Father’s alleged assault plan foiled by own kids

EVANS, Colorado: A man accused in a weekend break-in was nabbed when police say he ran into some unexpected guests — his own kids. Police say 33-year-old Raul Gaucin-Valenzuela accompanied a friend Saturday to break into the home of a friend’s ex-wife and beat up her new boyfriend. But the plan was foiled when the men ran into Gaucin-Valenzuela’s children, ages 8 and 11. Police say he didn’t realize the woman who lived there was baby-sitting his children. The kids recognized their dad, even though his face was covered by a bandanna. No one was hurt in the break-in. Gaucin-Valenzuela was jailed on suspicion of second-degree burglary and other charges. The friend hasn’t been located.

Swiss court fines speeding millionaire $290,000

ST. GALLEN, Switzerland: A Swiss court has slapped a wealthy speeder with a chalet-sized fine — a full $290,000. Judges at the cantonal court in St. Gallen, in eastern Switzerland, based the record-breaking fine on the speeder’s estimated wealth of over $20 million. A statement on the court’s website says the driver — a repeat offender — drove up to 35 mph (57 kph) faster than the 50-mph (80-kph) limit. Court clerk Heidi Baumann-Becker said Thursday the unidentified driver can appeal the decision to the Swiss Supreme Court. The Blick daily newspaper in Zurich reported the fine was more than twice the previous Swiss record of about $107,000.

Airline pickpocket strikes as passengers sleep

PARIS: French police are investigating whether a pickpocket stole thousands of euros from passengers as they slept on an Air France flight from Tokyo to Paris. “There is an investigation under way,” a spokesman for the border police at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris said when asked to confirm a report on the website of the Le Figaro. The paper said around $5,744 appeared to have been stolen from five business class passengers as they slept on the overnight flight. “On this flight, which takes off from Tokyo Narita at 10 p.m., passengers often sleep deeply before waking up shortly before arriving in Paris at around 4 a.m.,” Le Figaro quoted one of the alleged victims as saying. A woman alerted the cabin crew when she woke to find a large sum missing, the passenger said. “This lady called staff to say that all the cash in her handbag had been stolen. Counting Swiss francs, euros and yen, there was apparently about 3,000 euros,” the passenger said. A spokeswoman for Air France said the pilot had alerted police who were waiting when the flight touched down.

McDonald’s customer sought for throwing a McTantrum

KANSAS CITY: Police in Kansas City, Mo., are looking for a woman who went on a rampage at a McDonald’s because she didn’t like her hamburger. Police said the woman caused thousands of dollars in damage on Dec. 27 when she became upset that the restaurant wouldn’t refund her money. Employees had offered to replace her hamburger, but the woman refused and demanded her money back. Police released a video showing the woman throwing a sign and a bucket of water over the counter and pushing off a glass display case and three cash registers. She then cursed and fled.

— Compiled from agencies