Couple Mugged During Dumpster Divin' "Intimate Moment" | Wichita Eagle (14 Sept, 2009)

Stan Finger of the Wichita Eagle reported on Sept. 14, 2009 that at 6pm in the evening, a "man and woman decided to give the phrase 'Dumpster diving' a new twist over the weekend": the couple (a 44 year-old man and his lover) was, however, interrupted by muggers while the two were having, as the local police phrased it, "an intimate moment" in the dumpster. The two were threatened with a pocket knife by "'a 59-year-old man and his 64-year-old companion," who got away with "shoes, jewelry and the 44-year-old man's wallet," but the muggers were apprehended soon after, and the police recovered the stolen goods.

Stan Finger wrote a follow up story for the Wichita Eagle four days later, providing more details to the perpetrators' motivations: "A man David [an employee at the Four Aces Smoke and Liquor store] described as 'a regular customer' had been flirting with a 44-year-old woman all day Saturday. But she persistently rebuffed his advances. When he saw her cozying up to another man and then leave with him, the guy 'got jealous,' David said. 'I guess he didn't get the attention he wanted.' Police say that man recruited a companion and went looking for the lovers, finding them in a Dumpster behind the liquor store." David said he wasn't particularly surprised by the events: "It's pretty crazy out here." David implied that the police were able to find the muggers so quickly because "All the cops know all these people pretty well."

The story got national attention as the piece was picked up by the AP and became fodder for Jay Leno (and Rush Limbaugh, too).