Bill Gibson of Burtonsville, Md., drives an iconic vehicle: a custom-built 1966 replica of the Batmobile, complete with rocket launchers, jet flames and a bat phone, worth $175,000. So he wasn't about to stand by and let a criminal escape on May 15, when a hit-and-run driver smashed into his prized car on Route 28 in Silver Spring. "I don't know what the guy was thinking," Gibson told Fox 5. "He must have been going about 60 ... and just slammed into the right rear corner." When the driver failed to pull over, Gibson dialed 911 and gave chase, eventually pulling into a church parking lot, where the driver agreed to give Gibson his insurance information without getting the police involved. Gibson estimates repairs will cost around $7,000.

The litigious society

Jim and Jen (who asked that their last names be withheld) of Ontario decided in 2011 they would be done having children after their twins were born that year. Jen's doctor was supposed to perform a tubal ligation after delivering the babies, but 10 months later, she found herself pregnant again. "I was floored," she told CTV News. "I couldn't imagine having a newborn again." But in February 2013, their fourth child was born, and later that year, Jen and Jim sued their hospital and doctors for $800,000 for wrongful pregnancy. The case is expected to go to trial in spring 2020. It's "not that we don't love her. ... She is everything and more, but it still doesn't mitigate the fact that there are pragmatic costs to raising a child," Jen said. The hospital investigated and uncovered a chain of miscommunication regarding the tubal ligation — compounded by not letting Jen know the procedure had not been done. "If a man got a woman pregnant, he would have to pay child support, right?" said Jim. Lawyers for the doctors deny that Jen and Jim have suffered any damages.

Fashion statement

You either love 'em or hate 'em, but if you're going to be mocked for your fashion sense, Crocs' newest style doubles your chances. Developed as part of a collaboration with Japanese streetwear company Beams, the new Crocs sport tiny fanny packs attached to the ankle straps, reported CBS News. The $53 shoes come in teal and purple, and the miniature backpacks are big enough for keys, a credit card and a few dollars — along with what's left of your dignity.

Or you could just walk

Officials in the southern Spanish town of Estepona were forced to close a 125-foot steel slide linking two streets to save folks from a 10-minute walk when people suffered injuries riding down it, Sky News reported on May 13. One woman posted photos of her bruised and scraped elbows, saying her rear end suffered worse. The town council argued that it provides instructions about how to safely use the slide, but closed the conveyance for fresh safety inspections. Local residents said the 28,000-euro slide was a "vanity project" for the mayor.

Tattoo preservation

Michael and Kyle Sherwood, father-and-son funeral directors in Cleveland, have opened a niche business: Save My Ink Forever, which preserves the tattoos of people who have died as a memorial for their loved ones. The idea for the 2-year-old company came about after a "semi-serious" discussion with a friend about preserving tattoos, according to BBC News. "So we started doing some research and blended a few techniques together," Kyle Sherwood said, to develop a technique for long-term preservation of excised skin art. The company works with funeral homes in the United States, U.K. and Canada, where the tattoos are surgically removed, then sent to a lab for preservation before being mounted and framed behind UV-protected glass. "People put urns on their mantel and to me, my tattoos are more meaningful than an urn on the mantel," Sherwood said.

News of the Weird is compiled by the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication. Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.