The skinny: It pays to know exactly who you're robbing

Law & order

It pays to know exactly who you're robbing

The above photo shows what can happen in the wake of a mugging. According to the Chicago Tribune, police there say that Anthony Miranda went up to a car and asked the driver for a light. When he said he didn't have one, Miranda pulled a gun and informed him it was a robbery. The driver complied, and Miranda ordered the man out of the car. It is at this point that it is pertinent to reveal that the above photo is of Miranda. The man he ordered out of the car, unidentified in police reports, was a mixed-martial arts fighter. The driver subdued Miranda, who shot himself in the foot during the altercation, then held him until police arrived. The facial bruising isn't specifically addressed in the police report. He probably slipped.

Hours later, extent of assault is clear

In the heat of an exciting moment, it can be easy to lose track of the details. Such was the case in an altercation outside a convenience store in Huntsville, Ala. By all accounts, it was an ugly incident about 2 a.m. Sunday. A 16-year-old says he was approached by several people. He was punched. He fell to the ground. He heard gunshots. Luckily, friends gathered him up, got him in a car and got him out of there. About 15 hours later, he realized something that had escaped his notice: One of those gunshots he heard? It hit him in the shoulder. He was treated and released, reports the Huntsville Times.

Interwebs

Colleges acquire porn domains

There is a potentially lucrative new world of Internet domain names, and businesses are racing to claim their names, followed by .xxx. Apparently, this brand of Web site will specialize in pornographic material, as the rumor is that "xxx" bears some meaning in that world. Who knew? Interestingly, universities were among the first to claim the addresses. Chicago State, for instance, grabbed csu.xxx and chicagostateuniversity.xxx, according to the Chicago Tribune. Schools say they have no real plan to maintain a porn site, but that they are pre-emptively preventing anyone else from sullying their prestige.

Odor eaters

Not even close to new car smell

Margarita Salais of New Baltimore, Mich., bought a used 2006 Ford Explorer from a car dealer in March. Everything was going great with it until a few months later when Michigan started to thaw out. Then the car started smelling. And the warmer Michigan got, the worse Salais' vehicle smelled, the Detroit News reports. She took it to the dealer, who said that it smelled like a dead animal. She got the insurance company involved, and their investigation confirmed there had been a dead animal in the car, and that it was a human animal. She asked the dealer to buy the car back, but it resisted. So lawyers are involved.

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