Weird Iowa: Teacher Charged with Sexual Abuse, Walmart Worker Arrested, and Walmart Employees Mistakenly Help Alleged Thief

This is just weird: all of this week's Weird Iowa tidbits come from the police blotter. No quirky weddings, or pet stories, or offbeat happenings.

So, here is a roundup of police items from around the state's Patch sites.

A 24-year-old Ames man charged with public intoxication after riding a cart down Chamberlain Street allegedly moved on to bigger wheels after being released from the Story County Jail. Brandon J. Bowman first attracted a police officer's attention while dumping an open bottle of beer near the Kum & Go gas station, authorities said. He then jumped on a Kum & Go cart and rode it down the middle of Chamberlain Street. He was charted with public intoxcation, taken to jail and then released. Following his release from jail that morning, Bowman allegedly stole two cars and damaged both of them.

A 35-year-old Des Moines woman is accused of stealing at least $10,000 from the Ankeny Walmart where she worked for the past six years. Metheeny Saychareun, 35, was charged with first-degree theft for allegedly stealing cash from the store through fraudulent transactions and taking cash from storage areas during the course of her employment, police said.

West Des Moines police officers investigating a theft should look for a suspect with a sparkly diamond engagement ring who isn't sweating. Ashleigh Dowell of Des Moines was playing softball at the Raccoon River Softball fields, took off her $900 engagement ring, stuck it in a bag and returned to find it missing. Also taken: her deodorant.

An Urbandale Middle School teacher had sex with a 13-year-old student on three occasions and on three occasions with a 14-year-old former student, according to West Des Moines police. Benjamin Joseph Hoffman, 23, of West Des Moines, faces 11 charges of sex abuse, one count of sexual exploitation by a school employee and two counts of providing alcohol to a minor. The sex acts occurred on June 3, June 10, July 3.