Weird News: Comic Cape

Pungent Perpetrator

Delhi, India’s “Potty Badmash,” a 27-year-old pickpocket named Deepak, was finally arrested on March 24, The Times of India reported. Deepak is famous for committing thefts and knife-related crimes, then soiling his pants, creating a stench so terrible that it kept officers away from him. This time, however, they armed themselves with gloves and masks. “Team gave him chase and pinned him down,” said an officer. “As expected, Deepak deployed his famous ‘filth plan’ but the officers ... thwarted his last-ditch effort and took him in custody.” When they searched him, they found a knife, which Deepak described as his “lucky charm.” During questioning he admitted to multiple mobile phone thefts and other crimes.

The Aristocrats!

Prince Laurent, 61, of Belgium, lost a court battle on April 7 in which he argued that he should receive social security benefits from the government, The Guardian reported. The prince argued that his work entitled him to the same support received by entrepreneurs, and that he was arguing over “principle” rather than money. But he was quick to point out medical costs and his concerns over his family’s well-being to the court. However, the court ruled that his duties were more akin to the civil service, which is not covered by social security. Laurent received about $426,000 last year and lives in his home rent-free.

Comic Caper

Crush Comics in California’s Castro Valley was burglarized on March 22, CBS News reported. The thief took a display of the store’s most valuable comic books, said owner Josh Hunter. He figured they were gone for good, but then, just 12 hours later, one of his employees stumbled upon an eBay listing for a very specific comic book from the store. “I’m just going to buy that and see what happens,” Hunter said. When he got the seller’s name and address, he searched on Instagram and saw the burglar’s offer to buy, sell or trade Lego sets. Next, Hunter called another comic shop and a toy store that had also been broken into and shared his findings. When the sleuths turned their results over to police, Alameda County Sheriff’s officers served a search warrant at the home of Noorullah Amiri, 29, of Livermore, where they found tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of comic books, collectibles and Lego sets. Amiri was taken into custody on March 27.

Parking Problem

In December 2022, Mark Lucas, owner of HCS Furniture in Buckinghamshire, England, parked his 6-month-old work van in a stacked car park in central London, the BBC reported. It’s still there. In this type of structure, mechanical platforms and lifts are used to stack the cars on top of each other, saving space. When Lucas went to retrieve the electric van, he was told he couldn’t because “the stacking system had malfunctioned.” He and his co-owner, Steve Davies, rented another van, which they thought would be a temporary fix, but after a couple of years, “we gave the hire van back and took out another loan to buy a second van,” Davies said. In January 2024, Lucas was told the garage repairs were unlikely to happen before May 2024, but losses would be recoverable from the responsible party. But the partners can’t claim losses until the van is freed. “While we’re trying to grow the business, we can’t because we have all this,” Lucas said.