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CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS — A chef wielding a sushi knife foiled the attempted armed robbery of a Japanese restaurant last month.

Champaign police said 23-year-old Clayton Dial entered the restaurant, pulled a pistol from his waistband, and ordered the hostess to hand over the money in the cash register.

Sushi chef Tetsuji Miwa grabbed a sushi knife and confronted Dial. “He saw the blade, got scared, and started running,” Miwa said.

In the parking lot, Miwa and two other employees scuffled with Dial, took away his weapon, and held him until police arrived. The pistol turned out to be a pellet gun.

Miwa said flashing the sushi knife was only a bluff, because a good sushi knife is expensive, and he would never risk damaging it.

DUBLIN, IRELAND — An abandoned tunnel used in the 1800s by members of the Irish Parliament to visit nearby pubs and brothels collapsed this month, creating a sinkhole in a downtown street.

The long-rumored tunnel led from a bank building that once was the Irish House of Commons to an old cellar across the street. Allegedly, politicians used the tunnel to make clandestine trips while Parliament was in session.

The collapse created a six-foot-deep sinkhole in the middle of Dame Street, a major Dublin thoroughfare. The tunnel and cellar were filled in with concrete.

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY — A woman forced her way into a Lexington home and attempted to strangle the occupant with a bra, but was subdued when struck on the head with a ceramic chicken.

Patricia Leece, 61, told police she heard loud knocking at her front door and thought it was her granddaughter. Instead, 31-year-old Ashley Sies forced her way into the home, pounced on Leece, and wrapped a bra around her neck.

“She choked me, and we fought for a good 15 to 20 minutes,” said Leece. “Finally, I saw one of my (ceramic) chickens on the floor, so I picked it up and started bashing her on the head with it.”

When the intruder fell unconscious, Leece called 911.

Police said Sies apparently was on drugs when the incident occurred. Sies pleaded not guilty to first degree burglary charges and was jailed in lieu of $10,000 bond.