‘A woman is in custody for child neglect this morning after mixing prescription medication with alcohol and leaving her 2-year-old child to fend for herself.
Neighbors saw Tiffany Garland’s daughter playing on the balcony and eating cigarette butts for at least four hours.
According to reports, Garland took the antidepressant Paxil and drank an unspecified amount of tequila.
The child was seen on the balcony a short time after and police were called.’
‘In my previous life as a fed agent I was often asked to assist with some “undercover” sting operations all over the Northeast US. One of the most memorable was a op in northern Maine. I was to play the brother-in-law of our source who’s co-worker had recently asked him if he knew of any good dealers of crack.
Long story short they brought me in to sell him crack. We met the “Client” as planned and you should have seen this kids eyes when I pulled out this giant bag of crack we had obtained from a previous bust. He looked like he was going to start crying, like he had just come to know Jesus or something… anyway he wanted to buy it all, every last gram of it, but he had only brought $150.00 bucks with him. I thought for a second and asked him if had his checkbook on him and he did. [..]’
‘The teen accused of masterminding a videotaped “animalistic” attack against a fellow teenage classmate is out on bond, and she has celebrity talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw to thank for it, according to a bail bondsman.
The bondsman told media gathered at a Polk County jail Friday that Dr. Phil posted Mercedes Nichols’ $30,000 bond.
When Nichols was released from jail, a man arrived and idenfitied himself as a Dr. Phil producer and ordered local media to leave the area because the Dr. Phil Show had exclusive rights to the story, according to reporters on scene.’
‘Have you ever put a case of water or something heavy under your shopping cart and then forgotten about it?
A Cleveland man did and it landed him in jail.
Tom Sturgis has a long receipt showing the $157.20 worth of two grocery carts full of groceries that he bought at a Brooklyn supermarket Saturday night. After going through the self checkout, Sturgis said he forgot a $4 case of pop under the cart.
A police officer working security at the store asked to see his receipt.
“I went looking for the receipt, the pop wasn’t on it and they decided to have me arrested,” he said. [..]
Sturgis, who said he has never had so much as a parking ticket, found himself being led out of the store in handcuffs. He spent 11:30 p.m. until 3 a.m. in jail that night.
At home, his wife said she couldn’t believe what was happening.’
‘According to reports, authorities in Belgium have seized documents, financial records and computer equipment form the local branch of the Church of Scientology (Church) and then sealed off the building.
The reports state that the Church in Belgium is being investigated for extortion and fraud for allegedly posting false job openings in newspapers and then attempting to get those who applied to join the Church. Several ex-members of the Church has also reportedly approached authorities with accusations of intimidation and extortion.
Police in Belgium have been investigating the Church for nearly ten years prior to this raid.
In a statement to the press, the Church says that the police “violated their fundamental rights” as a religious organization and accused the police of “malicious justice operations.” The Church plans to contest any charges filed against it. They also state that the postings were requests for volunteers and not employees.’
‘Detectives say a 43-year-old Palm Bay Woman trespassed into a home and attacked her estranged husband in the shower with a bar of unwrapped soap.
Palm Bay Police charged Cheryl Ann Lunderman was charged with battery and burglary to an occupied dwelling. [..]
Palm Bay Police said the man was home taking a shower about 9:30 p.m. on April 2 when Lunderman got into the residence, walked into the bathroom and struck him in the face with an unwrapped bar of soap.
The man’s right eye was bruised by the soap, investigators said. The couple had been married for over two decades when they separated, officials reported.’
‘A Bay Shore man was arrested Saturday morning after booby-trapping his apartment door with a crutch, an elastic cord and a large knife, Suffolk police said.
Eric Stetz, of Brook Avenue, was charged with reckless endangerment after the building superintendent discovered the ready-to-stab device while trying to open Stetz’s door Thursday, police said.
The superintendent and a Verizon agent had come to Stetz’s home for a visit the super had warned Stetz would be necessary, police said. When their knocks went unanswered — Stetz was not home — the super went to open the door, felt resistance and found the rigged contraption, police said. [..]
Stetz was not charged in connection with a similar booby trap installed on a bedroom door in the apartment, said Sgt. Kevin Beyrer of the Third Precinct.
Stetz’s mother, Freda Stetz, said her son had rigged the device with a steak knife to protect himself from squatters who had taken up residence in the building.’
‘Hundreds of police officers across South Australia caught using their work computers to illegally copy movie DVDs will escape prosecution.
The activity – strictly banned under federal copyright laws – was detected during an audit conducted by the information technology branch of SA Police.
Senior police, including Commissioner Mal Hyde, have been briefed on the extent of the problem.
An internal email to police management said the audit had “identified a number of instances where commercial DVD movies have been copied to the hard-drives of police computers which potentially had been burnt to blank DVDs”.
“This practice is potentially a breach of copyright and misuse of SAPOL equipment,” it said.’
‘A 12-year-old boy fatally slashed a man who was attacking his mother at the boarding house where they lived, authorities said.
Salomon Noubissie, 64, died at a hospital after he was slashed across the neck Monday night in the home in the Landover area.
Cpl. Diane Richardson, a spokeswoman for Prince George’s County police, said Wednesday that authorities hadn’t decided whether the boy would be charged with anything. They were reviewing the case with the state’s attorney’s office. [..]
The boy said he was not happy with what happened but felt he had no choice.’
‘A Mukilteo man has been sentenced to three years in a California prison for tricking 911 dispatchers into sending a SWAT team to the Orange County home of a randomly selected family.
Randal T. Ellis, 19, was sentenced Thursday in Orange County Superior Court after pleading guilty to felonies including false imprisonment by violence and falsely reporting a crime. He also was ordered to pay $14,765 in restitution, nearly all of it to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Ellis was arrested last year after hacking into a telephone network and impersonating a caller from a Lake Forest home, saying he had murdered someone in the house and was threatening to shoot others. The technique in which a prank call is made to 911 dispatchers is known among hackers as “SWATting.”
The Sheriff’s Department dispatched a SWAT team and surrounded the home with dozens of officers, dogs and a helicopter.’
‘Chicago Police say no one could make this story up…
18-year-old Ruben Zarate, entered a muffler shop in the 2600 block of North Laramie Avenue yesterday and declared a robbery. He allegedly waved a gun around and demanded money, according to police.
When he was told the money was in a safe and that the manager who knew how to open it was not there, the suspect had a brilliant idea; at least he thought it was brilliant.
He gave the shop employees his cell phone number and asked them to call him when the manager arrived so he could open the safe for him.
He left and the employees opted to call 911. Authorities stationed plain clothes officers in the shop and called the would-be robber back.
Zarate, showed up again, and waved his gun around again, but this time was shot in the leg by an officer.’
‘Two hoax ads on Craigslist cost a Jacksonville man thousands of dollars in property Saturday and could land the pranksters in jail on theft and burglary charges.
The classified ads popped up Saturday afternoon on the Web site saying the owner of a home in the 7900 block of Sterling Creek Road was forced to leave the area suddenly and that his belongings, including a horse, were free for the taking, said Jackson County sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Colin Fagan.
The only problem is that Robert Salisbury has no plans of leaving his home any time soon.
Salisbury, who works as an independent contractor, was at Emigrant Lake when he received a call from a woman had stopped by his house to claim his horse.
On his way home he stopped a truck loaded down with his work ladders, lawn mower and weed eater.’
‘You were the mugger/robber at Awkatukee theatres two nights ago.
I was the man who robbed you in return.
Did you honestly expect me to just hand over my wallet to you?
I’m a foot taller than you.
Did you honestly expect me to be scared of your kitchen knife?
I love how you peed yourself when I opened my trunk and cocked a shotgun in your face.
Did you honestly expect me to let you call my girlfriend a whore?
I used the money from your wallet to buy her some New Years lingerie.’
‘A German lorry driver escaped a rap for driving while using a mobile phone – after claiming he was using it as an ear warmer.
A court in Hamm accepted Walter Klein’s claims that he had been using the phone which was warm after being recharged to warm his ears.
It means he had not broken the law which says drivers can only make phone calls with a hands free set.
Klein, 43, told the court: “I had an earache and it was being made worse because the cab had not heated up yet – it takes a while on a big rig. [..]’
‘Grim tales of cannibalism highlighting the brutality of West Africa’s civil wars emerged in testimony Thursday at the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor.
art.taylor.afp.gi.jpg
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, left, sits in the International Criminal Court before testimony in January.
Joseph “Zigzag” Marzah, who described himself as Taylor’s chief of operations and head of the death squad before Taylor became president, said African peacekeepers and even United Nations personnel were killed and eaten on the battlefield by Taylor’s militiamen.
Prosecutors described Marzah as a key witness with inside knowledge of the former Liberian president’s operations in Liberia and neighboring Sierra Leone, where he is accused of responsibility for the widespread murder, rape and amputations committed by soldiers loyal to him.’
‘A Portland teen has been charged with stealing a pet bunny and trying to extort money from the bunny’s owner.
The 17-year old, who’s being held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center, is accused of breaking into another teen’s apartment and stealing the gray pygmy rabbit. Police say he then telephoned the rabbit’s owner demanding repayment of a $100 debt or else the rabbit would be hurt.
Police Lt. Tony Ward says officers recovered the rabbit in good condition. They charged the 17-year-old with burglary and theft in connection with the break-in.
The juvenile is also charged with robbery, assault and terrorizing following a confrontation last Friday in which he allegedly stole another teen’s skateboard, backpack and pocket money.’
‘Kamloops RCMP say a wanted man was arrested after accidentally spraying himself in the face with bear spray while fleeing officers.
The Mounties pulled over a suspicious vehicle Tuesday and the 20-year-old suspect fled on foot. He sprayed himself while trying to discard the can of bear-repellent pepper spray.
Police say the man is a prolific offender facing charges of fleeing police, possession of stolen property and breach of probation.
The man, whom police didn’t name, is being held in police custody and will be appearing in court today.
Paramedics were called to the arrest scene to treat the self-inflicted injuries to the man’s face.’
‘A Macedonian court has convicted a bear of theft and damage for stealing honey from a beekeeper who fought off the attacks with thumping “turbo-folk” music.
“I tried to distract the bear with lights and music because I heard bears are afraid of that,” Zoran Kiseloski told top-selling daily Dnevnik after the year-long case of the bear versus the beekeeper ended in the beekeeper’s favour.
“So I bought a generator, lit up the area and put on songs of (Serbian ‘turbo-folk’ star) Ceca.”
The bear stayed away for a few weeks, but came back when the generator ran out of power and the music fell silent, Kiseloski said, adding, “it attacked the beehives again”.
A court in the city of Bitola found the bear guilty, and since it had no owner and belonged to a protected species, ordered the state to pay the 140,000 denars ($3696) damage it caused to the hives.’
‘A man who gave a loaded gun to his suicidal friend to “snap her out of it” and then watched in shock as she killed herself was sentenced Friday to up to five years in prison for his role in her death. [..]
He wiped away tears throughout his sentencing, then apologized to Choquette’s family and his own.
“My deepest condolences and most heartfelt apologies,” he said haltingly, often trailing off to regain his composure. “I had a much better speech, apology, if you want, but that’s really all I can get through at this point.” [..]
When she threatened suicide, he said he tried “calling her bluff” by retrieving and loading a 9mm Beretta he had purchased from her late father. Choquette lifted it to her head and killed herself just a few feet away from him.
He told police her last words were: “I’m going to do it, and you’re going to watch.”‘
‘An Indiana father has been jailed for allegedly forcing his 7-year-old daughter to kill the family’s cat.
The cat, named Boots, was stabbed to death last Sunday.
According to the arrest affidavit, Daniel Collins said he wanted his children to “learn how to kill.”
Police said Collins gave his son the knife first, but the 11-year-old boy hid the cat and put ketchup on the knife to simulate blood.
They said that when the father realized the cat was still alive, he forced the knife into his daughter’s hand and made her stab the cat.
Police said Collins finally stabbed and strangled the cat himself and had his son throw the carcass in the trash.’
‘Tehran’s police chief, Reza Zarei, has been arrested after he was found nude in a local brothel with six naked prostitutes, according to report on the Iranian Farda News.
Farda News is a website said to be close to the mayor of Tehran and former chief of the police forces, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf.
Following the raid, Zarei stepped down from his post as police chief. The news of his arrest however was not reported by any official Iranian news agency.
According to a popular Iranian website Gooya, the order to raid the brothel was given directly by Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, chief of the judicial authorities.’
‘Britain’s biggest teachers’ union has accused the Ministry of Defence of breaking the law over a lesson plan drawn up to teach pupils about the Iraq war. The National Union of Teachers claims it breaches the 1996 Education Act, which aims to ensure all political issues are treated in a balanced way.
Teachers will threaten to boycott military involvement in schools at the union’s annual conference next weekend, claiming the lesson plan is a “propaganda” exercise and makes no mention of any civilian casualties as a result of the war.
They believe the instructions, designed for use during classroom discussions in general studies or personal, social and health education (PSE) lessons, are arguably an attempt to rewrite the history of the Iraq invasion just as the world prepares to mark its fifth anniversary.’
‘Having failed to stop piracy by suing internet users, the music industry is for the first time seriously considering a file sharing surcharge that internet service providers would collect from users. [..]
“It’s monetizing the anarchy,” says Peter Jenner, head of the International Music Manager’s Forum, who plans to join Griffin on the panel.
Griffin’s idea is to collect a fee from internet service providers — something like $5 per user per month — and put it into a pool that would be used to compensate songwriters, performers, publishers and music labels. A collecting agency would divvy up the money according to artists’ popularity on P2P sites, just as ASCAP and BMI pay songwriters for broadcasts and live performances of their work.’
‘Ethiopia’s national bank has been told to inspect all the gold in its vaults to determine its authenticity.
It follows the discovery that some of the “gold” it had bought for millions of dollars was gold-plated steel.
The first hint that something was wrong reportedly came when the Ethiopian central bank exported a consignment of gold bars to South Africa.
The South Africans sent them back, complaining that they had been sold gilded steel.
An investigation revealed that the bank had bought a consignment of fake gold from a supplier, who is now under arrest.
Other arrests followed, including business associates of the main accused; national bank officials; and chemists from the Geological Survey of Ethiopia, whose job it is to assay the bank’s purchases of gold and certify that they are real.’
‘A man beat and slashed his mother because he feared she would have him arrested for taking her computer, then read the Bible to her as he watched her die, state police said.
Jesse James Campbell told friends that he wanted to kill his mother, Cindy Jo Coleman, because she demanded that he return a computer he stole from her by 8 a.m. Thursday, police said.
Campbell went to his mother’s home before the deadline, grabbed a five-pound plastic weight and hit Coleman repeatedly in the face with it, police said. He also choked his mother and then grabbed a steak knife and stabbed her, police said.
Campbell later told his girlfriend things “got messy” when he confronted his mother about the computer and that he read his mother the Bible as she lay dying, police said.’
‘Authorities are still trying to figure out what prompted 28-year-old Kevin Lininger to run naked up and down South Shawnee Street near Aurora today.
“He didn’t demonstrate any signs of alcohol or drug use,” said Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson.
After getting reports from neighbors of a man running completely naked at about 7:30 a.m., deputies went to Lininger’s apartment at 5241 S. Shawnee St.
He was dressed and refused to talk, the sheriff said.
But at the police station, he let his urine do the talking. [..]’
‘For law enforcement, fear and the politics of fear have entwined to create a radical new paradigm. Even the term “law enforcement” has been rendered quaint by the Bush administration. These days, the term of art is “lawfare” — the confluence of police work and military tactics. With Joint Terrorism Task Forces set up across the country to coordinate the work of federal agencies and local cops, the FBI now devotes nearly two-thirds of its resources — some $4 billion — to waging war on terrorism. The approach today is not the traditional police work of investigating actual crimes but the far more slippery goal of preventing terrorist attacks before they occur.
To hear the Bush administration tell it, the JTTFs have been an unqualified success. [..]
But a closer inspection of the cases brought by JTTFs reveals that most of the prosecutions had one thing in common: The defendants posed little if any demonstrable threat to anyone or anything. According to a study by the Center on Law and Security at the New York University School of Law, only ten percent of the 619 “terrorist” cases brought by the federal government have resulted in convictions on “terrorism-related” charges — a category so broad as to be meaningless. In the past year, none of the convictions involved jihadist terror plots targeting America. “The government releases selective figures,” says Karen Greenberg, director of the center. “They have never even defined ‘terrorism.’ They keep us in the dark over statistics.”‘
‘A baker who put abortion tablets into his wife’s breakfast to try to make her lose their baby has been jailed.
Gil Magira, 36, crushed the tablets into his 38-year-old wife Anat Abraham’s sandwich, a bowl of cereal and a yoghurt, the Old Bailey was told.
Mrs Abraham suffered pain and bleeding but the child survived unharmed.
Magira, of Holmebrook Drive, Hendon, north London, admitted “using an instrument to procure a miscarriage” – the first such charge in 30 years. [..]
His wife said she feared for her life – and that of the child – when she realised what he had done.
“What made it worse was how desperate and determined he was to try to kill the baby that I already felt moving inside me,” she said.’
‘A man has admitted trying to have sex with a goat – but believed he wouldn’t get caught because “animals couldn’t talk”.
New Zealand’s Rangiora District Court was told the pensioner, who managed to protect his identity, took the goat round the back of his farm and tried to commit a sex act with it.
The court was told that there were complications – and according to reports, “he did up his trousers, patted the goat and walked off”.
A police spokeswoman said: “He was contrite, but said he was unable to stop the behaviour.”‘
