OFFBEAT NEWS:

State Senator Needed A Raise, Switches Parties

Queens state Senator, Jose Peralta, made the announcement that he’s joining the Independent Democratic Conference, which is aligned with the GOP. But according to sources, his real cause for leaving the party is because he needs a bigger paycheck.

Apparently, Peralta owes between $20,000 and $50,000 on Citibank and AT&T cards, between $5,000 and $20,000 on a car loan for a Mercedes, and more. By switching his political loyalties, he’s set himself up to get a new position and a stipend of up to $27,500.

D.C. spokeswoman, Candice Giove, said Democrats are “fleeing the Senate Democratic Conference because of its failed leadership, not finances.”

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Principal Hides Disruptive Students In Trailer

Rachelle Legions, the principal of PS 106 in Far Rockaway, Queens, appears to have gone overboard in order to earn her school a better quality review. During the last two visits from the district superintendent, Legions allegedly gathered students she thought were the most disruptive and hid them in a trailer in the schoolyard.

The kids were said to be stashed out of earshot while District 27 Superintendent, Mary Barton, checked out the classrooms to evaluate the troubled school, which happens to also be on a state watch list for low test scores.

The ploy worked, but now staffers are speaking up saying parents were would be shocked to learn their kids were isolated. Legions is avoiding reporters, and the Department of Education says they plan to look into the allegations.

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Woman Stages Wedding Around Pizza

Christine Wagner loves pizza so much, she married it. Well, kinda.

After coming across her grandmother’s vintage wedding dress, the 18-year-old put it on and posted a shot while eating her favorite pizza with the caption: “Wearing grandma’s wedding dress…I’m getting married but it’s to pizza. Sorry boys, I’m a taken woman!”

When former high school photographer, Marcy Harris, saw the post, she suggested creating a full scale wedding shoot around Wagner’s love for pepperoni pizza. The two planned Christine’s dream wedding, made a bow tie for the pizza and even brought in a candy ring pop for the lavish (but short lived) ceremony.

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STUPID CRIMINALS:

Man uses deer defense in trying to get out of a ticket:

We’ve probably all used a non-conventional excuse to get out of a traffic ticket at one time or another. But Denis Sayers of Massachusetts presented a totally unbelievable defense when trying to argue his traffic ticket: he told the judge the officer’s radar gun may have picked up a deer. Sayers was clocked going 40-mph in 30-mph zone. In court, he asked Officer Royster Johnson if he was “100 percent sure” his radar captured him, or if a deer could have been in the vicinity. Needless to say, the fine was upheld.

Sheriff: Volusia deputy stole from wallets of DUI suspects:

A Florida sheriff’s deputy was doing his job and arresting drunk drivers. The only problems is what happened next: he would turn off his body camera and take money from suspects her arrested. Deputy John Braman was put on paid administrative leave when four people involved in DUI arrests complained that money was missing from their wallets. The decision to suspend the Grinch of a cop was made after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement criminal investigation. Apparently, Braman told those he arrested each of that he was turning off his body camera for “police tactics” just before swiping their cash. Braman, who was paid $60,000 in 2016, was once praised for his bravery after being shot by a suspect during an arrest.

Man drunk-dials police, gets arrested for outstanding warrant:

Drunk dialing is usually reserved for exes and enemies, which is why a man in Canada is surely regretting picking up the phone and calling 911 to snitch on himself. Apparently, the man had a warrant for his arrest. After a hard night of hitting the sauce, he drunk dialed the cops “for no apparent reason other than he was intoxicated,” police said in a release. When officers responded to the call, they discovered the drunken dude had a warrant and hauled him off to the slammer.