By Tim Binnall
While the world may be an increasingly unpredictable place, we can always count on misguided individuals finding weird ways to wind up in hot water with the law. With that in mind, here are some highlights from our proverbial police log for 2018:
Arrests:
Spanish gang caught smuggling 9,000 pounds of stolen oranges
Philadelphia man busted for breaking the thumb off of a Terracotta warrior and taking it home with him
Celebrity psychic in Russia taken into custody for possession of a substance which he claimed was 'magic salt,' but turned out to be drugs
Ghost hunter in Pennsylvania caught trespassing while armed with an unsettling arsenal that included a two-foot-long sword, a knife, a shotgun, and a pair of brass knuckles
Paranormal investigator in Connecticut who fired a gun at a 'ghost'
Aspiring treasure hunter who broke into the home of author Forrest Fenn
Stolen Items:
A dying dolphin from a Chinese beach
37 garden gnomes in Scotland
A life-size Sasquatch sign
The world's deadliest spider
Eight years worth of surreptitiously sampled deli meat valued at $9,200
Homicides:
A crazed clown killed by a pizza man
An Indian man murdered by monkeys
An aspiring missionary slain by an isolated island tribe
Fraud Cases:
Dwarf hired to impersonate a goblin in Zimbabwe
Thai man fakes his death on Facebook to fleece family out of funeral costs
Heartbroken man in England fabricates 'psychic messages' from ex-fiancé's mother to try and win her back
Vandalism:
Nazca lines driven over by trucker in Peru
Ancient rock formation destroyed by ne'er-do-wells in England
Shag Harbour UFO museum trashed by miscreants in Canada
Unsolved Capers & Crime Sprees:
A serial cat shaver terrifying British pet owners
An extortionist writing in riddles and harassing an animal sanctuary in New Hampshire
Serial animal killers haunting Washington state, England, and France
Miscellaneous Misadventures:
Tiger cub found in express mail package by police in Mexico
Ghost hunting device sparks bomb scare in Canada
'UFO landing' reported to cops in Texas
Firefighters in Louisiana called to put out 'possessed' couch that was set on fire