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Monday, August 4, 2014

Guy Robbed Woman, Then Friended Her: Cops

(Newser) – Ah, Facebook, that repository for high school friends, college friends, friends of friends, people you wish you'd never met ... and the dude who robbed you the other day? Police in Washington state say that a woman was sitting at a ferry terminal with headphones on when a guy knocked her on the head from behind, grabbed her iPod and purse, and took off. Police say the woman didn't recognize the man, but the AP reports that she saw a triangle tattoo on his neck. Lo and behold, the next day she received a friend request from—you guessed it—a guy with a triangle neck tattoo. Twenty-eight-year-old Riley Allen Mullins, who police traced to the Facebook account and tattoo in question, has been charged with second-degree robbery.


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Sunday, August 3, 2014

Bread Truck Thief Showers NYC With Bread

(Newser) – Maybe he was shooting to be the Robin Hood of carbohydrates? Police in New York City have charged 29-year-old David Bastar with criminal possession of stolen goods and driving without a license, reports the Journal News, and this is how they say it went down: A driver for Grimaldi's Home of Bread was making a delivery to a pizzeria when Bastar, who does not have a license or apparently like to wear clothes other than his skivvies, hopped into the still-running truck. Then the would-be Good Samaritan kept right on making deliveries, only since he didn't know the route, "He was delivering bread at random places," says bakery owner Joe Grimaldi. "It was very bizarre. They were finding bread in front of their doors."

But wait, it gets a little weirder: After Bastar apparently delivered the entire $8,000 worth of bread, he spotted a shiny Cadillac Escalade limo, which cops say he proceeded to tailgate—at times by a matter of inches, says the Escalade's driver, adding, "I was getting a little scared because I thought if I stopped he was going to hit me." He eventually called cops, who pulled the bread truck over and escorted Bastar, who was wearing only his briefs, to a hospital for a mental health evaluation. (It hasn't been a kind news cycle for Cadillac Escalades.)


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Saturday, August 2, 2014

Woman Leads Cops on 100mph Chase —to Preferred Jail

(Newser) – So maybe you've been drinking and maybe you're speeding a little, but what to do when a cop tries to pull you over—presenting you with the very real prospect of doing a little time in a less-than-desirable county jail? Step on the gas, and lead police on a merry little car chase to the county that houses your preferred incarceration facility. That is the alleged tale of 34-year-old Oklahoman and prison connoisseur Luz Avilla, who police say was 5mph to 10mph over the limit when an officer in Grady County tried to pull her over.

Says a police spokesperson, "Instead of pulling over, the driver accelerated to speeds approximately 90 to 100 miles per hour." Apparently, Grady County jail is the worst. "She wanted to go to jail in Caddo County was her explanation as to why she did not pull over," the spokesperson says. Avilla also apparently did not want to get out of her vehicle, reports News9 via Gawker, and it took an officer with a drawn gun and a bunch of backup to persuade her. For posterity, the entire incident was recorded on the cop's dash cam. Avilla is facing a raft of charges including DUI and eluding police.


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Friday, August 1, 2014

Would-Be Carjackers Should Have Learned to Drive Stick

(Newser) – Kids these days can't even jack an old lady's car correctly: KIRO brings us the tale of three teenage would-be carjackers in Seattle who were thwarted by a lowly manual transmission. Nancy Fredrickson, 70, was getting something out of the trunk of her Kia Saturday when three kids waved a gun in her face, demanded her keys, and hopped in the car. But their getaway turned less than glorious when none of them could drive the stick shift—causing no small amount of glee for Fredrickson and her neighbors.

"I got a five speed in there," she laughs. "They couldn't figure out how to get it going!" The teens fled, albeit on foot; cops have pulled DNA evidence from the car and are looking for them. And while Fredrickson admits the incident was scary at the time, now she says, "It was quite an interesting day. Let’s put it that way."


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Thursday, July 31, 2014

Cops: Burglar Logs In to Facebook Mid-Burglary

(Newser) – It's generally not OK to log into Facebook during work. It's definitely not OK if you work as a burglar, and you're a little absent-minded about logging out. Police say Nicholas Wig, 26, broke into a home near Minneapolis and stole money, credit cards, and other valuables, reports ABC News. When homeowner James Wood surveyed the damage later that night, he noticed that his burglar had left behind some wet jeans and shoes (it was raining) and that his computer had been used. It was still displaying the Facebook profile of a "Nick Dub."

Wood says he posted something to the page about its user being a thief and left his phone number. To his surprise, he got a text, reports CBS Minnesota. “I replied, 'You left a few things at my house last night, how can I get them back to you?" They arranged an exchange, and Wood called police as soon as he saw Wig, whose photo he recognized from Facebook, on his street. Cops charged him with second-degree burglary. “I’ve never seen this before,” says a Dakota County attorney. "Might even make the late-night television shows in terms of not being too bright.”


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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Woman Tries to Kill Spider, Ends Up With Arson Charge

(Newser) – Listen up, arachnophobes: You do not fight spiders with fire. Or so goes the cautionary tale of 34-year-old Kansas woman Ginny Griffith, who has been charged with aggravated arson after she apparently tried to kill a spider—by using a cigarette lighter to set fire to some towels, reports the Hutchinson News. The fire department responded to the small fire at her duplex early Friday, and put it out within minutes. No one was injured and the building suffered only light smoke damage, notes the Hays Post, but officials were apparently unamused. Griffith was taken into custody and was being held in lieu of $7,500 bond.


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Tuesday, July 29, 2014

NYPD Chopper Nearly Downed —by 2 Guys With Drones

(Newser) – An NYPD helicopter nearly collided with two drones over the George Washington Bridge yesterday, resulting in a matching pair of felony reckless-endangerment charges for two men. The chopper pilots said in a police report that they were patrolling just after midnight when they "observed flying object[s] at 2,000 feet in vicinity of the bridge," reports the New York Post. After swerving to avoid a collision, the pilots trailed the drones north and alerted NYPD officers, who found Remy Castro, 23, and Wilkins Mendoza, 34, near Fort Tyrone Park.

Castro and Mendoza, who paid between $500 and $700 each for their drones, dismissed the seriousness of their offense. "It's just a toy," Castro said in Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday afternoon. "The copter came to us." Mendoza, meanwhile, called the incident "crazy," and the men’s lawyer said that their drones can’t even go above 300 feet, adding, "They did nothing more than fly a kite." But a friend of the pair says they've bragged about flying at least at 5,000 feet and have been posting Instagram photos of their nightly flights.


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