Man robs gas station but forgets to fill up

A 23-year old Englewood East man who allegedly robbed a gas station Sunday was eventually corralled by police after his getaway car ran out of...wait for it...gas.  HeraldTribune.com reports that David Eric Hampton pulled a 12-inch Bowie knife on a clerk at a Cape Haze BP station, demanded money, and then took off.  Meanwhile, a customer called 911 and followed Hampton's vehicle till it disappeared.

After some clothing belonging to the suspect was spotted -- according to a Charlotte County Sheriff's Office press release -- deputies, a K-9 and a helicopter were pressed into action. A newspaper carrier told the K-9 officer that a car resembling Hampton's had run out of gas nearby.  Deputies checked the tag and, indeed, it was registered to Hampton.  Subsequently, he was spotted behind a nearby house, arrested, and charged with robbery with a weapon and loitering/prowling.  (Image:  Charolotte County Sheriff's Office)

Does that count as a vegetable?

When a 2-year-old student at a Port Charlotte preschool needed something to eat, two teachers went to her lunch box to find a snack. They discovered something else in a zippered pouch - a stash of marijuana, according to Local6.com. Charlotte County Sheriff's officials were attempting to determine who was responsible for the drug because the girl, whose parents are divorced, had two lunches.

Missing ex-Marine camps out in 'spiderhole'

A disabled Iraq war veteran missing from his aunt's Charlotte County home since Feb. 3, and believed to be dodging phantom enemies in a flashback to the war, apparently dug an underground "spiderhole" for sleeping in a remote part of Port Charlotte, the Charlotte Sun-Herald reports. Authorites found remnants food from McDonald's and Publix as well as as "cat hole" or toilet dug in the ground downwind from the sleeping area, and an unused fire pit in a makeshift campsite. "He's a survivor," said a retired Army sergeant who is helping with the hunt for the disabled former Marine.

High on cocaine, he lost his Cadillac

A man walked into the Slip Knot bar in Punta Gorda Thursday night but couldn't remember leaving, the Charlotte Sun-Herald reports. His black Cadillac was gone, he told Charlotte County sheriff's deputies, and so was some of his jewelry. The man told deputies he couldn't remember what happened because he was high on cocaine. Someone dropped him off at his home in Port Charlotte. A woman he knew told him he had given her permission to use his car. He got the car back but not the jewelry, which authorities think might have been used to buy drugs. He told deputies he was afraid of getting in trouble with his wife.

Detectives pose as drug buyers on myspace.com

Detectives in Charlotte County posed as drug buyers on myspace.com, arranged for a purchase and met the dealer, the Charlotte Sun-Herald reports. When the undercover vehicles drove up with the emergency lights on, the driver decided to skidaddle, accelerated and collided with an unmarked police car. That triggered a chase, during which the suspect driver tossed marijuana out of the car. Cops eventually captured three suspects -- the driver, a 17-year-old girl, and two passengers, a 20-year-old who's nickname is Hell Dog and a 23-year-old man. Detectives also found a backpack with a scale, Ziploc baggies and marijuana residue. They also recovered the 81 grams of tossed marijuana.