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Curses, Foiled Again
A gunman tried to rob a bank in Decatur, Ga., only to be thwarted by a security guard, who shot the robber in the knee. DeKalb County police Lt. Pam Kunz said the suspect’s gun turned out to be a plastic toy. (Associated Press)
When two men, one of them armed, accosted a man on the front porch of his Atlanta home and ordered him to open the door, the resident told them he had money in his pocket. The robber with the gun placed it on the ground so he could search the victim’s pocket, whereupon the victim grabbed the gun and shot the robber at least twice, including once in the head. The gunman and his accomplice fled. (Atlanta’s WSB-TV)
Two men who kicked in the back door of a home in Marlboro County, S.C., were met by 89-year-old Ruby Hodge holding her .38-caliber pistol. “When they saw me standing in there with my pistol, they left and run,” she said, adding that she pressed the lifeline button hanging around her neck to summon sheriff’s deputies. After getting the license plate number of the getaway car from an eyewitness, deputies arrested Nelson Hawkins, 42, and Ronnie Stevenson, 31. (Florence’s WPDE-TV)
Upon his release from jail, Richard Blome, 27, stole a golf cart and drove it 10 miles from Clayton, Mo., to his home in Lemay. He traveled primarily on side roads to avoid detection, then parked it on his front lawn. Someone saw the cart with city of Clayton name on it and called Clayton police. “At that point, it had not been reported stolen,” Capt. Kevin Murphy said, pointing out, “Instead of just calling someone for a ride home, he ended up riding himself into a class C felony.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Green Death
A Scottish company has installed two of its flameless cremation machines in Florida and Minnesota, and eight more states have passed legislation allowing their use. The Resomation machines dissolve the deceased in an alkaline solution, which is heated under pressure, reducing the body to skeletal remains in the form of a white powder that can be given to the family. Resomation Ltd., a Glasgow-based subsidiary of Co-operative Funeralcare claims the process produces a third less greenhouse gas than cremation, uses a seventh of the energy and allows for the complete separation of mercury-based dental amalgam for safe disposal. (BBC News)
Way to Go
Hoping to provoke a Bigfoot sighting by dressing up in a costume and standing alongside a highway outside Kalispell, Montana, Randy Lee Tenley, 44, died after a car hit him, knocking him into the middle of the road, where a second car ran over him. The drivers were two girls, ages 15 and 17. Noting that Tenley’s costume was a military-style “Ghillie suit,” consisting of strips of camouflage fabric, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Jim Schneider observed, “He probably would not have been very easy to see at all.” (Associated Press)
Where There’s a Will
A worker in a wheelchair at a Rona big-box home and garden store in Barrie, Ontario, wanted to get to a training session on a non-wheelchair accessible second level, so he brought a portable ramp to work and enlisted the help of his colleagues. Kai Malmstrom used the ramp to wheel himself onto a skid. Workers strapped his wheelchair to the skid, and supervisor Gord Stirk used a forklift to lift Malmstrom high enough to reach the second level. After the training session, the process was reversed. A worker who witnessed the incident complained to management, which disciplined several workers, and fired Stirk and assistant store manager Kerry Barton. Barton filed a wrongful dismissal suit, arguing he wasn’t present and did not consent to the incident. Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Lauwers awarded him $59,000. (Canada’s National Post)
New York’s Finest
When New York City police spotted Tamon Robinson, 23, digging up decorative paving stones, he fled on foot, only to be struck and killed by a pursuing police cruiser. The city billed his family $710 for the damage his body did to the vehicle. City officials eventually acknowledged the collection notice was sent in error and apologized. (The New York Times)
Slightest Provocation
James Davis Wilson, 43, punched an assistant manager at a McDonald’s restaurant in Knoxville, Tenn., over a dispute about a hot fudge sundae. “It had chocolate on the bottom,” Wilson testified at his trial. “The hot fudge should be on top. It freezes up when you get hot fudge on the bottom of it.” Even though Assistant Manager Brad Skelton refunded Wilson’s money, Wilson hit him in the face. The jury convicted him of misdemeanor assault. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
Police in Reno, Nev., took a man into custody for firing a shotgun at a golfer who hit a ball through a window of the shooter’s residence near the 16th hole, which was closed during a brief investigation. Police Lt. Keith Brown said a pellet struck the golfer twice in a leg and once in an arm. (Reno Gazette-Journal)
Police charged John Cunningham, 43, with shooting his uncle to death in Jennings, Ill., during an argument over whether the meat they were planning to cook was pork steaks or pork chops. Investigators concluded that Cunningham was correct about the meat being pork steaks but charged him with first-degree murder anyway. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Authorities in St. Paul, Minn., charged Matthew Thomas Spangler, 20, and his brother Marco Spangler, 19, with assaulting a 49-year-old man and damaging his vehicle because he honked at them for pulling out in front of him. Prosecutors said the Spanglers threw rocks at the man’s vehicle, punched him in the face when he got out, tried to run him over, then smashed out several windows of the vehicle with a baseball bat and struck the victim in the back and shoulders. (Minneapolis’s KARE-TV)
How to Succeed in Business
Even though Somali piracy is lessening, the pirates are becoming more businesslike in their approach. They now have packets of paperwork with their own letterhead. An example, written in memo form and stamped with a skull and crossbones logo, was addressed to the owner of one seized ship. It begins: “… welcome to Jamal’s Pirate Action Group (J.P.A.G.) and you have to follow by our law to return back your vessel and crew safely.” It sums up: “Do not imagine that we are making to you intimidation,” and concludes “Best regards,” followed by the signature of Jamal Faahiye, the General Commander of the Group.
An expert in ransom negotiations said it makes sense for Jamal and his colleagues to appear well organized. “They want to get their money,” Derek S.T. Baldwin of IBIS International said. “If they present themselves and behave as someone who will live up to their commitment to give us the package in good condition, we are much more likely to go ahead and pay the ransom easily and efficiently. If they present themselves as a non-structured group of disorganized loons, they stand an awful better chance of having an extraction team show up on their front porch and shoot them.” (Reuters)
Costly Memories
The foundation that operates New York City’s National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center estimated the still-unfinished $700 million project will cost at least $60 million a year to operate, no doubt requiring a hefty government subsidy. Around $12 million a year will pay for private security, which foundation president Joe Daniels said is necessary to thwart terrorism at the site where the twin towers once stood. Operating the water fountains alone will cost up to $5 million annually. (Associated Press)
When Guns Are Outlawed
Police responding to a domestic dispute in New London, Conn., said Richard Parker Jr., 36, attacked another man with a pillow, hitting him several times before stealing cash and his car. (Connecticut’s The Day)
Didn’t See This Coming
Fire officials blamed a blaze that caused $150,000 worth of damage to a house and garage in Aurora, Ill., on Samoan fire swords. The residents used the antique swords, which are doused with a flammable liquid and then set on fire, in a traditional dance. When they finished, they wrapped the swords in towels and placed them in the garage. Investigators concluded the swords were either improperly extinguished or somehow reignited. (Chicago Tribune)
News and Blues is compiled from the nation’s press. To contribute, submit original clippings, citing date and source, to Roland Sweet in care of The New Times.
