Thursday, October 09, 2014
Police officer to be honoured for saving motorist from ant attack
A California Highway Patrol officer who saved a man from a life-threatening ant attack is to be honoured.
While officers know to expect the unexpected, the case Dan Garza responded to wasn’t just unusual, it was almost unheard of.
“It ranks up there with the craziest ones,” he said. “This is a first for me.”
While on patrol on Interstate 580, he came on a Southern California man named Didrick Johnck who was passing through Tracy on vacation with his family. Didrick had a blown-out tyre and asked the officer to stick around on the shoulder and give him a little light. But where Didrick was kneeling happened to be the home of some very angry ants. “He came back to my patrol car and said, ‘Hey officer, I’m sorry this is taking so long, but there’s ants over here they’re crawling up my leg,’” Garza said.
What seemed like a minor inconvenience on that June night nearly turned deadly. “I saw him on the ground reaching out toward my patrol car,” Garza said. He says Didrick was crawling toward his patrol car, gasping for air. “And I could see his eyes were glossed over and red, and at that moment I knew something wasn’t right,” he said. The officer grabbed his first-aid kit for an oxygen mask to keep Didrick breathing after he passed out.
YouTube link.
It turns out, the motorist had been bitten by fire ants about 100 times. He also happened to have an extremely rare allergic reaction and went into anaphylactic shock. Weeks later, Garza got an emotional phone call from Didrick, who had fully recovered. “He was thanking me for being there and saving his life, and said if I hadn’t been there, he probably would’ve died,” he said. Didrick, who is currently in Asia, told Garza he’s been all over the world for his work as a photographer and been bitten by many insects. But none gave him the reaction he had that night.
While on patrol on Interstate 580, he came on a Southern California man named Didrick Johnck who was passing through Tracy on vacation with his family. Didrick had a blown-out tyre and asked the officer to stick around on the shoulder and give him a little light. But where Didrick was kneeling happened to be the home of some very angry ants. “He came back to my patrol car and said, ‘Hey officer, I’m sorry this is taking so long, but there’s ants over here they’re crawling up my leg,’” Garza said.
What seemed like a minor inconvenience on that June night nearly turned deadly. “I saw him on the ground reaching out toward my patrol car,” Garza said. He says Didrick was crawling toward his patrol car, gasping for air. “And I could see his eyes were glossed over and red, and at that moment I knew something wasn’t right,” he said. The officer grabbed his first-aid kit for an oxygen mask to keep Didrick breathing after he passed out.
YouTube link.
It turns out, the motorist had been bitten by fire ants about 100 times. He also happened to have an extremely rare allergic reaction and went into anaphylactic shock. Weeks later, Garza got an emotional phone call from Didrick, who had fully recovered. “He was thanking me for being there and saving his life, and said if I hadn’t been there, he probably would’ve died,” he said. Didrick, who is currently in Asia, told Garza he’s been all over the world for his work as a photographer and been bitten by many insects. But none gave him the reaction he had that night.
Man celebrating court win ate raw fish from fishbowl while assaulting ex-girlfriend
Police in South Carolina charged a North Myrtle Beach man with attempted murder and kidnapping after, investigators say, he assaulted his ex-girlfriend.
The incident happened after Charles Clay Jackson, 44, arrived unannounced to his ex-girlfriend's house on Friday evening to celebrate a court case he managed to win earlier in the day, police said in a report.
Jackson, who is finance manager at Car Mart LLC of Little River, was “having a few drinks” and “ranting about the criminal case” at around 8 pm. During that he then became “agitated” and began to talk about his relationship with the woman. After “hitting a certain point of aggression” the woman asked Jackson to leave, but he attacked her.
Police say Jackson, tied her up for an hour and during that time choked her, hit her with his fist and a belt, and threatened her with a knife. He also poked her in the eye with an oyster knife. During the incident, Jackson also displayed some aggressive behaviour towards a fish. Jackson grabbed a fishbowl that contained a fish, took the fish out of the bowl and ate it, chewing it several times before swallowing.
Investigators say the woman managed to get away and had a neighbour call for help. Police found multiple injuries on the woman, including eye damage from possibly being poked with a sharp object. When police arrived, Jackson told them that he was asleep when he was attacked by the woman for no reason. However, police could find little evidence of that. Jackson remains in jail and is being held on $50,000 bond.
Jackson, who is finance manager at Car Mart LLC of Little River, was “having a few drinks” and “ranting about the criminal case” at around 8 pm. During that he then became “agitated” and began to talk about his relationship with the woman. After “hitting a certain point of aggression” the woman asked Jackson to leave, but he attacked her.
Police say Jackson, tied her up for an hour and during that time choked her, hit her with his fist and a belt, and threatened her with a knife. He also poked her in the eye with an oyster knife. During the incident, Jackson also displayed some aggressive behaviour towards a fish. Jackson grabbed a fishbowl that contained a fish, took the fish out of the bowl and ate it, chewing it several times before swallowing.
Investigators say the woman managed to get away and had a neighbour call for help. Police found multiple injuries on the woman, including eye damage from possibly being poked with a sharp object. When police arrived, Jackson told them that he was asleep when he was attacked by the woman for no reason. However, police could find little evidence of that. Jackson remains in jail and is being held on $50,000 bond.
Man stabbed with screwdriver 23 times in dispute over missing pig
A man was stabbed 23 times over a pig that disappeared two weeks ago from his home in Winfield, Missouri.
A spokesperson for the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office says the victim and his roommates were raising a pig, but their neighbour, identified as 22-year-old Joshua Alan Finke, wasn't happy about the situation.
Police say about two weeks ago the pig vanished, and the victim and his roommates suspected Finke was involved in the pig's disappearance. Police say the victim confronted Finke at his home. The verbal disagreement turned physical when police say Finke used a screwdriver to stab the victim once in the back of his head and 22 times in his back.
Finke is charged with first-degree assault and held at the Lincoln County Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond. The weapon was not recovered at the scene, and the pig's whereabouts is still unknown. The victim was treated at a local hospital and released.
A spokesperson for the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office says the victim and his roommates were raising a pig, but their neighbour, identified as 22-year-old Joshua Alan Finke, wasn't happy about the situation.
Police say about two weeks ago the pig vanished, and the victim and his roommates suspected Finke was involved in the pig's disappearance. Police say the victim confronted Finke at his home. The verbal disagreement turned physical when police say Finke used a screwdriver to stab the victim once in the back of his head and 22 times in his back.
Finke is charged with first-degree assault and held at the Lincoln County Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond. The weapon was not recovered at the scene, and the pig's whereabouts is still unknown. The victim was treated at a local hospital and released.
Teenager severely injured during game of mailbox baseball
A teenager in Grants Pass, Oregon, suffered severe head injuries after police said he was involved in a game of "mailbox baseball."
The Grants Pass Department of Public Safety said officers were called to Three Rivers Medical Center early on Sunday morning to a report of a 16-year-old male with severe head injuries.
Police later determined the teenager was a passenger in a motor home involved in "mailbox baseball," which is described as smashing mailboxes while the vehicle is in motion with a wooden stick and metal baseball bat. The front seat passenger struck a telephone pole as the two juvenile males in the back of the motor home were watching through a rear window.
The front seat passenger lost grip of the metal baseball bat, which flew backwards and struck the juvenile victim in the head. The victim was stabilized and flown to a Portland hospital. The driver of the motor home and two other adult passengers are being held in Josephine County Jail. A juvenile passenger is being held in juvenile jail. More charges are expected to filed in the case.
The Grants Pass Department of Public Safety said officers were called to Three Rivers Medical Center early on Sunday morning to a report of a 16-year-old male with severe head injuries.
Police later determined the teenager was a passenger in a motor home involved in "mailbox baseball," which is described as smashing mailboxes while the vehicle is in motion with a wooden stick and metal baseball bat. The front seat passenger struck a telephone pole as the two juvenile males in the back of the motor home were watching through a rear window.
The front seat passenger lost grip of the metal baseball bat, which flew backwards and struck the juvenile victim in the head. The victim was stabilized and flown to a Portland hospital. The driver of the motor home and two other adult passengers are being held in Josephine County Jail. A juvenile passenger is being held in juvenile jail. More charges are expected to filed in the case.
Motorcyclist who jumped naked from cliff reportedly swerved to avoid a turkey
A turkey in California caused a Canadian motorcycle rider to crash sometime early on Monday, and the man told investigators he then walked to a coastal bluff and jumped off, naked.
The 27-year-old Alberta man had shed his clothing as he walked and was found, nude and seriously injured, on rocks about 40 feet below a coastal bluff in Salt Point State Park.
The CHP is investigating the man’s crash and a Sonoma County sheriff’s investigator is looking into what happened afterwards, including whether he was trying to die or hurt himself or acted because of his injuries, said CHP spokesman Officer Jon Sloat. The man wasn’t identified as his mental health was being evaluated.
The investigators interviewed the hospitalised man on Tuesday afternoon, who has moderate injuries including a head wound.
He was headed south on Highway 1, bound for South America for a job, he told investigators.
The turkey reportedly appeared while he was riding on the coast highway near Kruse Ranch Road. The man initially told some rescuers he thought he’d crashed as early as about midnight on Sunday and that he didn’t remember anything between riding on the highway and then finding himself on the rocks, said Tim Murphy, supervising state parks lifeguard. At about 5am, a driver spotted a downed motorcycle on the side of the highway and some riding gear. Without cell service, the driver drove further south, calling to alert authorities as they approached the Russian River. The call launched a huge hunt involving multiple agencies and a search that combed the edges of the highway in dense fog and thick forested land to either side.
It also turned up a strange scene. On the grounded bike sat a damaged helmet, as well as some other gear. And then, a trail of sorts of discarded but folded clothing and items greeted searchers, including the man’s wallet, officials said. The man had headed into thick brush and walked perhaps a quarter-mile to a bluff near Fisk Mill Cove. The brush was so thick that Timber Cove and Sea Ranch Cal Fire firefighters used chainsaws to cut through it to allow a path. The strangeness of the discarded clothing and effort taken to reach the bluff led some officials to try to reconcile the apparent crash of the motorcycle with the appearance the man had acted on purpose. I turns out it apparently was both. He was located at about 9:30am after a state parks lifeguard searching area bluffs heard someone calling for help, Murphy said.
That was perhaps as long as nine or 10 hours after the man crashed. “I think he’s very lucky when you consider the air temperature at night, not wearing anything, and being on the cold wet rocks for several hours,” Murphy said. Then there was the 30-40 foot fall. “I’m amazed he wasn’t killed,” the veteran state lifeguard said. Because of thick fog, a quick rescue by the Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter wasn’t possible. So as many as 20 people from six coastal agencies, which frequently work together on emergency calls along the Sonoma Coast, put together a labor-intensive ropes rescue. They lowered some rescuers and a litter over the bluff and down. At least one state lifeguard arrived to the injured man on a jet ski. Once the man was strapped onto the board, the crews up top had to pull the injured man and some of the rescuers up. They then carried him to an ambulance and he was driven to an awaiting medical helicopter. “It’s not pretty but it works,” Murphy said of the ropes rescue. By about 1 pm he was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
The turkey reportedly appeared while he was riding on the coast highway near Kruse Ranch Road. The man initially told some rescuers he thought he’d crashed as early as about midnight on Sunday and that he didn’t remember anything between riding on the highway and then finding himself on the rocks, said Tim Murphy, supervising state parks lifeguard. At about 5am, a driver spotted a downed motorcycle on the side of the highway and some riding gear. Without cell service, the driver drove further south, calling to alert authorities as they approached the Russian River. The call launched a huge hunt involving multiple agencies and a search that combed the edges of the highway in dense fog and thick forested land to either side.
It also turned up a strange scene. On the grounded bike sat a damaged helmet, as well as some other gear. And then, a trail of sorts of discarded but folded clothing and items greeted searchers, including the man’s wallet, officials said. The man had headed into thick brush and walked perhaps a quarter-mile to a bluff near Fisk Mill Cove. The brush was so thick that Timber Cove and Sea Ranch Cal Fire firefighters used chainsaws to cut through it to allow a path. The strangeness of the discarded clothing and effort taken to reach the bluff led some officials to try to reconcile the apparent crash of the motorcycle with the appearance the man had acted on purpose. I turns out it apparently was both. He was located at about 9:30am after a state parks lifeguard searching area bluffs heard someone calling for help, Murphy said.
That was perhaps as long as nine or 10 hours after the man crashed. “I think he’s very lucky when you consider the air temperature at night, not wearing anything, and being on the cold wet rocks for several hours,” Murphy said. Then there was the 30-40 foot fall. “I’m amazed he wasn’t killed,” the veteran state lifeguard said. Because of thick fog, a quick rescue by the Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter wasn’t possible. So as many as 20 people from six coastal agencies, which frequently work together on emergency calls along the Sonoma Coast, put together a labor-intensive ropes rescue. They lowered some rescuers and a litter over the bluff and down. At least one state lifeguard arrived to the injured man on a jet ski. Once the man was strapped onto the board, the crews up top had to pull the injured man and some of the rescuers up. They then carried him to an ambulance and he was driven to an awaiting medical helicopter. “It’s not pretty but it works,” Murphy said of the ropes rescue. By about 1 pm he was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Boy killed by falling sacrificial goat
A 13-year-old Turkish boy was killed instantly when he was hit on the head by a sacrificial goat that had jumped off the roof of a building in a bid to escape.
Heval Yildirim was killed instantly when he was hit by the sacrificial goat that had been bought to the home in the province of Diyarbakir in south-eastern Turkey by the teenager's father to celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice.
Police said the boy had been playing with friends in front of the building and was just unlucky in being in the wrong place at the wrong time when the goat had decided to try and make its escape. Mehmet Yildirim, the boy's father, said he had brought the goat into town to sacrifice during the festival but could not find anywhere suitable to keep it in advance of the event itself, and so placed the animal on the roof of their apartment on the sixth floor.
However the goat had tried to escape and apparently jumped over a security fence around the rooftop area, dropping six floors to hit the young man on the head. Both the goat and the boy were killed. Dad Mehmet said: "I am devastated but what more can I say? In fact there is nothing at all to say." Police admitted that they were making enquiries into the death but added that it was unprecedented, and said it was the first case anyone had ever heard of.
The Feast of the Sacrifice is celebrated by Muslims worldwide each year and honours the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his promised son, Ishmael, as an act of submission to God's command, before God then intervened to provide Abraham with a lamb to sacrifice instead. The goat, like the hundreds of thousands of other animals due to be sacrificed for the feast, was supposed to have been cut up into three parts one third for the family, one third to relatives and friends, and the remaining third given to the poor.
Police said the boy had been playing with friends in front of the building and was just unlucky in being in the wrong place at the wrong time when the goat had decided to try and make its escape. Mehmet Yildirim, the boy's father, said he had brought the goat into town to sacrifice during the festival but could not find anywhere suitable to keep it in advance of the event itself, and so placed the animal on the roof of their apartment on the sixth floor.
However the goat had tried to escape and apparently jumped over a security fence around the rooftop area, dropping six floors to hit the young man on the head. Both the goat and the boy were killed. Dad Mehmet said: "I am devastated but what more can I say? In fact there is nothing at all to say." Police admitted that they were making enquiries into the death but added that it was unprecedented, and said it was the first case anyone had ever heard of.
The Feast of the Sacrifice is celebrated by Muslims worldwide each year and honours the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his promised son, Ishmael, as an act of submission to God's command, before God then intervened to provide Abraham with a lamb to sacrifice instead. The goat, like the hundreds of thousands of other animals due to be sacrificed for the feast, was supposed to have been cut up into three parts one third for the family, one third to relatives and friends, and the remaining third given to the poor.
Man who swallowed live frog and lizard given community service
A man who swallowed a frog and a lizard as part of an online drinking game has been told to pay £1,200.
The animals were swallowed by Sheldon Jeans on February 3 this year as part of the Neknomination game.
In the 90-second clip he posted on Facebook, Jeans put first the frog and then the lizard into glasses of water and swallowed them while they were still clearly moving.
Jeans was also seen drinking a glass with crickets in it before he swallowed the frog and lizard. He was stripped to the waist and wearing a ‘scouser’ wig and moustache. The prosecution was brought to court by the RSPCA as the incident was in breach of Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
RSPCA inspector Alan Browning said: "Unfortunately this isn’t the first case we’ve had involving Neknomination, but it is the first to come to court that involved animals other than fish. The two small animals would have suffered considerably during this incident, going through the distress of being swallowed and coming into contact with stomach acids. We hope this sick game is now on the decline as it is just not acceptable to subject animals to this sort of ordeal."
Jeans, of Cowplain, Hampshire, told Portsmouth magistrates he had regurgitated the animals afterwards but there is no evidence of this or that they survived. The 23-year-old was ordered to do 80 hours of unpaid work after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to a frog and a lizard by swallowing them. He was told to pay £1,200 in costs. The court case did not refer to the crickets as they are not covered under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The law covers animals with backbones, but not invertebrates such as insects and octopus.
Includes video of the incident.
Jeans was also seen drinking a glass with crickets in it before he swallowed the frog and lizard. He was stripped to the waist and wearing a ‘scouser’ wig and moustache. The prosecution was brought to court by the RSPCA as the incident was in breach of Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
RSPCA inspector Alan Browning said: "Unfortunately this isn’t the first case we’ve had involving Neknomination, but it is the first to come to court that involved animals other than fish. The two small animals would have suffered considerably during this incident, going through the distress of being swallowed and coming into contact with stomach acids. We hope this sick game is now on the decline as it is just not acceptable to subject animals to this sort of ordeal."
Jeans, of Cowplain, Hampshire, told Portsmouth magistrates he had regurgitated the animals afterwards but there is no evidence of this or that they survived. The 23-year-old was ordered to do 80 hours of unpaid work after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to a frog and a lizard by swallowing them. He was told to pay £1,200 in costs. The court case did not refer to the crickets as they are not covered under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The law covers animals with backbones, but not invertebrates such as insects and octopus.
Includes video of the incident.
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