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Unusual Attacks

melf said:
isnt there some type of scattering material that could be used for the windscreen on planes?
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Also if it is one of those handheld pointers how powerful would it really be? Surely it couldn't injure anyone at those distances?

I remember an artist had a plan to for thousands of people to point their laser pointers at the moon to illuminate a patch and everyone recokoned that was pretty silly.
 
I have a friend that works for company that rigs up lazers and other lights for concerts etc.

They once gave me an amzing display in their demo room, they also showed me the experimental room where a guy in white coat and funky anti radiation shades does his thing.

He mentioned he could put a spot on the moon with the lazer he was toying with.

Anyways, just found this page, aparantly a lazer pointer can be powerful enough to cause damage, I just dug mine out and its power is 5mw, which puts it into the Class 3R category:

Class 3R lasers are higher powered devices than Class 1 and Class 2 and may have a maximum output power of 5 mW or 5 times the Accessible Emission Limit (AEL) for a Class 1 product. The laser beams from these products exceed the maximum permissible exposure for accidental viewing and can potentially cause eye injuries.

Heres the link for more info:

http://www.nrpb.org/press/information_s ... inters.htm

My pointer beam seems to reach about a mile.
 
Volshebnik said:
Man Charged Under Patriot Act for Laser

Jan 4, 11:01 PM (ET)

By WAYNE PARRY

........

She said Banach bought the device on the Internet for $100 for his job testing fiber-optic cable.

.........
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source: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050105/D87DMD880.html
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So it wasn't really your average laser pointer then - interesting that they are so easily available.

What distance can these things cause damage at? Not that I'm asking Jack Ruby to take a group of friends out and see how far away they can stand from him without going blind ;)
 
It depends very much on conditions: consider at what range you can be dazzled by car headlights. On a bright, sunny day, they don't have much effect; on a dark night when your eyes are adapted it's a different story.

But for a benchmark, the LCMS mentioned in the 1995 HRW report claims an effective range of 2 km. This was attached to an M-16; since then, lasers have moved on somewhat.
 
Now I'm interested about these $100 lasers, where did he buy it ?

I was was going to mention he must have had a pretty good aim but I just checked and 3000ft is only about half a mile, not so far horizontally but I would imagine he was really surprised he actually got the spot to reach the plane.

It mentions the crew got zapped 3 times, I think that was probably his hands shaking, it quite hard to point them on a target at range, especially a moving one.

This is the one I would really like to have a play with:

http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/asat/slbd.jpg


EDIT:

Just read the FT front page about the lasers, searched ebay for GREEN LASER and theres a bunch available, one guy offers tweaked ones that deliver 45mw :) I want one, I really want one.

This sales patter made me smile:

IV.Wicked Ultra - 35mW

More than enough power for most applications, this laser is perfect for those of us who desire the extra power. The beam produced by this laser will be very, very, very bright. This laser is strong enough to burn holes through black trash bags. You'll also be able to pick up beautiful women (or men) when they come up to ask you about your super powerful laser. Professional use only.

Its gotta be worth having just for the promised improvement to my pulling technique

here a link

EDIT 2:

I have spent a few hours today looking at laser related stuff, theres a whole laser community out there. I am amazed by what I have seen.

Some claim to reach 25 miles, theres guys who make their own by adapting maglites others buy off the shelf ones and tweak the circuit boards. Most outrageous one I found was some guy with a 300mw+ laser, considering that you shouldnt really be playing with something over 5mw this thing is madness, shine it in your house on anything darkly coloured and it burns it, instant blindness too if you catch a reflection, I must say the owner did say he keeps it in a locked cabinet as he realises its not a toy.

Have a look at this
 
He's a bit behind the times, isn't he?

Transportation Secretary steps up effort to combat lasers being beamed at planes
The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced changes Wednesday to the way pilots report lasers being beamed at airplanes — a response to a rash of such incidents in recent weeks.

Mineta also issued a stern warning that federal officials will aggressively prosecute those caught shining laser beams into cockpits. The bright lasers — usually green — can temporarily blind pilots.

“We will not allow careless people making stupid choices to put pilots and their passengers at risk,” Mineta said.

He said authorities do not believe that people shining lasers at airplanes have terrorist motivations. They suspect that copycats who have heard news reports about the lasers apparently have been involved in some of the more recent incidents.

Mineta said the Federal Aviation Administration will now require pilots to immediately report laser incidents to air traffic controllers, who would then repeatedly broadcast warnings and quickly notify law officers.

There appears to be no current problem with the way pilots report the lasers to authorities, but the changes will standardize the reporting system and provide police with more timely and detailed information.

A cluster of laser incidents received wide attention between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Mineta said in a news conference at the FAA’s aeronautical research center in Oklahoma City that 31 of these incidents have been reported since Dec. 31, including one Tuesday night involving a Southwest Airlines flight in Phoenix, Ariz. Nobody was arrested.

He said there have been 400 reports of lasers being beamed at airplanes since 1990.

“Shining these lasers at an airplane is not a harmless prank,” Mineta said. “It’s stupid and dangerous. You are putting other people at risk and law enforcement authorities are going to seek you out and if they catch you, they are going to prosecute you.”

Mineta said officials are working on possible devices to protect pilots from lasers, including modifications to windshields, but no one solution has emerged. Research into the issue is being done at the aeronautical center in Oklahoma City.

He also said an effort will be made through government regulatory agencies to ensure that laser devices are better labeled to warn about the dangers of using them improperly.

Terry McVenes, executive air safety chairman for the Air Line Pilots Association, said in a telephone interview that pilots are on board with Mineta’s plan.

“We’re very happy with what the secretary has done here,” McVenes said. “It does provide a means of collecting data so we can assess what the threat really is, or if there is a threat.”

A New Jersey man was arrested and charged under the Patriot Act last week for aiming a green laser at a small jet flying over his home near Teterboro Airport. The man, David Banach, said he had been using the device to point at the stars from his back yard.

That type of laser pointer, which sells for $119, is the most powerful that can be used in a public place without government regulation, according to Bigha, the company that manufactures it. It produces a bright green beam that can be seen up to 25,000 feet away, and is used by bird watchers, astronomers and lecturers to point out faraway objects.

The FBI and Homeland Security Department sent a memo to law enforcement agencies in November saying they had evidence terrorists have explored using lasers as weapons.
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Online version here.
 
Jack you really Really do not want that laser

It is a chemical laser, and the exhaust product is deuterium fluoride ie "heavy" hydrogen fluoride

From a Materials Safety Data Sheet

Emergency Overview
--------------------------
POISON! DANGER! CORROSIVE. EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS LIQUID AND VAPOR. CAUSES SEVERE BURNS WHICH MAY NOT BE IMMEDIATELY PAINFUL OR VISIBLE. MAY BE FATAL IF SWALLOWED OR INHALED. LIQUID AND VAPOR CAN BURN SKIN, EYES AND RESPIRATORY TRACT. CAUSES BONE DAMAGE. REACTION WITH CERTAIN METALS GENERATES FLAMMABLE AND POTENTIALLY EXPLOSIVE HYDROGEN GAS.

Health Rating: 4 - Extreme (Poison)
Flammability Rating: 0 - None
Reactivity Rating: 2 - Moderate
Contact Rating: 4 - Extreme (Corrosive)
Lab Protective Equip: GOGGLES & SHIELD; LAB COAT & APRON; VENT HOOD; PROPER GLOVES
Storage Color Code: White (Corrosive)

Potential Health Effects
----------------------------------

Exposure to hydrofluoric acid can produce harmful health effects that may not be immediately apparent.

Inhalation:
Severely corrosive to the respiratory tract. May cause sore throat, coughing, labored breathing and lung congestion/inflammation.
Ingestion:
Corrosive. May cause sore throat, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, severe burns of the digestive tract, and kidney dysfunction.
Skin Contact:
Corrosive to the skin. Skin contact causes serious skin burns which may not be immediately apparent or painful. Symptoms may be delayed 8 hours or longer. The fluoride ion readily penetrates the skin causing destruction of deep tissue layers and even bone.
Eye Contact:
Corrosive to the eyes. Symptoms of redness, pain, blurred vision, and permanent eye damage may occur.
Chronic Exposure:
Intake of more than 6 mg of fluorine per day may result in fluorosis, bone and joint damage. Hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia can occur from absorption of fluoride ion into blood stream.
Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions:
Persons with pre-existing skin disorders, eye problems, or impaired kidney or respiratory function may be more susceptible to the effects of this substance.
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link -New measures aimed at laser incidents

Federal transportation officials yesterday told pilots to immediately report laser beam incidents to air traffic controllers and announced they are setting up a mechanism for pilots to receive warnings of such sightings and communicate them to federal authorities.

Speaking at a news conference in Oklahoma City, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said that shining lasers at an aircraft "is stupid and dangerous. You are putting people at risk, and law enforcement authorities are going to seek you out, and if they catch you, they are going to prosecute you."

Pilots have complained they were given little guidance on how to report laser sightings and weren't told of recent incidents until learning of them through the media. Powerful lasers commercially available can temporarily blind a pilot. Officials believe the recent events are not terrorist-related but emphasize the potential for causing an airplane to crash because the pilot is temporarily blinded is real.

The announcement came nearly two months after the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued a bulletin about the dangers of laser beams shining in the cockpit of aircraft. The bulletin was only recently distributed to pilots.

Under the new guidelines issued yesterday by the Federal Aviation Administration, pilots are to tell air traffic controllers about any laser beam sightings, and controllers will then notify the Domestic Events Network, an FAA-run program that began after the Sept. 11 attacks to keep law enforcement and intelligence agencies apprised of threats to the airspace. The network operates a phone bridge between those agencies that is monitored 24 hours a day.

Once the information comes in, the FAA will be responsible for getting it back out. Pilots in the immediate vicinity will be warned using a radio frequency that pilots dial in to get conditions at airports where they are landing. The system will broadcast a warning for at least one hour after the event.

Upon landing, pilots will complete a detailed form that asks the length of time of exposure, and whether the light seemed to follow or track the plane. The form will go to the Domestic Events Network.

Airline pilots welcomed the announcement. The new procedures are "an important first step," the Air Line Pilots Association, the largest pilots union in the nation, said in a statement. "We urge prosecutors and courts to impose maximum penalties in these cases to deter others who might think this is a harmless prank."

The announcement followed by two days a report of a laser beam shining at a Southwest Airlines jet in Phoenix Tuesday night, bringing to seven the number reported since Friday. Other recent events included two at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., one in Boise, Idaho, and one in Los Angeles. Since Dec. 23, 31 laser incidents have been reported, the Department of Transportation said. All are under FBI investigation.
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Three more:

Lasers reportedly pointed at planes flying into Honolulu
The Associated Press

HONOLULU — The FBI and police are reportedly investigating three incidents in which powerful laser beams were aimed at commercial planes headed into Honolulu International Airport over the past two weeks. The FBI said the incidents were not terrorism related.

“It’s not anything that’s terrorism related,” said Arnold Laanu, a spokesman with the Honolulu FBI office, which is investigating. “However, it is certainly at minimum a dangerous nuisance that we take seriously.”
The pilots said they were tracked with green laser pointers, a source close to the investigation told The Honolulu Star-Bulletin; all the incidents occurred at night.

Police have no suspects.

On Wednesday, National Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said 31 laser beam incidents have been reported since Dec. 31 — including one in which a New Jersey man has been charged under the Patriot Act for temporarily blinding a pilot and co-pilot.

The green laser pointer, which sells for $119, is the most powerful that can be used in public without government regulation, according to manufacturer Bigha. Its beam can be seen up to 25,000 feet away.

FAA research has shown laser illuminations can temporarily disorient or disable a pilot during critical stages of flight such as landing or takeoff and, in some cases, could cause permanent damage.
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Online version here.

So now my question is -- If indeed it's just random people with random laser pointers doing this, why in the hell do they just keep doing it? A few isolated incidents of people, maybe out on their back porches, not thinking, hear a plane and point their pointer at it -- I can sort of understand that. But continuing to do so after this has been widely reported in the news? (And said to be punishable under the Patriot Act... eek).

Or is it just a I-can-do-this-and-probly-get-away-with-it sort of thing?

Or does all the "of course it isn't terrorism" smack of protesting too much?

Weird, whether it's a sociological phenomenon or a cover-up.
 
New Laser Warning And Reporting System For Pilots

New Laser Warning And Reporting System For Pilots
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (January 12, 2005) -- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta today announced new measures designed to alert and better prepare pilots to handle incidents of lasers being shined at their aircraft and to speed notification about such crimes to law enforcement investigators. The measures are designed to respond to a recent increase in the number of reported laser incidents.

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> more related stories


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related section: Matter & Energy





“Shining these lasers at an airplane is not a harmless prank. It is stupid and dangerous,” said Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta. “You are putting other people at risk, and law enforcement authorities are going to seek you out, and if they catch you, they are going to prosecute you.”

The measures, which are outlined in an Advisory Circular from the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), recommends that pilots immediately report any unauthorized laser events to air traffic controllers. As soon as personnel with the FAA get these reports, they will notify appropriate law enforcement and security agencies through the Domestic Events Network. The changes will provide police with more timely and detailed information to help them identify and prosecute those who are shining lasers at planes.

The new measures also include requirements that air traffic controllers immediately notify pilots about the laser events. If pilots have a laser pointed at them, the circular strongly advises pilots and air crew to avoid direct eye contact given the health and safety risks posed by some types of lasers.

The Department also will be working with the Food and Drug Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and others to improve product labeling and better educate the public.

“We are treating lasers in the cockpit as a serious aviation safety matter,” the Secretary said. “We must act now before someone’s reckless actions lead to a terrible and tragic incident.”

The Secretary announced the new measures today because of a recent spike in the number of incidents of laser being shined at airplanes. Since December 23, there have been 31 reported lasers incidents involving aircraft, seven in the past weekend alone. Since 1990 there have been over 400 similar incidents.

The Secretary noted that there are no indications that the people shining lasers at planes are anything other than careless individuals who are using commercially available lasers in a manner that is reckless and illegal. “There is no specific or credible intelligence that would indicate that these laser incidents are connected to terrorists.”

FAA research has shown that laser illuminations can temporarily disorient or disable a pilot during critical stages of flight such as landing or take-off, and in some cases, may cause permanent damage. However, given the relatively small number of incidents, there is no need to require new equipment for aircraft and aircrew at this time, the Secretary said.

The Secretary announced the new measures today during a simulator demonstration of the dangers posed to pilots from shining lasers into cockpits. The demonstration was held at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City, OK, where the FAA conducts research on a range of aviation-related health and safety issues. The FAA will continue to conduct research to determine if there are technological solutions for enhancing air crew safety during laser events, the Secretary added.

A copy of the FAA’s advisory circular is available at http://www.faa.gov/newsroom/AC_70-2.pdf.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 194231.htm
 
Man accused of using poodle as weapon




PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - Prosecutors are seeking a new psychiatric exam for a man accused of swinging a poodle to fend off a sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop.

Girlamo Marinello, 37, of Macomb County's Shelby Township was charged last year with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, resisting and obstructing police and animal cruelty. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. On Feb. 26, 2004, a deputy tried to stop Marinello for running a stop sign in Oakland Township. Marinello rammed the deputy's car and then got out of his vehicle, swinging the two-kilogram poodle on her leash, police said.

Marinello was scheduled to stand trial this month. But defence lawyer Judith Gracey told a judge Wednesday that her client was too mentally ill to understand his actions and should be acquitted by reason of insanity, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The suspect is at the state forensic psychiatry centre.

Assistant prosecutor Rob Novy agreed that Marinello is mentally ill, but asked for an independent mental examination before agreeing to an insanity plea.

------------------
Information from: Detroit Free Press, freep.com
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Source
 
Police: Newton man, Waltham woman arrested after assault on ex

Monday, January 17, 2005

NEWTON -- A 21-year-old Waltham woman was arrested early Thursday morning after she assaulted her ex-boyfriend and stripped paint off his friend's car with slabs of salami, police said.

Katrina L. Ackermann, 5 Dermody Road, went to the Bryon Road home of one of her ex's female friends about 12:30 a.m. and began hitting her ex-boyfriend in the face and kicking him in the leg, Sgt. Ken Dangelo said.

Ackermann then tossed several pieces of salami on the trunk of the woman's car, stripping the paint.

She also threatened to kill her ex-boyfriend's friend, he said.
Dangelo said the woman then took off, only to be arrested minutes later on Hawthorne Street.

Ackermann was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, malicious destruction of property and threats to commit a crime, Dangelo said.
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Source
 
Tuesday, February 8, 2005 · Last updated 2:20 p.m. PT

Police: Idaho teen is tied up and scalped

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOISE, Idaho -- A 16-year-old girl was allegedly tied up and scalped with a 4-inch knife in what police say may have been an act of revenge by another woman.

The girl, who had a punk-style mohawk haircut before the attack, is recovering at home. Doctors could not reattach her scalp, which was found near a hot spring.

Police searched for Marianne Dahle, 26, who disappeared after the Jan. 18 attack at Kirkham Hot Springs, about 70 miles from Boise.

"When I say this gal was scalped, she was truly scalped," said Chief Deputy Bill Braddock. "The top of her head, her hair, was completely cut off."

Dahle and the victim, whose name was not released, were longtime acquaintances and hung out with a punk clique, he said.

"The motive, as near as we've been told by witnesses, was retaliation for acting in a way that the adult perceived as being offensive to women as a gender," Braddock said. "According to their creed, if you disrespect women you are not allowed to wear a mohawk."
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Seattle Post-Intelligencer
 
American Pilot Sees Laser Beam Near Dallas


GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) - The captain of an American Airlines jet reported a laser beam penetrated the cockpit as the plane prepared to land at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

The pilot was examined after Sunday night's incident and doctors found no permanent damage to his eyes. His first officer was flying the plane, which landed safely.

The bright lasers - usually green - can temporarily blind pilots.

The jet was on approach to DFW on a flight from San Antonio when the pilot noted the laser beam for a second or two, Gregg Overman, a member of the Allied Pilots Association, told television station KXAS on Tuesday.

An American Airlines spokesman said the airline is working with the Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic control to investigate.

Overman said the association would urge prosecution if the laser beam incident was intentional.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced in January that the government was requiring pilots to immediately report lasers being beamed at airplanes - a response to a rash of such incidents.

The new Federal Aviation Administration guidelines are meant to speed word of such incidents to air traffic controllers, who would then repeatedly broadcast warnings and quickly notify law officers.


02/08/05 23:01

© Copyright The Associated Press.
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http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story. ... 461731.htm
 
Dutchman declares war on Irish pub

A Dutchman sick of noise from the Irish pub next door nailed the doors shut, drilled a hole in the wall and flooded the crowded bar with his hosepipe.

Murphy's pub, in Deventer, was full of people celebrating an annual carnival when the water came gushing in.

Pub manager Rianne Jansen said people tried to get out but couldn't as the doors had been nailed shut.

She said the water which was coming out of a garden hose was making the wooden floors of the bar slippy and could have caused injury to her guests.

Neighbour Tom van den Belt who admitted he blocked the doors, drilled a hole in the wall and then flooded the pub before calling out the fire brigade told police he was sick and tired of the noise from the pub.

He has now threatened to set off a stink bomb if the late night parties continue.

"The noise is unbearable. We want to be able to sleep and have now declared war," Mr van Belt told the daily De Telegraaf.

He says arguments over the noise have been going on for three years and complaints to the town council have fallen on deaf ears.
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Source
 
Wandering screwball

All very odd:

Man arrested after series of bizarre events

Updated: 2/11/2005 7:28 PM
By: Capital News 9 web staff



Police have arrested Kendell Spraragen, 34, of 25 Lawnwood Avenue after a series of bizarre events that occurred in Schenectady on Friday.

At about 11:30 a.m. police responded to 155 Erie Boulevard after receiving a report that Spraragen was on his way to that residence to kill his father. While interviewing the father, Spraragen entered the residence, and resisted arrest by Schenectady police. Officers eventually subdued Spraragen.

While this incident was occurring, the Police Communications Center advised all units that the Truscto Bank on State Street had been robbed and that the suspect had exited through the back door.

After investigating the attempted robbery, authorities determined it was Spraragen who had entered the bank, armed with a large folding knife. He attempted to cash a check, and when the teller refused he became irate.

Spraragen allegedly left the bank without any money, and walked across the street to 155 Erie Boulevard where police were interviewing his father.

While transporting Spraragen to Ellis Hospital, he drove his head into a metal window screen, detaching the welded screen and shattering the glass it protects. While handcuffed, Spraragen attempted to exit the car out a window, but officers subdued the man and completed the transportation in a secure prisoner transport van.

Two officers sustained injuries while taking Spraragen into custody at 155 Erie Boulevard. Officer Sherri Barnes sustained knee and wrist injuries, and Officer Philip Feldhaus sustained a hand injury. Both officers were treated at Ellis Hospital and released.

A detailed list of charges has not yet been released for Spraragen but authorities said charges will include attempted robbery and felony assault.
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Source
 
Suspect who swung poodle at officer found incompetent

Associated Press
Feb. 10, 2005 12:50 PM

PONTIAC, Mich. - A man accused of swinging his four-pound poodle at a sheriff's deputy has been found incompetent to stand trial.

Girlamo A. Marinello, 38, of Macomb County's Shelby Township, was charged with assault with intent to commit great bodily harm, fleeing and eluding police, carrying a concealed weapon, resisting and obstructing police and cruelty to an animal.

The charges stemmed from a Feb. 26, 2004, incident in which Oakland County sheriff's Deputy Scott Howden tried to stop Marinello for running a stop sign. Marinello rammed Howden's car and then got out of his vehicle, swinging the 8-month-old French poodle on her leash, police said.
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An evaluation at the state's forensic psychiatry center found Marinello was not criminally responsible. On Wednesday, Oakland County Circuit Judge Gene Schnelz approved Marinello's plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, Assistant Prosecutor Robert Novy said.

"We didn't challenge the finding of the forensic center," Novy told The Daily Oakland Press of Pontiac. "We reviewed everything ... and determined their evaluation was appropriate."

The poodle, named Baby, was not harmed during the incident. She found a new home after more than 100 people called Oakland County Animal Control to ask about adopting her.

If convicted as charged, Marinello could have faced up to 10 years in prison.

After he undergoes at least 60 days of treatment at the forensic center, Marinello can petition Oakland County Probate Court for placement in another facility or be released. The court would have to approve his release, Novy said.

---

Information from: The Daily Oakland Press, http://www.theoaklandpress.com
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Source
 
Odd story:

Date published: Tuesday, February 22, 2005.
Author: AARON OLDAKER

Bizarre events

A SUPREME Court jury was told yesterday by a Crown prosecutor of the "bizarre, violent and irrational events" that led to the shooting of a Burnie man at Shorewell Park more than 18 months ago.

The trial of Burnie man Anthony Maxwell Eastley, 42, began in Burnie yesterday.

Mr Eastley is charged with the attempted murder of Tony Sturzaker, who was shot four times in Wright St on August 8, 2003, with a .22 calibre revolver.

Mr Eastley's defence counsel Greg Richardson said there was no dispute that his client shot Mr Sturzaker.

However, he said self-defence and whether his client had intended to actually kill Mr Sturzaker were the central issues of the trial.

Under cross-examination by Mr Richardson, Mr Sturzaker revealed how he had assaulted and threatened Mr Eastley's brother, Jamie Guest.

From the middle of 2002 onwards, Mr Sturzaker told the court he regularly threatened Mr Guest and his family, including sending death threats via SMS.

Under cross-examination, Mr Sturzaker told the court he went to the Guests' home in September 2002, poured petrol over himself, then threatened to set himself on fire and run through the house to burn it down.

Mr Richardson asked Mr Sturzaker if he threatened Mr Guest on September 20 that year by telling him he would lock him in his car, handcuff him inside, and burn him alive.

Mr Sturzaker said he could not recall, but said "they (those words) sound like something I'd say, for sure".

On September 23, 2002, Mr Sturzaker was issued a restraint order, but said he told the magistrate who issued it that it was "a piece of paper I ought to wipe me arse on".

Mr Sturzaker admitted to walking up the Guests' street the following October with a sword, threatening to kill them.

He later waited outside the primary school the Guests' children attended and walked up to Mr Guest at a service station and punched him in the face.

In June 2003, he went to a children's birthday involving the Guest family and sat at a table opposite, pretending to take notes.



Full story available in today's edition of The Advocate.
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Source
 
Clerk assaulted with sausage


Feb 18, 2005 : 6:15 pm ET

CHAPEL HILL -- A woman attacked a convenience store clerk with a sausage Thursday morning after she was unable to use the store's outdoor vacuum cleaner for her car.

The 34-year-old clerk at Buy & Go, located at 106 Ephesus Church Road, reported that a woman came in the store and said she wanted to use the vacuum cleaner but a car was parked in the way, said Jane Cousins of the Chapel Hill Police Department.

When the clerk told the woman that the car was disabled and could not be moved, she picked up a Big Mama Pickled Sausage from the counter and threw it at the clerk.

The sausage hit the clerk in the face, Cousins said. The clerk retreated to the back room of the store, and the woman left, police reported.
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Source
 
Northwest pilots report lasers on approach to Detroit airport
February 25, 2005, 8:04 AM


ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) -- Two Northwest Airlines pilots said laser lights were shined into their cockpits as they were about to land their planes at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, authorities said.

A flight from Orlando, Fla., landed safely at 7:20 p.m. EST Thursday, followed at 8 p.m. by a flight from Montego Bay, Jamaica, FBI Special Agent Terry Booth told The Detroit News.

The pilots told air traffic controllers that green laser light came from an area along Interstate 94 just east of the airport. Airport security reported the incidents to the Transportation Security Administration, which in turn notified the FBI.

"They were making their approaches, and the pilots reported seeing a green laser-like light shining towards their aircraft," Booth said.

A search around the airport was started shortly after the pilots filed their reports, but no suspects were found, Booth said.

Scott Tennant, a spokesman for Northwest Airlines Corp., said all flights at the airport departed and landed safely on Thursday night. He referred additional questions to federal authorities.

Telephone messages were left Friday morning with a spokeswoman for the FBI's Detroit office and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Over the past four months, the FAA has received dozens of reports of lasers being pointed at airplanes in several states. Laser illuminations can briefly disorient a pilot during the critical flight stages of ascending and descending.

Six airline pilots told authorities they saw a laser while approaching Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Sunday evening. No lasers were aimed at the airplanes' cockpits, the FBI's Dallas office said.

It is a 20-year federal felony to interfere with flight crews.

Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.
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Detroit Free Press
 
Dixon referred to himself as 'chosen one', court told

01.03.05 12.30pm


The former wife of a man accused of a samurai sword attack on two women today told of how he would refer to himself as "the Chosen One".

Wendy Ross said in the High Court at Auckland that Antonie Ronnie Dixon would speak about being connected to another source.

"There's a sentence he used quite frequently -- I can't recall the full sentence -- where 'I'm the One, the Chosen One, the Almighty'," she said.

"It was just too heavy for me and I had to be very careful about the way I left his presence or left the room because it was full-on and very forceful. It was like those religious people you get on the street who really believe what they are saying is it."

Dixon, 36, has pleaded not guilty to a number of charges, including murder and attempted murder.

He is accused of attacking Simonne Butler and Renee Gunbie with asword at the converted shed the three lived in at Pipiroa, on the Hauraki Plains, on January 21, 2003.

He is also accused of shooting dead 25-year-old James Te Aute, who had confronted him about his strange behaviour in an Auckland car park hours later.

Ms Ross, who was appearing for the defence on a witness summons, rubbed Dixon's shoulder as she walked passed the dock towards the witness box.

She said Dixon, who sat hunched forward while she gave evidence, believed he had computer chips planted in his body and that he was being followed.

On one occasion, he spoke about a Concorde jet hovering around in the sky.

She detailed other unusual aspects of Dixon's behaviour during the time they were together, including excitability, talking extremely fast to the point of foaming at the mouth, and rocking back and forth in front of the television.

He would also speak about hearing voices and about the Devil, something she found "quite frightening".

"I decided not to listen too much to what he was saying," she said.

"It's not a topic I talked about because it created so much discomfort for me."

But Ms Ross revealed another side to Dixon, saying he was also charming, knowledgeable, generous and artistic.

"He will pick something that looks like junk and will convert it into a masterpiece."

The trial is continuing.

- NZPA
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The New Zealand Herald
 
Mercury on chairs a bizarre threat

By Tara Hayden
The Virginia Gazette

Published March 9, 2005

WILLIAMSBURG -- FBI agents and police are conducting a criminal investigation into why drops of potentially toxic liquid mercury were found Monday in the Stryker Building on the rolling desk chairs about to be used by City Council.

The discovery came an hour before council was to convene for a work session. The meeting was moved across the street to the Municipal Building while dozens of agents worked to contain the mercury and comb the room for clues.

Liquid mercury is difficult for the average person to obtain and has no business out in the open. Its common uses are in thermometers, batteries and dental fillings.

Said one city official who saw the spill, “It had to be intentional. If it was from a broken thermometer, someone would need a couple of gross of them to yield that much mercury.”

Deputy Police Chief Dave Sloggie said the silvery, metallic substance was found on all five of the dais chairs. There were also small puddles on the floor and on a countertop. The city official said a puddle about an inch in diameter was found under the desk of Sheila Crist, who's the clerk of council.

FBI agents collected the chemical for testing while the city fire department was called to do a spot check around the rest of the building. Nothing was found.

By Tuesday, council chambers remained closed, with yellow police tape wrapped around the door handles. Just inside the doors was a large pile of plastic bags with used hazmat outfits stuffed inside. Virginia Department of Emergency Management workers were expected to begin cleaning up the spill later in the day.

If the incident was a prank, no one is laughing. If it was intended to harm someone, the perpetrator lacked a working knowledge of chemistry.

Rutherfoord Rose, a toxicologist and director of the Virginia Poison Control Center in Richmond, said mercury in liquid form poses no health risk. It's when mercury is transformed into a gas that serious health problems can occur.

“Liquid mercury has a relatively low toxicity,” said Rose. “Your body can absorb a little if you are exposed to it for long enough, but once it's inside the body, it quickly leaves. The primary danger is if it becomes a vapor.”

Liquid mercury turns to gas when exposed to heat. The fumes are toxic and serious respiratory illness can result. In this case, that danger was real. “If someone uses a conventional electric vacuum, the heat of the motor will cause the mercury to vaporize and cause fumes to spread,” Rose said.

Sloggie said that such a clean-up is done with a special vacuum that uses a filter so as not to emit fumes.

City Council members seemed perplexed Tuesday about the incident. They were called in advance and told the meeting was moved to the third-floor conference room across the street, but not told why. They found out when they arrived.

“I was very surprised,” Mayor Jeanne Zeidler said describing her reaction Monday when she first heard about the mercury. “I'm baffled by it. I can't imagine who would do this and why. I'm very much looking forward to the outcome of the investigation.”

Zeidler said she told the FBI agent who interviewed her, “I can't think of any person or any reason for an action like this.”

“My first reaction was surprise,” Vice Mayor Clyde Haulman said. “It sounded pretty bizarre. And it still sounds pretty bizarre. I have more questions than answers.”

Paul Freiling's first thought was that something was wrong with one of the building's mechanical systems and that something leaked into the room. “The thought of an individual going to that length to harm or intimidate somebody on council or any of the other people who meet in that chamber was so foreign to me,” Freiling said.

The room is shared by City Council, the Planning Commission, the WJC School Board and the board of the Williamsburg Redevelopment & Housing Authority. The room is also available for meetings to homeowner associations in the city.

City manager Jack Tuttle said many people have keys to the building, including members of the Redevelopment Authority, fire department, voter registrar, maintenance and janitors. Council chambers could require a separate key from the building's main doors, but Tuttle wasn't sure.

“The thing that really concerns me is if someone had an issue that they wouldn't have just taken the most obvious step and approached any of us, or all of us, directly,” Freiling added. “I've never heard, in my time on council, from anybody who was so upset they would go to such extreme action.”

Both Haulman and Freiling tempered their concerns.

“It's perplexing. And it's also a little bit disturbing. If someone really wanted to get us, it's not a very effective way,” Haulman said. “We're not dealing with incredibly controversial stuff. It's not like we're dealing with life-and-death issues.”

Haulman acknowledged that someone could have placed the mercury in the seats as a hoax, knowing it is not harmful in the liquid form.

But it also could have been meant to harm council members, and whoever left it didn't know that form wasn't dangerous.

“That certainly is a possibility,” he conceded. “But it's nothing I'm going to lose sleep over.”

Billy Scruggs said, “My first thought was, ‘Mercury. Is this the stuff I played with when I was a little kid and I made pennies turn silver with it?'”

Following an interview Monday evening by an FBI agent, Scruggs looked at the situation a bit differently.

“The agent said it's the times we live in,” Scruggs said. “This was obviously something somebody did that they considered intimidating or threatening in their minds.”

He added, “This doesn't happen in Williamsburg. They were asking me if anything unusual has happened, or who may be angry at council. I don't think, in my wildest imagination, that it could be anybody who has appeared before council. I don't know what to think, to tell you the truth. This just isn't Williamsburg.”

The FBI agent took it seriously. “He said, ‘This is a little more than putting a tack in someone's seat,'” Scruggs recalled.

Scruggs didn't think someone really intent on intimidating council would use mercury. “And if they wanted to disrupt the meeting, they could use anything. Why mercury? That's such an odd substance.”

Odd, but not unheard of. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that district officials closed two schools in the last two weeks because of mercury spills. At Cardozo Senior High, two students have been charged, and a third arrested in connection with a Feb. 23 spill.

On Monday, students at Hardy Middle School were playing with a thermometer in a classroom. It broke, spilling about a quarter teaspoon of mercury. One staff member was decontaminated after testing positive for mercury.

Mickey Chohany said when he saw that the city manager's office was concerned, that got his attention.

“I've thought that council has been engaging enough with the community that there never would be a circumstance such as this, where someone would have enough malice to do something of this nature,” he said.

Tuttle said when he was first told that the mercury was found on members' chairs, he knew it hadn't gotten there by accident.

“But I couldn't make any sense out of it,” he said. “And I can't make any sense out of it now why someone would do, intentionally, what I would describe as a sophomoric action. I hope investigators can get to the bottom of it. Anyone who has a theory should let police know.”
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Source
 
Man kills one, injures others in Germany church


BERLIN, April 3 (Reuters) - An attacker killed one man and injured three people, at least one seriously, with a Samurai sword in a Protestant church in the southwestern German city of Stuttgart, police said on Sunday.

Police said the suspect, a 25-year-old Tamil, was overpowered with pepper spray after he had stormed into the building during a service and began attacking the 65-strong congregation.

Two men were injured, and a woman seriously hurt, police said, adding there had been "chaos" in the church, where severed limbs had been found. A witness said the area in front of the church was covered in blood.

Police said they had also made an initial search for other potential suspects because of the situation in the church, but had not found any.

Police cited probable family reasons as the cause of the attack. There was no indication of any political motive. No further details were available.


04/03/05 16:24

© Copyright Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.
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SOURCE
 
This guy sounds properly nuts - he seems to have gone on some kind of brutal spree. Warning: It is pretty grim stuff:

Tuesday, 5th April 2005

Woman's tongue 'bitten off' in sex rampage


A MAN bit off and chewed part of a woman's tongue during a sex rampage which saw him target four other females in one night, a court heard today.

Andrew Humphris, 36, preyed on "vulnerable" women and acted "like an animal", the jury at Preston Crown Court was told.

The court heard that Humphris forced the woman, who was working as a prostitute, to open her mouth with his fingers before biting off a portion of her tongue and chewing it in front of her.

Outlining the case for the prosecution, Richard Haworth said the attacks became more violent during the night as Humphris became increasingly frustrated.

Humphris had visited a prostitute while on a trip to Blackpool to see his brother on October 28 last year.

Mr Haworth said the accused became aggressive and bit the girl's tongue but not enough to draw blood.

Shortly after midnight he harassed a woman, trying to separate her from her friends, and later carried out a violent sex attack on a woman in her own car, the jury was told.

After biting off part of the tongue of the fourth victim shortly before 3am he chased a fifth woman who was driving to work. He rammed her car and tried to force her to stop, said Mr Haworth.

Humphris, of St Paul's Tower, Leyton, east London, denies one count of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm; one count of attempting to wound; one count of attempted kidnapping; one count of sexual assault; and one count of committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Throat

He has pleaded guilty to one charge of dangerous driving.

None of the victims can be named for legal reasons.

Describing the tongue biting attack Mr Haworth said: "He lifted (the victim's) head up and turned her head towards him. He grabbed her and pulled her face towards his and he put his fingers in her mouth trying to force her mouth open.

"He grabbed her by the throat and, the Crown say, tried to throttle her.

"He held her by the throat and demanded she put her tongue out of her mouth. He shouted, 'give me a tongue'.

"She was terrified. She described him as almost like an animal. He proceeded then to bite her tongue with such ferocity that he bit off a large part of her tongue completely.

"He started to chew the piece of tongue he had bitten off."

Mr Haworth said that as the woman staggered from the car, her tongue bleeding "profusely", Humphris kicked her and yelled "dirty little bitch".

Mr Haworth said: "The Crown say he selected victims during that short period of time in their varying ways who are vulnerable and susceptible to his targeting. In short, they were easy prey for the defendant."

Describing Humphris after the attack on the prostitute, Mr Haworth told Judge Robert Brown: "He was still overcome by the urge to commit a sex offence."

Proceeding

-----------------------
© Copyright 2005 Manchester Evening News.
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Source
 
Manager kidnaps boy in bizarre revenge plot

A delivery boy was subjected to a “bizarre and extreme attack” by a manager set on wreaking revenge on the bakery that had sacked him.

Moegamad Achmat, 27, kidnapped Samer Natesh, 26, from the head office of L’Amandine Bakeries in Lombard Road, south Wimbledon in the middle of the night, soon after losing his job in September last year.

Achmat stabbed in him in the neck then forced his fingers into the open wound, told him he was going to die and asked for his forgiveness.

The manager also told him to swear allegiance to God and the Muslim prophet Mohammed.

Achmat then drove to one of the firm’s bakeries in Wimbledon intent on stealing the day’s takings.

But Mr Natesh spotted a police car, and threw himself out of the moving van, telling officers he had just been stabbed.

Achmat later pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent, kidnap and assault with intent to rob.

Sentencing Achmat at the Inner London Crown Court on Friday, Judge Quentin Campbell said: “You were very aggrieved at your employers and were anxious to exact some sort of vengeance.” But he said that as two doctors reported there was no indication of insanity, the motivation for the attack was unclear.

After considering a life sentence, Judge Campbell instead jailed him for eight years, with an extended licence of four years.
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