VANCOUVER, Wash. — 'Twas the month before Christmas and all James Craig Wilson wanted was to spread some holiday cheer by stringing up the family's outdoor Christmas lights.

But his efforts landed him in jail after a series of mishaps with the lights caused him to grab his .45-caliber pistol and begin firing into the ground in his backyard.

Wilson apparently became upset when he found the lights were tangled, the result, he claims, of his wife balling them up and tossing them in the garage after last Christmas. Wilson further lost his cool when he tried to unroll the string of lights in his driveway, only to have his daughter return home and drive over them.

Wilson went into the house and began pacing, he told authorities. Then, in an attempt to dispel his anger, he decided to discharge his gun, according to police. He told his wife not to be alarmed and then sent his daughter across the street to tell a reserve deputy who lives there that he was firing in his backyard to let off steam.

Within minutes, five deputies arrived and arrested him for reckless endangerment.

"'Twas just a bad day before Christmas," his wife told authorities.

LAKEWOOD, Ohio — A pizza manager thought she had cooked up the perfect idea for getting some publicity in the company newsletter, but wound up in jail instead.

Kimberly Hericks, 36, was arrested after her boss at Donata's Pizza discovered 400 rotting pizzas in her garage. Police are still investigating but say that Herrick's eccentric obsession to appear in the company's newsletter for increasing the store's pizza sales caused her to order the pizzas herself.

Hericks is accused of stealing more than $38,000 from the national franchise and then forging documents and damaging the company's computer system to cover it up. Police say Hericks also wrote $3,000 in checks on a closed account in attempts to make restitution to the store's owner, who found the pizzas when he went to Herick's house to help her move.

Hericks established fake store accounts for Lakewood and Fairview hospitals and the Rocky River school district between May and August 2001. She then told fellow employees that she would deliver the pizzas to the hospitals and schools herself so that she could maintain a rapport with the customers, according to Kim Kowalski, a spokeswoman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutors office. To fool her co-workers even further, Hericks later sent flowers to herself with a thank-you note from Lakewood Hospital, Kowalski said.

A recent audit determined that the restaurant was short $38,326. Police say Hericks did not benefit financially and that her sole purpose for the scheme was to get her name in the company's newsletter.

Hericks was indicted on charges of theft, forgery, uttering, vandalism and passing bad checks. She faces a maximum of five years in prison if convicted. She will be arraigned Dec. 17.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A dog may be many men's best friend, but not Nandor C. Santho's. At least not after Santho's dog helped turn him in to police in what may be the biggest drug bust in Delaware County history.

On Thanksgiving Day, police received a 911 call that sounded like a woman in trouble. They traced the call to Santho's cellular phone and within minutes arrived at Santho's home, where house guest Randell Hackworth let them in.

Officers found no emergency, but a walk-through of the basement uncovered a small greenhouse equipped with motorized tracks under a complex array of lights. On the tracks lay 150 marijuana plants.

Santho, 46, arrived shortly after, having been hunting with his dog. Upon seeing his house surrounded by police, Santho tried to escape in his truck, but was quickly surrounded and apprehended. Santho was charged with illegal manufacturing of drugs, while Hackworth, 27, was charged with drug possession.

The police, initially stumped as to who made the 911 call, soon turned their attention to the front passenger seat of Santho's truck. There sat Santho's dog with his tongue hanging out. Underneath him lay the cellphone. Police believe the dog stepped on the phone, pressing the speed-dial button set for 911.

Hear the 911 call at The Smoking Gun

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — Workers at fast food establishments in Broward and Palm Beach counties were on a state of high alert Monday for men who order coffee.

Police say several doughnut shops and a Burger King have been victimized in recent weeks by the burglar who orders and then hurls hot coffee at the cashiers before grabbing wads of cash from the open register. Stunned workers and customers can do nothing but watch as the coffee-wielding bandit, believed to be in his 20s, runs off gleefully.

According to one 16-year-old Dunkin' Donuts worker, the man was friendly and made small talk before ordering a large coffee and crumb doughnut. Once the coffee was handed over, the worker said, the man wasted no time in removing the lid and flinging the hot liquid on his face.

No one has been seriously injured in the attacks.

Police say at least six businesses have been robbed and as much as $200 have been stolen at one time. Authorities have assure citizens that these incidents will not cause any unjust profiling and urge people to continue with their normal coffee-drinking.