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Darwin Awards
2001 Honorable Mentions
Email a Friend The stupidity displayed by the participants in the following tales stops short of the ultimate Darwin Awards sacrifice. Nevertheless, we salute the spirit and innovation of their misadventures. Next Prev Random

The Sting
2001 Honorable Mention
Confirmed True by Darwin

"You won the lottery!"

California fugitives hoping to collect $1500 in lottery winnings walked into a police sting aimed at serving outstanding felony warrants. The "Fresno County Lottery Commission" sent 3200 letters, claiming to be distributing $78 million in excess lottery funds. The winners were instructed to present identification at the County Fairgrounds.

They arrived to find a balloon and streamer-festooned building, where they left their smiling relatives as one by one they were called into separate rooms to receive their surprise.

Uniformed officers were standing by to explain the hoax and arrest the befuddled fugitives. The operation served 81 felony warrants and 75 arrests, and a surveillance team arrested two men on suspicion of car burglary.

DarwinAwards.com © 1994 - 2009
Submitted by: Jerry, Carole
Reference: The Fresno Bee, and my Mom, who heard it several times on the radio.

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The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action

Hardback. 327 pages. Autographed.
$15
185 Stories! In the ongoing saga of Survival of the Fittest, meet the thief who steals electrical wires without shutting off the current! Marvel at the would-be pilot who suspends his lawnchair from helium balloons! Learn from the man who peers into a gas can using a cigarette lighter...!

This book also includes a History of the Darwin Awards, Darwin Haiku, and a dozen humorous discussions of the implications of evolution, including the origin of idiots, and the role of testosterone.

Autographed by Author!

 


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