Man Puts Out Girlfriend's Cigarette with Fire Extinguisher

Man Puts Out Girlfriend's Cigarette with Fire Extinguisher

Angered by his girlfriend's smoking, a German man used a fire extinguisher to put out her cigarette. The apartment now looks like it snowed inside -- and boyfriend was hauled downtown.

Not the best way to put out a cigarette.

With smoking bans in effect across much of Germany these days, lighting up a cancer stick in a restaurant will, at the least, result in some nasty looks and a request to extinguish your cigarette. But even smoking at home can be rather dangerous.

Such is the lesson learned by a woman in the German city of Bielefeld on Sunday evening. She lit up in the apartment she shares with her 42-year-old boyfriend, only to see him flip out and begin cursing her. Not completely satisfied with his tirade, the boyfriend then grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed the entire apartment with the fine, white powder inside.

"He just sprayed it all over the flat," Bielefeld police spokesman Michael Waldhecker told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "With that kind of a fire extinguisher, it looks like it just snowed in the apartment. It's hellish to clean up."

Fearing for her safety, the girlfriend called the police. As the man continued firing off choice insults at his girl in the presence of the police, the officers took him to the station to calm him down.

"We didn't want the situation to escalate," Waldhecker said. But he said it is unlikely the man will be charged with anything. "It was his apartment and his fire extinguisher." And, he pointed out, the girlfriend was unharmed in the attack.

But the relationship may have suffered. While on the way to the station, the man told the cops that he might have to break up with his girlfriend if she refuses to quit smoking. If she doesn't extinguish the relationship's flame first, that is.