Cops Bust Woman for Swiping $2.87 From Fountain

A western Ohio woman charged with petty theft for allegedly stealing $2.87 from a courthouse fountain says she is jobless and took the change to buy food. WBNS-TV in Columbus reports that the woman pleaded not guilty yesterday. A police report alleges she stole the change Oct. 7 from the Logan County Courthouse fountain in Bellefontaine, and an officer asked her what she was doing and found change in her pocket. "Soon as the cop asked me what I was doing and I was afraid to tell him," says Deidre Romine. "The money didn't belong to anybody so I just took it out of there."

Romine says she worries she'll end up in jail. She says she has no job, is on the verge of losing her apartment, and was trying to feed herself and her four cats. The city's safety director says officials hope to resolve the case before her November trial. Meanwhile, locals are collecting cash to help Romine out. "We want the community to know the why rather than just the headline that she got arrested," says the group's leader. (More weird crimes stories.)