Weird News: Saving Pet Parrot, Arm-Rubbing Bandit and Are We Ready for Stinkbug Invasion?

Editor's Note: Patch has 31 sites in Virginia and D.C., and not a day goes by that something weird isn't happening somewhere in the area. Here's a look back at some weird goings-on over the past week.

Fire Truck Assists in Parrot Rescue

We’ve heard of the Alexandria Fire Department rescuing cats in trees, but birds of flight?

That’s just what happened recently in West End Alexandria.

On Sept. 14, an Animal Control officer as called out to the intersection of Holmes Run Parkway and South Jenkins Street after a parrot belonging to a nearby resident had flown into a nearby tree. The parrot landed some 40-feet up and near some power lines. It was higher than the parrot had ever flown before and it seemed scared to fly down.  

The officer did not have equipment that could reach the bird, so he contacted the fire supervisor for suggestions. Eventually, Ladder Truck 204 from Fire Station 208 arrived on the scene.

Positioning the ladder proved challenging because of the power lines, other trees and condition of the street. Once the ladder was extended, the officer couldn’t read the parrot with his longest net pole.

Ultimately, the officer used the net pole to shake the tree branch the parrot was sitting on and it flew down and landed on its owner’s shoulder.

A man thought to be wearing a fake mustache and a beard robbed a CVS Pharmacy in Manassas on Thursday morning.

It happened at 9:15 a.m. at the store at 9200 Centreville Rd. when the suspect handed the pharmacist a note demanding specific narcotics, Manassas Police reports show.

After he received the drugs he ran out of the store and toward Mathis Avenue.

Witnesses later told police they didn't think the mustache and beard on the man's face were real.

The suspect is believed to be the same person who robbed the store on April 7 and again on July 16.

Victim Attacked With Pepper Spray at Manassas Area Bank

Police are looking for a man with dreadlocks who used pepper spray to rob and injure someone at a local bank.

It happened Monday at noon at the BB&T Bank branch on Sudley Road, Prince William County investigators said.

The victim told police the suspect approached him from behind as he was leaving the bank after cashing a check.

The suspect tried to spray pepper spray in the victim's face, but missed. He then knocked the victim down and took his backpack, police said.

The suspect left the scene on a bicycle.

200 Cartons of Cigarettes Stolen from Yorkshire Business

A business owner in the Yorkshire area of Prince William County told police someone stole cash and other items, including hundreds of cartons of cigarettes from his store earlier this month.

The crime reportedly happened between 9 p.m. on Sept. 10 and 6 a.m. on Sept. 11 at the Yorkshire Service Center, located at 7522 Centreville Rd., Prince William Police reports show.

The burglar entered the business through a side window that was left open. Once inside, that person took a laptop, cash and 200 cartons of cigarettes.

The stolen goods are valued at about $15,000, police said.

No arrests have been made.

Residents were startled and Reston Parkway and Sunset Hills traffic was snarled on Tuesday when a power transformer suddenly exploded near the Carlton House Condos in Reston. The smoke reached about seven stories into the air at one point. The building was briefly evacuated and a Dominion Virginia Power employee suffered minor injuries.

Woman Wakes to Find Strange Man Rubbing Her Arm

An Arlington woman told police she awoke one morning this week to find a strange man rubbing her arm. The man ran away when she awoke. He remains on the loose. This is not related to a similar incident that happened earlier this month in Virginia Square, police said.

Police: Intoxicated Man Drives Into Arlington Fire Station

A drunk driver drove into an Arlington County fire station over the weekend, according to information police released Wednesday.

Yancy Carrera, 35, of Falls Church, was intoxicated when he drove his vehicle into the corner of Fire Station No. 9 at 1900 S. Walter Reed Drive, according to the Arlington County Police Department.

Carrera was not injured in the crash, which happened at about 4:05 a.m. Sunday, police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck told Patch. Sternbeck wasn't sure how fast the vehicle was traveling.

Stink Bug Population 'May Be Ready to Explode' - And We're Right at the Epicenter

An entomologist at the University of Maryland said, an usually large population of stink bugs may be headed into the east coast - in fact, we could be headed for an ‘explosion’ of the stinky little buggers. Lucky us. One Patch reader said she is already finding hundreds of them all over her porch, yard, and even in her house.