Best goof ever?

Lottery hoax causes coat store riot
By MEGHAN BARR - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A woman being driven around in a rented limousine pulled up at a coat store and announced she’d won the lottery and would pay for everyone’s purchases, police said, but she ended up causing a riot when customers realized it was a hoax.

Angry customers threw merchandise around and looted, leaving the store looking as though a hurricane had passed through it, police said.

Linda Brown was arrested Tuesday after an hours-long shopping spree that began when she hired a stretch Hummer limousine to drop her off at a Burlington Coat Factory store, police Sgt. Lt. Michael Deakins said. Brown walked to a cash register and loudly announced she had won the lottery and would pay for each person’s merchandise up to $500, he said.

“Well, of course, people like to hear that,” Deakins said. “Apparently they were in line calling relatives who were not at the store and told them to come.”

People flooded the registers as cashiers began ringing up purchase after purchase, but Brown had not yet paid the bill, Deakins said. At least 500 people filled the aisles and another 1,000 were outside trying to get in, he said.

“She was telling people she won $1.5 million,” Deakins said. “But it ends up she didn’t win anything. She had no money to pay for anything.”

About an hour later, Brown had the limousine driver take her to a bank to withdraw money, but she returned empty-handed, police Detective Steven Nace said. By then, store employees had called in two dozen police officers to handle the crowds.

Shopper Candace Jordan said she told Brown she didn’t need clothes, she needed help paying her rent.

“And she said, ‘How much is it?”’ Jordan told WBNS-TV. “And she promptly wrote out a check.”

By the time employees realized Brown didn’t have any cash to pay, police said, she already had taken off in the limo.

That’s when angry customers, realizing they weren’t getting free coats, began throwing merchandise on the floor and grabbing clothes without paying for them, Nace said.

“Everybody was like, ‘I still want my free stuff,’ and that started the riot,” he said. “It looks like (Hurricane) Katrina went through the store.”

Police said they have no way of tracking down the customers who stole items and fled, but they’re reviewing surveillance video.

Brown, 44, was arrested on three outstanding warrants for aggravated menacing, misuse of a 911 system and causing false alarms. She was jailed late Wednesday, but no charges had been filed against her related to the coat store chaos pending a mental health evaluation.

If you didn't take the time to read the story I encouraged you to go through and skim it because its pretty damn entertaining. But as a quick recap - some lady rented a Hummer limo, drove to Burlington Coat Factory, made lous claims to shoppers she has won the lottery, promised each shopper $500 worth of stuff and then drove off when it was time to pay. Then the shoppers started a riot when they didn't get free stuff.

What I'm wondering is why she stiffed the limo driver the rental fee. Granted, she probably never had any money but she should have known she'd get in trouble for stiffing him. But if she had paid the driver I'm thinking she couldn't have beaten the other charges. I mean, what is aggrevated menacing anyway? In my language that just means playing an awesome goof. Is it a crime if I tell strippers I'm an internet millionaire? Of course not! I think the cops need to just admit that this was a wicked awesome burn and let it be. Burlington can afford the stuff that was stolen. I'm sure this prank didn't cost anyone near the amount of wasted money and time as Balloon Boy.