■UNITED STATES
Bear raids illegal farm
Investigators say a large black bear raided a clandestine marijuana growing operation so often that it chased the grower away. Deputies found food containers ripped apart and strewn everywhere, cans with bear teeth marks, claw marks and bear prints across the camp in Garfield County, Utah, on Tuesday. “This bear is definitely law-enforcement minded,” said Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins. “If I can find this bear I’m going to deputize him.” Perkins said the operation on Boulder Mountain included 4,000 “starter” sacks of pot and 888 young plants. “This particular bear apparently was not going to give up and basically chased these marijuana farmers away,” Perkins said.
■GUATEMALA
Look-alike jail plan foiled
Police discovered a breakout plan in which a look-alike was due to replace the suspected deputy leader of a Mexican drug gang in jail, local media reported on Friday. The look-alike was due to swap places with Daniel Perez Rojas, the suspected deputy leader of the Mexican Zeta drug gang, during a prison visit, reports said. Rojas was imprisoned on March 25 after a shootout that killed more than 10 people. The Zetas, the armed wing of the powerful Mexican Gulf cartel, had planned to replace Rojas with Manuel Pachelo Ramirez, who has similar features to the prisoner and was thought to have entered the country on Aug. 20, police told the Prensa Libre daily.
■UNITED STATES
Talking bird calls for help
Cries for help inside a house in New Jersey turned out to be nothing but a talkative cockatoo. Neighbors called police on Wednesday morning after hearing what they believed was a woman’s persistent cry of “Help me! Help me!” coming from a house. Officers arrived and when no one answered the door, they kicked it in to make a rescue, the Times newspaper reported. Officers found a caged bird with a convincing call. It was not the first time the 10-year-old bird named Luna said something that brought authorities to the home of owner Evelyn DeLeon. Seven years ago, Luna cried like a baby for hours, leading to reports of an abandoned baby and a visit by welfare workers.
■UNITED STATES
Colorado crash kills three
Three people were killed, including a toddler, after an SUV crashed into a pickup and shoved it into an ice cream shop outside Denver. Witnesses said the SUV broadsided the truck on Thursday night as the smaller vehicle was turning left. Aurora, Colorado, police said debris injured a two-year-old boy inside the ice cream shop. He later died at a hospital. Two women in the pickup were also killed. Police said the driver ran away, but a 23-year-old suspect was arrested a short time later.
■CANADA
Fumes at farm kill three
Three people died and three were in a hospital after being overcome by toxic fumes at a mushroom farm in Langley, British Columbia, police said on Friday. Constable Holly Marks of the Langley Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the incident happened on Friday afternoon when a group of workers entered a utility shed at Farmers Fresh Mushrooms. Other workers who came to the men’s aid also were overcome. Two of those hospitalized are in critical condition, the third is stable. Police were not sure what the fumes were. Dozens of firefighters, emergency workers and a hazardous materials team were on the scene on Friday evening.
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