Some of the world’s most celebrated discoveries occur through sheer providential chance. Fleming had his petri dish. Vincente Arriaga had a box of Tuna Helper. Arriaga, a grocery clerk on the west side, was stocking shelves last week when a robber shot him in the chest. The bullet hit the Tuna Helper he was holding and Arriaga suffered only a small flesh wound, proving what consumers had previously only suspected.
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Detective William Facchini credits the bullet itself–a .22 short, “just about the weakest bullet you can get”–and its path through the box. “It struck the corner of the box of Tuna Helper, which is, you know, where the folds of the box are, the strongest part of the box,” he explains. “It went through the foil and the noodles and went through the other corner, and it deformed the bullet enough and took the velocity off enough that when it struck [Arriaga] in the sternum it just lodged in the sternum, and what could’ve been a mortal wound, he was just treated and released.”
Product: Frozen Turkey
Quantity Required: 3-4
Theory: “Probably two to three gallons of milk, the same way as the pumpkins. It’s a .22 short, and in liquid that has a tendency to mushroom, so it would slow it down even more. So three gallons of milk you’d be safe, or strap that turkey to your front and you’ve got a vest.”
