Firefighters freed a Fond du Lac man Tuesday after he got his hand stuck in a car while retrieving a Snickers candy bar.

At 12:19 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters and police were called to the area of Western Avenue and South Brooke Street to rescue Earr Stokes, 20.

His cousin, Tyrone Williams, said he and Stokes took the car to a business at 222 Brooke St. to get a tire changed.

"He happened to look in the gas tank. There was chocolate in there. (Stokes) tried to get it out. He started picking it out with his hand and his hand got stuck," Williams said.

Williams said someone removed the Snickers bar from the wrapper and jammed it in the tank.

"It was just chocolate. Chocolate and peanuts," Williams said.

"He's hurting," Williams added while glancing over at his cousin who was attempting to pry his hand out of the tank with the help of firefighters.

Capt. Tony Knecht said firefighters resorted to cutting the filler pipe. Firefighters were then able to access the backside of the gas tank opening to release Stokes' fingers.

"He got some abrasions on his finger," Knecht said. "It's nothing serious."

Firefighters wrapped Stokes in a blanket and placed a jacket on him as a cutting machine was used on the car.

"The only concern was the possibility of a spark with the fuel tank," Knecht said.

One firefighter kneeled nearby with a fire hose in case the rescue went awry.

After being freed, Stokes slowly walked into a nearby ambulance where emergency personnel helped remove the pipe.

***The best quote "The only concern was the possibility of a spark with the fuel tank," Capt. Tony Knecht said.

A Wisconsin man became angry over his wife wanting a separation and now could spend three years in prison for putting water in her car’s gas tank.

Dino Spinelli reportedly did $12,000 worth of damage to a car worth $6,000. He has reportedly apologized for the incident but still had to make a court appearance in Waukesha County this week on a charge of felony criminal damage to property.

St. Croix County Circuit Judge Eric J. Lundell has filed a $1,432 claim against the city of Hudson for damage done to a family car when it hit a pothole in Coulee Road last January.

In the written claim filed with the city on Feb. 23, Lundell said his stepson was driving the 2004 Audi when it hit a “very deep” pothole in front of the Associated Bank building on the morning of Jan. 25.

Even though only one tire was damaged beyond repair by the pothole, all four of the car’s tires needed to be replaced so they would have the same rolling radius and circumference, the judge said.

The bill for the replacement tires came to $1,272, Lundell reported, and it cost another $159 to repair the car’s tie rod ends.

“We are not making any claim for loss of use or inconvenience,” Lundell wrote. “We simply want the city or its insurance carrier to pay us $1,432.68, the combined total for the two invoices.”

He said the potholes on Coulee Road appeared between Christmas and New Year’s Eve of 2010.

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***LESSON: I need to start filing claims for pothole damage to my vehicle.

DOH!

The owners of a company that sold worthless "auto service contracts" to thousands of Wisconsin consumers have agreed to not do that again here or in 10 other states.

The company went bankrupt last spring and has been the target of investigations for at least the past two years.

Darain and Corey Atkinson, the former owners of bankrupt U.S. Fidelis, are also required to turn over assets to the bankruptcy court, according to the state Department of Justice, which sued the company last April and announced a settlement Monday.

U.S. Fidelis, known as National Auto Warranty Services and Dealer Services, sold overpriced contracts for up to $4,000 to more than 400,000 consumers nationwide — including 6,700 in Wisconsin. The Atkinsons are accused of pocketing $101 million in corporate assets.