A North Carolina fugitive was dangerously close to the cops Tuesday when he participated in—and won—a doughnut-eating contest hosted by the local police department. The Camden County Sheriff’s Office had been looking for 24-year-old Bradley Herbert Hardison for nine months in connection with two break-ins. Hardison scarfed down eight doughnuts in two minutes at the National Night Out Against Crime event, beating a group that included local police officers and firefighters. The day after his sugar-high, police arrested Hardison, who is also charged with felony larceny and breaking and entering in another county. Lt. Max Robeson had congratulated Hardison after his win without knowing he was a fugitive: “I did congratulate him. Good for him. He can eat a lot of doughnuts. Good for him.” It wasn’t until he read the next day’s paper that Robeson realized the man was a fugitive.

Tortoises in Colorado burdened by ‘art’

The latest wacky art exhibit: Live tortoises walking around with iPads strapped to their backs. Colorado’s Aspen Art Museum is sticking by its decision to host an exhibit featuring tortoises roaming the museum’s roof deck garden, carrying iPads showing video footage of area ghost towns. Animal-rights activists have spoken out against the exhibit, created by Cai Guo-Qjang and called “Moving Ghost Town.” Lisabeth Oden created a petition to stop the display. “These creatures were not designed to carry 2-pound iPads,” Oden told the Aspen Daily News. The museum said the African Sulcata tortoises are being carefully monitored by a veterinarian and will move into new homes after the exhibit closes Oct. 5. “It is not the Museum’s practice to censor artists,” spokeswoman Sara Fitzmaurice wrote in a statement.

Man stuck between train and platform freed by fellow commuters

A man had a commuter’s nightmare Wednesday in Perth, Australia. As he boarded a train car, his leg slipped into the “gap” between the platform and the train. A passenger saw the accident and alerted railway staff, who stopped the train from leaving, according to local media. Railway workers tried to get the man’s leg free. When they realized they couldn’t, they turned to other commuters for help. Closed-circuit video footage released by the Western Australia State Public Transport Authority shows dozen of people rushing forward to push and tilt the train car. They moved it just enough to free the man was freed, and the crowd cheered. Local media reported the man escaped injury and caught the next train. “It’s really heartwarming I think, to find an incident like this where everyone pitched in,” said transport authority spokesman David Hynes.

Emergency responders break into car to rescue baby doll

Well-intentioned passersby in New Jersey called 911 last week when they saw a baby in the backseat of a car. Emergency responders showed up, smashed the window, and found a lifeless body: that of a baby doll. Car owner Kitty Mieles’s 2-year-old granddaughter left the life-like doll in her car seat. Thomas Molta, president of the Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps, said he saw pictures of the doll and thought it was real. He has 34 years of experience in EMS and said he would have broken the window, too: “Seconds are paramount there. That’s the difference between a baby breathing, not breathing, pulse, no pulse. You can replace a window, but you can’t replace a life.” The city of Hoboken will pay to replace the window, and the grandmother is in good spirits, vowing to never leave the doll in the car seat again.