Sunday, October 12, 2014
Would-be thief hid on shelf for hours in failed attempt to rob store
Police say it was an elaborate scheme that didn't pay off for two criminals at a north Houston Family Dollar store.
The pair are seen on surveillance video posing as customers in store. The men don't appear to know each other on the video footage, but police believe that was part of their plan.
At one point, one of the suspects began removing boxes containing garbage boxes from a shelf.
He then crawled onto the shelf. The other man, seen holding a shopping basket, looks around to make sure the coast is clear and proceeds to restock the shelf. This all happened while employees and customers were inside. "They thought they had a great plan, but it didn't really work out for them," said Sgt. J.B. Haney with Houston Police Department. "It's comical. It's kind of funny. It's one I'll remember for a while."
Police say the man who restocked the shelf bought candy and paper plates and left the store. The suspect who was hidden on the shelf waited patiently for employees to close the store. "I'd say that was a pretty big sacrifice on his part," said Sgt. Haney. After the employees left the store at around 11pm on Tuesday night, the man on the shelf made his move. Police say he probably wasn't expecting that the security alarm would immediately go off.
It was activated by a motion sensor. The criminal is seen on video exiting out the back door empty handed. "It is mind boggling why they went through all that and didn't grab something on the way out. I would have gotten me something on the way out," added Sgt. Haney. Employees at the store they couldn't comment because of corporate policy. Investigators believe the two men were using walkie-talkies to communicate during the crime.
With news video.
He then crawled onto the shelf. The other man, seen holding a shopping basket, looks around to make sure the coast is clear and proceeds to restock the shelf. This all happened while employees and customers were inside. "They thought they had a great plan, but it didn't really work out for them," said Sgt. J.B. Haney with Houston Police Department. "It's comical. It's kind of funny. It's one I'll remember for a while."
Police say the man who restocked the shelf bought candy and paper plates and left the store. The suspect who was hidden on the shelf waited patiently for employees to close the store. "I'd say that was a pretty big sacrifice on his part," said Sgt. Haney. After the employees left the store at around 11pm on Tuesday night, the man on the shelf made his move. Police say he probably wasn't expecting that the security alarm would immediately go off.
It was activated by a motion sensor. The criminal is seen on video exiting out the back door empty handed. "It is mind boggling why they went through all that and didn't grab something on the way out. I would have gotten me something on the way out," added Sgt. Haney. Employees at the store they couldn't comment because of corporate policy. Investigators believe the two men were using walkie-talkies to communicate during the crime.
With news video.
Newspaper corrects error made in 1852
A New Jersey newspaper has issued a correction for a story it published in 1852 about a bear mauling a teenage boy to death.
But the story didn't list a location of the bear attack, making it appear it happened in New Jersey. The New Jersey Herald wrote in Thursday's correction it actually happened in Arkansas.
But the story didn't list a location of the bear attack, making it appear it happened in New Jersey. The New Jersey Herald wrote in Thursday's correction it actually happened in Arkansas.
Man who hid in his basement for 17 years from charges for beating man and killing his dog jailed
A man who hid from police in the basement of his house in Onoway, Alberta, Canada, for 17 years was sent to prison on Friday.
Benjamin Louis Young was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant since 1995, when he abducted and beat a man he believed stole two pounds of marijuana from him. Young assaulted the man with a phone book, killed his dog and nearly chopped off two of his fingers.
Several members of Young’s gang were tracked down and arrested over several weeks. Young decided to hide in his own house.
“He quite literally lived in the basement of the home for 17 years,” defence lawyer Peter Royal said.
While Young’s wife went to work, he helped raise their two children and did household chores during his self-imposed exile. “I cannot imagine why, for 17 years, police didn’t visit his home, because they would’ve found him there,” Royal said. “It’s unbelievable.” The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s fugitive apprehension unit finally found Young at his home in October 2012. Young was 33 when he went into hiding. He is now 52. In the prisoner’s box, Young said he is no longer the man he once was. “My first lawyer told me that if I were you, I’d put as much time between these charges as you can and I did that to the best of my ability,” Young told court.
“I knew someday I’d have to give my pound of flesh.” Royal, who was not Young’s lawyer in 1995, said his client wants to live a normal life and run a landscaping business. On Friday, Young was sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, extortion and killing an animal. “We had been looking for him for years,” said RCMP Cpl. Colette Zazulak after the 2012 bust. According to agreed facts, Young believed that Shane Letwin had stolen two pounds of marijuana from Young in August 1995. Young was a “mid-level marijuana dealer” and the leader of his accomplices, Royal said. Young, known as Benny, and his gang abducted Letwin from his Edmonton apartment and forced him to eat a butter tart laced with LSD as a type of truth serum.
The group took Letwin, then 29, to a Spruce Grove acreage where his bull terrier was boarded. Young shot the dog five times with a handgun. Letwin was then taken to an abandoned shed near Calahoo, handcuffed and beaten with a leather sap and a phone book. “This was several years ago, when we had phone books,” Crown prosecutor Christian Lim told court. The gang moved Letwin to Young’s home, beat him with a snowmobile belt and held him overnight. He was released the next morning near the Royal Alexandra Hospital and warned not to call police. Weeks later, Young slashed two of Letwin’s fingers to the bone and stole his stereo equipment as payment of the debt. Young warned him to keep quiet or “he’d shoot him like he did the dog,” Lim told court. In 1995, police warned the public that Young was considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached. He was on the RCMP’s most wanted list for years.
While Young’s wife went to work, he helped raise their two children and did household chores during his self-imposed exile. “I cannot imagine why, for 17 years, police didn’t visit his home, because they would’ve found him there,” Royal said. “It’s unbelievable.” The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s fugitive apprehension unit finally found Young at his home in October 2012. Young was 33 when he went into hiding. He is now 52. In the prisoner’s box, Young said he is no longer the man he once was. “My first lawyer told me that if I were you, I’d put as much time between these charges as you can and I did that to the best of my ability,” Young told court.
“I knew someday I’d have to give my pound of flesh.” Royal, who was not Young’s lawyer in 1995, said his client wants to live a normal life and run a landscaping business. On Friday, Young was sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, extortion and killing an animal. “We had been looking for him for years,” said RCMP Cpl. Colette Zazulak after the 2012 bust. According to agreed facts, Young believed that Shane Letwin had stolen two pounds of marijuana from Young in August 1995. Young was a “mid-level marijuana dealer” and the leader of his accomplices, Royal said. Young, known as Benny, and his gang abducted Letwin from his Edmonton apartment and forced him to eat a butter tart laced with LSD as a type of truth serum.
The group took Letwin, then 29, to a Spruce Grove acreage where his bull terrier was boarded. Young shot the dog five times with a handgun. Letwin was then taken to an abandoned shed near Calahoo, handcuffed and beaten with a leather sap and a phone book. “This was several years ago, when we had phone books,” Crown prosecutor Christian Lim told court. The gang moved Letwin to Young’s home, beat him with a snowmobile belt and held him overnight. He was released the next morning near the Royal Alexandra Hospital and warned not to call police. Weeks later, Young slashed two of Letwin’s fingers to the bone and stole his stereo equipment as payment of the debt. Young warned him to keep quiet or “he’d shoot him like he did the dog,” Lim told court. In 1995, police warned the public that Young was considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached. He was on the RCMP’s most wanted list for years.
Alleged thief rescued after being stuck in chimney for 12 hours
An alleged thief trying to rob a roadhouse in Australia's outback became stuck in a chimney for almost 12 hours and needed rescuing.
Staff at the Mount Ebenezer roadhouse on the Lasseter Highway in the Northern Territory were opening for business early on Friday when they heard a voice calling out from somewhere inside the building.
Roadhouse all-rounder Kevin ‘Chevy’ Carter arrived at 7am to open the business, when he heard the voice yelling for help. “It scared the sh*t out of me,” Mr Carter said. He called emergency services in Yulara and offered the man a bite to eat. “You could see his hand so I passed him up a sausage roll and a bottle of water, and I asked him, ‘how you gonna pay for that, with cash or card?’ A couple of minutes later a wrapper and an empty bottle came down.”
Senior Sergeant Garry Smith said: "Once inside the chimney he has slid uncontrolled down to the bottom of the chimney where he has become wedged as the chimney narrows just above the fireplace itself. Looking from the fireplace up, there is a small gap of around 10cm to allow smoke to escape, above this the chimney proper begins and this is where he stuck, unable to move in an area barely big enough for his body to fit."
Police from Yulara and Imanpa stations attended but had to wait for a fire and rescue crew from Yulara, about 190 kilometres away, to arrive before the rescue could begin. A jackhammer was used for about 90 minutes to create a hole alongside the man. "He seemed remarkably well considering the ordeal he had just been through," Sen Sgt Smith said. "He was treated for scratches, ash and dust inhalation." He said the man was taken to Imanpa Health Clinic and will be interviewed when given the all-clear by doctors.
Roadhouse all-rounder Kevin ‘Chevy’ Carter arrived at 7am to open the business, when he heard the voice yelling for help. “It scared the sh*t out of me,” Mr Carter said. He called emergency services in Yulara and offered the man a bite to eat. “You could see his hand so I passed him up a sausage roll and a bottle of water, and I asked him, ‘how you gonna pay for that, with cash or card?’ A couple of minutes later a wrapper and an empty bottle came down.”
Senior Sergeant Garry Smith said: "Once inside the chimney he has slid uncontrolled down to the bottom of the chimney where he has become wedged as the chimney narrows just above the fireplace itself. Looking from the fireplace up, there is a small gap of around 10cm to allow smoke to escape, above this the chimney proper begins and this is where he stuck, unable to move in an area barely big enough for his body to fit."
Police from Yulara and Imanpa stations attended but had to wait for a fire and rescue crew from Yulara, about 190 kilometres away, to arrive before the rescue could begin. A jackhammer was used for about 90 minutes to create a hole alongside the man. "He seemed remarkably well considering the ordeal he had just been through," Sen Sgt Smith said. "He was treated for scratches, ash and dust inhalation." He said the man was taken to Imanpa Health Clinic and will be interviewed when given the all-clear by doctors.
Woman used frying pan to steal car
A woman on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, used a frying pan to steal a car before showing her nicer side.
The woman approached another woman at Mooloolaba State School at about 6pm on Friday and threatened her with a frying pan, demanding she hand over her car keys. The victim complied, watching on as the thief erratically drove away at high speed.
The female car owner proceeded to call her mobile phone which had been left in the car, leading the offender to not only apologise for the incident but tell her where she would abandon the vehicle.
Police officers found the car just after midnight in at Alexandra Headland with no property missing. The keys were still in the ignition. Officers have not yet caught the offender, who is understood to be unknown to the victim.
The woman approached another woman at Mooloolaba State School at about 6pm on Friday and threatened her with a frying pan, demanding she hand over her car keys. The victim complied, watching on as the thief erratically drove away at high speed.
The female car owner proceeded to call her mobile phone which had been left in the car, leading the offender to not only apologise for the incident but tell her where she would abandon the vehicle.
Police officers found the car just after midnight in at Alexandra Headland with no property missing. The keys were still in the ignition. Officers have not yet caught the offender, who is understood to be unknown to the victim.
Man accused of indecent exposure claims victim mistook novelty rubber replica for his real penis
A man on trial for indecently exposing himself to a neighbour claims she mistook a novelty rubber replica for his real penis.
A jury at Bolton Crown Court has to decide if 52-year-old Eric Parton was playing a prank on next-door neighbour Alison Burdaky with a fake penis or whether he indecently exposed himself to her.
He claims the rubber penis was bought by a friend in Spain.
Several times the jury were shown CCTV footage of the incident, taken from cameras on Mrs Burdaky’s home in Harwood, Lancashire, on the evening on October 20 last year.
A rubber novelty penis was then passed around for them to view in a clear plastic bag. Several jurors appeared to be stifling smirks. Giving evidence, Mrs Burdaky told prosecution counsel Brian McKenna that relations between her family and Parton, who lives in the adjoining semi-detached property, have not been good. But on Sunday October 20 at 9.30pm, when she went upstairs to close her bedroom curtains, she looked out of the window and saw Parton on his drive next to a parked van. “He had his penis in his hand and was waving it around,” she said. “I was shocked, obviously,” she said, adding that her husband Carl ran out of the house after Parton as he drove off.
She stated that Parton had looked directly at her as he committed the act and denied suggestions by defence barrister Mark Friend that she could have been mistaken in thinking the penis was real. Mr Friend, stressing that it was dark at the time of the incident, told Mrs Burdaky that Parton admits pulling something out of his fly, but it was not his penis. “I suggest it was something else and I’m going to show you what it was,” Mr Friend told her. He produced a clear bag containing a rubber novelty penis which was examined by the witness and members of the jury. But Mrs Burdaky denied that was what she had seen. “He whipped it out of his pants. I was in no doubt it was his penis,” she stated, adding that, unlike the replica she was shown in court, it had been “flopping about.”
“It is shocking - you don’t expect to be shutting your bedroom curtains and see your next door neighbour flashing his genitals at you. It’s disgusting. It made me feel sick,” she said. Mrs Burdaky reported the incident to police. PC David Heald told the court he interviewed Parton on November 18, during which the defendant gave him a prepared statement claiming a friend, Roy Griffiths, had bought a novelty penis in Spain and he had borrowed it to show another friend before returning it to its owner. But PC Heald said Parton became evasive when he asked for addresses and phone numbers of the friends and repeated requests for the defendant to produce the novelty item before the trial were unsuccessful. When the rubber penis was passed to PC Heald in court, he declined to touch it. The trial continues on Monday.
A rubber novelty penis was then passed around for them to view in a clear plastic bag. Several jurors appeared to be stifling smirks. Giving evidence, Mrs Burdaky told prosecution counsel Brian McKenna that relations between her family and Parton, who lives in the adjoining semi-detached property, have not been good. But on Sunday October 20 at 9.30pm, when she went upstairs to close her bedroom curtains, she looked out of the window and saw Parton on his drive next to a parked van. “He had his penis in his hand and was waving it around,” she said. “I was shocked, obviously,” she said, adding that her husband Carl ran out of the house after Parton as he drove off.
She stated that Parton had looked directly at her as he committed the act and denied suggestions by defence barrister Mark Friend that she could have been mistaken in thinking the penis was real. Mr Friend, stressing that it was dark at the time of the incident, told Mrs Burdaky that Parton admits pulling something out of his fly, but it was not his penis. “I suggest it was something else and I’m going to show you what it was,” Mr Friend told her. He produced a clear bag containing a rubber novelty penis which was examined by the witness and members of the jury. But Mrs Burdaky denied that was what she had seen. “He whipped it out of his pants. I was in no doubt it was his penis,” she stated, adding that, unlike the replica she was shown in court, it had been “flopping about.”
“It is shocking - you don’t expect to be shutting your bedroom curtains and see your next door neighbour flashing his genitals at you. It’s disgusting. It made me feel sick,” she said. Mrs Burdaky reported the incident to police. PC David Heald told the court he interviewed Parton on November 18, during which the defendant gave him a prepared statement claiming a friend, Roy Griffiths, had bought a novelty penis in Spain and he had borrowed it to show another friend before returning it to its owner. But PC Heald said Parton became evasive when he asked for addresses and phone numbers of the friends and repeated requests for the defendant to produce the novelty item before the trial were unsuccessful. When the rubber penis was passed to PC Heald in court, he declined to touch it. The trial continues on Monday.
Heroin dealer's attempt at disposing of evidence perhaps didn't go as well as he'd hoped
A drug dealer was found covered in heroin after a failed attempt to dispose of his stash during a car chase.
Tabraiz Hussain was driving a Volkswagen Passat to an address in Middlesbrough, when he was followed by police on September 8 last year.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Hussain then led police on a pursuit round a “heavily populated estate” for several minutes before trying to throw a large amount of the class A drug out of the window. Prosecuting Alsha Wadoodi told the court: “The defendant refused to stop, exceeding the speed limit and driving on the wrong side of the road.
"He only stopped once he mounted the pavement after a close collision with parked cars.” Police used vacuum cleaners to retrieve the drugs scattered on the road and the defendant. They estimated a one kilo recovery - valued at almost £16,000. During interview the 34-year-old, of Holme House Prison, Stockton, admitted he was in possession of class A drugs.
Hussain, of Holme House Prison, Stockton, had initially denied conspiracy to supply class A drugs but changed his plea to guilty on the day of his trial. He also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A and dangerous driving. Hussain was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Hussain then led police on a pursuit round a “heavily populated estate” for several minutes before trying to throw a large amount of the class A drug out of the window. Prosecuting Alsha Wadoodi told the court: “The defendant refused to stop, exceeding the speed limit and driving on the wrong side of the road.
"He only stopped once he mounted the pavement after a close collision with parked cars.” Police used vacuum cleaners to retrieve the drugs scattered on the road and the defendant. They estimated a one kilo recovery - valued at almost £16,000. During interview the 34-year-old, of Holme House Prison, Stockton, admitted he was in possession of class A drugs.
Hussain, of Holme House Prison, Stockton, had initially denied conspiracy to supply class A drugs but changed his plea to guilty on the day of his trial. He also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A and dangerous driving. Hussain was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison.
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