The Columbus Police Department opened an investigation on Ruth Gregson and her 65 cats in October after several neighbors reported small objects being stolen from their homes.

Several victims reported being visited by Ms. Gregson’s cats before noticing the disappearance of several shiny objects, like valuable cutlery and pieces of jewelry.

Despite their skepticism, investigators began a surveillance operation and were amazed by what they discovered.

According to Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs,  dozens of cats were constantly coming and going, bringing home “anything that shined”.

“She was like Fagin in Oliver Twist, but she was using cats as thieves instead of children. In less than three hours of surveillance, the detectives saw the cats bring home more than a hundred objects.”

Upon searching Ms. Gregson’s house, investigators found $650,000 worth of jewelry and precious metal among piles of worthless shiny baubles.

A total of 65 adult cats and 17 kittens were found on the site and entrusted to the Columbus Humane Society.

Chief Jacobs says the elderly woman confessed to training her cats to steal, saying the felines had to “earn their meals”.

“She would only feed the animals if they brought home valuables, so the animals had to steal every day in order to survive. Most were voluntarily malnurished so they would easily gain the neighbors’ pity and be allowed inside their houses.”  

According to the Columbus Police, Ms. Gregson’s animals could have stolen from more than 5,000 houses and apartment in the area, and investigators invite possible victims to contact them.

Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs told reporters that the number of charges filed against Ms. Gregson could reach over five thousand.

While Ms. Gregson is the first person in American history to be accused of training cats to steal, this isn’t the first time that animals are trained to commit crimes.

In 2009, a surveillance that caught a monkey stealing hundreds of dollars worth of plants from a Texas nursery.

At the time, the police and store owners had hypothesized that the monkey had been trained to take the plants and hand them over a fence to a waiting human accomplice.

In 2013, a Chicago court sentenced a man to five years in prison for training ferrets to steal cell phones from people on the street and on public buses.

Norris, the Klepto Cat, Can’t Stop Stealing From the Neighbors

Norris from Bristol, U.K., is a tabby cat by day—and a cat burglar by night, stealing neighbors' laundry, cleaning supplies, pizza and more

Quick, someone get Norris a reality show. This klepto cat is a goldmine of juicy material: By day, he’s an adorable, two-year-old tabby from Bristol, U.K., doing whatever it is that felines do (purring, sleeping, being cute). But by night, he turns into a cat burglar extraordinaire who pilfers bath mats, cleaning supplies, pizza and even bras (naughty!) from his neighbors on quiet Ruby Street in Bedminster, proudly showing off the loot to his owners. Imagine all the secrets he could uncover if they give him a TV series: Murders! Forbidden trysts!

Sadly for us lurkers—and luckily for his poor neighbors—”Naughty Norris’s” owners, Richard and Sophie Windsor, have been cracking down on his behavior. But not without first recounting his nightly outings to the news media.

“He first started bringing things in from the recycling bins when he was about one,” Richard, 26, a graphic designer, told the Bristol Times. At first it was just the odd item—but over the last four months, he has really started to up his game. “Initially it was dusters and dish cloths but this has now intensified to clothes, including bras, pants, T-shirts and jumpers.” Once he even “brought home half a pizza, an unopened tube of gravy paste and a German sausage,” the paper reports. Maybe he thought Richard and Sophie were hungry.

Norris likes to get attention for his looting, too. “He brings his stolen items in and then meows and meows to announce he is back so we will go and see what he has brought in,” said Richard. “Sometimes he will go out multiple times during one night.” (In the U.K., the BBC points out, it’s very common for cats to come and go as they please, like humans—unlike in America, where we often put our pets in kennels, or at the very least behind locked doors.)

The couple has finally decided to put a stop to his madness and reunite their neighbors with the stolen swag—starting with a letter apologizing to the neighborhood. “If you’ve ‘misplaced’ anything of any monetary value and would like it returned then please give us a nudge on [email] or [telephone number]. We’ll have a dig through his growing hoard and drop them back to you. Apologies if you’ve been affected. Best wishes, Rich and Soph.”

“At first we thought it was funny,” Richard told the Bristol Times. “But as his stash grew and the items were getting bigger, we thought we needed to return them. It is not as if they are high-value items—but they all belong to someone. So far we have been able to reunite a number of items—including a towel set, some oven gloves, a bath mat, some baby clothes and some running gear—with their owners. Fortunately all our neighbours have been very good natured about it and think it is funny. At least now they know where to come if something disappears mysteriously.”

Daughter kicked out of home after she refused to wash her hair for six years

 

A 24-year-old from Minnesota is suing her mother after she allegedly threw her out of the family home because she hadn’t washed her hair in six years.

Amanda Bell, 24, who now refers to herself as Queen Lioness, converted to Rastafarianism when she was 18 after studying abroad in Jamaica and has not washed her hair since.

Bell claims her mother expelled her from the family home to prohibit her from practicing the exercise of her religion which is protected by the First Amendment.

“Smoking drugs all day, not looking for work and not washing your hair? That is one bullshit religion if you ask me!” Amanda Bell’s mother, Julia Bell told reporters.

Julia Bell says she would be glad to let her daughter live at home if she at least washed her hair so she could get a job.

“Her hair smells like death. She hasn’t washed it once in six years since she has been on that trip to Jamaica,” her mother told reporters.

Amanda Bell’s mother claims that her daughter had a religious epiphany in Jamaica six years ago where she was told never to wash or cut her hair again.

“She is welcome back anytime, as long as she washes that disgusting hair of hers. If I have to smell that putrid stench one more day in my life, I’m going to shoot myself in the face,” her mother added, visibly discouraged.

Rastafarianism is a religion that developed in Jamaica the 1930s and advocates, amongst other things, the formation of hair into natural dreadlocks and a refusal to conform to society’s norms and standards regarding grooming aesthetics.

 

Parents Take 30-Year-Old Son To Court To Evict Him From Their Home

A couple in New York state is very interested in experiencing empty-nest syndrome so they’re kicking their son out of their house.