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School Mistakes Huge Burrito for a Weapon
A call about a possible weapon at a middle school prompted police to put
armed officers on rooftops, close nearby streets and lock down the
school. All over a giant burrito.
Someone called authorities Thursday after seeing a boy carrying
something long and wrapped into Marshall Junior High.
The drama ended two hours later when the suspicious item was identified
as a 30-inch burrito filled with steak, guacamole, lettuce, salsa and
jalapenos and wrapped inside tin foil and a white T-shirt.
"I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," school Principal Diana Russell
said.
State police, Clovis police and the Curry County Sheriff's Department
arrived at the school shortly after 8:30 a.m. They searched the premises
and determined there was no immediate danger.
In the meantime, more than 30 parents, alerted by a radio report,
descended on the school. Visibly shaken, they gathered around in a
semi-circle, straining their necks, awaiting news.
"There needs to be security before the kids walk through the door," said
Heather Black, whose son attends the school.
After the lockdown was lifted but before the burrito was identified as
the culprit, parents pulled 75 students out of school, Russell said.
Russell said the mystery was solved after she brought everyone in the
school together in the auditorium to explain what was going on.
"The kid was sitting there as I'm describing this (report of a student
with a suspicious package) and he's thinking, 'Oh, my gosh, they're
talking about my burrito.'"
Afterward, eighth-grader Michael Morrissey approached her.
"He said, 'I think I'm the person they saw,'" Russell said.
The burrito was part of Morrissey's extra-credit assignment to create
commercial advertising for a product.
"We had to make up a product and it could have been anything. I made up
a restaurant that specialized in oddly large burritos," Morrissey said.
After students heard the description of what police were looking for, he
and his friends began to make the connection. He then took the burrito
to the office.
"The police saw it and everyone just started laughing. It was a laughter
of relief," Morrissey said.
"Oh, and I have a new nickname now. It's Burrito Boy."
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Fortune tale too good to be true
In the end, the tale of buried treasure just didn't fit the bills.
Two New England men regaled television audiences this week with their
story of finding 1,900 antique U.S. bank notes -- worth at least $50,000
-- in one of their backyards.
But their "Eureka!" traveled too far, too fast.
Investigators became suspicious over discrepancies in their stories and
by Friday police had the men in court, saying the treasure was taken
from a construction site where they had worked.
"If they had not gone ... on TV, they could have gone to New York or
somewhere and just sold the money and they probably would have gotten
away with it," Methuen, Massachusetts, Police Chief Joseph Solomon told
ABC's "Good Morning America."
Earlier in the week, the same show had featured the men, Barry Billcliff
of Manchester, New Hampshire, and Timothy Crebase of Methuen, who said
they unearthed antique currency in Crebase's yard.
Billcliff and Crebase were arraigned and pleaded not guilty to charges
of receiving stolen property over $250, conspiracy to receive stolen
property and being an accessory after the fact to receiving stolen
property, the Essex County prosecutor's office said.
Lawyers for the men said the pair stick by their story and that
prosecutors may have a hard time getting a conviction.
"Our position is, that if they can't prove where the money was stolen
from, how will they prove (they were) receiving stolen property," said
attorney Michael Ruane, who is representing Crebase.
While the story may have been faked, the bills are real, said Domenic
Mangano, owner of the Village Coin Shop in Plaistow, New Hampshire.
Mangano appraised the collection of bank notes, which date from 1899 to
1928, at more than $50,000.
But he said he has since received a telephone call from a buyer in Texas
who was willing to pay $400 per bill. That would bring the total value
to more than $700,000 |