Quick Takes: Fairy-tale landing

More than a dozen visitors dropped in—literally—on an unsuspecting California family on April 18. A neighbor had to notify Hunter Perrin of Temecula, Calif., that a malfunctioning hot air balloon had landed on a small patch of grass in his back yard. “I was watching TV and my wife was doing yoga,” Perrin said. “There was a man standing in front of my door saying, ‘They just landed.’ What? I was very confused.” The large blue balloon carrying a pilot and 12 passengers found its way to the Perrin’s backyard when the winds shifted and the pilot decided they didn’t have enough fuel to make it to the predetermined landing spot. In the event of an emergency, Perrin’s 10-foot-wide patch of grass proved just big enough to land the balloon’s gondola. Balloon owner Denni Barrett said the pilot made the right call under the circumstances and praised his skill for getting everyone safely to the ground. “It was unbelievable, like something out of a Disney fairy tale,” wife Jenna Perrin said. “The balloon didn’t hit our house or our trees. It was kissing the fence.”

Camouflage confusion

When you see stripes, you think zebras. But that’s not always true. Reports of a black-and-white striped animal on the loose near the Yerevan, Armenia, zoo on May 1 sparked concern among zoo ­officials. That is, until they took a closer look at footage of the supposed zebra. Closer examination revealed the animal to be a donkey painted with black-and-white stripes to resemble the African beast. Police reported the incident as a failed prank and were investigating the identity of the perpetrator.

Sting operation

A woman who deployed thousands of bees as a weapon against law enforcement officers in Massachusetts now faces six months in prison after her criminal conviction in April. Beekeeper Rebecca Woods said she was trying to prevent sheriff’s deputies in Hampden County, Mass., from serving her friend with an eviction notice back in 2022. To help, the professional beekeeper brought along boxes containing thousands of bees. The jury concluded Woods purposefully deployed the insects against officers. Multiple deputies suffered bee stings and one required hospitalization.

Viral charges

They got the attention they wanted—and then some. Two Florida teens were arrested April 25 after a social media stunt inside an Ocala, Fla., Target store aroused the interest of local police. Ocala Police say Janek Szkaradek and Luke Charske, both 18, brought a riding lawnmower to the retail center. While Szkaradek fired up the engine and drove the machine into the store, Charske filmed a video for social media. “The last thing you expect to see inside a Target is a lawn mower coming through the door,” shopper Vanessa Scarlett told WESH. Both were arrested and charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

Life immitates art

Now live and on the air in Cincinnati: WKRP. A rock and oldies station formerly known as WOXY-FM adopted the iconic call letters May 8 after purchasing them at auction from another station in April. Though made famous by an iconic CBS sitcom about a fictional Cincinnati radio station that ran from 1978 until 1982, the WKRP call letters had never been used in the Southern Ohio market until now. Station manager Jeff Ziesman told The Cincinnati Enquirer the station won’t change format or adopt new personalities. He simply hopes the famous call letters might make the station more recognizable.

Spoiler alert

Thinking of providing spoilers to the latest Japanese movie? Think again. Prosecutors in Japan secured a criminal conviction in April against a 39-year-old man for publishing spoilers of the 2023 movie Godzilla Minus One and other content on his website in violation of the country’s copyright law. Attorneys argued Wataru Takeuchi used spoilers to drive traffic to his website and generate advertising income. That earned him an 18-­month suspended prison sentence and a fine worth about $6,300. While Japanese law permits use of some copyrighted material, prosecutors argued Takeuchi published so much dialogue and so many still images that his actions went far beyond “fair use.”

Blockhead busted

Just because it sounds like Lego blocks doesn’t mean it is Lego blocks. Police in California uncovered a sophisticated scam involving the popular toys in April. Irvine police detectives arrested Jarrelle Augustine and accused him of defrauding Target stores by filling empty Lego boxes with dried pasta and returning them for a refund. According to detectives, a box filled with Lego blocks sounds about the same as a box filled with dried pasta. Police began the investigation when Target reported more than 70 Lego thefts nationwide fitting a similar pattern. The scam netted about $34,000 in stolen merchandise. “If your master plan involves swapping Legos for linguine, we can promise your plan will be cooked al dente,” Irvine police said.