Tijuana police issued slingshots

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16763344/?GT1=8921

Tijuana police issued slingshots
Guns confiscated amid allegations of collusion with drug runners

TIJUANA, Mexico - The police department has issued about 60 slingshots to officers in the violent border city of Tijuana, where soldiers confiscated police weapons two weeks ago on allegations of collusion with drug traffickers.

Municipal police spokesman Fernando Bojorquez said Monday that the slingshots, along with bags of ballbearings, were given to officers patrolling areas of the city visited by tourists.
Tijuana’s police force of 2,000 officers has been without guns since Jan. 5, but some patrol alongside armed state police.

President Felipe Calderon sent 3,300 soldiers and federal police to Tijuana at the beginning of January to hunt down drug gangs. The soldiers swept police stations and took officers’ guns for inspection amid allegations by federal investigators that a corrupt network of officers supports smugglers who traffic drugs into the U.S. The weapons are still being checked.

About 100 police demonstrated outside Tijuana town hall on Monday demanding the return of their guns. “The arms are our tools for work,” said officer Juan Manuel Nieves. “Do they want more police to be killed?”

More than 300 people were slain in Tijuana last year including 13 police officers.

 

Mother of 9-year-old runaway expresses pride in son's escapades

By Associated Press
LAKEWOOD, Wash. (AP) - The mother of the 9-year-old boy who took two flights in an attempt to run away to Dallas said she was stunned but proud to hear about her son's actions, according to a TV interview scheduled to air Wednesday night.

"He just showed me that, Mom, 'I'm going to achieve anything I want to do. I'm going to just do it.' So he did it, from driving a car to getting on an airplane," said Sakinah Booker on the syndicated TV show "Inside Edition."

In the interview, her son, Semaj, describes riding a bus to the airport and using a man's name he overheard on a Seattle-Tacoma International Airport loudspeaker page to get a boarding pass from Southwest Airlines, according to a press release issued Tuesday by the program.

Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Beth Harbin said she hadn't heard about Semaj obtaining a passenger's name from a loudspeaker page.

Booker's lawyer, Brett Purtzer, said the mother was considering a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines.

The boy tried to run away to Dallas on Jan. 15 because he disliked Washington and wanted to be with his grandfather. After being stopped by airline employees in San Antonio and held in a home for runaways in Bexar County, Texas, the boy is back with his mother.

He faces charges in connection with a high speed chase in a stolen car on Highway 512 the day before his airline escapade.

The boy is accused of stealing a 1986 Acura from his neighbor in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood and leading police on a chase at speeds of up to 80 mph, according to charging documents.

After his engine blew, police tried to place the boy at Remann Hall juvenile jail in Tacoma and at a Child Protective Services facility, but both places turned him down because of his age, according to Lakewood police. He was returned home to his mother that night.

"We do intend to proceed with the criminal charges that have been filed related to the incident on Jan. 14," said Fred Wist, chief prosecutor for Pierce County's juvenile division.

On Jan. 15, the 4-foot-9-inch fourth grader managed to talk his way onto two flights, from Seattle to Phoenix and then to San Antonio.

Southwest Airlines said Semaj presented himself as a 12-year-old, and therefore would not have been listed as an unaccompanied minor. He requested a boarding pass, saying his mother was already in the boarding area.

Because he's under 18-years-old, he didn't have to show identification to get through airport security.

The boy was finally stopped by Southwest Airlines employees at San Antonio International Airport while trying to board a flight to Dallas because, officials said, he did not have information that matched a reservation.

Southwest Airlines is still investigating what happened that day, Harbin said.

"We are talking to every possible person we can to make sure we understand what happened," she said.


 

Escaped Chimp Gets Snack, Cleans Bathroom

Escaped Chimp Gets Snack, Cleans Bathroom


Jan 17, 7:51 AM (ET)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An escaped chimpanzee at the Little Rock Zoo raided a kitchen cupboard and did a little cleaning with a toilet brush before sedatives knocked her out on top of a refrigerator.

The 120-pound primate, Judy, escaped yesterday into a service area when a zookeeper opened a door to her sleeping quarters, unaware the animal was still inside.

As keepers tried to woo Judy back into her cage, she rummaged through a refrigerator where chimp snacks are stored. She opened kitchen cupboards, pulled out juice and soft drinks and took a swig from bottles she managed to open.

Keeper Ann Rademacher says Judy went into the bathroom, picked up a toilet brush and cleaned the toilet. Rademacher says the 37-year-old Judy was a house pet before the zoo acquired her in 1988, so she may have been familiar with housekeeping chores. Judy wrung out a sponge and scrubbed down the fridge.

It took a couple of tries, but the zoo sedated the chimp, who fell asleep on top of the refrigerator with half a loaf of cinnamon-raisin bread she had pulled out of the freezer.

The zoo veterinarian gave Judy a drug to bring her around. Rademacher says Judy was groggy but fine after the episode.

The zoo says there was no danger Judy would get out of the primate keepers service area and onto zoo grounds.


 

Suspect breaks out of police car, tries to hide in sheriff's office

Suspect breaks out of police car, tries to hide in sheriff's office


(1/11/07 - SYRACUSE, NY) - Brian Valentino sure picked the wrong hiding place to elude police. The 33-year-old burglary suspect was being transported yesterday to the Onondaga County jail in Syracuse when he kicked out a back window of the police car and dove headfirst through the opening.

Still handcuffed, Valentino ran a short distance and ducked into a building, where he ran down a hallway and hid behind a door.

There was one problem. His hiding spot was inside the headquarters of the county sheriff's office. Apparently, Valentino didn't notice the big yellow star on the entrance.

A retired deputy working part time in the building noticed the snow-covered, handcuffed man dash into the lobby. He followed him down the hall and held onto Valentino until the officer he escaped from arrived on the scene.

Valentino now faces additional charges for the escape attempt.


 

The 2006 Darwin Award Winners!

THE 2006 DARWIN AWARDS

5th RUNNER-UP:Goes to a San Anselmo, California man who died when he hit a lift tower at the Mammoth Mountain ski area while riding down the slope on a foam pad. 22-year old David Hubal was pronounced dead at Central Mammoth Hospital. The accident occurred about 3:00 a.m., the Mono County Sheriff's Department said. Hubal and his friends apparently had hiked up a ski run called Stump Alley and undid some yellow foam protectors from lift towers, said Lt. Mike Donnelly of the Mammoth Lakes Police Department. The pads are used to protect skiers who might hit towers. The group apparently used the pads to slide down the ski slope and Hubal crashed into a tower. It has since been investigated and determined the tower he hit was the one with its pad removed.

4th RUNNER-UP: Goes to Robert Puelo, 32, was apparently being disorderly in a St. Louis market. When the clerk threatened to call the police, Puelo grabbed a hot dog, shoved it into his mouth and walked out without paying. Police found him unconscious in front of the store. Paramedics removed the six-inch wiener from his throat where it had choked him to death.

3rd RUNNER-UP: Goes to poacher Marino Malerba of Spain, who shot a stag standing above him on an overhanging rock and was killed instantly when it fell on him.

2nd RUNNER-UP: "Man loses face at party." A man at a West Virginia party (probably related to the winner last year, a man in Arkansas who used the.22 bullet to replace the fuse in his pickup truck) popped a blasting cap into his mouth and bit down, triggering an explosion that blew off his lips, teeth, and tongue. Jerry Stromyer, 24, of Kincaid, bit the blasting cap as a prank during the party late Tuesday night, said Cpl. M.D. Payne. "Another man had it in an aquarium hooked to a battery and was trying to explode it. It wouldn't go off and this guy said "I'll show you how to set it off." He put it into his mouth, bit down and it blew all his teeth out and his lips and tongue off Payne said. Stromyer was listed in guarded condition Wednesday with extensive facial injuries, according to a spokesperson at Charleston Area Medical Division. "I just can't imagine anyone doing something like that," Payne said.

1st RUNNER-UP: Doctors at Portland University Hospital said an Oregon man shot through the skull by a hunting arrow is lucky to be alive and will be released soon from the hospital. Tony Roberts, 25, lost his right eye last weekend during an initiation into a men's rafting club, Mountain Men Anonymous (probably known now as Stupid Mountain Men Anonymous) in Grants Pass, Oregon. A friend tried to shoot a beer can off his head, but the arrow entered Robert's right eye. Doctors said that had the arrow gone 1 millimeter to the left, a major blood vessel would have been cut and Roberts would have died instantly. Neurosurgeon, Doctor Johnny Delashaw, at the University Hospital in Portland said the arrow went through 8 to 10 inches of brain with the tip protruding at the rear of his skull, yet somehow managed to miss all major blood vessels. Delashaw also said that had Roberts tried to pull the arrow out on his own he surely would have killed himself. Roberts admitted afterwards that he and his friends had been drinking that afternoon. Said Roberts, "I feel so dumb about this." No charges have been filed, but the Josephine County district attorney's office said the initiation stunt is under investigation.

THIS YEAR'S WINNER:

The late, John Pernicky and his friend, the late Sal Hawkins, of the great state of Washington, decided to attend a local Metallica concert at the George Washington amphitheater. Having no tickets (but having had 18 beers between them), they thought it would be easy to "hop" over the nine foot fence and sneak into the show. They pulled their pickup truck over to the fence and the plan was for Mr. Pernicky, who was 100 pounds heavier than Mr. Hawkins, to hop the fence and then assist his friend over. Unfortunately for the late Mr. Pernicky, there was a 30-foot drop on the other side of the fence. Having heaved himself over, he found himself crashing through a tree. His fall was abruptly halted (and broken, along with his arm) by a large branch that snagged him by his shorts. Dangling from the tree with a broken arm, he looked down and saw some bushes below him. Possibly figuring the bushes would break his fall, he removed his pocket knife and proceeded to cut away his shorts to free himself from the tree. Finally free, Mr. Pernicky crashed into holly bushes. The sharp leaves scratched his ENTIRE body and now, without the protection of his shorts, a holly branch penetrated his rectum. To make matters worse, upon landing his pocket knife penetrated his thigh. Hawkins, seeing his friend in considerable pain and agony, threw him a rope and tried to pull him to safety by tying the rope to the pickup truck and slowly driving away. However, in his drunken haste, he put the truck into reverse and crashed through the fence landing on his friend and killing him. Police arrived to find the crashed pickup with its driver thrown 100 feet from the truck and dead at the scene from massive internal injuries. Upon moving the truck, they found John under it half-naked, scratches on his body, a holly stick in his rectum, a knife in his thigh, and his shorts dangling from a tree branch 25 feet in the air.

Maine OKs Santa, Breasts on Beer Labels

Maine OKs Santa, Breasts on Beer Labels

By CLARKE CANFIELD

Posted: Today at 3:21 p.m.

PORTLAND, Maine — It's a bit late for the holidays, but the state's beer sellers are now free to let Santa's Butt Winter Porter sit on their shelves.

The Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement had blocked a beer importer from selling the brew, along with two beers with labels depicting bare-breasted women. Those decisions were reversed after the state attorney general's office determined that the company probably would win the lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union filed on its behalf last month.

Chris Taub, an assistant state attorney general, said Friday a court probably would find the beer labels in question to be protected under the First Amendment.

State officials had barred the English-made Santa's Butt out of concern its label might appeal to children. It depicts a rear view of a beer-drinking Santa sitting on a "butt," a large barrel brewers once used to store beer.

The other previously banned beers feature paintings of bare-breasted women on their labels. One of the paintings hangs in the Louvre - Eugene Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People" - and the other was commissioned by the importer, Belchertown, Massachusetts-based Shelton Brothers.

The company was notified of the reversal in a letter dated December 22, but owner Dan Shelton was out of the country and didn't learn of it until this week.

Shelton, whose company has challenged similar bans in other states, said Thursday he has no plans to drop his lawsuit because state law still allows officials to deny applications for beer labels that contain "undignified or improper" illustrations. About a dozen beer and wine labels, out of 10,000 to 12,000 reviewed, are rejected each year on such grounds.

"You can't have a law based on propriety and dignity. It's too vague," Shelton said.

Taub said his office is reviewing the rule about undignified or improper illustrations but declined to comment further.

http://www.wral.com/news/strange/story/1127671/

 

Bra Slows Bullet Fired Into Air in Florida

Bra Slows Bullet Fired Into Air in Florida


Posted: Today at 5:03 p.m.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A woman watching New Year's Eve fireworks from a picnic table found out that her bra can do more than lift and support: It also slowed a falling bullet.

The .45-caliber bullet struck Debbie Bingham, 46, after someone fired a gun into the air about 20 minutes before midnight. She still needed stitches, but the wound might have been much worse except for the bra strap, police spokesman George Kajtsa said.

Bingham, who was in town from Atlanta, said she is thankful for the undergarment, which she said was "very cheap."

"I'd love to have a couple more of those bras," she said.

Bingham said she was listening to music and enjoying the fireworks with her daughter and son when she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder.

Then Solanda Bingham, 30, noticed blood seeping through her mother's white shirt, and they found the bullet lodged halfway into the gold-colored bra. The other half was barely breaking the skin, Bingham told WTSP-TV.

Kajtsa described the wound as a "big scratch with bruising."

St. Petersburg police were searching for the shooter to determine if the shooting was intentional, Kajtsa said.

http://www.wral.com/news/strange/story/1127785/


 

Burglary thwarted by elderly man, shoe horn

Burglary thwarted by elderly man, shoe horn

TOWN OF LEBANON, WISCONSIN - An attempted home invasion in the early morning hours of New Year's Day was quashed when the homeowner, who is in his 80s, beat one of the perpetrators over the head with a long shoe horn until he fled the residence.

A Lebanon woman awoke at 1 a.m. to find a man lurking outside her window. She immediately awakened her husband before the subject allegedly kicked in a door and entered the bedroom demanding money.

According to a Dodge County Sheriff's Department press release, the husband told the man to leave or he would be shot. The suspect replied that he was armed and would blow the husband's head off.

But before he could make a move, the husband grabbed a long shoe horn and beat the suspect over the head with it until he fled the residence. Dodge County authorities took a 46-year-old Clintonville man into custody and said another subject is in custody in Waukesha County. The names of the suspects have not been released.

"This is one of those crimes that a lengthy sentence just doesn't do justice. The torment and anguish will be with them (the victims) forever," said Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls.

In a separate case, two subjects who allegedly committed an Oconomowoc area home invasion were also taken into custody in Waukesha County after one of the suspects allegedly confessed to a town of Oak Grove burglary. In that burglary a safe and other property were stole from the residence.

According to a department press release, the Dodge County district attorney's office is reviewing the report for potential charges.


 

Oiled Prisoner Slips Out of Norway Jail

Oiled Prisoner Slips Out of Norway Jail


Jan 3, 8:23 AM (ET)


OSLO, Norway (AP) - A Lithuanian held on suspicion of theft in an Arctic Norway jail slipped out of custody - literally - by stripping naked, smearing himself with vegetable oil and sliding through the prison bars, police said Wednesday.

"He slipped through the bars on Christmas Eve," said Svein-Erik Jacobsen, operation leader for the Oest-Finnmark Police District. The unusual escape made national news in Norway on Wednesday.

Another Lithuanian, held as an accomplice in the same cell, also used the technique to try to slip out of a window of the Vadsoe Jail, but failed, apparently because he was too big. The men had managed to bend the bars slightly to gain more space.

"It was a good effort," Jacobsen said. "But all he did was get his head and part of his shoulder through the bars."

A police news release identified the escaped suspect as Yuris Sinkevicius, 25, and said he was 5 feet, 8 inches tall and thin. He remained at large. The statement did not name the second suspect.

Both were arrested in Sweden in late October on suspicion of being involved in an organized grand theft ring that had hit targets in northern Norway and Sweden. They were turned over to Norway, and were being held pending an investigation and possible indictment.