The Stupid Crimes & Misdemeanors Thread

[TexasStooge]

Man arrested after alleged roadside strip show

CRAWFORD COUNTY, Kansas (Court TV) - It's unclear exactly how low Samuel Becker's pants dropped or the number of shirt buttons that came undone, but when witnesses called to report an alleged strip show taking place in the streets, police were there to put a stop to it. However, the Kansas man is facing a slew of charges unrelated to public disrobing.

At about 11 p.m. on May 30, Pittsburg police received a call from a driver that Becker, 21, was standing in the middle of an intersection and was taking off his clothes. The caller also reported that Becker had previously been driving erratically and had attempted to run the caller's car off the road.

"The extent of exactly what clothing was removed is unknown," Major Brent Narges said, only elaborating that officers arriving at the scene observed that Becker was not completely naked.

Becker jumped into his car and led police on a short chase through five blocks, after which he abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot, eluding officers. He allegedly ran into a nearby residence and asked the owner for a ride to his home. The frightened man allowed Becker to remain in his house while he snuck out to a Wal-Mart parking lot to contact police.

Narges said a search of Becker's car turned up an opened container of alcohol and personal information that eventually led officers to the suspect's home, where he surrendered without incident.

Becker was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, criminal trespass, fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, having an open container in a vehicle, and for traffic violations. He is in the Crawford County Jail on $9,000 bond.

[TexasStooge]

Caped Uptown Pizza Crusader Comes To The Rescue

MINNEAPOLLIS, Minn. (WCCO CBS 4) - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman and Luke Pie Rocker?

All of the above have done their part to rid the world of criminals and Luke Pie Rocker is Minnesota's own.

Luke Pie Rocker, a pizza delivery guy in costume in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, spends most of his time tooling around town, making pizza deliveries in his little electric car.

Tuesday night, Luke Pie Rocker became at least one woman's superhero, as he came to the rescue of a robbery victim screaming for help.

"I was leaving a delivery and there was a woman screaming at someone to drop the purse," said Galactic Pizza's Cameron Evans, known as Luke Pie Rocker on his night job.

It was Terry Skarman. She was walking home from work at the Wedge Co-op when a robber snuck up and grabbed her purse. When the robber took off with Skarman's purse, the superhero sprung into action.

"I was getting into my gizmo and realized what I should do and I dropped my pizza bag and went running after," said Evans.

So Luke Pie Rocker and two other men chased the robber. They got to him and got Skarman's purse back.

And if you were wondering what a "gizmo" was, Evans explains.

"This is a gizmo, they all have names, I believe this is frank," said Evans as he showed off his tiny electric vehicle.

Dressing up is just a part of his quirky job.

"I have my sateen short shorts which provide speed and light reflection. The tights are just for professionalism. Oh the cape's just there so I look good," said Evans.

Evans attributes his speed to his getup.

"I probably wouldn't have been able to move nearly as quickly if I weren't in my full superhero gear," said Evans.

[TexasStooge]

Yorktown writer says assault was accident

YORKTOWN, England (The Journal News) — A romance novelist charged with felony assault said she accidentally knocked her husband out after hurling a telephone book at his head during an argument.

Emily Hanlon-Tarasov, author of "Petersburg," a best seller in England, said she threw the phone book in a fit of anger, then called 911 after her husband fell to the floor and lay unconscious for several minutes.

"I threw the book, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would hit him," Hanlon said of the incident, which occurred in their Chapman Road home Monday morning, just two weeks shy of their 40th anniversary.

"A few things began flying at the wall, and one of them was a telephone book," her husband Ned Tarasov said yesterday. "And unfortunately my head moved into the space that the book was flying."

Yorktown police charged the 61-year-old writer with second-degree assault, despite her husband pleading with them to throw the case out.

[TexasStooge]

Police: 'Multitude of violations' for students driving to school on lawn mowers

PLEASANT HILL, Ore. (Court TV/AP) — Graduating seniors at Pleasant Hill High School were in no rush to get to school for their final day.

About a dozen of them drove to school Wednesday on riding mowers, forcing traffic on Highway 58 to slow to about 10 mph.

"We wanted to make people wait," said Kodi Long, 18. "We were trying to teach them a lesson -- not to hurry."

Ty Holloway, 17, was puttering along on a John Deere when he was stopped by a policeman. The officer laughed and sent him on his way when told of the circumstances, Holloway said.

But police Sgt. Mike Wisdom said it was technically illegal. A riding lawn mower meets the legal definition of a motor vehicle and the statutes that apply to vehicles apply to riding lawn mowers, too.

"Riding lawn mowers are not supposed to be on the highway," he said. "There's just a multitude of violations."

Among the infractions: equipment violations (lack of brake lights, turn signals and horn) and lack of registration, licensing and insurance, Wisdom said.

[TexasStooge]

Warning over Texas man posing as woman in labor

TYLER, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) -- East Texas police are warning people about a man posing as a woman in labor.

Authorities say they received a call Friday night about a woman in labor inside a vehicle in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. A person at the store claimed to be pregnant and asked another woman passing by for help, Tyler police said.

When the ambulance arrived, paramedics realized it was actually a man pretending the be a woman. The man fled the scene before officers arrived, police said.

It was unclear why the man was posing as a pregnant woman or what his motives were.

A similar incident happened Tuesday evening at a Wal-Mart in Lindale, Sgt. Robert Plymail told the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Witnesses say the man left in a silver 1992 two-door Ford Thunderbird with Texas license plate 173HYT.

[TexasStooge]

Parents accused of rewarding sons with pot

CHANDLER, Ariz. (AP) - Police have arrested two Chandler parents accused of giving marijuana to their young sons as a reward for good behavior.

Toni Lynn Carlson, 31, and Aaron Virgil Carlson, 23, were booked on suspicion of possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia, possessing marijuana for sale, contributing to the delinquency of minors and endangerment, police said Friday.

The couple were taken into custody Thursday night after detectives served a search warrant at their home and found a quarter-pound of marijuana.

Police said the boys — ages 12 and 11, and a 4-year-old girl — were in the care and custody of a family member.

The investigation began after authorities received tips from a neighbor about the possible usage and sale of drugs at the home, police said.

Detectives didn't know about the family possibly smoking marijuana together until the parents and children were interviewed.

Also under investigation is the possibility the Carlsons supplied drugs to other children, police said.
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Information from: East Valley Tribune/Scottsdale Tribune

[rainstorm]

nice parents

[TexasStooge]

Repentant robber returns cash, with interest

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) - A Japanese man who robbed a post office returned more money than he stole and turned himself in after deciding to come clean for the sake of his girlfriend.

The 33-year-old stole 340,000 yen ($2,300) at knifepoint from a post office in western Tokyo in March. Ridden with guilt, he

went back to the post office at the end of May and left 350,000 yen in an envelope on the counter before running off.

On Sunday, he turned himself in to the police, Asahi TV reported. "I did the robbery because I was short of money," Asahi quoted the man, who works as a gardener, as saying.

"I didn't want to get arrested when I took the money back, but I talked to my girlfriend about it and thought I should clear things up quickly for her sake."

The Mainichi newspaper quoted the man as saying he gave an extra 10,000 yen back because he was sorry for what he had done.

A Tokyo police department spokesman said they were still discussing what to do with the extra cash.

[TexasStooge]

Highway joyride lands Australian boys in trouble

SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - Two Australian boys aged 10 and 6 who decided to pay their grandfather a surprise visit drove almost 100 km (62 miles) along a busy highway before they were pulled over, police said on Monday.

A number of startled lorry drivers contacted police on Sunday after seeing the two boys driving a red stationwagon along the Newell Highway in the rural north of New South Wales state.

Police caught up with the unidentified boys after they had travelled about 85 km (53 miles) at speeds of up to 90 kmh (55 mph) from Boggabilla on the way to Moree, a spokeswoman said.

Knowing they were in trouble, the brothers quickly jumped into their normal spots in the back seat of their grandmother's car after they pulled over.

But the 10-year-old forgot to put the car's automatic transmission into park and the car rolled off again down the highway, so he promptly jumped back into the driver's seat and applied the brakes.

Police said the remorseful boys were given a stern talking to before they were reunited with their grandparents.

[TexasStooge]

Woman cited for exposing herself in store

CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) - A 28-year-old woman has been cited for lewdness for exposing herself inside a store. The woman was riding a motorized cart inside Lin's Market Place on Thursday with her pants around her ankles and not wearing underwear.

Customers didn't notice the woman until she would stand up from the cart and bend over to look at items on the shelf, exposing her buttocks.

The woman told police she arrived in Cedar City with a circus but was left behind.
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Information from: The Spectrum

[TexasStooge]

'Mummy' accused of robbing Miss. bank

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Jackson police have not said whether a suspect arrested Friday on firearms charges is the man who wore bandages like a mummy when he walked into a bank, jumped the counter, stuffed his clothes with money and escaped on foot.

Montaries Brooks, 26, of Jackson, was being questioned Friday night regarding the robbery and was charged as a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He was being held Saturday in the Hinds County Detention Center.

Police arrested Brooks shortly before noon Friday at an apartment, where a SWAT team had converged shortly after the bank robbery. Sgt. Joseph Wade said the robber walked into the Trustmark Bank on Terry Road, wearing bandages about 10 a.m.

"He was fully bandaged," Wade said, including his face and arms. "The only things they could see were his eyes and lips. He asked a teller for help, then jumped over the counter and began taking money out of the drawer," Wade said.

The robber, who Wade said never showed a weapon, stuffed the money into his clothes and ran. Police would not disclose how much money was stolen.

[rainstorm]

i like twizzlers

[TexasStooge]

Wyoming woman finds strange man in bed

SHERIDAN, Wyo. (AP) - A woman woke up over the weekend to find a man she didn't know climbing into her bed, according to police.

Eva Olson, 40, said she felt her bed move and heard the man say he wanted to talk to her, according to police.

Olson didn't know William O'Dell, 48, of Sheridan, but O'Dell allegedly told police he knew Olson because she was a bartender. He allegedly said he'd stopped by her house to visit.

Olson asked O'Dell to leave, then showed him out the door without incident.

Police said they found O'Dell at his home, smelling heavily of alcohol. He was jailed and charged with criminal entry.
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Information from: The Sheridan Press

[TexasStooge]

Naked, cuffed suspect flees from hospital

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A burglary suspect was charged with a string of crimes after bolting from a hospital, naked, handcuffed and with blood spurting from a stab wound in his chest.

A deputy had removed Rashon Delee's leg shackles so he could use the toilet at Crouse Hospital when he decided to make his run Sunday afternoon, said Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh.

Delee ripped out an intravenous drip, monitors and a chest tube, threw his hospital gown in a deputy's face and ran from the hospital.

He sprinted down five flights of stairs to escape and managed to slip out of one handcuff while running, possibly because the lubrication from sweat and blood helped him slip it off, Walsh said.

Delee eluded authorities for three hours, two of which he spent in a trash bin behind a restaurant on the Syracuse University campus, before he was caught.

Walsh said department investigators are reviewing whether the deputy, a two-year veteran, acted appropriately.

Delee, 21, was taken to the hospital after being stabbed by his former girlfriend when he broke into her apartment.

He faces felony counts of burglary, criminal contempt and escape, as well as misdemeanor counts of harassment, criminal contempt, criminal trespass, petit larceny and resisting arrest.
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Information from: The Syracuse Post-Standard

[TexasStooge]

Man charged with stealing five newsstands

PHILADELPHIA, Penn. (AP) - An apparently frustrated, would-be newsstand operator used a rented crane to steal five newsstands from city streets and redeposit them elsewhere, authorities said.

Fatai King of East Mount Airy had filed 42 applications for newsstand licenses with Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections only to have each rejected, they said.

So King lifted the boxes into the air and then positioned them on some of the corners where he had hoped to operate, according to authorities who charged him Thursday with theft and receiving stolen property.

He relocated one stand from University City to Center City while moving another from the Northeast to West Philadelphia, officials said.

King was also wanted in Montgomery County for failing to appear for a court time.

[TexasStooge]

School bus driver accused of pot sales

ORLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) - A south suburban school bus driver is facing misdemeanor charges after police say she sold bags of marijuana to a teenage passenger.

Margaret Fittante, 26, of Oak Lawn has been charged with selling marijuana on school grounds and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to Orland Park police.

Fittante drove several teenagers from Orland Park to a school for adolescents with emotional problems, police said.

One of the teens said she bought a "dime bag" of marijuana from Fittante once a week for several months. The girl was in drug counseling at the time.

Her mother says she has been "clean for 45 days now" and is in Narcotics Anonymous.

Fittante has been fired from the Alpha School Bus Co. No phone number could be found for her.

She is next due in court on July 14 in Bridgeview.

[TexasStooge]

Thieves swipe 'Cheaper by the Dozen' DVDs

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) - These "Cheaper by the Dozen" DVDs were a steal. Thieves swiped more than 270 copies of the 20th Century Fox flick from Wal-Mart stores in Beckley, MacArthur, Summersville, Lewisburg and neighboring Virginia shortly after it was released on DVD in late May, along with 22 copies of "Hollowman 2" and several other random items, said State Police Trooper M.S. Efird.

Efird said the "Cheaper by the Dozen" DVDs alone were worth $6,000.

A man and woman were captured by video surveillance that showed the pair entering the Beckley store and getting a shopping cart and storage container. They were briefly joined by three other people. The man and woman then went to the electronics department, where the man stuffed the DVDs into the storage container, Efird said.

The man talked on a cell phone and then the pair escaped through a rear fire door and climbed into a van, Efird said.

Efird said the entire event lasted less than 20 minutes.

The videotape was not clear enough to provide a good description of any of the suspects, who all appeared to be in their early to mid-20s, Efird said.
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Information from: The Register-Herald

[TexasStooge]

Suspect's dog bites him in police chase

CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) - A police pursuit ended when the suspect's dog, not happy about being bounced around in the car, bit its owner on the face.

Iron County sheriff's officers approached Nicholas T. Galanis, 47, of Salt Lake City to talk to him about some stolen property.

Galanis got in his car and fled with his dog.

The chase went southbound on Gold Springs Road, a windy, bumpy dirt road about five miles northwest of Modena, at around 5:38 p.m. Monday, said sheriff's detective Jody Edwards.

"Deputies could see the dog in the passenger seat getting slammed into the window," he said.

The dog, which is partly pit bull, "became so agitated that he bit his owner in the face," Edwards said. "And this is what ended the chase."

The bite removed part of Galanis' nose and he stopped.

Galanis was taken to Valley View Medical Center before being booked into Iron County Jail.

His dog was taken to the Enoch Animal Shelter.

Galanis was held for investigation of supplying false information to police, receiving/possession of stolen property and theft.
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Information from: The Spectrum

[TexasStooge]

Mom gets prison for making child steal

LAKE HARMONY, Pa. (AP) - A judge sentenced a woman to prison for making her 6-year-old daughter steal a volunteer fire company's fundraising jar, a crime that netted the family $1.85.

Judith Weidner, 42, had told police she needed the change for gasoline, but in court she blamed a heroin addiction.

Judge David W. Addy sentenced Weidner on Monday to one to three years in prison for the January 2005 theft.

Security films show Weidner distracting a convenience store clerk while her daughter took a small fireman's boot used to collect change for a volunteer fire company effort. The boot was later found in the trash at a car wash.

"What I did to her was wrong," Weidner said. "I feel so bad about it."

Public defender Paul J. Levy said Weidner, a mother of five from Tobyhanna Township in northeastern Pennsylvania, suffers from bipolar disorder and other mental-health problems. She pleaded guilty last year to corruption of minors and conspiracy to commit theft but failed to show for a November sentencing date. She was then arrested April 29.

Weidner's attorney said her children are no longer in her custody.

"She has hit rock bottom," Levy said. "I think knowing what she did got the better of her."

[TexasStooge]

Man's escape lacks bite

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - A 70-year-old German shoplifter who tried to bite his way out of the clutches of police might have had more success if he had remembered to put his teeth in.

Police went to arrest the man after he failed to pay a fine for shoplifting. But when the squad arrived, he tried to flee through the back door, a police spokesman in the western German town of Braunschweig said Thursday.

"It looks like he forgot to put his teeth in ... One of our police officers got bitten several times, but the man didn't leave anything but a wet patch," he said.