Remember when Looie the Lookout was stolen + we all kinda thought it was a joke but… it wasn’t?

In honor of April Fools’ Day, we’ve rounded up some bizarre stories that made Chattanoogans do a double take.

⚾ Let’s start with Looie. Almost a year ago to the day, the Chattanooga Lookouts’ official mascot, Looie the Lookout, was stolen from the ballpark (thanks to the timing, some people really thought it was an April Fools’ Day prank). Thankfully, the beloved mascot wasn’t gone for long — but the story only gets goofier:

“Looie was found less than 150 yards away from the stadium just before 5 a.m. He had been thrown on the side of the road in the pouring rain. A maintenance worker with the Aquarium was out in the area and saw a big red head soaking wet and quickly realized what it was.”

The young man who was suspected of stealing Looie declared after the whole ordeal had been meme-ified that he was “done with hoodrat [stuff].”

🍗 Oh, and we can’t forget the local who sued Popeyes. Seriously.

Back in 2019, during the heat of the “chicken sandwich war,” an East Ridge resident sued the restaurant chain for running out of its popular chicken sandwich. Specifically, he sued for “false advertising, deceptive business practices by entity to public. Countless time wasted driving to and from Popeyes. No chicken sandwich. Was told to come back this day — still no sandwich."

He also told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that, “I can't get happy; I have this sandwich on my mind. I can't think straight… it just consumes you.”

📋 Last but not least, the UTC professor who went viral for trolling his students.

In December, Professor Kenyon Wilson made a post on Facebook about a “semester-long experiment” in which he placed $50 in a locker, included the locker number + combination in his class syllabus, and waited to see how many, if any, students in his 70-person class would read it.

Spoiler alert: the treasure was left unclaimed, and his post blew up. If this be anything, let it be a sign to students — read the syllabus.