CRYSTAL, Minn. - Police responding to a call of a convulsing Elvis Presley impersonator soon found themselves in a high-speed chase of another faux celebrity - a man dressed as one of the Blues Brothers.

Crystal Police Capt. Dave Oyaas said the bizarre string of events began when officers were called to a veterans hall Monday morning to find a man dressed as Elvis Presley apparently in convulsions.

When the officers approached, Oyaas said the man suddenly jumped up and yelled, "Viva Las Vegas!" before singing show tunes.

At about the same time, two women said another man at the veterans hall dressed as John Belushi's character in "The Blues Brothers" had stolen their car and driven to a nearby airport.

The man led police on a high-speed chase around the airport before officers forced him to stop and arrested him.

"It's one of those things that you stop and scratch your head, and you think that 'Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"' Oyaas said.

Oyaas said charges pending against the men could include disorderly conduct, fleeing police and drunken driving.

The men had been drinking together at the VFW before police arrived. Blood tests will show how much, but Oyaas said, "I would venture to say quite a bit."

Homeowner shoots one of four Georgia inmates who escaped over the weekend

Associated Press

SHELBY, Ala. - One of four inmates who escaped from a Georgia prison over the weekend was wounded during a burglary attempt in Alabama, and was captured soon after.

The other fugitives were with Tracy O. Mullins during the burglary attempt but they escaped, said Scheree Lipscomb of the Georgia Department of Corrections. The inmate was shot in the face and neck by the person who lived at the residence, authorities said.

The wounded Mullins was then dropped off at a convenience store by three men, authorities said.

Mullins, 30, who was serving at least three years for weapons possession and other offenses, was in the intensive care unit at the University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital after being shot Monday.

The men, who were serving time for offenses from manslaughter to armed robbery, escaped from a medium-security prison Saturday in Mount Vernon, Ga., by cutting a hole through a security fence. Mount Vernon is 150 miles southeast of Atlanta.

Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry said the three fugitives, possibly traveling in a stolen white Jeep Cherokee, were considered dangerous.

The other escaped inmates are Joshua J. Thompson, 19, serving an 18-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter; Joseph M. Lee Jr., 21, who was serving at least 12 years for armed robbery and other offenses; and Micah D. Sheer, 22, who was serving 17 years for aggravated assault and burglary.

Bandits in western Mexico clean out vault of armored car company

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - Bandits broke into the vault of an armored car company in northwestern Mexico and stole at least 120 million pesos ($10.5 million), and officials said Tuesday they had no made no arrests in the case.

The robbers intercepted two security guards on their way to work late Saturday in Ciudad Obregon, then threatened to hurt the guards' family members unless they helped with the robbery, Sonora state police said in a statement Sunday.

The attackers then entered the building of Seguridad Especial de Proteccion, which distributes money by armored vehicles, and waited all night with the guards, fleeing with the money early Sunday, when the doors opened automatically, police said.

A spokesman for the state police, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday the case was still under investigation and there had been no arrests.

Michael Jackson seeks ban on Eminem's new video

Associated Press

NEW YORK - Michael Jackson is reportedly angered by the way he is portrayed in rapper Eminem's recently released video "Just Lose It." The pop singer is said to be so upset that he has asked networks to remove the video from their rotations.

"Michael Jackson is very angry. He feels that Eminem has crossed the line," Jackson representative Ramone Bain told the Daily News in Tuesday editions. "Michael is calling on all networks to pull the video."

In the video, Eminem appears dressed mockingly as Jackson with a group of boys in the background, jumping. Then he sings the lyric in reference to Jackson's child molestation allegations: "Come here little kiddie, on my lap. Guess who's back with a brand new rap…"

Later in the video Eminem also ridicules plastic surgery done on Jackson's nose, and an accident in which Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984.

So far, Black Entertainment Television has agreed to pull the video, and was expected on Tuesday to announce that it is removing the video.

"Michael feels the video is disrespectful and offensive…it's one thing to spoof someone, it's another to be completely insensitive and disrespectful," said Bain.

Australian campers who fought off 14-foot croc were lucky, former handler says

Associated Press

SYDNEY, Australia - The campers who fought off a 14-foot crocodile as it dragged a 34-year-old man out of his tent drew praise from a former reptile handler said Tuesday.

Gary Zillfleisch praised the "instinctive reaction" of 60-year-old Alicia Sorohan, who jumped onto the crocodile's back to distract it from the man it held in its jaws Monday. The animal let go of the man and turned on Sorohan before another camper shot it dead.

"They should get a ticket in Lotto," Zillfleisch told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio on Tuesday. "There's no way that that crocodile could have been divested of its victim, because if it is only that short distance they'll soon get you in the water, and then they just hold their breath and you hold yours, and they're going to win."

Sorohan and the 34-year-old man, Andrew Kerr, were both airlifted to the hospital with broken bones after the early morning attack.

"The bravery of that woman is unbelievable - then she becomes the victim," Zillfleisch said.

The huge crocodile grabbed Kerr as he slept in a tent with his wife at a remote beach campsite in northern Queensland. It entered the tent around 4 a.m. Monday and dragged him outside, authorities said.

Sorohan "was also camping there, and she saw what was happening and she jumped on the croc," said Stephen Pemberthy of the Royal Flying Doctors Service.

The crocodile let Kerr go and turned on Sorohan, pulling her toward the water before a third person shot it dead.

"The fact that they've grabbed people in tents, it's unusual, but it's not unexpected," Zillfleisch said. "My belief is that maybe campers of a previous visitation had gone there and done the wrong thing: maybe fed fish or had dogs."

Wildlife authorities were investigating whether fishermen dumping bait in the area had attracted the crocodile.

Crocodile numbers have exploded in northern Australia since hunting them was banned in the early 1970s. In 2002, a crocodile in northern Kakadu National Park killed a German tourist as she swam in a water hole.

"They often travel from one water course to the next and use the ocean simply as a crocodile highway, so it's not unusual for them to be swimming along beaches," said Mark Read, from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. "But I'm certainly wondering why this particular crocodile stopped and made a very conscious decision (to) head up the beach."

Government marijuana? No thanks, say Dutch, 'coffee' shop pot will do fine

Associated Press

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - There's a whiff of crisis in the air at the Dutch Health Ministry: It's sitting on a pile of pot that it just can't sell.

The Netherlands rolled out a program last year that allows patients to buy prescription marijuana at any pharmacy. Some medical insurance policies cover at least part of the cost, but often not enough to offset the pharmacy price.

In a country where any adult can walk into a "coffee shop" and smoke a joint for much less than the government price, many say the experiment is a bust.

"I think it's a shame that they can't deliver a cannabis product a little bit cheaper than the coffee shops," said David Watson, head of Hortapharm, an Amsterdam-based company licensed to research and develop cannabis for pharmaceutical use.

"Why is it that a legal commodity is more expensive than an illegal commodity?"

The government says packaging and distribution push up its prices, and acknowledges its program may be foundering. Of some 450 pounds in anticipated sales, only about 175 pounds have been sold, said Bas Kuik, spokesman for the Office of Medicinal Cannabis, an arm of the Dutch Ministry of Health.

Resource officers arrest North Carolina high school student for cursing at teacher

Associated Press

WILMINGTON, N.C. - A 17-year-old high school student faced a possible 30 days in jail after school resource officers arrested him for using foul language with a teacher.

Ashley High School student Glenn Gattis said he used bad language after he got in trouble with the teacher for being late to class Aug. 25. School resource officers intervened and charged him with disorderly conduct, saying his language was meant to provoke violence.

Gattis and his parents do not deny he cursed and acknowledged he has had other disciplinary problems at school. But they said the misdemeanor criminal charge was an overreaction and have hired a lawyer to fight the charge.

Lt. J.L. Simmons, who oversees resource officers for the sheriff's office, said it is not uncommon for deputies to cite students for disorderly conduct and fighting.

"When things get reckless, we have to do something," he said. "It happens all the time."

School officials declined to comment.

Gattis has an Oct. 20 court date and was also suspended from school for three days.

Nine bodies found in two group suicides near Tokyo raise alarm of Internet suicide pacts

Associated Press

TOKYO - Nine bodies were found in two parked cars Tuesday with charcoal stoves at their feet and the windows sealed from inside in what is believed to be Japan's largest group suicide pact.

In one case, police rushed to a van in a deserted lot outside Tokyo after receiving a call from a friend of a victim, but they failed to reach it in time, finding seven dead - four men and three women, including teenagers and a 33-year-old mother, a police spokesman said.

The other two women were in a rented car at an isolated temple in Yokosuka, about 60 miles southwest of the capital.

Police said there were striking similarities between the two cases. Evidence of a failed joint attempt by two of the women - one from each group - to kill themselves on Oct. 4 had led investigators to believe the suicides might had been planned together, Japanese media quoted police as saying.

The discoveries were the latest in a rash of suicide pacts that have left dozens of Japanese dead in recent years. Many of the cases involving people from distant parts of the country started by meetings over the Internet, sparking calls for the government to shut down suicide message boards.

The seven found slumped in their seats in a rented van in Saitama prefecture northwest of Tokyo was the largest-known group to commit suicide together, said a National Police Agency official, who demanded anonymity.

Suicide pacts have been made over the Internet since at least the late 1990s, and have been reported everywhere from Guam to the Netherlands. But they've been happening in especially large numbers in Japan, where the suicide rates are among the world's highest.

More than 32,000 Japanese committed suicide last year, a record. Between January 2003 and June 2004, 45 people committed suicide in groups after meeting over the Internet, according to the National Police Agency.

Suicide Web sites are easy to find. They post disclaimers about the dangers of their content, which includes death wishes and exchanges on methods of dying. Some Japanese-language sites feature lists of materials necessary for self-asphyxiation and ready-made kits for sale.

In Tuesday's case, officers found the van with seven inside after getting a call from a friend of one of the victims who had received an e-mail hinting at suicide.

A woman sat in the driver's seat, while the six others sat in two rows behind her. The van windows were sealed with vinyl tape from the inside, and four charcoal stoves were on the floor.

Police found several suicide notes but no external wounds or signs of a struggle. Investigators think the seven poisoned themselves by inhaling lethal doses of carbon monoxide, the spokesman said.

The two women, whose car was near an isolated temple in Yokosuka, also were found with charcoal stoves at their feet. The car's windows were sealed with a black plastic tarp.

Japan's government has blamed a decade-long economic slump for an increasing number of people, especially middle-aged men, killing themselves. Younger people have said bullying, romantic breakups or abusive family members made them want to kill themselves.

Experts were divided over the causes of group suicides.

Takashi Tomita, a psychology professor, said the Internet had become a convenient meeting place for many Japanese worried about the future and seeking comfort from others.

"On the Net, they can share their worries. For them, death is attractive. It's a certainty in a world of uncertainty," he said.

Others cited a lack of suicide prevention and education efforts and the inability of some young Japanese to distinguish virtual-reality from reality.

"Young people today don't have a sense of reality about death," said Shinji Shimizu, a professor at a women's university. "They are approaching it as an extension of a game in cyberworld."