Too Dumb for Words

Is this for real?

• Craig Lancaster wanted to prove that Chicago Police officers are treated the same as others when they break the law, Cook County prosecutors said.

  So in a drunken argument with a friend last summer, prosecutors said, the 41-year-old veteran officer shot a gun in the air outside an Ashburn bowling alley where he also worked security -- and waited.

  Within minutes, Lancaster appeared to have won the debate when officers arrived on the scene and arrested him. He was charged with two counts of reckless discharge of a firearm.

And it gets stranger:

• Earlier this week, Christian Sanchez, a former Bluebird Lanes receptionist, testified how he and Lancaster started discussing "how different police officers and civilians are treated in an unlawful situation" in the early morning hours on June 13, 2009.

  The bowling alley was closed for the night when both men started drinking beer, Sanchez said. After arguing for five minutes, Sanchez said he followed Lancaster in an alley and saw the officer fire his weapon before the gun jammed.

  Lancaster unjammed the gun and both men went inside, Sanchez said. Soon, officers arrived. Sanchez also was arrested for possession of cannabis.

And he was acquitted? Firing a gun in city limits to win a bet? A bet with a pothead?

This is about the stupidest story we've heard in a long time that didn't involve someone losing a limb in a traffic stunt.