Police become lumberjacks

[BaseLine]

What goes up...


Police become lumberjacks

OSLO, Norway (AP) - What began as a car chase ended with the suspect clinging to the top of a tree as axe-wielding police practised their lumberjack skills at the bottom.

The incident, which made national news in Norway on Thursday, began when police tried to stop a car near the southern Norway town of Valdres in the early hours of Tuesday.

Instead of stopping, the suspect hit the gas and drove off with police in hot pursuit, newspaper Ringerikes Blad reported.

The car suddenly screeched to a halt, and the suspect, identified only as a 23-year-old Moroccan man, ran into the forest, climbing to the top of a pine tree.

"The police tried everything they could to get him to come down from the tree, but nothing helped," Erik Bergan, a police spokesman, told the newspaper.

Lacking other ideas, the officers got an axe from their patrol car and started to chop down the tree.

The suspect, realizing that his perch was in danger, then leaped through the air to the top of another, much smaller tree, which began to sway from his weight, the reports said.

Undeterred, the police began to swing their axe on that tree, until the suspect decided it was better to climb down than fall down, and surrendered.

Bergan said it wasn't clear why the man fled in the first place, and that police were checking his identity to see if he was in Norway legally.

Source: CNews (http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2005/01/20/904914-ap.html)

[DRD2001]

I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay, I sleep all night and I work all day.
Chorus: He's a lumberjack and he's okay, He sleeps all night and he works all day.
I cut down trees, I eat my lunch, I go to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays I go shopping And have buttered scones for tea.
Mounties: He cuts down trees, he eats his lunch, He goes to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays he goes shopping And has buttered scones for tea.
Chorus: He's a lumberjack and he's okay, He sleeps all night and he works all day.
I cut down trees, I skip and jump, I like to press wild flowers.
I put on women's clothing, And hang around in bars.
Mounties: He cuts down trees, he skips and jumps, He likes to press wild flowers.
He puts on women's clothing, And hangs around in bars.
Chorus: He's a lumberjack and he's okay, He sleeps all night and he works all day.
I cut down trees, I wear high heels, Suspendies and a bra.
I wish I'd been a girlie, Just like my dear pappa.
Mounties: He cuts down trees, he wears high heels? Suspendies...and a bra?
...he's a lumberjack and he's okay, He sleeps all night and he works all day.
...he's a lumberjack and he's OKAAAAAAAAAAYYY. He sleeps all night and he works all day.

[Antrobus]

That ditty came to mind for me too when I saw the title of the thread!!