Paul Goudy learned the hard way that a man's toupee is a sacred thing.

The 25-year-old Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty Sept. 13 to snatching another man's hairpiece as part of a bet.

Dauphin County Assistant Prosecutor Adam Klein said Goudy and his friend, Matthew Flinchbaugh, 26, were having drinks in a bar on Jan. 1 when Flinchbaugh offered Goudy $100 to take another patron's toupee.

Goudy allegedly ran up to the victim, Edward Floyd, grabbed his toupee and ran out of the bar.

A former high school classmate at the bar recognized Goudy and later confirmed his identity through a yearbook picture.

Klein said Goudy initially denied the incident but confessed when police countered with a possible robbery charge.

Goudy pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of theft by unlawful taking. He was sentenced to 23 months probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine. Flinchbaugh still faces solicitation of theft charges. The two men were ordered to pay $475 for the damaged hairpiece.

But the two friends still have another matter to settle.

"Goudy never got paid in full for the bet. Flinchbaugh still owes him $75," Klein said.

An Ohio man is looking at 18 months in jail because of his unique brand of flash photography.

Stephen Linnen pleaded guilty to exposing himself to women and taking pictures of their startled expressions.

According to Assistant Prosecutor Christian Domis, the 34-year-old man began taking his candid shots in February 2002 in Columbus. Linnen allegedly outfitted himself in a hat, a pair of dark sunglasses and a trench coat. He then approached women, opened his coat and photographed his victims' shocked faces.

Linnen, a former lawyer, was apprehended in November 2003 when one of his victims fought back and grabbed his trench coat. The woman alerted police who arrested Linnen and found a camera in his possession.

A search of Linnen's home uncovered pictures of other women he had ambushed. Domis said police matched the pictures to previous complaints filed by 40 other women in the Columbus area.

The flasher-photographer was charged with 53 counts of public indecency, sexual imposition and aggravated trespassing, and was facing a possible 15-year jail sentence. He pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal that reduced his sentence to 18 months.

Linnen will be sentenced on Sept. 27. A judge will then determine if he should register as a sexual offender.

Anthony Gallagher was upset about having to pay for his many parking violations, so he decided to reimburse himself by issuing fake ones to unsuspecting drivers.

Police in Madison, Wis., say Gallagher, 23, managed to collect about $500 before they put a stop to his scheme.

According to Madison Police Sergeant Mark Brown who headed the investigation, the former University of Wisconsin student was in it not only for the easy money but also had a vendetta.

"He had received a lot of tickets from us and was a little upset."

Gallagher allegedly used a computer and one of the offending parking tickets to carry out the crime.

Police say he blanked out his information, scanned the ticket and altered the content, and included a return address to a postal box he had set up. He then placed tickets on cars around the university campus.

Gallagher's operation ran into trouble when one of his victims approached Sgt. Brown to complain about getting a ticket.

Brown noticed that the mailing address on the ticket was different, that the license plate number was entered incorrectly, and that information about the make and model of the car was missing. Also unusual was the font used to print the ticket.

An investigation led police to Gallagher who was apprehended at the computer he used to manufacture the tickets. He was attempting to delete evidence at the time of the arrest, Brown said.

"We caught him right at the beginning. He was already getting sophisticated and could have easily made thousands of dollars," Brown said.

Gallagher pleaded guilty to obstruction charges and was ordered to pay restitution.

Stupid Crimes & Misdemeanors , a weekly feature of Courttv.com, is reported by Tinuola Awopetu

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