Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Police issue a 'Be on the Lookout' advisory for six-foot-tall bunny costume
Prince George's County Police in Maryland have issued a BOLO, a "Be on the Lookout" advisory, asking for the community's help in finding the burglar who snatched a bunny costume.
They are requesting residents keep their eyes peeled for a 6-foot-tall grey and white furry bunny with pink ears and a pink nose.
And they aren't joking. On June 6, patrol officers were called to College Park about a burglary. Employees discovered a storage shed had been broken into overnight. The only item taken was the costume.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Regional Investigation Division. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers.
They are requesting residents keep their eyes peeled for a 6-foot-tall grey and white furry bunny with pink ears and a pink nose.
And they aren't joking. On June 6, patrol officers were called to College Park about a burglary. Employees discovered a storage shed had been broken into overnight. The only item taken was the costume.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Regional Investigation Division. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers.
Man driving tractor eluded police for two hours during 18mph pursuit
A man driving a tractor eluded police for approximately two hours on Monday night in a chase that started in Decatur, Indiana, and crossed the state line into Ohio.
At around 7:30pm, the Adam’s County Sheriff’s Department said officers responded in Decatur to a report of vandalism.
When they pulled up, police found a man who they said drove away from the area on a tractor. They tried to get him to pull over but said he refused.
At 18 miles per hour, the tractor drove over several sets of stop sticks, leaving several of the tyres either flat or completely gone. According Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey, at one point the tractor driver, identified as Dustin D. Clouse, 20, of Decatur, swerved in an attempt to hit a deputy. He also allegedly tried to ram several patrol cars. Clouse was eventually forced to stop due to mechanical problems.
When Clouse ignored commands to shut off the tractor and get off it, a deputy used his Taser and Clouse was taken into custody according to Sheriff Grey. Clouse was taken to Mercer Health as standard policy when a Taser is used. Once he was cleared for release from the hospital, Clouse was taken to the Mercer County Adult Detention Facility on a felony charge of fleeing and eluding. The case will be reviewed by the Mercer County and Adams County Prosecutor’s Office.
YouTube link.
Additional charges may be filed in Ohio and/or Indiana after that review. “This was an unusual pursuit, we are happy that no one from the public, Mr. Clouse, or law enforcement was injured,” stated Sheriff Grey, “law enforcement agencies from both states worked well together to bring this to a safe conclusion.” Agencies involved in the investigation were the Adams County, Indiana, Sheriff’s Office, Decatur Police Department, Mercer County Sheriff’s Office and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
At 18 miles per hour, the tractor drove over several sets of stop sticks, leaving several of the tyres either flat or completely gone. According Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey, at one point the tractor driver, identified as Dustin D. Clouse, 20, of Decatur, swerved in an attempt to hit a deputy. He also allegedly tried to ram several patrol cars. Clouse was eventually forced to stop due to mechanical problems.
When Clouse ignored commands to shut off the tractor and get off it, a deputy used his Taser and Clouse was taken into custody according to Sheriff Grey. Clouse was taken to Mercer Health as standard policy when a Taser is used. Once he was cleared for release from the hospital, Clouse was taken to the Mercer County Adult Detention Facility on a felony charge of fleeing and eluding. The case will be reviewed by the Mercer County and Adams County Prosecutor’s Office.
YouTube link.
Additional charges may be filed in Ohio and/or Indiana after that review. “This was an unusual pursuit, we are happy that no one from the public, Mr. Clouse, or law enforcement was injured,” stated Sheriff Grey, “law enforcement agencies from both states worked well together to bring this to a safe conclusion.” Agencies involved in the investigation were the Adams County, Indiana, Sheriff’s Office, Decatur Police Department, Mercer County Sheriff’s Office and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Police officer dived under eight feet of water to rescue dog from submerged pick-up truck
A police officer rescued a dog from a submerged vehicle in Carver, Massachusetts, on Saturday afternoon.
A 59-year-old woman drove her pick-up truck with two dogs inside into water at South Meadow village at about 3:40pm.
The Plymouth woman and one of her dogs were able to get out but the other dog was still inside the completely submerged vehicle, police said. Officer David Harriman, a dog lover, dived into the water and was able to open the truck door and rescue the dog.
The eight-feet-deep murky water made it almost impossible to see even his hand in front of his face, Harriamn said. The dog was shaken up but in good health.
"He wasn't moving at all when I first got to him, and then when I got him to the surface, he came to," he said. "He'd been under the water for quite some time." Harriman said he didn't think twice about going in the water to rescue the crying driver's dog.
The Plymouth woman and one of her dogs were able to get out but the other dog was still inside the completely submerged vehicle, police said. Officer David Harriman, a dog lover, dived into the water and was able to open the truck door and rescue the dog.
The eight-feet-deep murky water made it almost impossible to see even his hand in front of his face, Harriamn said. The dog was shaken up but in good health.
"He wasn't moving at all when I first got to him, and then when I got him to the surface, he came to," he said. "He'd been under the water for quite some time." Harriman said he didn't think twice about going in the water to rescue the crying driver's dog.
Fugitive Canadian kangaroo found and returned home
On foot, horseback and in cars, people spread out across the western edge of St-Lazare, Quebec, on Monday to search for a fugitive kangaroo.
Missing since Sunday evening, the kangaroo was found at around 5:30pm, after local residents spent the day searching the woods. Scared by a loud truck passing nearby on Sunday, the one-year-old, two-and-a-half-foot-tall red kangaroo named Mirka probably escaped through an open gate, farm owner Luc Lefebvre said. She was found about a kilometre from the farm, he said.
Lefebvre had said he expected Mirka would find her way back to a populated area or follow the first person she met, because she is not used to being without people. Lefebvre has been training Mirka to work as a therapy animal for children for about three months, as part of his zootherapy business, Murmurs d’animaux. The kangaroo, who is not yet fully grown, came to Lefebvre’s property from a zoo in Ontario.
YouTube link.
Mirka is friendly and accustomed to people, and was specifically chosen for the programme as an animal who will work well with children. “Contrary to popular belief, kangaroos are very, very docile creatures,” he said. The Forest Hill Senior high school in St-Lazare had sent an email on Monday afternoon advising students and parents that the kangaroo was “inoffensive,” and that residents should contact Lefebvre if they spotted her.
Missing since Sunday evening, the kangaroo was found at around 5:30pm, after local residents spent the day searching the woods. Scared by a loud truck passing nearby on Sunday, the one-year-old, two-and-a-half-foot-tall red kangaroo named Mirka probably escaped through an open gate, farm owner Luc Lefebvre said. She was found about a kilometre from the farm, he said.
Lefebvre had said he expected Mirka would find her way back to a populated area or follow the first person she met, because she is not used to being without people. Lefebvre has been training Mirka to work as a therapy animal for children for about three months, as part of his zootherapy business, Murmurs d’animaux. The kangaroo, who is not yet fully grown, came to Lefebvre’s property from a zoo in Ontario.
YouTube link.
Mirka is friendly and accustomed to people, and was specifically chosen for the programme as an animal who will work well with children. “Contrary to popular belief, kangaroos are very, very docile creatures,” he said. The Forest Hill Senior high school in St-Lazare had sent an email on Monday afternoon advising students and parents that the kangaroo was “inoffensive,” and that residents should contact Lefebvre if they spotted her.
1600-strong papier mâché panda army have landed in Hong Kong
An army of papier mâché pandas swarmed the arrivals hall at Hong Kong airport on Monday as part of a charity campaign by WWF to promote conservation of the endangered bears.
1,600 panda sculptures - one for every panda left in the wild - appeared in the arrivals hall at Chek Lap Kok to start a "tour" of the city.
Designed by French sculptor Paulo Grangeon, the panda installation has already been displayed in other cities including Berlin, Paris and Taipei, before reaching Hong Kong, home to several of the bears.
YouTube link.
The pandas will visit locations across the city over the next couple of weeks.
1,600 panda sculptures - one for every panda left in the wild - appeared in the arrivals hall at Chek Lap Kok to start a "tour" of the city.
Designed by French sculptor Paulo Grangeon, the panda installation has already been displayed in other cities including Berlin, Paris and Taipei, before reaching Hong Kong, home to several of the bears.
YouTube link.
The pandas will visit locations across the city over the next couple of weeks.
Man left in agony for over nine years after doctors left scissors in his stomach
A patient in Bosnia and Herzegovina is demanding compensation from incompetent doctors after he was forced to live in agony for nine years after a pair of scissors was left in his stomach after surgery.
Alen Papac, 38, from Mostar, said the original operation had happened in 2003 when he went into Mostar Hospital to undergo an operation to treat an ulcer in his stomach.
The surgery went well, apart from the fact that medical stuff accidentally left behind a 12 centimetre long pair of scissors in his stomach. He said: "I would suffer from agonising pains in my stomach for years after that and I have also had other health problems which I now realise were related to the fact that I had a pair of scissors in my stomach.
"Eventually the pain became so extreme that I decided to go back to hospital again – and when they carried out an x-ray the pair of scissors were discovered." He said that the medics had been shocked when they saw the x-ray image showing the pair of scissors, adding: "I told them that they might have been shocked, but they weren't as shocked as I was after seeing the reason for my 'health problems' over all these years."
He underwent emergency surgery to have the scissors removed and then contacted the hospital to demand compensation for the agony he had been forced to suffer, but said they had not even apologised. After they also refused to negotiate over compensation, he decided to sue them. The hospital declined to comment, saying only: "The court case is still going on and therefore we cannot comment on the case."
The surgery went well, apart from the fact that medical stuff accidentally left behind a 12 centimetre long pair of scissors in his stomach. He said: "I would suffer from agonising pains in my stomach for years after that and I have also had other health problems which I now realise were related to the fact that I had a pair of scissors in my stomach.
"Eventually the pain became so extreme that I decided to go back to hospital again – and when they carried out an x-ray the pair of scissors were discovered." He said that the medics had been shocked when they saw the x-ray image showing the pair of scissors, adding: "I told them that they might have been shocked, but they weren't as shocked as I was after seeing the reason for my 'health problems' over all these years."
He underwent emergency surgery to have the scissors removed and then contacted the hospital to demand compensation for the agony he had been forced to suffer, but said they had not even apologised. After they also refused to negotiate over compensation, he decided to sue them. The hospital declined to comment, saying only: "The court case is still going on and therefore we cannot comment on the case."
Soviet rocket engine containing two dogs floated into traffic policeman's garden
A five-tonne Soviet rocket engine appears to have washed up in a Russian village affected by flooding.
The disused military missile has floated into the garden of a traffic policeman in the village of Malougrenevo in southern Siberia. It apparently belongs to someone else in the same village, who had wanted to use it as an underground cesspit.
Two dogs were found inside the 16ft by 8ft (5m by 2.5m) tube - the villagers have named them Belka and Strelka after two "space dogs" sent into orbit by the Soviet Union in 1960. Local officials says the military souvenir - which was designed to carry fuel for inter-continental ballistic missiles - now poses no danger to the public. "There is no fuel in the section, and it is no way dangerous," says Nikolai Dochilov, general director of the Altai Science and Production Centre.
"The water flooding into Altai region is a greater danger than the object found here." The rocket owner, Tatyana Zhdanova, says her family bought it last year, but it had "broken the fence and floated off" during the recent heavy floods. "Soon we will put it up for auction and will sell it as an antique," she says. Some people have speculated the missile engine could have been part of a Proton-M rocket that exploded after launch in nearby Kazakhstan on 16 May.
YouTube link.
But the engine, which is around 30 years old, has never actually been used. The missiles were reportedly decommissioned in the 1990s and some parts were sold to the general public after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The head of the village, Sergei Popov, insists there's nothing unusual about the misplaced missile part. "No rocket sections have fallen on us," he says. "The police are looking into the find, and that's only because it washed up in a traffic policeman's garden."
Two dogs were found inside the 16ft by 8ft (5m by 2.5m) tube - the villagers have named them Belka and Strelka after two "space dogs" sent into orbit by the Soviet Union in 1960. Local officials says the military souvenir - which was designed to carry fuel for inter-continental ballistic missiles - now poses no danger to the public. "There is no fuel in the section, and it is no way dangerous," says Nikolai Dochilov, general director of the Altai Science and Production Centre.
"The water flooding into Altai region is a greater danger than the object found here." The rocket owner, Tatyana Zhdanova, says her family bought it last year, but it had "broken the fence and floated off" during the recent heavy floods. "Soon we will put it up for auction and will sell it as an antique," she says. Some people have speculated the missile engine could have been part of a Proton-M rocket that exploded after launch in nearby Kazakhstan on 16 May.
YouTube link.
But the engine, which is around 30 years old, has never actually been used. The missiles were reportedly decommissioned in the 1990s and some parts were sold to the general public after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The head of the village, Sergei Popov, insists there's nothing unusual about the misplaced missile part. "No rocket sections have fallen on us," he says. "The police are looking into the find, and that's only because it washed up in a traffic policeman's garden."
Engineer refused to install new electricity meter because he wasn't trained to climb step ladders
An engineer refused to install an electricity meter at a couple's home in Saltburn, Cleveland, after telling them he was not trained to climb step ladders.
Householder John Stearn couldn't believe it when the worker from Utility Warehouse came to change his electricity meter only to abandon the job because he was not allowed to climb the ladders.
He said he was not trained in the use of ladders and would have to call in specialist colleagues who had gone though a health and safety course. John said he downed tools and left without lowering the meter. He said: “You don’t need a training course to be able to use a pair of ladders. You have to laugh at what seems another silly health and safety rule.” John had asked his supplier to change both his gas and electricity meters to a pre-payment scheme after running up high debts.
The gas meter was changed without any delay because it was at ground level but the electricity meter was placed on the wall above head height. Jon Goddard, head of distributor marketing at the Utility Warehouse, admitted there had been a health and safety issue over the job at John’s home. He said: “The customer then asked us to install pre-payment meters, and to add the outstanding balance on to them.
“We were able to install a gas pre-payment meter, but the installation of the electricity pre-payment meter has been delayed because the engineer we sent to do this work was unable to climb a ladder to exchange the meter due to health and safety reasons. This has now been referred to our specialist metering team, for them to lower the current meter and install a pre-payment meter. With co-operation from the customer, this work should be completed shortly.” The 'highly specialised' work was later completed.
He said he was not trained in the use of ladders and would have to call in specialist colleagues who had gone though a health and safety course. John said he downed tools and left without lowering the meter. He said: “You don’t need a training course to be able to use a pair of ladders. You have to laugh at what seems another silly health and safety rule.” John had asked his supplier to change both his gas and electricity meters to a pre-payment scheme after running up high debts.
The gas meter was changed without any delay because it was at ground level but the electricity meter was placed on the wall above head height. Jon Goddard, head of distributor marketing at the Utility Warehouse, admitted there had been a health and safety issue over the job at John’s home. He said: “The customer then asked us to install pre-payment meters, and to add the outstanding balance on to them.
“We were able to install a gas pre-payment meter, but the installation of the electricity pre-payment meter has been delayed because the engineer we sent to do this work was unable to climb a ladder to exchange the meter due to health and safety reasons. This has now been referred to our specialist metering team, for them to lower the current meter and install a pre-payment meter. With co-operation from the customer, this work should be completed shortly.” The 'highly specialised' work was later completed.
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