Crime Blotter: Stolen Purple Dingo Head

— -- Man Busted in Stolen Purple Dingo Head

A U B U R N H I L L S, Mich. — Some thieves try to hide their stolen goods. Others put on a purple dingo head and go to the bar.

Ryan McAllister, 27, and James Masterson, 21, allegedly swiped the oversized costume of Zap, the mascot of the Detroit's WNBA team, the Shock, after attending a game at the Palace of Auburn Hills last Wednesday, Oct. 24.

They'd been watching a Detroit Pistons preseason basketball game when they decided to take the suit.

McAllister said he and his friend were simply wandering around the facility when they stumbled upon the costume in the basement, said Auburn Hills police Detective Craig Damiani.

"I put on the head, the other guy put on the feet and we went to a bar across the street," McAllister said, according to Damiani.

They were quickly spotted by security at the Palace Grill, and police arrived soon after.

According to McAllister, they were only playing a spontaneous practical joke and didn't intend to keep the Zap costume, Damiani said.

"They'd both been drinking," he noted.

McAllister was charged with larceny in a building, and Masterson with receiving and concealing stolen property, both felonies.

This is not Zap's first misadventure. According to his official biography, the purple dingo was once knocked out by Reggie Miller, the All-Star player for the Indiana Pacers basketball team.

Next Time, Just Flush

W H I T M A N, Mass. — Be careful what you do with your radioactive cat poop.

William Jenness agreed to pay a $3,856.47 fee for mishandling his cat Mitzi's litter box.

Jenness took Mitzi, 11, to a local clinic to treat her hyperthyroidism. The treatment involved giving the feline an injection of radioactive iodine, and Jenness was given strict instructions to flush his pet's waste down the toilet, rather than throw it out.

Cats who undergo the procedure are themselves radioactive for several days, as is their waste product. After a few days, radiation levels return to normal.