Man goes ape in banana attack

A man has been arrested and charged with domestic violence in the United States after police say he attacked his girlfriend with a banana. Phillip Joseph Smolinsky, 36, was arrested in Florida last week on charges of domestic battery and resisting arrest without violence. When deputies responded to Smolinsky's Port Richey home, his girlfriend told them he had thrown a banana at her. Smolinsky denied the accusation and said she had thrown the banana at him. But a deputy noticed the girlfriend's face was slightly red where she said the banana hit her, an arrest affidavit said. The deputy also found the banana in the garbage and parts of the peel on the ground. When the deputy tried to arrest Smolinsky, he resisted and had to be pepper-sprayed, authorities said.

Naked man stuck in washing machine

An Australian man who climbed naked into a washing machine while playing hide-and-seek with his girlfriend became stuck and needed to be rescued by emergency services. The incident happened last Saturday in the Victorian town of Mooroopna. The man, 20, required lubrication to be freed, said Sergeant Matthew Peck of Shepparton Police, who added the delicate procedure of extrication took 20 minutes. The washing machine's lid was taken off and the machine tipped on its side so the man could be freed. "It was just a game gone wrong. It would be fair to say the gentleman was very embarrassed," another policeman who attended the scene said. Sergeant Peck said the man wanted "absolutely nothing to do" with the media following the incident.

'Wedgie' kills man, stepson charged

A man in Oklahoma has been charged with killing his stepfather by giving him "an atomic wedgie". Brad Davis, 33, was arrested on Tuesday after Denver Lee St. Clair, 58, died as a result of asphyxiation caused by the waistband of his underwear. According to reports, Davis and St Clair came to blows in a drunken fight at the latter's residence, east of Oklahoma City. "I'd never seen this before, but when we first looked at our victim (we could see) the waistband of his underwear was around his neck," Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth said. The medical examiner spokeswoman Amy Elliott said St. Clair died of "asphyxiation caused by the elastic underwear band being stretched over his head and left around his neck", as well as head trauma. A full report has been presented to the Pottawatomie County District Attorney's office where a murder charge is expected to be filed.

US Satanists lobby for statue

A group of Satanists in the US are claiming their Constitutional right to erect a statue of a demon in Oklahoma City following the success of a Christian lobby to put up a statue outside a state parliament. The Satanists have turned to crowdsourcing to find the $20,000 needed to build their demonic monolith - a 2-meter-high monument to the goat-headed demon Baphomet, a figure made popular in recent fiction. The demon will sit on a stone slab with young children on either side. Inscribed on the monument will be the Satanists' iconic pentagram and quotes from poets Lord Byron and William Blake. "Our monument celebrates an unwavering respect for the Constitutional values of religious freedom and free expression," a spokesman for the New York City-based Satanic Temple declared.

Chris Brown rejects plea deal

Grammy-winning R&B singer Chris Brown has rejected a plea deal in a misdemeanor assault case stemming from an altercation outside a Washington hotel, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Brown is charged with breaking the nose of a 20-year-old Maryland man who tried to get a picture with him in October. His bodyguard, Christopher Hollosy, faces the same charge. A lawyer for Brown, Danny Onorato, told reporters the deal had been turned down because "Cris Brown's not guilty". He said he expected a date for a trial at the District of Columbia Superior Court to be set at a Feb 20 hearing. Prosecutors offered Brown, 24, a plea deal that required him to plead guilty to simple assault. A police report said the man who was punched had sought a photograph with Brown. Other witnesses said the man tried to force his way onto Brown's tour bus.

Woman smuggled in suitcase

Customs and Border Protection officers have foiled a smuggling attempt at the US-Mexico border when they discovered a woman hidden inside a suitcase. Officials released a photo this week showing the woman tucked into a ball and laying inside the luggage in the back of a vehicle. The woman, a Thai national, was charged with re-entry after deportation. She was discovered on Dec 30, when inspectors at the border referred the driver of a Honda SUV for a secondary inspection. When officers inspected the vehicle, they opened up the suitcase and found the 48-year-old woman hidden underneath some clothing. Authorities did not release the name of the 56-year-old Phoenix man who was driving the SUV. The case has been turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

-Agencies

(China Daily 01/12/2014 page4)