Dog Starts Fire, Kitten In Bank Heist And Mutant Mice Spread: Weird News & Oddities

Talk about a freak accident.

A dog named Bo jumped on the counter of a home in Belcamp, Maryland, and accidentally turned on the toaster, setting a fire that killed another dog and two cats and caused about $200,000 in property damage.

The home’s Ring camera captured the events that led to the fire. The owners weren’t there, and the security system alerted the Abingdon Fire Company.

Firefighters rescued Bo and another dog, Addie, but a third dog, Dakota, and two cats perished.

• Read more: Dog Sparks Kitchen Fire Causing $200,000 Damage

Kidnapped Kitten Forced Into Crime

What happened to an adorable tuxedo kitten in Maryland can’t be OK in the world of cats.

Magnolia, only a tender 3 ½ months old, was kidnapped from a Prince George’s County pet store and thrust into the criminal underworld, according to authorities.

Aaron Kurkowski, store manager of Pet Supplies Plus in Beltsville, told local news station WRC that security video shows the man “came in and saw none of my team was nearby the front, and he just went right to her and ran right on out.”

From there, the suspect walked across the parking lot with the black-and-white kitten in tow to a nearby PNC Bank branch. Once inside, he asked the bank manager to hold the kitten while he wrote a note “demanding all the cash,” according to a Facebook post by Beltsville Community Cats.

The robbery was unsuccessful, the suspect is in custody, and Magnolia continues to steal — hearts, that is. She’s up for adoption through Beltsville Community Cats.

• Read more: Kidnapped Kitten Used As Decoy In Attempted Bank Heist

Why House Mice Mutate

Well, this is unsettling.

Poison-resistant mice are spreading in the Northeast, according to a new study. The usual defenses against them just won’t cut it, the authors warned.

The Rutgers University study found that 84 percent of the mice collected in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania between 2021 and 2025 carried at least one mutation in the VKORC1 gene associated with anticoagulant resistance, while 20 percent carried two mutations.

Mice have evolutionary advantages, such as short life cycles, that allow them to mutate more easily. Their curiosity also makes mice more likely than rats to investigate poisoned bait, allowing resistant survivors to pass the mutation to the next generation.

"Mice have what we call neophilia, meaning they like to explore new objects and surroundings, which makes them more likely to encounter poison compared to rats," Rutgers entomologist Changlu Wang, who led the study, said in an interview with Patch. "Rats are very smart and tend to avoid new things and unfamiliar food."

Because mice encounter bait more often, individuals with resistance mutations survive and pass those traits to future generations.

“We really should focus on alternatives, relying less on the chemicals, so that you wouldn't end up having higher resistance and more features in the future," Wang said.

• Read more: Poison-Resistant Mice Spread Across Northeast

‘I Hope It Doesn’t Explode’

This will give you pause, too.

A couple in Florida jokingly said the Publix grocery chain should give them free avocados for life after they found a spent shell casing in an avocado they’d just purchased.

Syd Meyer posted a video on Instagram of her boyfriend, Chris Gleadall, dissecting the avocado with a kitchen knife. Meyer first thought the shell casing was a stem and then a nail before the truth was revealed.

“Hopefully, it doesn’t explode,” Gleadall can be heard saying on the video, noting the shell casing “looks kind of spent, but definitely see the gunpowder in it.”

Dang.

“I was really looking forward to this avocado,” Meyer said.

The couple said their experience raises questions about where avocados and other produce are sourced.

“This is seriously dangerous and could have ended up a lot worse than it did,” Meyer said.

Criminal cartels are increasingly exerting substantial influence over parts of the industry, particularly in the Mexican state of Michoacán, according to the U.S. Treasury.

Publix did offer to replace the avocado, according to the video.

• Read more: ‘Hopefully, It Doesn’t Explode’: Surprise Find In Avocado

8th-Century Sculptures Returned

Two ancient artworks looted from Indonesia decades ago have finally completed the long trip home, federal prosecutors said.

The 8th-century bronze Buddhist sculptures were formally returned July 8 during a repatriation ceremony at the Indonesian consulate, according to Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Both depict Avalokiteshvara and stand about 16 and 20 inches tall. Prosecutors said they were stolen from archaeological sites in Indonesia as part of an organized looting network, then passed through the hands of Douglas Latchford, a Bangkok-based antiquities dealer.

Latchford sold the sculptures to an American collector between 2003 and 2007 without disclosing that they had been stolen, officials said.

The collector, who was not identified, voluntarily relinquished the sculptures along with 32 other Cambodian and Southeast Asian antiquities purchased from Latchford.

Latchford was indicted in 2019 and accused of running a yearslong scheme to sell looted antiquities around the world. The case was dismissed after his death.

• Read more: Looted 8th-Century Sculptures Returned To Indonesia

‘Completely Bizarre Accident’

A Northern California woman was killed in a sequence of events so unusual that her family described it as “a completely bizarre accident.”

Brittany Clark, 31, was hiking with her boyfriend and best friend in a Florida state forest when the group stopped to swim in about 3 feet of water in the Econlockhatchee River.

An alligator bit Clark on both arms and pulled her underwater as her boyfriend tried to fight it off, authorities said. The animal performed what is known as a death roll, violently spinning her in the water before eventually releasing her.

Clark died while being taken to a hospital. The 12-foot alligator believed responsible remained near the scene and was later captured and euthanized.

Clark grew up in Sacramento and attended Kennedy High School. Her family is raising money to return her remains to California.

“She was an amazing person and a fun-loving soul,” a relative wrote.

• Read more: Alligator Kills Woman In ‘Completely Bizarre Accident’

Elvis Hasn’t Left The Building

Dorian Alberti built 15 “Iron Man”-inspired exoskeletons, patented one of them, and founded an engineering startup before realizing the life he had carefully constructed was making him miserable.

So, naturally, he became Elvis.

The 27-year-old Seminole, Florida, man found his way to the jumpsuit after an Elvis tribute performer pulled him onstage in Las Vegas and handed him a microphone. One month later, Alberti was back competing against Elvises from around the world. He now performs across the United States and Canada, makes painstakingly accurate costumes for other tribute artists, and has grown sideburns that are not part of the wardrobe. Strangers ask for pictures. Alberti obliges. The engineering work pays the bills, but Elvis, he said, brings the joy.

“You don’t know how somebody’s day is going,” he said. “They look over, and there’s Elvis, and they’ll smile.

“It’s about bringing joy,” Alberti continued. “You can’t be on the hamster wheel all the time.”

• Read more: Burned Out Engineer Finds Joy On Stage As Elvis Impersonator