DATE: Tuesday, May 27, 1997                 TAG: 9705260139

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   64 lines

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

Thief's plans go up in smoke

CHESAPEAKE

Maybe the thief wanted to roll his own.

Somebody stole a trailer filled with $100,000 worth of leaf tobacco from a South Norfolk loading dock. He didn't get far. The missing 40-foot trailer was found a few miles away, at Frank's Truck Stop. Inside were 96 cases of tobacco.

The trailer was swiped from a loading dock at 101 W. Dexter St. on May 8. The thief must have had his own tractor to pull it, police said. Because the trailer was padlocked, the thief could not have known what was inside.

The thief must have been disappointed. The driver, who was seen hauling the trailer, usually delivers beer, said Hope Sheppard, equipment coordinator for NYK Line, which owns the trailer.

``They had broken the seal,'' Sheppard said, ``but nothing was missing.''

- Liz Szabo

Collect on bogus checks, go to jail

NORFOLK

Nice try, but no.

James C. Pebworth (a k a Snake) cannot get out of jail free. So says the U.S. Court of Appeals.

The court ruled recently on a strange case from Norfolk's federal court. Pebworth was convicted of having stolen checks from a defunct company (Oceana Ready Mix) written against a defunct bank (the Bank of Virginia Beach). Pebworth gave the checks to friends, who cashed them with fake IDs. Pebworth got part of the loot.

On appeal, Pebworth argued: Hey, where's the crime? The company doesn't exist and neither does the bank!

Sorry, the court ruled. Conviction affirmed.

No word on who cashed the bogus checks.

- Marc Davis

Well-armed thieves on the run

CHESAPEAKE

They are on the loose, and they are well-armed.

Thieves recently got a mini-stash of police equipment after breaking into an Immigration and Naturalization Service car.

An agent's car was parked on River Walk Parkway. Inside were a pair of handcuffs, leg irons, a Beretta magazine, 100 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition, a bulletproof vest, a blue light, two rain jackets, a camera, a pair of binoculars, a flashlight, a brown briefcase, a blue hat, one pair of military boots, a brown police bag, two pairs of search gloves and a pair of blue coveralls.

The thieves broke the driver's side window in the middle of the night May 10 and took everything, police said.

- Liz Szabo

John Doe, Fi Doe, do-si-doe to court

VIRGINIA BEACH

Man's best friend shall remain anonymous.

A lawsuit filed this month in Circuit Court accuses a dog owner of failing to control his mutt. In the lawsuit written by Beach lawyer Mike Ashe, the defendant (real name unknown) is called ``John Doe.''

The dog, who tackled a bicyclist, is named ``Fi Doe.''

Must be kin to that famous dancing pooch, Do-si Doe.

- Marc Davis

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu