SYDNEY, Australia (AP) – A 14.5-foot crocodile mauled the chain saw that a worker was using to clear debris left by a tropical storm that lashed northern Australia.

The croc and worker were uninjured, but the saw’s woodcutting days are over.

On Friday, Freddy Buckland was cutting up a tree that fell against a crocodile enclosure at the Corroboree Park Tavern, 50 miles east of the northern port city of Darwin, when the crocodile, called Brutus, apparently took exception to the chain saw’s noise and attacked.

“As he was trimming up the tree on the outside the croc jumped out of the water and sped along the tree about 18, 20 feet and actually grabbed the chain saw out of his hands,” said Peter Shappert, the tavern’s owner.

“It must have been the noise … I don’t think he was actually trying to grab Freddy, but I’m not sure. He had a fair go at him … I think he just grabbed the first thing he could and it happened to be the chain saw,” Shappert added.

Neither Buckland nor Brutus were injured.

The saltwater crocodile appeared to like the snack.

“He chewed on the chain saw for about an hour-and-a-half, then we finally got it out,” Shappert said, adding that the saw was destroyed.

—

DYERSBURG, Tenn. (AP) – A trailer containing $100,000 worth of Red Bull energy drinks seemingly grew wings.

A truck driver reported last weekend that his 53-foot trailer containing 2,880 cases of the energy drink was stolen.

Geoffrey Winchester said he parked the truck on Old Highway 51. According to the Dyer County Sheriff’s Department, another truck must have pulled the trailer away from the truck and hauled off the load Sunday.

The truck’s window had been broken and its satellite tracking system disabled, making the thief’s flight untraceable. In its commercials, Red Bull claims that it “gives you wings!”

A trailer containing $100,000 worth of Kraft sauces also was stolen in Dyersburg on Monday, authorities said. The trailer was recovered by police in Ohio Monday night, but all the sauce was gone.

—

YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) – A 62-year-old retired schoolteacher is fighting with a cable company over a hefty bill for porn and gangsta rap programming she says she never ordered.

The charges of more than $1,000 appeared on Claudia Lee’s February Cablevision bill, shortly after she bundled her cable TV, computer and phone services.

“They are harassing me and trying to make me pay for something I didn’t do,” said Lee, who lives alone.

She said she has been forced to pay $779 to the company and was told to pay $652 more or face having her services cut off.

“Every time I call, somebody tells me something different. They’re not on the same page,” she said Thursday.

Cablevision spokesman Bill Powers said Lee may not have ordered the pay-per-view programming, but someone in her home did. Lee claimed someone pirated her connection. Powers said the company did not find theft of service.

On Friday, however, Cablevision issued a statement saying, “We are suspending these charges pending a full investigation and we are going to work with our customer to ensure that this matter is appropriately resolved.”

Lee said the only regular visitor to her house is her 81-year-old mother, “and I don’t think she wants to watch porn.”

—

ROSTOCK, Germany (AP) – A court ruled that stadium operators can claim damages from streakers at matches, a decision that could affect the World Cup.

The High Regional Court in Rostock ruled Friday in favor of local second-division club Hansa Rostock, which filed compensation claims against three streakers after being fined $24,800 by the German soccer federation, DFB.

The court ruled the club could seek full compensation for the fine against the trio, who had climbed over the fence and onto the field during an October 2003 match.

Judge Hans-Georg Eckert rejected their defense that the club had not provided sufficient security.

“If you are caught stealing, you can’t argue that the shop owner should have better protected his goods,” Eckert said.

During last year’s Confederations Cup, a dress rehearsal for the June 9-July 9 World Cup, streakers ran onto the field in several stadiums, angering organizers.

“The ruling is a signal to the World Cup organizing committee,” organizing committee spokesman Jens Grittner said. “If we are fined by FIFA because of streakers, we’ll take the judicial way.”

Hansa lawyer Gunnar Kempf said he had received backing from the DFB and the German League, which wanted a “deterring verdict” that would have bearing in all sports.

The ruling can be appealed to Germany’s highest appeals court.

AP-ES-04-29-06 0601EDT

Copy the Story Link