quirky world ... Police should throw in the towel after bizarre appeal

ENGLAND: Police have been mocked on social media after appealing for information about a stolen towel.

The theft occurred on Longsands beach, Tynemouth, North Tyneside, between 4pm and 5pm on Sunday.

Northumbria Police said: “A dark-blue towel, with ‘Dryrobe’ written on the front, in red and white, was stolen.” Anyone with information was asked to call 101, “quoting reference number 43728L/15”.

Anyone wishing to call anonymously could ring the independent charity, Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.

The police put the appeal on Facebook, getting 1,000 shares, 300 likes, and 600 comments.

Beard Ian wrote: “It’s what it leads to that worries me. It starts with a flannel, then a towel, then a bathmat. Next thing you know, that’s not enough — they need more. They’ll start pilfering bedsheets off washing lines and dust sheets off decorators. Then, it’s heroin, then murder.

“It’s a slippery slope.” Joanne Turner said: “Is this a joke?” And Lynn Harley wrote: “What a load of flannel.”

Snack distress

ENGLAND:

A school has warned parents not to give their children “dangerous” spicy Doritos, after one pupil complained the snack caused her breathing difficulties.

Beth Laybourn, 14, claimed she feared she was “going to die” after eating a pack of Doritos Roulette crisps. Her experience led George Pindar School, in Scarborough, to warn parents that the snack could “cause severe distress”.

Beth, who is asthmatic, told the Sun: “I started retching and ran to the toilet and was sick. I had four mugs of milk and my throat still wouldn’t stop burning. I couldn’t breathe properly and I really thought I was going to die.” The snack carries a message on the packet: “WARNING: Some of these chips are ultra-spicy.”

There’s an app for that

USA:

Authorities in Los Angeles are hunting a burglar who accidentally took a selfie with his victim’s phone.

Police said he entered a home through an unlocked door, grabbed the phone — and then accidentally activated a video app.

He briefly recorded himself standing in the living room, before he took off with the device. The owner of the phone remotely accessed the video and police have now released it, hoping somebody can put a name to the face.

Lucky drunk

USA:

A drunk man escaped injury after being run over by a freight train while he was sleeping in the middle of railway tracks in upstate New York.

Aaron Collins, 38, of Stillwater, was highly intoxicated when he went to sleep on tracks in the Rensselaer County town of Schaghticoke, 30km north of Albany, according to police.

A worker on a mile-long Pan Am freight train spotted him on the tracks and stopped the train, but not before the first two engines had passed over him. The engines were separated and the first one moved forward to free Collins, who was unhurt but still drunk, officers said.

Lemonade stand robbed

USA:

A teenager was arrested after robbing a lemonade stand set up by two 13-year-old girls, police in California said.

San Bernardino police said the girls had set up the stand in Rancho Cucamonga when a man came up and said he had no cash, but wanted some lemonade. The girls gave him some and the man began to walk away, but then he came back, pushed over the stand and fled with the money box.

It took only minutes for a deputy to find and arrest 18-year-old Santini Tate on suspicion of strong-arm robbery. Authorities say he was carrying $30 (about €27) from the lemonade stand.