WEIRD NEWS

Don't Date Paul Gonzales

Fair warning ladies in the Los Angeles area - don't date Paul Gonzales! It seems the 44-year-old meets women online and invites them out to dinner. Nothing wrong with that but then after the big meal has been consumed, Paul suddenly vanishes. Reportedly he's been dining and dashing at area restaurants for a while now, leaving behind unsuspecting women holding the check. One of his victims described how he'd eaten $100 worth of food at a restaurant in Long Beach - explaining he had to order two entrees because he's a bodybuilder - before saying he was going to the bathroom. She never saw him again. Meanwhile a woman identified as only Beth says she met "Dave Gonzales" on Bumble before agreeing to dinner at a restaurant in Pasadena. Gonzales ordered "a glass of pinot, a Caesar salad with a side of shrimp, a steak, and a baked potato" and ate most of the meal before excusing himself to take a phone call. He never returned, a text went unanswered, and his Bumble profile was later removed. According to police, Gonzales has also walked out of a salon, still clad in a smock, without paying for a haircut and color. He's wanted on two bench warrants as a result of misdemeanor charges, including petty theft. (Grub Street)

Shaq: The World is Flat

You may find this hard to believe but apparently there's a belief circulating in the NBA that the Earth is flat. Seriously. Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers first revealed his flat-Earth beliefs last month, and now retired basketball player Shaquille O'Neal has come out the "world-is-flat" closet. In an episode of his podcast broadcast late February but only recently picked up by the media, Shaq said, "It's true. The Earth is flat. The Earth is flat. Yes, it is. Listen, there are three ways to manipulate the mind -- what you read, what you see, and what you hear." Shaq then went on to say, "I drive from Florida to California all the time, and it's flat to me. I do not go up and down at a 360-degree angle, and all that stuff about gravity, have you looked outside Atlanta lately and seen all these buildings? You mean to tell me that China is under us? China is under us? It's not. The world is flat." Ben Rohrbach at Yahoo Sports, who first uncovered the Shaq podcast, says he believes that Irving is serious and trying to make some sort of point about "fake news," as NBA commissioner Adam Silver suggested, and points out that at least two other NBA players have agreed with him. (Sports Illustrated)

Idiot Level: Expert!

In Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, 40-year-old Thomas Jones had to be taken by police to a hospital after a rather incredible feat. Jones apparently jumped from the back of a garbage truck, landed in a snow bank and slid down onto the road where he managed to then get run over by the same garbage truck! There is no word on his condition and state police are investigating. (WNEP News)

Assault With a Deadly Cheeseburger!

Police are investigating after a woman assaulted her mother with a cheeseburger at a McDonald's. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police were called after the two women got in a fight because the mom told her daughter she could no longer stay at her home. Reportedly, the mom drove her daughter to someone else's house, but on the way, the daughter changed her mind about where she wanted to go. The 60-year-old mother told officers her daughter, 39, started yelling at her, so she stopped at McDonalds. According to the police report: "The victim stated her daughter yelled 'B---h I outta kill you,' and hit her in the left side of her face with her hand and the cheeseburger." The mom told police she had pain on the left side of her face, and officers saw that she had ketchup and mustard down the front of her shirt. Pickles, ketchup and mustard were splattered across the interior door of the car. The mom's face was red and swollen. The daughter got into another driver's vehicle and fled the scene. (Indy Star)

The Great A1 Sauce Mystery?

There's quite a bizarre mystery going on at the Avon Lake, Ohio public library. The staff have been scratching their heads trying to figure out who has scattered 30 empty A1 steak sauce bottles around the place over the past two months, with no clues offered from surveillance tapes. Most of the bottles have turned up in the adult fiction and non-fiction sections. A library spokesperson told People magazine, "We're stumped." They've pretty much ruled out prankster kids, as the bottles appear to be left during school hours. A library manager wonders if this is some kind of fourth-dimensional chess match asking, "Is it a game that we don't know how to play or are we messing up someone's game?" (Cleveland.com)

Dressing Room Horror

Police say a 4-year-old boy accidentally hanged himself while alone in the changing room at Again Thrift & More in Mankato, Minnesota. Relatives have started an online fundraising effort to cover funeral expenses for the boy, identified as Ryu Pena. Police Cmdr. Daniel Schisel says the boy apparently got the hooded sweatshirt he was wearing caught on a hanger attached to a wall. Emergency responders took the boy to a hospital, where he was declared dead. Family members were in the store at the time. Schisel calls the death "a tragic accident" and says no charges are being pursued. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

What the What?

At the upscale Saint Marc restaurant in Huntington Beach, California, four female diners were shocked when their waiter asked them for proof of residency. One of them, 23-year-old Brenda Carrillo, said she was dumbfounded as the waiter said, "I need to make sure you're from here before I can serve you." The four women complained to a manager and left the restaurant. Carrillo's sister, Diana, then posted about their treatment online. After the post began drawing public outrage, the restaurant apologized online and fired the waiter. A Saint Marc exec says the waiter explained that he meant the question as a joke, but the women say he clearly did not find it funny. Saint Marc offered to bring the women back for VIP treatment and donate 10% of the night's proceeds to a charity of their choice. They declined the first but asked that the money go to a group that helps undocumented immigrants. The Carrillo sisters, described by Brenda as "light-skinned Latinas," were born and raised in California. She said, "It sends a chill through your entire body." (Orange County Register)

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