Ugh. I realized when I read your corrections that I had a couple of
typos in there over and above the mistakes. Thanks, Alan.
The use of the present tense is pretty common in American English when
someone is talking about something that happened in the past. It is
very often seen in jokes: "This guy walks into a bar......" It is also
fairly common in casual speech when talking about the exploits of a
third party.
Grace