ODDS AND ENDS: Job candidate steals Star Wars droid and other offbeat offerings

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We’ve heard of people going to great lengths to try to get a job, but this might take the cake.

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A Central Florida man was booked after police said he posed as a Walt Disney World cast member and took an R2-D2 droid, in the hopes that he’d get a job as a security guard.

David Proudfoot, 44, of Kissimmee, is facing a grand theft charge and a charge of obstruction by false information, according to an arrest affidavit.

It happened at the Swan Reserve Hotel. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said on May 31, deputies were called by Disney security.

When they arrived, they made contact with Proudfoot, who they say was wearing beige work pants, an orange work vest, and a Disney name tag. He reportedly identified himself as David Rodgers at first and said he worked in the receiving division of the Yacht Club Resort.

Proudfood reportedly drew suspicion when he looked confused while trying to move the droid on a cart.

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Proudfoot reportedly admitted to moving the R2-D2 droid from the third floor of the hotel to an “unknown location” because he had an application for a security job pending at Walt Disney World and wanted to “show weaknesses in the security of the resorts in the hope of securing a better paying job at WDW,” the report said.

Proudfoot reportedly told police he never intended to take anything off the property.

CHILEAN GETS HUGE OVERPAY, TAKES OFF

A Chilean man got the ultimate payday, and then he reportedly fled.

The man, who was not identified, was employed at Consorcio Industrial de Alimentos (Cial), which makes cold cuts. His paycheque was usually for $500,000 Chilean pesos (around $691 CDN) which was directly deposited into his account.

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But for a pay period in May 30, somehow he was given a cheque worth about $228,000 CDN, according to Diario Financiero, a Chilean newspaper.

The man told the company about the overpayment and was then told to go to his bank to return the extra cash. He did go the next day, according to the bank, but did return the money.

Apparently he went missing for three days and then the company received a message from a lawyer saying the man was resigning.

Cial followed up by filing a complaint accusing the man of misappropriation of funds, but the man cannot be found.

CHUG, CHUG, CHUG

A New York man’s triumphant burp echoed throughout a building after he set a Guinness World Record by chugging a litre of Mountain Dew in 6.8 seconds.

Eric “Badlands” Booker, of Long Island, did the deed on YouTube, before the big belch.

But he wasn’t done. Booker then downed a litre of tomato sauce in 18.45 seconds, setting another record.

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Booker is a competitive eater and has also set the Guinness World Record for fastest time to drink two litres of soda.  He did that in 18.45 seconds.

PUT HER IN THE HALL OF SHAME

There are screwups and then there are epic screwups.

An Australian mayor’s alleged exploits belong in the latter category.

Redland City Mayor Karen Williams admitted to drinking “several glasses of wine” before crashing her car into a tree last week, according to reports.

What made it worse was the crash happened just an hour after Williams had met with the families of drunk driving victims.

The country has one of the world’s highest rates of car accidents caused by drunk driving, behind only the United States, Canada and South Africa, according to the Global Status Report on Road Safety by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015. Alcohol consumption is the key factor in 30% of road accident deaths in Australia.

Williams said she made “a serious error of judgment” and was “deeply regretful” after her drunk driving crash. She stepped down from the Brisbane Olympics 2032 board, but resisted calls for her resignation and was not charged.

Shortly before the accident, Williams had declared, “We need to clean up the drunk driving,” according to Seven News.