>>
>> Eighth Place
>> In Detroit , a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned in two feet
>>of water after squeezing head first through an 18-inch-wide sewer
>>grate to retrieve his car keys.
>>
>> Seventh Place
>>
>> A 49 year old San Francisco stockbroker, who "totally zoned when
>>he ran," accidentally jogged off a 100-foot high cliff on his daily
>>run.
>>
>> Sixth Place
>> Buxton , NC : A man died on a beach when an 8-foot-deep hole he
>>had dug into the sand caved in as he sat inside it. Beach-goers
>>said Daniel Jones, 21, dug the hole for fun, or protection from the
>>wind, and had been sitting in a beach chair at the bottom Thursday
>>afternoon when it collapsed, burying him beneath 5 feet of sand.
>>People on the beach, on the outer banks, used their hands and
>>shovels, trying to claw their way to Jones, a resident of
>>Woodbridge , VA , but could not reach him. It took rescue workers
>>using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him while about 200
>>people looked on. Jones was pronounced dead at a hospital.
>>
>> Fifth Place
>> Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed in Lompoc , CA , as h e fell
>>face-first th rough the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was
>>burglarizing. Death was caused when the long flashlight he had
>>placed in his mouth (to keep his hands free) rammed into the base
>>of his skull as he hit the floor.
>>
>>
>> Fourth Place
>> Sylvester Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed in Selbyville , Del , as
>>he won a bet with friends who said he would not put a revolver
>>loaded with four bullets into his mouth and pull the trigger.
>>
>> Third Place
>>
>> The following mind-boggling attempt at a crime spree in
>>Washington , DC appeared to be the robber's first (and last), due
>>to his lack of a previous record of violence, and his terminally
>>stupid choices:
>> 1. His target was H&J Leather & Firearms; A gun shop specializing
>>in handguns.
>> 2. The shop was full of customers - firearms customers.
>> 3. To enter the shop, the robber had to step around a marked
>>police patrol car parked at the front door.
>> 4. A uniformed officer was standing at the counter, having coffe
>>e before work. Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber
>>announced a hold-up, an d fired a few wild shots from a target
>>pistol.
>>
>> The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, the police
>>officer with a 9mm GLOCK 17, the clerk with a 50 DESERT EAGLE,
>>assisted by several customers who also drew their guns, several of
>>whom also drew and fired. The robber was pronounced dead at the
>>scene by Paramedics. Crime scene investigators located 47 expended
>>cartridge cases in the shop. The subsequent autopsy revealed 23
>>gunshot wounds. Ballistics identified rounds from 7 different
>>weapons. No one else was hurt in the exchange of fire.
>>
>> HONORABLE MENTION
>> Paul Stiller, 47, was hospitalized in Andover township, NJ, and
>>his wife Bonnie was also injured, when a quarter- stick of dynamite
>>blew up in their car. While driving a round at 2 AM, the bored
>>couple lit the dynamite and tried to toss it out the window to see
>>what would happen, but apparently failed to notice the window was
>>closed.
>>
>> RUNNER UP: TACOMA , WA .
>> Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several friends when one of
>>them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from the Tacoma
>>Narrows Bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more
>>heated and at least 10 men trooped along the walkway of the bridge
>>at 4:30 AM. Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge they
>>discovered that no one had brought a bungee rope.
>>
>> Bingham, who had continued drinking, volunteered and pointed out
>>that a coil of lineman's cable lay near by. One end of the cable
>>was secured around Bi ngham's leg and the other end was tied to the
>>bridge. His fall lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened and tore
>>his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived his fall into
>>the icy salt water and was rescued by two nearby fishermen. "All I
>>can say" said Bingham, is that God was watching out for me on that
>>night.
>>
>> There's just no other explanation for it." Bingham's foot was
>>never located.
>>
>> AND THE WINNER.
>> Overzealous zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt (Paderborn , Germany)
>>fed his constipated elephant Stefan 22 doses of animal laxative and
>>more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes before the plugged-
>>up pachyderm finally let it fly, and suffocated the keeper under
>>200 pounds of poop! Investigators say ill-fated Friedrich, 46, was
>>attempting to give the ailing elephant an olive oil enema when the
>>relieved beast unloaded on him. "The sheer force of the elephant's
>>unexpected defecation knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the groun d where he
>>struck his head on a rock and lay unconscious as the elephant
>>continued to evacuate his bowels on top of him" said flabbergasted
>>Paderborn police detective Erik Dern. With no one there to help
>>him, he lay under all that dung for at least an hour before a
>>watchman came along, and during that time he suffocated. It seems
>>to be just one of those freak accidents that proves... "****
>>happens."
