Misbehaving Moms: 5 Craziest Crimes of the Week

Some parents a little too enthusiastic about the first day of school and a bank robbery with an odd motive were among the strangest crimes stories of the week:

• Cops: Mom Smokes Celebratory Joint Near School: It's one way to send the kids off to school: When cops on Canada's Vancouver Island pulled over a car speeding in a school zone, a telltale scent wafted from the window. Police say the female driver then admitted smoking a joint with other moms to celebrate their kids' return to school. Luckily for her, she passed a sobriety test, though she still ended up with a ticket.
• 70-Year-Old Allegedly Robs Bank to Escape Wife: Home life not going so well? Just rob a bank and get yourself relocated to jail. That's what a 70-year-old Kansas man allegedly did. Police say Lawrence John Ripple walked into Kansas City's Bank of Labor and gave the teller a note reading, "I have a gun, give me money." The thing is, it worked. But then Ripple set about putting his real plan into place.

• Man Makes Wanted Poster His Facebook Pic, Is Arrested: Most people hate their mugshots even more than the picture on their driver's license, but a Florida man found a wanted poster with his picture on it pleasing enough to put on Facebook—and it helped cops bust him. Stuart police responded to a battery complaint Monday night, and when they arrived at the scene, suspect Mack Yearwood wasn't there anymore. Trying to find out more about Yearwood, police took the modern route of looking him up on Facebook, and found a wanted poster.
• Cops: Woman Set Fire to Wrong Guy's Car: A young woman police have identified through surveillance video as 19-year-old Carmen Chamblee is charged with setting fire to a Honda Civic in Clearwater, Fla., and she says she thought it was her ex-boyfriend's. It wasn't. Thomas Jennings, the man who owned the vehicle, says he's "never seen her in my life." And it turns out the case isn't without precedent.
• Cops: Intruder Painted Woman's Puppy Purple: Massachusetts man Felix Reagan is accused of crimes including auto theft, breaking and entering, and assaulting a police officer—but he probably wouldn't be in the news if he hadn't also allegedly painted a puppy purple. Police in Oak Bluffs say they arrested Reagan Saturday afternoon after a Martha's Vineyard crime spree that included cruelty to the pet of a woman whose home he broke into. Reagan apparently used a pastry to keep the animal from barking.

Click to read about more crazy crimes. (More weird crimes stories.)