Curses, Foiled Again
Investigators said David Menzies, 30, tried to steal bicycles and apparel from a bike shop in Wesley Chapel, Fla., that is located next to a self-defense and jiu-jitsu studio — “definitely a bad environment to come and try to break the law,” Hammerfist Krav Maga co-owner Jason Carrio said. Hammerfist instructors confronted the suspect, who finished loading his vehicle, a Jeep that he was taking for a test drive, then said he’d wait in the vehicle. Carrio pulled the suspect out of the Jeep and held onto him until police arrived. (Tampa’s Bay 9 News)
The Thrill Is Gone
A man was giving four neighborhood children a demonstration ride in a cherry picker in Albuquerque, N.M., when a strong gust of wind caused it to topple over and crash 50 feet to the ground. Police official Simon Drobik said the man, in his 50s, and a 12-year-old boy died. (Associated Press)
Old Habits Die Hard
After receiving a call that a woman in Henrico County, Va., had left her children in a car while she shopped, a police officer was unable to arrest the woman because she had returned to her car when the officer arrived. Instead, the officer swore out a warrant and told her to turn herself in. The woman, identified as Laquanda Newby, 25, arrived at the county courthouse as promised, but she again left her children, ages 6 and 1, in the car with the windows rolled up when she went inside. She was arrested when surveillance video showed them alone for more than an hour. (Richmond’s WTVR-TV)
Invisible Bullets
An audit of the Hartford, Conn., police shooting range revealed that 200,000 rounds of ammunition were missing. The report said range administrator Officer Louis Crabtree purchased 485,000 rounds per year over the past six years, whereas only 240,000 rounds year were needed and only 180,000 rounds were actually used. What’s more, Crabtree circumvented the budget process by buying some ammunition on credit to push payment into the next fiscal year. Even so, at the time of the audit, the ammo vendor was owed more than $186,000. (Hartford Courant)
