Runaway juror

A 20-year-old juror in a felony shooting case had to go before the judge herself after skipping deliberations to take a vacation to Cancun, Mexico.

Ivana Samardzic admitted she knew it was wrong to leave town, but said she'd saved a long time from her part-time job to pay for the nine-day family vacation to Mexico, and she wasn't going to miss it, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

After she disappeared, she did call the court clerk from the airport to say she had left her vote with the jury foreman.

Samardzic faced a stint in jail, but caught a break when the judge only fined her $300.

"I don't know if this was worth it, but I did have a good time in Cancun," Samardzic said after the contempt hearing.

The defendant in the gun trial, Spartacus Outlaw, and his lawyer agreed to proceed without Samardzic, saving the expense and delay of a mistrial. The jurors convicted Outlaw of being a felon with a gun, but couldn't reach a verdict on the charge of first-degree reckless injury with a dangerous weapon.

The missing juror's brother, Bojan Samardzic, told the judge, "I guess it's just one of those situations where, you know, [expletive] happens."

Big mistake, Bigfoot

A 44-year-old Montana man was killed after he was struck by two cars while trying to impersonate Bigfoot.

Montana state police said Randy Lee Tenley, 44, was wearing a military-style camouflage "ghillie suit" in hopes of creating a Bigfoot hoax.

Tenley was struck after police said he darted onto the highway at 10:30 at night. Police are waiting to get toxicology reports to see whether Tenley had been drinking.

Montana Highway Patrol Lt. Col. Butch Huseby told the Los Angeles Times: "This is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. Really."

On second thought

A New Mexico inmate escaped his jail cell by breaking a window bar with a razor blade and a Popsicle stick but changed his mind once he got outside.

Carlos Garcia told police it took about five months to break the bar on his cell window. He also used plastic, newspaper and more Popsicle sticks to fashion a fake window.

The Hobbs News-Sun reports that Garcia changed his mind and climbed back into his second-story cell using a bedsheet.

Garcia is serving time for two murder convictions and other crimes.