrew looks uncannily like him and Brennan is perhaps not quite recognizable because the glasses aren’t on yet.” She’s working on creating glasses out of plastic and thinks once they’re on, you “won’t be able to tell them apart.”

We don’t know how exactly her son or her boo feels about the foliage tribute, but one person who’s not thrilled? Michelle’s daughter. She’s still waiting for her face to make it to the garden. Guess we know who the favorite child is.

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Man Leads Police On Slow Chase Because He Can’t Drive Stick Shift

If you’re going to get into the world of stealing cars, you’ve got to learn how to drive shift. Alabama man Randy Dewayne Vert found that out the hard way when when he stole a flatbed delivery truck and tried to flee. Instead, he led police on a low speed chase because he couldn’t get the vehicle out of first gear.

The truck traveled at speeds of 25 to 30 mph until the transmission seized and the truck stopped. Vert is now facing charges of first-degree theft of property, reckless endangerment, attempting to elude and resisting arrest.

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STUPID CRIMINALS:

Men chuck fruit at deli employee:

Police in New York City are looking for the two men who walked into a deli and after getting into a tiff with an employee over their food order, started chucking fruit at the guy. The angry customers must have had some arm on them because the employee was left with a broken jaw and cuts on his face.

Husband who robbed a bank to avoid wife gets house arrest:

Lawrence John Ripple made the news back in January when he pleaded guilty to bank robbery and told the local Kansas City cops that he did it in order to avoid his wife. According to the 71-year-old, he wrote the robbery note in front of his missus, telling her he’d rather be in jail than with her. The judge must have a great sense of humor because he has sentenced Ripple to six months of home confinement. He was also slapped with three years of supervised probation and a fine. The silver lining? Ripple says he was suffering from depression at the time but has found the right medication and is back to his old self.

Naked man goes on a tear inside antique store:

Sean Morisette had a weird day yesterday. The 50-year-old walked into Antiques Marketplace in Putnam, Connecticut completely naked and started knocking over display cases and smashing items. It’s unclear what exactly Morisette has against the antiquities, but he’s now facing third-degree burglary and first-degree criminal mischief.