The World's Dumbest Criminals

[Mighty_Emperor]

Off the front page:

"This is a robbery!" warns man armed with tree branch

Wed Jan 21, 3:55 PM ET


LISBON (AFP) - A 46-year-old man armed with a tree branch robbed just over 1,000 euros (1,260 dollars) from a customer at a bank in suburban Lisbon but was forcibly subdued by other bank clients before he could escape, it was reported.




The man pressed the branch against the back of the customer on Monday and shouted "This is a robbery!" before grabbing the cash which the bank client had just withdrawn, a police source told daily newspaper 24Horas.

But as the assailant attempted to flee, he was grabbed and beaten up by other bank clients who held him until police arrived, the paper said.

The would-be robber was taken to a hospital emergency ward for treatment to cuts and bruises.

Police said he would undergo psychological testing.

"The authorities are used to dealing with robberies involving guns. But they have never dealt with thieves trying to rob banks with branches before," a police spokesman told daily newspaper Correio da Manha.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...21/od_afp/portugal_crime_offbeat_040121215500

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Thursday, January 22, 2004

Personalized label links teen to beer theft

Harrison resident upset gift consumed at underage party

By Edward L. Cardenas / The Detroit News



HARRISON TOWNSHIP — A personalized label on a bottle of Labatt’s Blue beer may help detectives from the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office crack the case of beer stolen from a Harrison Township garage.

A L’Anse Creuse Central High School student allegedly stole a case of beer with the picture of township resident Shelagh Czuprenski on each bottle from her garage on Jan. 9, and he was seen drinking it the following night by another student at a party. Czuprenski received the special case as a gift.

The student took the bottle to school to show her teacher — who happened to be Czuprenski’s niece — which led Czuprenski to the person who police say took the beer.

“These bottles were a personal thing for me to share with my friends and family, and now they were at an underage drinking party,” said Czuprenski, 46, a widowed mother of five who received the beer as a Christmas gift from her boyfriend. “I never got to see it.”

Detectives may interview and charge the Harrison Township teen with home invasion, a 15-year felony, said Lt. Liz Darga, of the sheriff’s office.

Though this is one of just a handful of teen beer thefts in Harrison and Macomb townships this past year, Darga said it still is a serious offense.

For Czuprenski, the incident was upsetting.

Her boyfriend made a special trip to Toronto to purchase the special bottles of beer from a brewery, because they could not be shipped across the border.

Czuprenski met with the teen and his parents.

“I ... didn’t feel that this young man was very remorseful. He was a bit smug about the incident,” she said.

As director of the scholarship program for the Grosse-Pointe-based Ewald Foundation, Czuprenski meets teens who do a lot of good deeds in their free time. She was upset that a teen would spend his time stealing beer and drinking it.

“I felt if he had so much time on his hands, he should do some good and pay some retribution through community service,” Czuprenski said. “This is not acceptable behavior.”

http://www.detnews.com/2004/macomb/0401/23/d05-42527.htm

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

2 Charged For Stealing 1 Cent Worth Of Electricity

Associated Press

Thursday, January 15, 2004

TOKYO -- Stealing juice can be a costly endeavor in Japan.

Police have nabbed two Japanese men for siphoning off electricity in heists worth less than 1 cent each, an official said Sunday.

A 38-year-old man was caught red-handed by a patrolling police officer last September after unplugging a business' neon sign and using the electricity to recharge his mobile phone.

The other culprit, a 22-year-old university student, was giving a street performance in November when he unplugged a vending machine in order to power his portable stereo. A police officer was alerted after local residents complained about the noise.

Police said they could not let the incidents slide, even though the men are believed to have stolen

2 Charged For Stealing 1 Cent Worth Of Electricity

Associated Press

Thursday, January 15, 2004

TOKYO -- Stealing juice can be a costly endeavor in Japan.

Police have nabbed two Japanese men for siphoning off electricity in heists worth less than 1 cent each, an official said Sunday.

A 38-year-old man was caught red-handed by a patrolling police officer last September after unplugging a business' neon sign and using the electricity to recharge his mobile phone.

The other culprit, a 22-year-old university student, was giving a street performance in November when he unplugged a vending machine in order to power his portable stereo. A police officer was alerted after local residents complained about the noise.

Police said they could not let the incidents slide, even though the men are believed to have stolen $0.0094 worth of electricity. Both men confessed and have gotten off with reprimands.

.0094 worth of electricity. Both men confessed and have gotten off with reprimands.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/01/15/MNpowertheft.DTL

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Re: Clucking silly!!

Well they have arrested him:

Armed Robber Disguises Self As Chicken

Robber Leaves With Undetermined Amount Of Cash

POSTED: 8:20 AM CST January 7, 2004
UPDATED: 12:47 PM CST January 7, 2004

COLUMBUS -- A man wearing a chicken suit robbed a Kroger grocery store last week in Columbus, Ohio.

etc.

http://www.nbc5.com/news/2746588/detail.html

Alleged Chicken Suit Robber Arrested

Man Robs Kroger Grocery Store

UPDATED: 6:13 p.m. EST January 24, 2004

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Police said Friday that they arrested a man who allegedly wore a chicken suit while robbing a Kroger grocery store in early January in Columbus.



Donald Haines, 39, of Hilliard, was charged with one count of aggravated robbery. He may face additional charges stemming from a robbery during which the suspect wore a Santa Claus costume to rob a Polaris-area grocery store.

"It's not the first time someone has worn an outfit to commit a crime, and this individual found a chicken suit at a grocery store," Columbus police spokeswoman Sherry Mercurio said. "You figure someone had a promotion going on. You might not look twice at someone in a chicken suit."

Police executed a search warrant at Haines' home and said they obtained evidence connecting him to the Kroger grocery store robbery on West Broad Street.

Police said a white man wearing a mask and bright yellow chicken suit with orange chicken feet entered the Kroger at 5800 West Broad Street at about 11:30 p.m. Jan. 2. The robber showed employees a gun and demanded cash from the store's safe.

A store surveillance camera captured the robbery on tape.

"It's pretty extraordinary," Columbus police Sgt. Shaun Laird said. "We've never had something like this. We've had guys wear fake mustaches now and again, but nothing like this."

The robber was not caught that night, even after he left the store in costume.

"The person either has access to some type of chicken costume or owns a chicken suit," Laird said.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2790911/detail.html

and the "No Shit Sherlock" Award goes to...........

Emps

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Photo Leads To Indecent Exposure Arrest

By Amy Sherrill
Special to the Times Record
[email protected]


Police arrested a Van Buren man for indecent exposure after he left a photo of his genitals on a motel vending machine, police said.

Authorities believe Curtis Leo Dechaine, 40, left the photo taped to a drink machine at Motel 6, 1700 Fayetteville Road, on Jan. 8.

“It was in a public area where anyone staying at the motel could have come in and found it,” Grill said.

The photo had Dechaine’s cell phone number on it, so an undercover police officer called him and set up an appointment.

Later that day, police waited at the motel for Dechaine. Police said Dechaine entered the parking lot and circled it before leaving the area. In a separate and unrelated incident, Dechaine was pulled over by a patrol officer for suspicion of fictitious tags, Grill said. He was cited for having no liability insurance and driving on a suspended license.

An undercover police officer back at the hotel received a call from Dechaine, who said he wouldn’t be able to make it because he just got pulled over by police on a traffic violation.

During the investigation into Dechaine’s activities police learned that he had no criminal intent and that meeting strangers was just a lifestyle choice, Grill said.

“You wonder what his intentions in meeting somebody he totally doesn’t know,” Grill said.

Because the crime is a misdemeanor, police had to file information for a warrant, which they received before Dechaine’s arrest Thursday.

Grill said Dechaine had prior criminal arrests in Arkansas, but they were not sexually based offenses.

http://www.swtimes.com/archive/2004/January/23/news/photo_arrest.html

I bet his previou offences were for massive stupidity though!!


Emps

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

King crab thief arrested after locking himself in freezer

Tue Jan 27, 4:58 AM ET

TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese man who stole valuable king crabs from a fish market was arrested after accidentally locking himself inside a freezer, a police spokesman said.



Unemployed Hirohisa Matsumoto, 32, allegedly broke into a fish market's freezer storage in Kagoshima, southern Japan, early on December 23 last year.

Police said Matsumoto had netted 42,000 yen (400 dollar) worth of king crabs and other seafood. However, it is alleged when he went back into the freezer to fetch more, the door closed, locking him inside.

Police said Tuesday Matsumoto was trapped in the freezer, where the temperature was minus 16 degrees Celsius (3.2 degrees Fahrenheit), for about 20 minutes.

He used his mobile phone to call a friend, who then asked a security guard to open the freezer door, police said. Investigators believed the man could have died had his mobile phone failed to work.

On his release, Matsumoto said he had been locked inside, but later the owner of the freezer noticed that king crabs had been stolen and reported the theft to the police, Jiji Press said.

Matsumoto was arrested Monday because he had given his name to the security guard and others who rescued him, Jiji said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...40127/od_afp/japan_crime_offbeat_040127105848

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

last updated: 1/29/2004

Guns Drawn at Board Game


CONWAY, AR-January 29, 2004 — The party game wasn't the only thing taboo. Three men were arrested on felony charges after a game of Taboo went awry at a Conway home.


Click Here for More WPVI.com Bizarre News
Officers were called to the home Sunday after two men threatened others with guns because they were losing the game, in which one teammate gives clues about certain subject matter, but using certain words is taboo.

One of the people in the apartment told police the men were yelling and cussing and threatened them with handguns.

Officers searched a car at the scene for weapons and found hypodermic needles and drug paraphernalia.

The men, aged 21 and 23, were arrested on suspicion of felony aggravated assault. A 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of felony possession of a controlled substance and felony possession of drug paraphernalia.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/01292004_bb_game.html

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

This is a recurrent theme but what is going through people's heads??

Drug buyer dobs himself in

By Jasmin Lill
January 27, 2004


POLICE couldn't believe their ears when a teenager turned up at their door to complain he had been ripped off by a drug dealer.



In what might constitute one of the stupidest crimes of the year, Nathan Kevin Davis, 19, of Boronia Heights, pleaded guilty to drug possession and was fined 0 in the Brisbane Magistrate's Court yesterday.

The court was told Davis turned up to the Fortitude Valley police beat office about 5.30pm on Saturday and slapped half a tablet on the counter.

He asked for the officers' professional opinion about whether the tablet was a drug, and wasn't fazed by the suspicious looks he got in return.

Davis admitted he bought the whole tablet for from a man in the Valley, but seemed to be having doubts about the salesman's credentials and complained that he had already taken half the tablet without an effect.

In a case that led to stifled giggles throughout the courtroom, defence lawyer Peter Delibaltas had little to counter the police version of events.

"Obviously, the other half of the tablet had had an effect," he said.

"If he hadn't put the other half on the counter, he wouldn't be here today."

Magistrate Jim Herlihy had nothing to say to Davis before fining him 0.

No conviction was recorded.

The Courier-Mail

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8503439%5E26462,00.html

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Street Name `Killer' Led Police To Suspect

January 29, 2004
By TINA A. BROWN, Courant Staff Writer

Hartford police investigating a brutal homicide in an after-hours club last fall had an important clue to follow: an eyewitness told them the shooter was nicknamed "Killer."

The problem was they tracked down three Hartford men, all named Terrell who all went by the street name "Killer."

They ruled out the first Killer, Terrell Skyers, of Hartford, once they learned that he was in prison at the time Mark Christopher Dujoy was killed.

Then police showed photos of the other two "Killers" to Benjamin Simmons, who also had been shot in the head at the same time that Dujoy,33, was killed, court records show. The shootings took place inside an unlicensed after-hours joint known as "The Hole" on Albany Avenue.

Police ruled out the second "Killer," Terrell Kelly, because Simmons could not identify him from his picture. Then police showed Simmons a picture last Saturday of Terrell Hunter, 22, also known as Tyrell Faniel in some court records, of Baltimore Street, who goes by the nickname "Killer Rell."Simmons told police he was "certain" that Hunter was the shooter.

By Monday, a Superior Court judge had signed a warrant for Hunter's arrest. When Hunter heard he was being called a wanted man on TV reports Tuesday, he surrendered to police. He was charged with felony murder, murder, first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and attempted murder, in connection with the Oct. 2, 2003, homicide at 1115 Albany Ave., Hartford, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained Wednesday.

Simmons told police that he, Dujoy and the man later identified as Hunter were watching television inside "The Hole" that Tuesday night when Hunter shot Dujoy in the back of the head, according to the affidavit. Hunter then turned the gun on Simmons and demanded his money, the affidavit said. After he handed over 0, Simmons said, Hunter shot him in the head. He said he played dead on the floor, as the man patted him down. When he finished, the shooter returned to Dujoy to look in his pockets.

Simmons told police he took that opportunity to "run for it," and he was shot at twice, but both shots missed. He made it to a nearby pay telephone and called police, who took him to the hospital, court records show.

Hunter's family was stunned Wednesday that Hunter had been charged with killing Dujoy. More than a dozen of Hunter'sfriends and family members appeared Wednesday in Superior Court in Hartford to show their support at his arraignment.

"It's a shock to everybody," said Hunter's mother, Mary Chapman. "He turned himself in. He is not the type of person who is violent."

Chapman said when her son saw his name and photograph on the nightly news, he told her, "What am I going to hide for? I didn't do it."

Chapman, of Hartford, said she went with her son to the police station. She said since her son was released from prison after serving time on a conspiracy charge last June, he has worked at a Dunkin' Donuts in Rocky Hill and has reported faithfully to his probation officer. "He was doing good," she said.

During the hearing, Hunter pleaded not guilty through his attorney, Ron Johnson.

The court bail commissioner recommended million bail because an FBI criminal record shows that Hunter has criminal convictions for narcotics and other offenses in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. Johnson asked the court to consider 0,000 bail.

But Superior Court Judge Elpedio N. Vitale set bail at million because, he said, he is worried that Hunter apparently had ties out of state and could be a flight risk. Unable to post bail, Hunter was jailed.

After the hearing, Johnson argued for his client.

"What person do you know, did a murder and surrendered? He showed no consciousness of guilt. The police department rushed to find someone in this murder case and did not do their job."

Detectives in the major crimes division of the Hartford Police Department could not be reached to comment on that statement.

http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-hunter0129.artjan29,1,3471229.story?coll=hc-headlines-local

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Last Updated: 12:13 am, Thursday, January 29th, 2004


Man convicted of exposure

By Todd Ruger


A Davenport man on trial for three charges of indecent exposure tried to defend himself by having his wife testify that he is not well-endowed enough for a female postal worker to have seen his penis from about 35 feet away.

A Scott County jury deliberated for five hours, until about 9 p.m. Tuesday, before convicting Doug Neece, 41, of 2508 W. 60th Place. He also used defenses during the two-day trial in Scott County District Court that his clothes did not fit well because he had lost weight and that he was doing yard work with one of his children when one of the incidents was reported.

Two of the charges stemmed from incidents during 2002, when, according to police affidavits and Assistant Scott County Attorney Julie Walton, Neece was not wearing pants, had an erection and stood either in the doorway of his home or in his open garage doorway about 35 feet from the female postal worker as she placed letters in the mailbox.

His wife, Sheila Neece, told the jury that, from a physical standpoint, her husband is not very well-endowed and simply could not have been seen from that distance. The couple’s children were in the courtroom when she testified.

Neece, who works at the Rock Island Arsenal, does not have a criminal history. He faces up to a year in jail on each charge and will be placed on the state’s sex offender registry, Walton said.

“He had a pattern, in that they were all women, about the same age,” she said Wednesday, adding that a co-worker and another neighbor of Neece’s testified under a new Iowa law which allows other incidents that have not resulted in charges to be described in court to demonstrate the defendant’s motive, opportunity or absence of any mistake.

All four women had a reason to be in his proximity and knew him, leaving them to ask themselves, “Did this guy I know really do this?” Walton said.

The third charge stemmed from a citation issued to Doug Neece after a female neighbor said he exposed himself to her as he stood in his front yard July 30.

Two of the Neeces’ three children testified that their father was doing yard work that morning. The youngsters included a 10-year-old who said she talked to the neighbor and had her father fix her bike in the garage.

Telephone messages left by the QUAD-CITY TIMES at the Neece residence and the office of defense attorney Phil Ramirez were not returned Wednesday.


Todd Ruger can be contacted at

(563) 383-2493 or [email protected].

http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?t=Search&doc=/2004/01/29/stories/local/1023541.txt

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

'Clown Bandit' Bungles Liquor Shop Heist


By Associated Press

January 30, 2004, 10:22 AM EST


CLAYTON, Mo. -- Police in the St. Louis area are calling it the case of the "Clown Bandit." A man created a comedy of errors as he broke into a liquor store earlier this week.

The crook was seen on surveillance video stealing booze. But just off camera, he slammed face first into a door. Then he lost his balance, slipped and fell.

He also grabbed some cigarettes and a magazine, police said, and bagged his own goods. But he couldn't get out the window where he came in so he threw all of the stolen items out the window. The liquor bottles then broke.

The man went away empty-handed, police say. The stolen goods were valued at .

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationw...70662.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Man found naked in chimney admits to attempted break-in

Updated: 02-03-2004 11:35:29 AM


MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A man found naked and stuck in the chimney of a Minneapolis bookstore on Christmas morning has pleaded guilty to attempted burglary.

Joseph Hubbert of Minneapolis had told police he had dropped his keys in the chimney of Uncle Hugo's Mystery Bookstore and was trying to retrieve them.

Hubbert started to slide down the 12-by-12-inch chimney shaft and got lodged in the furnace flue. He was rescued after a passerby heard a voice coming from the chimney and called police.

Hubbert was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

http://www.kstp.com/article/view/126714/

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Heres one I made earlier

Blue Peter have a lot to answer for:

Inmate escapes using toilet-paper gun

Sunday, February 8, 2004 Posted: 1650 GMT (12:50 AM HKT)



Michael McGuire




OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) -- A prison inmate who escaped by brandishing a fake gun made of toilet paper, tape and black ink was captured four days later after a gunfight with police on a busy Omaha street.

No one was injured in the shootout Saturday, police said.

Michael McGuire, 54, had been on the loose since overpowering two guards Tuesday in the state prison at Tecumseh.

Authorities were led to McGuire by a tip from a man who said McGuire had held him in his apartment for three days, said police Capt. Michael Butera.

The man described a car that McGuire was driving, and a Nebraska State Patrol investigator spotted the car Saturday in central Omaha.

Police surrounded the car but McGuire ran, exchanging shots with officers over about a block, said police Officer Dave Volenec.

Then McGuire entered Mojo's Coffeehouse, stomped snow from his shoes and said "It's getting kind of crazy out there," said owner Keri Casady.

Police stormed in and captured McGuire, she said.

At least one shot was fired inside the coffeehouse, officers said.

McGuire, who was serving time on robbery, kidnapping and rape convictions, escaped Tuesday after brandishing what appeared to be a gun during a visit to the Tecumseh hospital.

McGuire's attorney, James Martin Davis, said the gun was actually a papier-mache prop McGuire had fashioned from toilet paper and tape and colored with black ink.

McGuire freed himself from ankle and wrist shackles using a key from one of the guards, then forced one of the guards to drive him in a prison van to the Plattsmouth area, where he handcuffed the guard to a tree and fled in the van, authorities said.

Police said they were interviewing the man who said he was held captive, but have not identified him.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/Central/02/08/prison.escape.ap/index.html

Also it says no one was injured in the shoot out - I'm wondering how you could be injure someone with a toilet roll gun

Emps

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

February 9, 2004

Louisiana escapee caught after buying tool to cut off handcuffs



MAGNOLIA, Ark. (AP) - James Cotton looked just like any other Wal-Mart customer buying a bolt cutter at 4:30 in the morning - until the cashier noticed that Cotton was wearing handcuffs. According to police, the clerk took Cotton's money, gave him the bolt cutter, then called officers.

Cotton, of Cooper, Texas, was apprehended minutes later and charged with escaping from Haynesville, La., police.

The Wal-Mart workers said that, after buying the bolt cutter Saturday morning, Cotton went into a bathroom and came out free of the handcuffs. Magnolia police arrived and spoke with Cotton before he fled into a field behind the store.

Police said they found the sliced handcuffs in Cotton's pocket. Cotton had initially been arrested by Haynesville police Friday night on charges of battery and possession of a narcotic.

Officers there said Cotton kicked out a window while being placed in a police car and later fled when the officer stopped the car.

Cotton was being held Monday in the Columbia County jail. Police did not know how Cotton traveled from Haynesville to Magnolia, which are about 25 miles apart.

http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=1636709&nav=EyAzKhqO

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Do they not watch TV? This kind of the thing of various idiot criminals shows - he makes up for it in his excuse though

Man found stuck in air-conditioning ducts thrown in cooler

By Will Vash, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 11, 2004


A Fort Pierce man's attempt to enter a closed bar Tuesday morning garnered points for originality, but came up a little short on common sense.

The bar's cleaning man walked into The Pub, 4904 N. Kings Highway, just before 6 a.m. to find William P. Bailey, 27, hanging partially out of the air conditioning ducts from a false ceiling, according to a St. Lucie County sheriff's report.

Bailey's back was visible, but the rest of his body was stuck in the duct work, the report said.

The cleaner told deputies that Bailey was crying out for someone to help him, according to the report.

St. Lucie County Fire District rescuers arrived to untangle the man, who has an address listed in Fort Pierce, according to state records.

"You see these type of things on TV," St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said. "This is the first time I've ever seen it around here."

Once released, a deputy asked Bailey why he was crawling in the bar's air-conditioning system, which resulted in about ,000 in damage.

"He said a man held a gun to his head and made him go down the vent," the report said.

Investigators checked the roof of the bar, where they found cigarette butts, screw drivers and a damaged vent cap that had been removed, according to the report.

Bailey also had two white socks and a white drawstring bag on him when pulled from the ceiling, the report said.

Bailey, who would not cooperate with investigators, was arrested on charges of burglary, possession of burglary tools and criminal mischief, according to the report.

He was in the St. Lucie County jail Tuesday night on ,500 bail.

Bailey, who was born in New Mexico, has been arrested 16 times since 1994 on charges that include driving on a suspended or revoked license, driving under the influence, trespassing, larceny and disorderly intoxication, according to a state report.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localn...sday/martin_stlucie_0492c967e4ebb0121020.html

[edit: Ooooooooo another report:

Cleaning Crew Finds Man Stuck In Duct

Deputies: Would-Be Robber Caught In Act

POSTED: 1:10 PM EST February 10, 2004

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- An alleged would-be burglar who tried to break into a north St. Lucie County tavern early Tuesday morning, got himself into a bit of a bind, deputies said.

William P. Bailey, 27, of Albuquerque, N.M., was found suspended from the false ceiling of The Pub, 4904 North Kings Highway, Fort Pierce, around 6 a.m. by workers who came to clean the bar, Sheriff Ken J. Mascara said.

"It looks like he caught himself in the act," Mascara said.

Deputies summoned fire-rescue workers who removed Bailey from the ductwork without injury.

After detectives questioned Bailey, they arrested him for burglary, criminal mischief and possession of burglary tools, and took him to the county jail.

http://www.thewpbfchannel.com/news/2836697/detail.html

Possibly the bust of his life and thats all he can come up with??]

Emps

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

You just can't advertise this kind of thing!!

Killer-for-hire Web site prompts arrest

Friday, February 13, 2004 Posted: 0012 GMT ( 8:12 AM HKT)



SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Police arrested a 25-year-old college senior Wednesday on charges of conspiring to murder for operating a killer-for-hire Web site and taking thousands of dollars from his customers.

In one case, the student, identified only by his surname Kim, received the equivalent of ,600 from a 22-year-old woman who wanted her ex-boyfriend and his wife murdered, said Chung Dong-yul, a police investigator in the city of Daegu.

Kim had promised the woman, identified only as Jeong, he would have the two killed in a staged traffic accident, Chung said.

Police also arrested Jeong on charges of conspiring to murder.

According to police, Kim was also approached by a 17-year-old customer, known as Sohn, who wanted his father and stepmother killed. Sohn was not arrested because he was a minor.

The high school student promised to give Kim most of the insurance money he would have received from his parents' deaths. Police did not know how much insurance would be paid.

None of the killings were ever carried out and Kim will not be charged with attempted murder because he had no concrete plans to fulfill the transactions.

Kim told police he opened the Internet site because he couldn't find a job and needed to repay a

Killer-for-hire Web site prompts arrest

Friday, February 13, 2004 Posted: 0012 GMT ( 8:12 AM HKT)



SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Police arrested a 25-year-old college senior Wednesday on charges of conspiring to murder for operating a killer-for-hire Web site and taking thousands of dollars from his customers.

In one case, the student, identified only by his surname Kim, received the equivalent of $8,600 from a 22-year-old woman who wanted her ex-boyfriend and his wife murdered, said Chung Dong-yul, a police investigator in the city of Daegu.

Kim had promised the woman, identified only as Jeong, he would have the two killed in a staged traffic accident, Chung said.

Police also arrested Jeong on charges of conspiring to murder.

According to police, Kim was also approached by a 17-year-old customer, known as Sohn, who wanted his father and stepmother killed. Sohn was not arrested because he was a minor.

The high school student promised to give Kim most of the insurance money he would have received from his parents' deaths. Police did not know how much insurance would be paid.

None of the killings were ever carried out and Kim will not be charged with attempted murder because he had no concrete plans to fulfill the transactions.

Kim told police he opened the Internet site because he couldn't find a job and needed to repay a $1,724 loan, according to Chung.

Other requests made to Kim's online service ranged from changing grades to rape and gun smuggling, Chung said. Police did not release the Internet address of Kim's Web site.

,724 loan, according to Chung.

Other requests made to Kim's online service ranged from changing grades to rape and gun smuggling, Chung said. Police did not release the Internet address of Kim's Web site.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/02/12/killer.site.ap/index.html

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Man nabbed after macabre Q&A

February 17, 2004 - 2:23PM




A man who sought advice online about how to dispose of a corpse has been arrested in connection with a murder, a news report said today.

The 23-year-old man from Shenyang, Liaoning province in northern China, allegedly strangled to death a 20-year-old woman he met through an online chat room, according to the South China Morning Post.

He then went back online to seek advice on how to dispose of the body from another "cyber-friend" with a medical background.

The man reportedly asked whether a dead body would bleed if the arms were cut off.

When he was arrested, the woman's corpse was found dumped in a well, the newspaper said.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/17/1076779955035.html?from=storyrhs

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Motto: If you are going to steal drugs don't take them before trying to make your getaway:

February 20, 2004

Postal clerk stole drugs, crashed truck, cops say

By Jessica Gardner
Times Herald-Record
[email protected]

Middletown – A Middletown post office clerk wrecked her pickup truck while under the influence of drugs she'd stolen from a package addressed to a Bronx man, Middletown police said.

Sheryl Shields, 43, of Huguenot, is accused of stealing Vicodin, a painkiller, and sleeping pills from the post office Tuesday. Shortly after, she left work early, telling her supervisor she was feeling dizzy.

Less than a mile from the post office, Shields drove at full speed into a guardrail on Wawayanda Avenue, flipping her truck onto its side about 10:30 a.m. Middletown police Lt. Patrick Freeman said she had ingested both drugs before the crash and likely passed out behind the wheel.

She was taken to the Orange Regional Medical Center's Horton campus by ambulance.

"[Shields] recently had a back operation, so everyone was being extra cautious," Freeman said. She was treated and released.

At the time of the crash, Shields had a prescription bottle for sleeping pills that had someone else's name on it, police said. It was stolen from a package that was on its way to the Bronx, Freeman said.

Shields has been charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, driving while under the influence of drugs and possession of stolen property, all misdemeanors. She was also a handed a violation for unlawful possession of marijuana after police say they found a small amount of marijuana in her purse after the crash.

She will be arraigned in Middletown City Court today.

Shields, who has worked for the post office since 1986, has been suspended without pay, according to postal inspector David Ng. The U.S. Postal Service is now investigating and Shields could also face federal charges.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2004/02/20/jgposta1.htm

Emps

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Bizarre robber gets 9 years Feb 21 2004




The Western Mail


WHEN Robert Lee Sutton was released from jail he decided to apologise to the postmaster whose shop he had robbed four years earlier.

But when Robert Marlor refused the offer of a handshake Sutton "lost the plot" and carried out a bizarre robbery that resulted in police arresting him at home after hiring a taxi as a getaway car.

Sutton had been out of jail for two months before returning to the post office in Froncysyllte on the outskirts of Wrexham.

He held the postmaster's 73-year-old father hostage in a cellar for an hour an a half while he waited for the shop to close so he could escape with £23,000 from the safe. He also slashed Mr Marlor's neck with a kitchen knife.

He had taken the kitchen knife from his mother's house after leaving a note to say he would not be home for tea.

Sutton, 23, from Newtown, was yesterday jailed for nine years at Mold Crown Court after admitting robbery.

He left a trail of clues as he was recognised by the postmaster and gave his real name at a local pub when he ordered a taxi, which took him to his real address. He even told the taxi driver what he had done during the ride home.

Judge John Rogers QC told him, "For the second time in the last three years, you have committed a serious offence of robbery at the village post office at Froncysyllte.

"However, this second robbery was far more serious. On this occasion you tied up the post master's 73-year-old father and then overpowered the post master while armed with a knife which you used to cut the side of his neck.

"Finally, you helped yourself to almost £23,000 from the safe. Only a substantial period of imprisonment is appropriate to protect post masters and those who run village shops from people like you."

Prosecutor Karl Sholtz said Sutton had been at Froncysyllte for two days watching the premises.

"Mr Marlor immediately recognised the defendant and remained behind the locked counter," said Mr Sholtz. "He approached and indicated that he wanted to apologise for what had occurred before and proffered his hand.

"The postmaster declined to shake it and asked him to leave, and he did so."

Within 15 minutes Sutton was hiding in the cellar where he waited for the shop to close.

When elderly Kenneth Marlor entered from the greenhouse he was tied to a chair.

When the postmaster closed the premises he heard an internal sliding door open, Sutton approached and charged him, rugby tackling him to the ground.

He slashed him to the neck causing an injury and forced him to hand over the safe keys where he took £22,995.

Sutton cut a line which he probably thought was the phone, but it was a charger line for Mr Marlor's mobile phone.

Back in Newtown, Sutton asked the mother of a friend if he could leave a bag, and some cash was later recovered. But most of it was outstanding and the judge ordered a confiscation hearing to be held to see if money can be returned or whether he should serve an extra prison sentence.

Defending barrister John Hedgecoe said that mitigation did not exactly leap out of the documents in the case but his client had pleaded guilty and co-operated with the police.

His plea was hardly surprising given the fact that he was recognised and had told the taxi driver what he had done. "It is a very strange offence," said Mr Hedgecoe.

Mr Marlor said yesterday that he welcomed the sentence and hoped never to see Sutton again. He said that physically he and his father had recovered but it had left an emotional scar.

"There seems to be a sub post office being done every week somewhere. It seems to be a sign of the times," he said.

He said that his father managed to free himself after more than two hours in the cellar and telephoned the police.

"When something like that happens it makes you rather jumpy. You are not sure who is going to come in next. You try to put it to the back of your mind but then something happens and it flashes through your mind again.

"I was shocked to see him again. I didn't want him there and asked him to leave.

"When he robbed me a second time I really could not see the point. How on earth did he expect to get away with it? The mind boggles."

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100...e=-Bizarre-robber-gets-9-years-name_page.html

Emps

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Shoplifter caught with trousers down

Mon Feb 23, 8:32 PM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese woman unhappy with the trousers she had stolen from a shop may have erred when she took them back to be shortened.


"The woman found the pair of trousers too long for her, and hearing from others that the store alters any clothes they sell free of charge, she went there," the China Daily said on Tuesday, quoting the Yangtze Evening Post.

"But the store discovered the trousers were a missing pair and held her until she confessed to her theft."

The newspaper did not say where or when she was caught.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...&u=/nm/20040224/od_uk_nm/oukoe_china_trousers

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Jeremy Niederbrach's criminal career may have gone from thuggish to asinine.
Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Niederbrach, a 25-year-old resident of Salem, Ark., had a court appearance to determine his parole status Feb. 9, having been charged with criminal mischief, reports the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Police had accused him of driving through several people's yards, at least two chain-link fences, a tree and a Sonic Drive-In (search) sign.

But by 10:30 a.m., his case hadn't been called — so he went outside the Salem District Court building for a smoke. In plain view of cops and court officers, he whipped out and lit a marijuana cigarette.

"He stood out there, and he lit up the joint," Salem Police Chief Al Roork told the newspaper. "I'd say he used real poor judgment."

Looking down on Niederbrach from a second-story window were Brian Sanderson and Scott Russell, agents with the 16th Judicial Drug Task Force.

"This is stupid," Sanderson, who went to high school with Niederbrach, remembers saying to Russell at the time. "I can't believe we're watching this."

Sanderson and Russell watched Niederbrach take a few puffs, burn his fingers on the stubby butt of the "roach," then drop it back in the prescription-pill canister he'd been keeping it in.

"We just waited for him to come back upstairs to arrest him," Sanderson said.

Niederbrach denied having any pot, then got belligerent.

"I told him to settle down," Sanderson told the newspaper. "We told him we watched him smoke it. It didn't matter what he said."

Niederbrach was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and additional parole violations.

"It was amazing," Sanderson said. "We've seen people doing drugs before, but we were undercover, and we weren't at a courthouse. I kept trying to think I was missing something and tried to come up with an excuse for him. But I couldn't think of any."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,112272,00.html

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Pot/human organs, pot/human organs - its an easy mistake to make

Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Man Tries to Pick Up Pot, Gets Organs


The Associated Press



BUFFALO, N.Y.- A drug suspect who went to the airport to pick up 119 pounds of marijuana wound up with two boxes of human organs, federal authorities said Tuesday.

After realizing the mistake - the boxes were labeled "PLEASE RUSH, HUMAN TISSUE FOR TRANSPLANT" - a Canadian woman and New York man were arrested trying to make an exchange, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The mix-up occurred at the Delta Airlines ticket counter at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, where Tabitha Bracken, 27, of Toronto, was mistakenly given packages from Crolife, an Atlanta medical agency.

One contained a pulmonary valve destined for an emergency transplant into a young person in a Hamilton, Ontario hospital. The other contained a vein intended for coronary bypass graft surgery at a Buffalo hospital, the DEA said.

Bracken and Dalvan Robinson, 43, of Lockport, were arrested 12 hours later after Bracken tried to exchange the organs for packages which contained the pot wrapped in plastic and newspapers and smeared in mustard, agents said.

The suspects were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and held without bond.

The organs were delivered to the appropriate hospitals. The emergency surgery eventually took place at the Ontario hospital, while a spokesman for the Buffalo hospital said the vein wasn't intended for immmediate use.

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040224/APA/402241072&cachetime=5

 

[MrSnowman]

Most inept bank robber ever

From..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/3493756.stm

"'Most inept' bank robber jailed


Mills had been drinking before his robbery attempt
A man whose bank robbery attempt failed when a cashier accidentally locked him inside the building has been jailed for three years and nine months.
Phillip Mills walked into the HSBC bank near his home in Connah's Quay, north Wales, last December and handed over a note saying "give me the money and you will not get hurt".

The cashier was unable to press the alarm because she fainted out of fear, the court heard, but another member of staff - unaware of Mills - had gone to the front door and locked it.

Forced to sit and wait, when police arrived to arrest him, Mills told them: "I've been a bit silly".

Jailing Mills at Mold Crown Court on Friday, Judge Roger Dutton said the robbery was the "most inept" he had ever come across.

He placed the money back on the counter and somewhat bizarrely went to sit down on a chair in the customer lobby and waited for the police to arrive

"To end up with the cash but locked in the bank shows quite graphically how hopeless this really was," said Judge Dutton.

"This was perhaps one of the most, if not the most, inept bank robbery that has been for many years."

The judge had heard how a cashier had been advice to give Mills £1,000 in £10 notes to avoid the risk of harm.

"He walked over to the main doors but when he tried to leave he found that he was trapped inside," explained Steven Everett, prosecuting.

"He placed the money back on the counter and somewhat bizarrely went to sit down on a chair in the customer lobby and waited for the police to arrive."

The judge commented: "I suppose he had no option."

John Philpotts, defending, said Mills had lost his wife and his home after a 25-year marriage and when help was either denied or unavailable, he turned to drink.

He told the court that his client appreciated that it was nasty for the victims and he was ashamed and remorseful and wished he could make amends.

Mills had pleaded guilty at the very first opportunity, he added, and while it may be said that he had no choice, he was a man who had fully co-operated and accepted full responsibility immediately, removing any possibility of the victims having to give evidence.

The court was told that one of the female bank employees had been on sick leave ever since the attempted robbery".


Only in North Wales

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

In the crap over 'sludge-gulper' joyride



March 02 2004 at 02:16PM


Tokyo - Japanese police have arrested a man for stealing a tanker truck that pumps up excrement from non-flush toilets, and taking the vehicle for a joyride.

Police said unemployed Koji Yamamoto, 40, confessed to the theft, saying: "I wanted to drive a conspicuous vehicle."

Yamamoto stole the sludge-gulper, which was empty, when it was left in a parking space with its key in the ignition.

The owner reported the theft to police, but the truck was found returned to the parking spot several hours later, without the key.

As the tanker disappeared only to return again the next day, police officers set up surveillance on it.

Yamamoto was spotted walking around the vehicles, looking around restlessly... "He confessed to having come to take another ride when the officers found he had the key to it on him," a police spokesperson said.

He drove the truck around for more than 100km, according to police.

Japan boasts advanced toilets with heated seats, water jets, deodorant and various other functions, yet many households, particularly in the countryside, do not have flush toilets, while others are not connected to sewage mains but instead to septic tanks.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=29&art_id=vn20040302141655238C192390&set_id=1

 

[Anonymous]

"Two terrified female passengers contacted police after getting off at Harlington. The women told police that two men of Middle Eastern appearance were sitting on the 14.05 from Brighton to Bedford on Thursday wearing full combat gear and holding what appeared to be an AK47 assault rifle"
http://www.beds.co.uk/news/2001/011124.htm

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

How to find your wanted man? Follow the signs!!

Chickens lay trail for marshals to follow

Hand-printed signs offering eggs for sale lead federal authorities to a fugitive in Arizona wanted since 1990 in Oregon

03/06/04
NOELLE CROMBIE

In the end, it was the eggs that led to Albert Chester Adams.



Adams, 63, was known among his neighbors in tiny Meadview, Ariz., as "Al the egg man." He lived with his wife of 43 years and sold home-produced eggs for 60 cents a dozen.

But Adams had a secret.

A federal fugitive since 1990, he was wanted for his part in a large-scale marijuana growing operation in Oregon.

This week, deputy U.S. marshals, acting on a tip, traveled to Meadview, home to 200 people, and joined up with nearly a dozen federal and local police who set out to find Adams in rural Arizona.

They were told to follow the signs for eggs.

So with a helicopter tracking them from above, a three-car caravan loaded with police drove along dirt roads, keeping an eye out for the small, handwritten signs that said, simply, "eggs."

"The only way we knew how to find this place was to follow these eggs signs," said Deputy U.S. Marshal Dale Ortmann, the Portland-based marshal who lead the operation. "The problem was the eggs signs were misleading."

Ultimately, they found Adams, who in 1992 assumed the name Albert Goodwin, his dead cousin.

Adams is wanted in Oregon for the manufacture of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Federal officials say Adams, along with his brother and other family members, was involved in a large-scale indoor marijuana growing operation that spanned The Dalles, Mosier and Goldendale, Wash.

At the time, police seized more than 1,200 marijuana plants, ,000, marijuana seeds and cultivation equipment from three properties.

This week, with police closing in on him, Adams stepped outside his trailer to check out the helicopter swirling above his 30-acre property. He was greeted by police.

Ortmann asked Adams how he supported himself all these years. He didn't offer the federal marshal any specifics, except to say he'd given up marijuana growing.

He'd taken up a new business interest: selling eggs to his neighbors.

"The eggs saved us," said Ortmann, who's been a deputy marshal for 13 years. "We wouldn't have found him if he didn't have those egg signs up."

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1078577903206570.xml

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4458291/

Very funny stupid person... who says pot doesn't impair judgement?

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

It wouldn't be so bad (well relatively speaking) if this was the first time he had done this and they even had him on CCTV:

Pee pest gets wee fine


By LYNDSEY WEATHERALL


A MAN who pees on people as they walk past his flat has been ordered to splash out — by paying £50 to his latest victim.

Alan Birkett, 41, stood on his window sill and weed on a passerby.

The man yelled in protest, then called police when Birkett refused to stop.

Officers nicked him — his NINTH arrest for unseemly behaviour at his window.

Eight months ago he admitted urinating on two women as they walked past his flat in Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria.

Cops have also arrested him seven times for “dangling” out of his window and threatening to jump.

Kendal magistrates heard alcoholic Birkett could not remember the latest incident but felt “disgusted and appalled” when shown CCTV footage.

Officers dragged him from the window because he was so drunk they feared he would fall out.

Birkett, who is divorced and unemployed, was already on police bail.

The court heard that he is battling his booze problem but faces eviction from his flat. Birkett admitted assault.

As well as paying compensation, an existing community rehabilitation order was allowed to continue.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004101124,00.html

see also:

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040302-010455-5873r.htm

Emps

 

[Anonymous]

A US woman has been charged with forgery after trying to use a fake $1 million bill at a supermarket.
Alice Pike, 35, pulled out the note at a Georgia Wal-Mart store to pay for $1,672 worth of goods and asked for change, police said.

The cashier immediately noticed the bill - bearing the picture of the Statue of Liberty - was fake and called her manager who alerted the police.

The US Treasury does not make $1m bills, which only go as high as $100.


In 1969, the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System discontinued banknotes in denominations of $500, $1,000 and $10,000 due to lack of use.

"This is the first time in my law enforcement career I've seen someone trying to use a $1 million bill," local police chief Almond Turner was quoted as saying by the Houston Chronicle newspaper.

"It was green, but you could tell it was not a real bill," Mr Turner added.

Ms Pike had three of the $1m bills when she was arrested at the store in Covington on Tuesday, police said.

Mr Turner said she claimed she got the bills from her husband.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3497480.stm

 

[Anonymous]

Who would be stupid enough to think they would get change back. She would need a grocery cart just for the change!!