Today's roundup of odd news includes reasons why not to keep an alligator in your basement or flee police on horseback, and other unusual happenings from the crime beat:

Bizarre blotter: Alligators in basements, fleeing police on horseback and other unusual crimes

Department of bad ideas: Keeping an alligator in a crate in your basementPaul Coombs, center, in court on Wednesday.A Michigan man who apparently had a thing for alligators, pit bulls and pot - though he only used the pot for medical reasons, he says - is now making his way through the court system. Responding to a tip in October, officers found a whole slew of bad ideas at the residence of 28-year-old Paul Coombs. He had four pit bulls, ...

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