Remember the Tiger That Walked Into a Bar...

By Emily Stone and David MacLean

OMG PD is on vacation this week, so we've rounded up some of our favorite bizarre crimes of the winter to look back at for old time's sake.

There's got to be a cougar joke in here somewhere...

The owner of the Big Run Wolf Ranch in Lockport, was charged with reckless conduct and possession of a dangerous animal after prosecutors say he "brought a tiger restrained only by a leash and unmuzzled into a bar open to the public with patrons inside."

Police were tipped off by username “stuffwestole”

A Northbrook mother, father and daughter have been charged with a multi-state “shopping odyssey” that involved a skirt that could hide stolen goods and resulted in more than $7 million in stolen merchandise that prosecutors say they then sold on eBay over the last decade.

Wait! Wait a minute, Mr. Postman!

A female Wilmette resident who was upset at her mail carrier chased him down in the street with a shovel because he wouldn’t give her someone else’s mail, police said   

Oops, your doppelganger is much wealthier

Police say a woman pulled into a Joliet parking lot and was changing out of her work clothes when there was a rap on her driver's side window. The woman rolled down her window and the knocker stuck a gun in her face and demanded her money. The woman gave the bandit $2, told him it was all she had and started to cry. She also showed him her empty wallet.

The gunman then returned the woman’s $2, apologized and told her he thought she was someone else before taking off.

Objects in mirror may be angrier than they appear

A man punched the hood of a 2008 Mercedes-Benz in Evanston and damaged the mirror.

Rock, paper, ambulance

A playful slap game between two Niles coworkers resulted in one punching the other one in the face with enough force to send him to the hospital. After an initial investigation, neither party wanted to press charges. 

If only they'd gone to Sunny Day Saloon

A 45-year-old woman was charged with battery after a fight at Stormy's Tavern, where police say she fought two women who came to the bar to speak with her.

All work and no play makes Jack a crank caller

The Glenview police dispatch reported receiving multiple calls from a man who continued yelling foul language and playing audio loops from a movie into the phone.

A textbook example of going from bad to worse

A 20-year-old man was taken into custody at Lake Forest College for possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia, police said. Because he had a cut from an earlier fight, he was turned over to paramedics to take him to the hospital. However, on the way there police say he jumped out of the moving ambulance and ran away, damaging a heart monitor in the process.

He was later found after police say he stole a snowplow and drove by several officers with the blade stuck in the down position. He then abandoned the plow after being unable to raise the blade and police found him hiding inside a vehicle that he had broken into.

Floor-lorn

A Glenview resident told police that a week after they did a final walk through on a home they were buying, the discovered that someone had removed all of the hardwood floors. The estimated loss is $5,000.

And on the third day, everyone just stayed very far away

Libertyville police arrested a 20-year-old man on Feb. 20 for DUI. The next day, a former friend lodged a complaint against the same man, saying the man had punched the friend in the head while the friend was at his house. The man was arrested for battery.