Scary odor keeps cropping up over Ohio

Smelly stuff

People who live near the TransCanada natural gas compression station near Defiance, Ohio, have been very concerned about odors in the area lately. So much so that the volunteer fire department in Tiffin Township has responded to five calls in the past 45 days of people reporting possible gas leaks. But that's never what it is. Turns out it is actually just a field of rotting radishes that were planted as a cover crop near the station. But the fire department comes out and checks it ... every time. And it takes about an hour, Chief Jamie Wonders reports, without a hint of agitation. Then a spokesman for TransCanada reported that the gas in the station is odorless, so if there is a leak, no one will ever smell it. This reassured everyone.

Police sniff out different crimes

Police in Montreal responded to a 911 call about a corpse in a suburban house on Monday night. When police arrived, there was no answer at the door, which in no way excludes the possibility of a corpse being inside. So police cautiously entered the residence, and immediately smelled an odor that let them know they were on to something. But it wasn't a corpse. It was a stash. There were about 500 marijuana plants growing in the basement, reports the Montreal Gazette. Police think the tip may have come from a drug-cultivating competitor. But they'll still take it.

Cash only

Leave home without AmEx to get crack

A man in Flint, Mich., was arrested after being robbed at gunpoint on Thursday night. The problem is, according to police reports, he says he was robbed after trying to buy crack cocaine. And he might have been successful in his transaction, except that he tried to buy crack cocaine with a credit card. Drug dealers almost never accept credit cards. The Flint Journal says that the man had also called police to report that a 2003 Chevy Malibu had been stolen, but police suspect that he was actually the guy who stole it.

Drunken driving

Do not drive away in our ambulance

Paramedics like to have a heads-up when an ambulance is about to start moving. And usually the team is well-coordinated enough that they don't have to worry about getting jolted while working on a patient. So imagine the surprise for paramedics in Mount Horeb, Wis., on Monday when they were in the back helping someone and the ambulance started moving. Turns out that a 24-year-old man thought it would be fun to drive around in circles in the parking lot. That they never left the parking lot was the good news. The bad news was that the man was drunk. Police managed to stop the vehicle and arrest the man.

Compiled from Times wire services and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster, who can be reached at jwebster@sptimes.com.