Beauty-School Beatdown

A stick-up man tried to rob a Louisiana beauty school — and ended up getting an extremely nasty makeover.

Cops say Jared Gipson, 24, entered Blalock's Beauty College (search) in Shreveport at noon Tuesday and announced a robbery.

"I thought it was someone just playing, but then I saw that big old gun," manager Dianne Mitchell told The Times of Shreveport. "He said, 'Get down, big mama.'"

The masked robber ordered the people in the room — 18 to 20 students and teachers — to lie on the floor, leading some to think they were going to be killed.

"You'll be the first to go," he allegedly growled to one crying woman.

After collecting everyone's money, the gunman pushed the school's sole male employee, Abram Bishop, toward the back of the room — but then turned and began to run out the door.

That's when Mitchell stuck out her leg. The robber tripped over it, dropped the gun and slammed into a wall.

Bishop immediately jumped on his back, forcing the stick-up man down to the floor.

"Get that sucker!" yelled Mitchell, and the dozen and a half women present grabbed whatever they could get their hands on — curling irons, chairs, a table leg — and piled on.

"They just whooped the hell out of him," said school owner Sharon Blalock.

Crying in pain, bleeding and having soiled his pants, the gunman tried to crawl away, but the angry women held on to his legs and kept hitting him until police arrived.

Gipson was charged with armed robbery and taken to LSU Hospital (search) in a neck brace, having suffered multiple lacerations. No one else was seriously hurt.

"He got what he deserved," said student Renae Collier.

Gipson's gun turned out to be unloaded.

"He walked into the wrong place at the wrong time," one police officer told KTBS-TV of Shreveport.

"You can tell any prospective students: Blalock's Beauty College has got your back," said Mitchell.

— Thanks to Out There readers Denise B., Kori G., Ellen W. and Allen P.

Boozing Bear's Boorish Behavior

DUNBAR, W.Va. (AP) — Larry Gaynor and his brother had to cut their latest fishing trip short after a black bear ate their food and guzzled their beer.

Gaynor, 67, and his brother, Billy Bob Gaynor, 53, were camping at Summit Lake (search) near Richwood on Friday when the bear wandered into their campsite at about 9 p.m.

Hearing a noise, they looked outside their tent and saw the bear with its mouth clamped on their cooler. Larry Gaynor said the bear dragged the cooler 30 yards into the woods and flung it against a tree, scattering a case of Coors Light.

"He only drank three cans," Larry he said. "He would've drank all of them if it would've been Budweiser."

Billy Bob Gaynor said the bear ate all of their food, so they returned to Dunbar the next day.

— Thanks to Out There reader Charlene H.

Dog Gets Own Leash-Law Summons

NEWTON, Mass. (AP) — They say every dog has his day. But in court?

A golden retriever named Murphy has received a summons to appear in court in Newton, Mass., to answer a complaint that he was being walked without a leash and was not up to date on his license.

Actually, it wasn't Murphy but his owner, Steven Dean, who was supposed to get the summons. But since Murphy is also a common human name, the animal control officer apparently got confused and sent the complaint to the dog.

Dean tells the Boston Herald that he doesn't see how Murphy will be able to come up with the $50 fine.

Magistrate Henry Schultz says as far as he can remember, Murphy will be his first canine defendant.

— Thanks to Out There reader Jay W.

Officer Loses Gun in Ladies' Room

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) — A sheriff's department officer is red-faced and in hot water after leaving her gun in a Binghamton courthouse bathroom.

The Broome County Sheriff's Department (search) corrections officer removed her 40-caliber Glock pistol while using the facilities. But she left the weapon behind when she left the rest room.

The gun was found by a civilian who alerted a courthouse security officer.

Sheriff David Harder told a Binghamton radio station the corrections officer was without her weapon for "less than five minutes."

Harder said an investigation into the incident is being conducted. In the meantime, the officer has been taken off the courthouse detail and assigned to jail duty.

The sheriff said he'll review the case before deciding what other disciplinary action is appropriate. He said the officer was "very upset" over the gun blunder.

Woman Selling Husband's Coffin

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — It won't be death that parts them, so Dixie Fisher is trying to sell the casket her soon-to-be ex-husband planned to use when he dies.

Fisher placed a classified ad in the newspaper last week hoping to sell the steel casket the couple kept in their garage.

"Marriage died before husband did," read the ad in The Columbus Dispatch.

Fisher and David Budd, who are divorcing, bought the gray casket a year ago from a friend who works at a metal salvage business. Budd said he agreed Fisher should sell the casket.

"There wasn't anybody in it, and it looked like it had never been used," Fisher said.

Fisher plans to be cremated, but the couple thought the casket would come in handy for Budd.

"I told my husband that, if nothing else, it was a good investment for the future," Fisher said.

Budd said having his own casket in the garage never bothered him.

"When it's my time to go, it's my time to go," he said.

The couple also said they have a taste for the macabre: Married on Halloween in 1997, they had a party the next day featuring bride-and-groom skeleton decorations.

Fisher is asking $980 for the casket.

"I'm really pressed for money, and I'm hoping I can use some of it for attorney fees," she said.

Compiled by FOXNews.com's Paul Wagenseil.

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