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.

Jenness didn't follow the instructions.

"I was afraid of my septic system being clogged," he told The Patriot Ledger. "When it hardened it came into fairly big lumps. I probably should've put more effort into breaking it up."

When Jenness' garbage made it's way to the SEMASS waste incinerator in Rochester, it set off an alarm that detects radioactive material.

"They routinely scan the trash for radioactive and dangerous materials," said Frank Lyman, the Whitman town administrator.

Plant workers searched for the source of the radiation, and found the cat poop with Jenness' other garbage.

"They of course disposed of it and billed the city for the costs," Lyman said. The city sent a letter to Jenness, who promptly agreed to foot the nearly $4,000 bill.

"He brought a check right down the department of public works," Lyman said.

"I didn't feel the town should pay for me," Jenness told The Patriot Ledger.

He said Mitzi was worth the unexpected coast.

"I've had it since it was a new kitten and I love her," he expained.

Amateur Jackasses

C L E A R W A T E R, Fla. — Police came scrambling to respond to a reported drive-by shooting, but it turned out it was only a bunch of Jackass wannabes.

"When we first got the call it was for a drive-by shooting," said Clearwater Police spokesman Wayne Shelor, describing the Saturday, Oct. 26, incident.

Instead they found a car full of teens with a paintball gun and video camera, who had decided to imitate the stunts in Jackass, the new movie of outrageous pranks and stunts that topped the box office rankings last week.

"One of them had seen the movie with other friends," Shelor said.

"They just said, 'Hey let's do the same thing.'"

The teens — four boys and a girl — shot a 42-year-old man in the leg with a paintball pellet as he walked down the street. Panicked, the man called police.

"They decided, we've got a video camera, we'll do some stupid antics and vulgar stuff, and proceeded to do just that," said Shelor.

Police found the teens' silver Nissan, detained them, and reviewed their videotape, which showed them shooting the paintball gun. They admitted being inspired by Jackass.

The cassette also featured other amateur stunts, but Shelor declined to describe them. "They videotaped themselves in some vulgar situations," he said. "I don't want to elaborate."

After consulting with the man who was hit with the paintball and the youths' parents, they decided not to press charges.

"We felt the parents would handle the discipline," explained Shelor. "Neither alcohol nor drugs were involved, just a momentary lack of reason."

Crime Blotter, a weekly feature of ABCNEWS.com, is compiled by Oliver Libaw.