For sale: one tire, slightly used

We're sure you remember the nearly three-hour police chase and standoff in Pasadena and southeast Houston last Friday, right? Well, a couple of Pasadena police cars were damaged in the chase, and a couple of local men have come up with a unique way to help the Pasadena police department raise money for the repairs: They're selling a tire that flew off the suspect's car on eBay.

Don Bauer and Keith Palmer had watched the chase on TV and decided to retrace the route taken by Kenneth Ray Pool as he tried to outrun the cops. Near Fairmont Parkway and the Beltway, they found a souvenir: a tire that apparently came off Pool's truck when Pool went the wrong way through a freeway U-turn, then up a concrete embankment. The tire was the same make and model as Pool's tires, and it even had one of the spike strips police used to try to stop the truck lodged in it. Bauer and Palmerr took the tire home, unsure what to do with it; a couple days later, inspiration struck.

Bauer wondered, "If people could put up a piece of toast that looks like Jesus and a Cheeto that looks like J, why not sell a tire on eBay?"

And so the tire ended up on eBay. The listing features a description of the tire, a Uniroyal LT 285 / 75R16, and a surprisingly complete photo gallery. Bauer set the starting bid at $25, and it's already going for close to $200. (If you're in the market for this kind of thing, there's still time to get it: The auction doesn't end until Aug. 5.)

Bauer said all the money from the sale of the tire will be donated to the Pasadena police department, and the cops said they'll be happy to get it: It's not clear yet how much repairing the damaged cruisers will cost, but they will likely both be totaled, and replacing them would cost about $60,000. On the tire's eBay listing, Bauer encourages everyone to "bid generously," and he even gives you a little droll humor: "Interestingly enough, this tire is a Uniroyal 'Liberator.' It did not liberate this driver." You'll be glad to know you don't have to pay for that joke.

(Speaking of the Jesus toast, no one's bid yet and the auction's ending this afternoon. Make your move now!)