Mongo like stories…

A man walked into a convenience store, put a $20 bill on the counter and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled-- leaving his own $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer? Fifteen dollars.

In September in Blaine, Minn., a 19-year-old man fatally shot himself with a .38-caliber revolver while playing Russian roulette. According to a Minneapolis Star Tribune report, citing police Lt. Larry Klink, the man loaded one bullet, spun the cylinder, and put the gun to his head. His friends tried to stop him, but the man assured them that the bullet was not behind the barrel, but next to it. According to another police officer cited by the Star Tribune, "Not everyone realizes how a revolver works. As you pull the trigger, the cylinder rotates, bringing the next chamber under the hammer. If that [next] chamber is loaded, then it's going to fire."

In February, the Connecticut Court of Appeals upheld the kidnapping-robbery convictions of Michael Carter, thus rejecting his claim that witnesses' identification of him should have been suppressed at his trial. At the time of arrest, according to New Haven police officer Dario Aponte, Carter had proclaimed his innocence but resisted being returned to the scene of the crime so witnesses could see him, asking Aponte, "How can they identify me? I had a mask on."

A man walked in to a Topeka, Kansas "Kwik Shop", and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently the take was too small, so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for three hours until police showed up and grabbed him.

More than 600 people in Italy wanted to ride in a spaceship badly enough to pay $10,000 a piece for the first tourist flight to Mars. According to the Italian police, the would-be space travelers were told to spend their "next vacation on Mars, amid the splendors of ruined temples and painted deserts. Ride a Martian camel from oasis to oasis and enjoy the incredible Martian sunsets. Explore mysterious canals and marvel at the views. Trips to the moon also available."

Authorities believe that the con men running this scam made off with over six million dollars.

A man in Johannesburg, South Africa shot his 49-year-old friend in the face, seriously wounding him, while the two practiced shooting beer cans off each other's heads.

The Chico, California, City Council enacted a ban on nuclear weapons, setting a $500 fine for anyone detonating one within city limits.

A bus carrying five passengers was hit by a car in St. Louis, but by the time police arrived on the scene, fourteen pedestrians had boarded the bus and had begun to complain of whiplash injuries and back pain.

R.C. Gaitlin, 21, walked up to two patrol officers who were showing their squad car computer to children in a Detroit neighborhood. When he asked how the system worked, the officers asked him for a piece of identification to use for demonstration purposes. Gaitlin gave them his driver's license. They entered it into the computer and moments later arrested Gaitlin because information on the screen showed he was wanted for a two-year-old armed robbery in St. Louis, Missouri.

Robert Puelo, 32, was apparently being disorderly in a St. Louis market. When the clerk threatened to call police, Puelo grabbed a hot dog, shoved it in his mouth, and walked out without paying for it. Police found him unconscious in front of the store. Paramedics removed the six-inch wiener from his throat, where it had choked him to death.