Driver Tossed Coffee Cups on Their Lawn for 3 Years

The first one must have seemed like a minor annoyance. Somebody tossed an empty coffee cup from McDonald's on the lawn of Edward and Cheryl Patton of Lake View, NY. But as the Buffalo News explains, the minor nuisance became an almost daily occurrence over the next three years. The same vehicle would drive by, usually after sunset, and toss a cup on the lawn, sometimes with a cigarette butt or two inside. Edward Patton, 80, set up security cameras and bought binoculars, but he could never get the license plate or a clear view of the driver. Finally, neighbors spotted the SUV in the act, followed, and got a plate number. Then police set up a stakeout of sorts and pulled over 76-year-old Larry Pope.

As it turns out, Cheryl Patton, also 76, used to work with Pope at Fisher Bus Service in Hamburg and described him as a "nemesis" because of issues involving her role as a union officer. "I found it very hard to believe that someone I knew would do something like that, especially at his age," she tells the News. Her husband says he is "flabbergasted." Pope has been charged with second-degree harassment and depositing trash on a highway, per the Hamburg Sun. He hung up on a News reporter when asked for comment. Lake View is about 15 miles south of Buffalo, on Lake Erie. (More weird crimes stories.)