Weird Iowa: Red Kettle Caper, Pumpkin Pounding, Paintball Pinheads, Ridiculous Joy Ride

We start the week with a thief who evidently doesn't believe in bad karma.

The Salvation Army had a Red Kettle and stand stolen from the Walmart near Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines on Nov. 23 during a shift when the kettle was not staffed with a bell ringer.

The cost to replace a Red Kettle and stand totals nearly $300, taking money away from the homeless and disadvantaged folks the agency helps in the metro.

Continuing our week's worth ofweird crime reports, an Ames man allegedly racked up his fourth public intoxication charge in Campustown recently, but was honest about it. When police saw a 25-year-old man urinating on a sidewalk near Welch Avenue and Hunt Streets Nov. 24 they asked him if he had anything to drink. The man replied, “A lot.” 

We're well past Halloween -- often the benchmark for vandalism and orneriness -- but not this year. Last week a 60-year-old Urbandale woman reported a pumpkin was thrown through a car window in the 15800 block of Ridgemont Drive.  

In nearby Johnston, vandals were busy blasting the siding of a house with paint balls. The homeowner reported paint splatter on the front of the house and holes punched in the siding.

An Iowa City man sprinting at 4 a.m. made a police officer curious. That man told the officer he was in a hurry because he was cold. Although the officer told the man not to leave, he turned and ran from officers, but was caught. When searched officers discovered a "one-hitter" and asked him what it was for. The man told police to "figure it out." Cops figured it out. They charged him with possessing drug paraphernalia.

In the first of two police chases, Ankeny police arrested Michael L. Rodemeyer, 35, West Des Moines, and are searching for a second female suspect, both of whom allegedly robbed a Walgreen's store Thursday. The pair fled north out of town pursued by police to Elkhart, reaching speeds of 105 mph at times. Their vehicle was found abandoned, so a Des Moines Police Department tracking dog was brought in to find Rodemeyer inside a grain bin.

And finally, a joy ride in . When police tried to stop a vehicle driven by Michael Moman, 25, of Olin, for driving without headlights, he led officers on a chase. It ended when Moman lost control, the vehicle left the road and landed in a parking lot. Moman was treated at Mercy Medical Center before being taken to the Linn County Jail on eight charges.

More Weird:

Weird Iowa: Constipated Cow, Totally Indecent Exposure and Losing is the New Winning

Weird Iowa: Dad Invades Soccer Game; Dad Calls Cops on Son; King Explains Comparing Immigrants to Dogs

Weird Iowa: Mother's Day Brawl; Stranger Danger; Reward Offered for Vandals; WWII and WWI Artifacts Stolen from Museum