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Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Couple charged in 'phantom finger' case plead guilty to possessing meth
The Stillwater couple charged last winter for possessing methamphetamine after a woman was seen frantically searching a vehicle for her boyfriend's "missing finger" have pleaded guilty to felony drug charges. Ashley Marie Brooker, 23, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of a controlled substance and fifth-degree possession of methamphetamine last month. She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 15. Nicholas Thomas Doyle, 25, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance. His sentencing date is scheduled for Aug. 2.
According to the criminal complaint: Stillwater police responded to the Lakeview Hospital parking lot after an emergency medical technician (EMT) reported seeing an "extremely agitated" woman flailing her arms. When approached by the EMT, Brooker said she was looking for a finger as she frantically searched the passenger's side of the vehicle.
The EMT noticed what was described in the complaint as "severe pock marks, scarring and scabs on the woman's face" and believed her behaviour to be consistent with methamphetamine use. The EMT then called police. Responding officers questioned Brooker and were told that her boyfriend, Doyle, severed a finger and that she believed it to be somewhere inside the vehicle. Officers found the cap to a hypodermic syringe on the driver's seat when Brooker got out of the car.
She then admitted to having a syringe full of what was later found to be methamphetamine in the driver's console. Meanwhile, a second responding officer located a man inside the hospital fitting the description of Doyle. When questioned by police, Doyle said he cut his finger but did not sever it. Doyle also admitted Brooker drove him to the hospital. Police searched Doyle and found a hypodermic syringe cap in his left front pocket.
According to the criminal complaint: Stillwater police responded to the Lakeview Hospital parking lot after an emergency medical technician (EMT) reported seeing an "extremely agitated" woman flailing her arms. When approached by the EMT, Brooker said she was looking for a finger as she frantically searched the passenger's side of the vehicle.
The EMT noticed what was described in the complaint as "severe pock marks, scarring and scabs on the woman's face" and believed her behaviour to be consistent with methamphetamine use. The EMT then called police. Responding officers questioned Brooker and were told that her boyfriend, Doyle, severed a finger and that she believed it to be somewhere inside the vehicle. Officers found the cap to a hypodermic syringe on the driver's seat when Brooker got out of the car.
She then admitted to having a syringe full of what was later found to be methamphetamine in the driver's console. Meanwhile, a second responding officer located a man inside the hospital fitting the description of Doyle. When questioned by police, Doyle said he cut his finger but did not sever it. Doyle also admitted Brooker drove him to the hospital. Police searched Doyle and found a hypodermic syringe cap in his left front pocket.
Woman charged with castration urinates in police car
A 35-year-old Shelby woman is accused of squeezing a man’s testicle out of his scrotum this weekend, according to a Shelby Police report.
Police charged Joyce Maxine Gregory with malicious castration and assault inflicting serious bodily injury. Gregory and a 59-year-old Shelby man argued early Saturday morning at a home on Bowman Street, according to a Shelby Police report. The man told police he went outside to call 911 after the confrontation.
Photo from here.
The man said Gregory came outside and grabbed him by his scrotum before he was able to jerk away from her grip. Then, the man walked to the Shelby Rescue Squad building for help. He was taken to Cleveland Regional Medical Center. A hospital urologist told police stitches could repair the man’s injury.
Police officers on the scene went back to search the Bowman Street home. They found Gregory inside and arrested her. While inside an officer’s patrol car, Gregory removed her pants and urinated in the back seat. She was taken to the magistrate’s office at the Cleveland County Courthouse after the incident. Gregory was booked into the Cleveland County Detention Center. She is being held without bond.
Police charged Joyce Maxine Gregory with malicious castration and assault inflicting serious bodily injury. Gregory and a 59-year-old Shelby man argued early Saturday morning at a home on Bowman Street, according to a Shelby Police report. The man told police he went outside to call 911 after the confrontation.
Photo from here.
The man said Gregory came outside and grabbed him by his scrotum before he was able to jerk away from her grip. Then, the man walked to the Shelby Rescue Squad building for help. He was taken to Cleveland Regional Medical Center. A hospital urologist told police stitches could repair the man’s injury.
Police officers on the scene went back to search the Bowman Street home. They found Gregory inside and arrested her. While inside an officer’s patrol car, Gregory removed her pants and urinated in the back seat. She was taken to the magistrate’s office at the Cleveland County Courthouse after the incident. Gregory was booked into the Cleveland County Detention Center. She is being held without bond.
Woman caught in bank robbery inadvertently flees in robbers’ car
A Houston woman who was caught in the middle of a bank robbery said she was so scared, she ran and jumped into the nearest car she could find and took off. But it just so happened, the car belonged to the suspects. Blanca, a mother of four, said it happened while she was cashing a check at a Chase bank on I-10 east at Uvalde. All of a sudden, the masked, armed suspects stormed the building, and she split.
"I was just thinking, ‘Just get out now and just duck, ‘cause they are going to shoot you,’" Blanca said. "And it was just going through my mind – ‘my children, my children.’" Blanca said she didn’t have much time to think, but she wasn’t staying around for whatever the suspects had planned. "I went the other way like this and I just ran, and I kind of just ducked down and I pushed the first door and I threw a lady out of the way," she said.
YouTube link.
"The first car I saw, I jumped in." She said the car was on, so she floored it, desperate to escape. She said she drove a few miles from the bank, pulled into a parking lot, fell out of the car and ran into a Cricket store, screaming for help. But what she didn’t know was, she’d just stolen the suspects’ getaway car – which police said the suspects had stolen from someone else.
"Then, they arrested me, and they said, ‘You’re the one that stole a stolen car.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh my God, it was their car,’" Blanca said. The FBI eventually cleared Blanca and said she was just a witness. The robbers ended up getting away, but police said they had to carjack someone to do it. Fortunately, that driver wasn’t hurt – and neither was Blanca.
"I was just thinking, ‘Just get out now and just duck, ‘cause they are going to shoot you,’" Blanca said. "And it was just going through my mind – ‘my children, my children.’" Blanca said she didn’t have much time to think, but she wasn’t staying around for whatever the suspects had planned. "I went the other way like this and I just ran, and I kind of just ducked down and I pushed the first door and I threw a lady out of the way," she said.
YouTube link.
"The first car I saw, I jumped in." She said the car was on, so she floored it, desperate to escape. She said she drove a few miles from the bank, pulled into a parking lot, fell out of the car and ran into a Cricket store, screaming for help. But what she didn’t know was, she’d just stolen the suspects’ getaway car – which police said the suspects had stolen from someone else.
"Then, they arrested me, and they said, ‘You’re the one that stole a stolen car.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh my God, it was their car,’" Blanca said. The FBI eventually cleared Blanca and said she was just a witness. The robbers ended up getting away, but police said they had to carjack someone to do it. Fortunately, that driver wasn’t hurt – and neither was Blanca.
Man on the run after making his mother pregnant for the second time
A Zimbabwean man is on the run after his mother fell pregnant following an incestuous relationship over several years. Chief Chinamhora of Domboshova said that his aides were looking for Simon Matsvara and his mother Ethel Vhangare who is said to be five months pregnant.
“We are going to hunt for the two and we will punish them severely to send a clear message to would-be offenders that we do not tolerate such acts,” the chief said. Neighbours in Pote village claimed that this was the second time Ethel had fallen pregnant by her son having suffered a miscarriage the first time back in 2008.
They said the pair started their relationship after Simon’s father, Agripah, suffered a stroke and relatives assigned him to help his mother look after his dad. A few months later, while her husband was still alive, Ethel admitted to villagers that she was pregnant and that her son was responsible. Family elders reportedly fined the pair an undisclosed number of cattle and Ethel suffered a miscarriage two months later just before her husband died.
But the pair continued with their relationship, resulting in another pregnancy this year which came to light when Ethel started absconding church services. Fellow worshipers visited her at home where they found she was five months pregnant and reported the outrage to Chief Chinamhora..The pair then fled the community after the chief sent his aides to arrest them.
“We are going to hunt for the two and we will punish them severely to send a clear message to would-be offenders that we do not tolerate such acts,” the chief said. Neighbours in Pote village claimed that this was the second time Ethel had fallen pregnant by her son having suffered a miscarriage the first time back in 2008.
They said the pair started their relationship after Simon’s father, Agripah, suffered a stroke and relatives assigned him to help his mother look after his dad. A few months later, while her husband was still alive, Ethel admitted to villagers that she was pregnant and that her son was responsible. Family elders reportedly fined the pair an undisclosed number of cattle and Ethel suffered a miscarriage two months later just before her husband died.
But the pair continued with their relationship, resulting in another pregnancy this year which came to light when Ethel started absconding church services. Fellow worshipers visited her at home where they found she was five months pregnant and reported the outrage to Chief Chinamhora..The pair then fled the community after the chief sent his aides to arrest them.
Dog with head stuck in container saved after its photo was posted on Facebook
Dog lovers in Memphis, Tennessee, came to the rescue after a picture posted to Facebook showed a helpless pup with its head stuck inside a plastic container. "If someone tied you up and went to go beating you or attacking you, there is nothing you can do. Same thing with that dog," rescuer Jess McClain said. "If another dog came up and attacked him he can't do a thing, or eat or drink."
McClain and about a dozen other local residents helped in the search for the dog after fellow rescuer Beth Gresham posted a picture of the dog to Facebook last Friday. "Got within 15-20 feet and it raised its head but went into the woods," Gresham wrote on her Facebook page. "Came back out and was able to get this pic (it has been zoomed in) I am leaving jobsite now and going back by."
Gresham had tried to help the dog, but she says it was frightened and ran into the nearby woods when she attempted to approach it. No one is sure if the container was placed on the dog's head intentionally or if it accidentally became stuck after looking for food.
The small white dog with black spots appeared very thin and was likely one of many dogs abandoned in the nearby woods, according to Gresham. Thankfully, the story has a happy ending. The dog, now named Miracle, was found on Saturday night after rescuers used container cutters to free it. The rescue team also found another stray dog during its search, and it looks as if both will find new homes.
There's a news video here.
McClain and about a dozen other local residents helped in the search for the dog after fellow rescuer Beth Gresham posted a picture of the dog to Facebook last Friday. "Got within 15-20 feet and it raised its head but went into the woods," Gresham wrote on her Facebook page. "Came back out and was able to get this pic (it has been zoomed in) I am leaving jobsite now and going back by."
Gresham had tried to help the dog, but she says it was frightened and ran into the nearby woods when she attempted to approach it. No one is sure if the container was placed on the dog's head intentionally or if it accidentally became stuck after looking for food.
The small white dog with black spots appeared very thin and was likely one of many dogs abandoned in the nearby woods, according to Gresham. Thankfully, the story has a happy ending. The dog, now named Miracle, was found on Saturday night after rescuers used container cutters to free it. The rescue team also found another stray dog during its search, and it looks as if both will find new homes.
There's a news video here.
Boy rescued after getting head stuck in beam at school
A boy was rescued Monday at a Volusia County elementary school after his head became lodged in a beam.
The boy was at Osteen Elementary School when his curiosity caused him to put his head into an opening of the beam, which appeared to be holding a canopy.
The boy's head became stuck in the beam, and Volusia County firefighters were called to the school. Rescuers cut the beam, and the boy, whose age was not released, was freed about 22 minutes after firefighters arrived.
"He had no complaints. We gave him some ice-cold water and reassured him we were all kids once and he didn't do anything wrong," a fire official said. The boy was not injured and returned home on Monday night, officials said.
The boy was at Osteen Elementary School when his curiosity caused him to put his head into an opening of the beam, which appeared to be holding a canopy.
The boy's head became stuck in the beam, and Volusia County firefighters were called to the school. Rescuers cut the beam, and the boy, whose age was not released, was freed about 22 minutes after firefighters arrived.
"He had no complaints. We gave him some ice-cold water and reassured him we were all kids once and he didn't do anything wrong," a fire official said. The boy was not injured and returned home on Monday night, officials said.
13th annual baby crawling contest held in Lithuania
Twenty-five infants battled it out over a five-metre mat as Vilnius celebrated International Child Protection day with a baby crawling contest. The fledgling competitors and their parents were trying to win the title of the 'fastest crawler in the land.'
"To mark International Child Protection Day, we [radio station "M-1 Plus"] are holding the 13th annual baby crawling competition. There are 25 babies, and we will see which of these babies is the fastest this year. Eleven boys and 14 girls, ages ranging from 6 to 12 months, taking part in the competition," rave organiser Tomas Ramasauskas said.
YouTube link.
Lithuania's annual baby racing contest has become something of a spectator sport since it was first staged in the capital Vilnius 13 years ago. The tiny racers competed in heats along a five-metre carpeted track. At the finish line, parents frantically jangled keys and dangled toys or, to surprising success, showed monitors of computers to entice their offspring. But for some of the participants, maintaining focus and direction proved too much.
Eleven month-old Kasparas Abromavicius had no problem with the task in hand, clambering across the finishing line into the arms of mother Gita, and was crowned this year's champion crawler. "We are feeling great. Thank you very much. This is our first victory and it is very jolly," said winner's mother Gita Abromaviciene.
"To mark International Child Protection Day, we [radio station "M-1 Plus"] are holding the 13th annual baby crawling competition. There are 25 babies, and we will see which of these babies is the fastest this year. Eleven boys and 14 girls, ages ranging from 6 to 12 months, taking part in the competition," rave organiser Tomas Ramasauskas said.
YouTube link.
Lithuania's annual baby racing contest has become something of a spectator sport since it was first staged in the capital Vilnius 13 years ago. The tiny racers competed in heats along a five-metre carpeted track. At the finish line, parents frantically jangled keys and dangled toys or, to surprising success, showed monitors of computers to entice their offspring. But for some of the participants, maintaining focus and direction proved too much.
Eleven month-old Kasparas Abromavicius had no problem with the task in hand, clambering across the finishing line into the arms of mother Gita, and was crowned this year's champion crawler. "We are feeling great. Thank you very much. This is our first victory and it is very jolly," said winner's mother Gita Abromaviciene.
Man sues hospital for $2 million after staff watched TV instead of helping with his painful erection
A Massachusetts man has sued Yale-New Haven Hospital after he claimed staff at an affiliated health care facility did not properly treat him for a painful and chronic erection condition. Instead, Daren Scott, a bus driver from Brockton, said the staff watched television while he waited for help.
Scott suffered from a condition known as priapism, a painful, rare disorder that causes the penis to stay erect for more than four hours at a time, without the cause of psychological or physical stimulation. It is most common in boys ages 5 to 10 and men ages 20 to 50. Blood-related illnesses, including sickle cell anemia, injury to the genitalia and leukemia, can contribute to priapism.
Scott was reportedly driving his bus route from from Boston to New York in April 2009 when he experienced the painful erection. After dropping off the bus passengers, he went to an emergency facility, where he said staff members told him to wait in the waiting area as they watched a baseball game on television. “Yale-New Haven Hospital denies the allegations and will vigorously defend its position in court,” hospital spokesman Robert Hutchinson said in a statement. Scott is seeking $2 million in damages in the federal suit.
If left untreated, priapism can result in “complete erectile dysfunction,” said Dr. Michael O’Leary, senior urologic surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. To treat the condition, O’Leary said physicians “usually aspirate blood from the penis and instill dilute phenylephrine,” a medication often used to relieve nasal discomfort caused by colds and allergies. If that fails to alleviate the erection, “surgery is appropriate,” O’Leary said. Scott said he was forced to wait a total of five hours before getting treated. Scott claims he finally underwent surgery, but it was unsuccessful and he remained in pain for months.
Scott suffered from a condition known as priapism, a painful, rare disorder that causes the penis to stay erect for more than four hours at a time, without the cause of psychological or physical stimulation. It is most common in boys ages 5 to 10 and men ages 20 to 50. Blood-related illnesses, including sickle cell anemia, injury to the genitalia and leukemia, can contribute to priapism.
Scott was reportedly driving his bus route from from Boston to New York in April 2009 when he experienced the painful erection. After dropping off the bus passengers, he went to an emergency facility, where he said staff members told him to wait in the waiting area as they watched a baseball game on television. “Yale-New Haven Hospital denies the allegations and will vigorously defend its position in court,” hospital spokesman Robert Hutchinson said in a statement. Scott is seeking $2 million in damages in the federal suit.
If left untreated, priapism can result in “complete erectile dysfunction,” said Dr. Michael O’Leary, senior urologic surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. To treat the condition, O’Leary said physicians “usually aspirate blood from the penis and instill dilute phenylephrine,” a medication often used to relieve nasal discomfort caused by colds and allergies. If that fails to alleviate the erection, “surgery is appropriate,” O’Leary said. Scott said he was forced to wait a total of five hours before getting treated. Scott claims he finally underwent surgery, but it was unsuccessful and he remained in pain for months.
Japanese 'diet goggles' fool wearers into eating less
Japanese scientists have created goggles that fool a person's brain into believing their stomach is full by making food appear to be larger than actual size. An image processing system that changes the size of a piece of food when it is picked up off the plate and moved towards the person's mouth has been developed by the researchers at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Information Science and Technology.
The latest creation in the battle of the bulge is a pair of goggles that are equipped with video cameras linked to a computer that is able to manipulate the images. The computer is able to make the food appear as much as 50 percent larger or 33 percent smaller than its actual size. To make the illusion even more convincing, the processor is able to make the person's hand appear to be the same size as normal.
"By changing the size of the food and scaling it up we have shown that participants eat about 10 percent less over the course of a day," Takuji Narumi, an assistant professor working on the project, said. "This is because the brain believes visual information rather than the information that it receives from the stomach or our other internal sensors," he said. In tests, subjects taking part in a single sitting were asked to eat biscuits until they felt full.
The test subjects using the augmented reality device that made the cookies appear 50 percent larger ate 9.3 percent fewer biscuits than when they only used their naked eyes. When the system made the biscuits appear to be 33 percent smaller, however, the test subjects consumed an average of 15 percent more. The five-strong team of scientists has been working on the project for six months but do not have plans to turn it into a commercial product in the near future.
The latest creation in the battle of the bulge is a pair of goggles that are equipped with video cameras linked to a computer that is able to manipulate the images. The computer is able to make the food appear as much as 50 percent larger or 33 percent smaller than its actual size. To make the illusion even more convincing, the processor is able to make the person's hand appear to be the same size as normal.
"By changing the size of the food and scaling it up we have shown that participants eat about 10 percent less over the course of a day," Takuji Narumi, an assistant professor working on the project, said. "This is because the brain believes visual information rather than the information that it receives from the stomach or our other internal sensors," he said. In tests, subjects taking part in a single sitting were asked to eat biscuits until they felt full.
The test subjects using the augmented reality device that made the cookies appear 50 percent larger ate 9.3 percent fewer biscuits than when they only used their naked eyes. When the system made the biscuits appear to be 33 percent smaller, however, the test subjects consumed an average of 15 percent more. The five-strong team of scientists has been working on the project for six months but do not have plans to turn it into a commercial product in the near future.
Man blackmailed doctor after spotting lookalike in spanking magazine
A man who tried to blackmail his GP after spotting a lookalike in a top shelf magazine has been jailed for two years. Graham Rideout sent the married doctor a photocopy of the page from the publication, which specialised in spanking, with a circle around the face of someone he thought was the doctor. In a 25-page hand-written letter sent to the man's surgery, the 56-year-old maintenance worker ordered the innocent man to hand over £8,000 or he would ruin him by exposing his 'perversions'. Rideout told him he would contact the General Medical Council to try to get him struck off. He would also inform his family and the police.
The doctor responded by contacting the police. Despite the letter claiming no fingerprints would be found on it, Rideout was wrong and identified from the rambling document. Matthew Scott, prosecuting, told Swindon crown court: "On December 8 last year the doctor received a letter in a brown envelope. The letter consisted of about 25 pages of handwritten notes and on the front page of the letter was a photocopy of an adult magazine for those interested in spanking, and the like. In that was a picture of a man that had been circled. It was not the man in question but Mr Rideout thought that it was.
He wrote on it a number of demands to pay him money; £8,000 if he was not to report the doctor to the GMC and possibly the police." The sender was arrested towards the end of January as his prints were on record as a result of a previous caution, and he admitted to the offence. Rideout, of Swindon, pleaded guilty to blackmail. Nick Fridd, defending, said his client had been drinking and wound himself up after seeing what he thought was his GP in the magazine. He said that he didn't really think he would get any money but he just wanted to "fire a shot across the bows" of the doctor. Rideout had been diagnosed as suffering from paranoid psychosis, he said, and needed help for his problems.
Jailing him Judge Douglas Field said: "You sent this long, nasty letter to your doctor and that letter contained the threat that unless a payment of £8,000 would be made you would be telling people that his photograph appeared in an adult magazine and that he was interested in being spanked. There were detailed instructions about how he was to go to the place to pay the money. If he didn't comply the police would be called, his family would find out and he would be ruined. This was a very nasty, evil attack. Your motives appear to be strange and irrational; it may well have been because you have psychiatric problems. I have to bear in mind the position of this doctor: completely blameless in this, out of the blue getting this letter which causes him and his family extreme distress. There is no excuse for this."
The doctor responded by contacting the police. Despite the letter claiming no fingerprints would be found on it, Rideout was wrong and identified from the rambling document. Matthew Scott, prosecuting, told Swindon crown court: "On December 8 last year the doctor received a letter in a brown envelope. The letter consisted of about 25 pages of handwritten notes and on the front page of the letter was a photocopy of an adult magazine for those interested in spanking, and the like. In that was a picture of a man that had been circled. It was not the man in question but Mr Rideout thought that it was.
He wrote on it a number of demands to pay him money; £8,000 if he was not to report the doctor to the GMC and possibly the police." The sender was arrested towards the end of January as his prints were on record as a result of a previous caution, and he admitted to the offence. Rideout, of Swindon, pleaded guilty to blackmail. Nick Fridd, defending, said his client had been drinking and wound himself up after seeing what he thought was his GP in the magazine. He said that he didn't really think he would get any money but he just wanted to "fire a shot across the bows" of the doctor. Rideout had been diagnosed as suffering from paranoid psychosis, he said, and needed help for his problems.
Jailing him Judge Douglas Field said: "You sent this long, nasty letter to your doctor and that letter contained the threat that unless a payment of £8,000 would be made you would be telling people that his photograph appeared in an adult magazine and that he was interested in being spanked. There were detailed instructions about how he was to go to the place to pay the money. If he didn't comply the police would be called, his family would find out and he would be ruined. This was a very nasty, evil attack. Your motives appear to be strange and irrational; it may well have been because you have psychiatric problems. I have to bear in mind the position of this doctor: completely blameless in this, out of the blue getting this letter which causes him and his family extreme distress. There is no excuse for this."
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