Hapless Tourist’s Typo Takes Him 8,000 Miles in Wrong Direction

Think you know where you're going on your next vacation? Better check that destination city before you hop on the plane, something one hapless tourist learned the hard way.

A 21-year-old German man trying to purchase an online ticket to visit his girlfriend in Sydney, Australia, accidentally misspelled the destination city. The minor typo earned him a ticket to Sidney, Montana, instead, over 8,000 miles away, Reuters reported.

Tobi Gutt left Germany dressed in his summer best, ready to hit the beaches in the warm Australian weather. Instead of spotting the sun as he disembarked, Gutt noticed something was amiss as he was ushered to board a commuter flight in bitter cold Billings, Mont., to take him to the small oil town of Sidney.

"I did wonder, but I didn't want to say anything," Gutt told Bild newspaper. "I thought to myself, you can fly to Australia via the United States."

Left on the wrong continent, without his girlfriend and with only a thin jacket in the winter cold, Gutt spent three days in the airport before he could buy a replacement ticket to Australia with money sent from family and friends in Germany.

How Much is That Doggie on the Bar Stool?

One German man desperate for a few swigs of his favorite lager decided to sell the most valuable thing he had available ... his step-daughter's pet beagle.

The unemployed fellow set out to take the 6-year-old girl's four-legged friend for a quick walk, but then the call of the local pub stopped him along the way, Reuters reported.

He convinced the bar owner that the doggie was worth $53, which bought him enough money to quench his thirst for the afternoon. The bar owner later returned the dog.

One Man's Commode, Another Rat's Abode

One Oregon man's trip to the toilet gave his household some unexpected excitement as soon as he lifted the lid.

As Lee Rich opened the toilet seat, a 10-inch long rat, dripping with sewage, came shooting out of the bowl and darted into an open cabinet where the family stores their bath towels, Salem's Statesman Journal reported.

"That thing just came screaming out of there," said Rich, 66, a retiree.

He trapped the rodent in a plastic coffee can and sealed it with tape. He then put the can in the freezer to kill the rat.

Salem takes 10 to 15 complaints each year from residents about rats in their sewer pipes, said Public Works spokesman Mike Gotterba.

City workers put rat poison in a manhole near Rich's home and promised to put more bait at the location if they needed to.

Thanks to Out There reader Andrea W.

Too Drunk to Drive? Local PD at Your Service!

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (AP) — People too tipsy to drive on New Year's Eve are being offered a free ride home — by the sheriff.

According to Sheriff Tom Reichert, he won't just be providing a service to partygoers.

"This really helps our department, because it keeps people that would be at risk off the road," he said, "and that's really a goal of ours through the holiday season."

Plans call for the sheriff and a member of the Wood County Tavern League to provide rides for those from rural areas that don't have taxi service.

Tom Vruwink lent a minivan from his dealership, allowing for more people to get a lift from the sheriff if they need it.

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch ... or Gift Card

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Knoxville Fire Department investigators used a ruse of their own to nab a man suspected of making a series of bogus emergency calls on his cell phone.

After receiving a false report of a gas leak on Dec. 14, firefighters compared notes.

They confirmed 15 fake 911 calls over a two-month period, including four house fires, six car crashes and various other medical emergencies. All came from the same cell phone.

So they called the number and left a message saying the phone's owner had won a gift card from a major retailer, Fire Capt. Brent Seymour said.

Within an hour, Seymour received a call back from a man identifying himself as the phone's owner. "He willingly gave his name and address," Seymour said. "I told him I would be sending that gift card."

But that wasn't quick enough to suit the man. He wanted the gift card in time for Christmas. So the investigators set up a meeting for that evening.

Seymour said he waited only a few minutes in a business parking lot before suspect Jason Mark Harms arrived on foot, identified himself as the gift card recipient and was arrested.

Seymour said Harms' first words were, "You can't prove it."

But General Sessions Judge Charles Cerny found the evidence strong enough Wednesday to send 15 felony counts of making false reports against Harms to a Knox County grand jury.

Harms, 29, told authorities he thought he was doing taxpayers a favor by drawing otherwise lazy firefighters out of their cozy fire halls, according to court papers.

'Um ... I Stole a Car, and Now I Need Directions'

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — A carjacking suspect called 911 and turned himself in to police after he crashed a stolen sport utility vehicle twice and got lost while fleeing the crime scene, authorities said.

Claude King, 31, called police from a Palm Springs pay phone and confessed to stealing the SUV on Tuesday night, The Palm Beach Post reported.

"Um, I committed a crime," he told the police dispatcher. "I stole a vehicle."

He asked for officers to respond to his location, but when the dispatcher asked where the vehicle was, King didn't have an answer.

"I couldn't even tell you," he said. "I don't even know where I'm at."

Boca Raton police found King waiting on a curb. He was being held without bail in the Palm Beach County Jail.

Compiled by FOXNews.com's Hannah Sentenac.

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