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Yesterday, 11:47 pmMan puts son up for sale on CraigslistYesterday, 10:39 pmInmate tells mom where to find his drugsInmate busted after telling mom where to find his stash
Barbara Hijek March 17, 2010 07:15 AM
Jails across Florida record every inmate phone call.
Inmates know it: There's a warning at the beginning of every call.
Shortly after being busted last week on drug trafficking charges, Franco Mayernik called his mother from the Osceloa County jail -- and talked his way into another set of drug charges.
Mayernik, a 300-pound convicted robber with tattoos of guns and "White Boy" on his tummy, apparently didn't pay attention to the recorded warning, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
"I listened to the phone conversation and heard his mother ask him if he left anything at Spank's house," a detective wrote in his arrest report, mentioning a St. Cloud residence where Mayernik had been arrested. "Franco told his mother he left two ounces of powder in the cushion on the couch."
Deputies arrived at Spank's place and asked the residents for permission to search the house. They agreed, but one of the residents first wanted to remove her dog from a bedroom, the report stated. A detective looked inside the bedroom and moticed the resident removing two bags of cocaine from a shoe. The "snowshoes" were holding 57 grams of cocaine and 2 grams of oxycodone. The recovery of the cocaine added a cocaine trafficking charge to Mayernik's list of 15 felony and misdemeanors charges from last week.
Photo: Franco Mayernik / Florida Department of Corrections Yesterday, 9:45 pmFive-year-old children to take driving lessonsWorld Five-year-old UAE residents to take driving lessons
RIA Novosti. Igor Zarembo |
14:1817/03/2010 Five-year-old children in the United Arab Emirates will be able to take driving lessons in a new Traffic City, the National newspaper said. The police-monitored village will give children and teenagers the opportunity to drive real cars on real roads. Children from five to 12 will be able to drive cars that run on batteries at a speed of 15km/h. Youngsters aged 13 to 17 will have cars that run on petrol and can travel up to 20km/h. When a driver commits an offence, he or she will receive a police radio message. "This will teach drivers to commit to the rules at a young age. They will learn to wear seat belts and listen to police instructions," Major Ahmed al Niyadi, head of media and marketing for the Abu Dhabi traffic police, told the paper. ABU DHABI, March 17 (RIA Novosti) Yesterday, 8:21 pmBlack people must leave Walmart announcer saysBlack people must leave, NJ Walmart announcer says Blacks must leave store, NJ Walmart announcer says, upsetting customers; company investigates
Virginia Tinsley, of Washington Township, N.J., answers a question Wednesday, March 17, 2010, outside a Wal Mart store in Washington Township, N.J., where she and others complained Sunday about comments that came over the store's public address system. Wal-Mart officials are reviewing security tapes after an announcement was made for "all black people" to leave the southern New Jersey store. Shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday, a male voice came over the public-address system at the Route 42 store in Washington Township and calmly announced: "Attention Wal-Mart customers: All black people leave the store now." Management later apologized. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Bruce Shipkowski
Associated Press Writer Thursday March 18, 2010, 1:07 am EDT
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) -- A Walmart store announcement ordering black people to leave brought chagrin and apologies Wednesday from leaders of the company, which has built a fragile trust among minority communities. A male voice came over the public-address system Sunday evening at a store in Washington Township, in southern New Jersey, and calmly announced: "Attention, Walmart customers: All black people, leave the store now." Shoppers in the store at the time said a manager quickly got on the public-address system and apologized for the remark. And while it was unclear whether a rogue patron or an employee was responsible for the comment, many customers expressed their anger to store management. "I want to know why such statements are being made, because it flies in the face of what we teach our children about tolerance for all," said Sheila Ellington, who was in the store at the time with a friend. "If this was meant to be a prank, there's only one person laughing, and it's not either one of us." Ellington, of Monroe, and her friend Patricia Covington said they plan to boycott the retailer until they're assured the issue has been addressed so it doesn't happen again. The pair said they were stunned when they heard the announcement and initially believed they had misheard it. But once the words sank in, they grew angry. "I depended on Walmart for all my needs, because the store has pretty much everything you could want," Covington said. "But until this issue is addressed in a way I'm comfortable with, I can't walk through those doors again." Officials with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., said that the announcement was "unacceptable" and that they're trying to determine who made it and how it happened. "We are just as appalled by this incident as our customers," the company said in a statement. "Whoever did this is just wrong and acted in an inappropriate manner. Clearly, this is completely unacceptable to us and to our customers." This is not the first time the retailer has faced such problems. There have been several past instances of black customers claiming they were treated unfairly at Walmart stores, and the company faced lawsuits alleging that women were passed over in favor of men for pay raises and promotions. In February 2009, the retailer paid $17.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in its hiring of truck drivers. And the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the company in May 2009, claiming some Hispanic employees at a Sam's Club subsidiary in California were subjected to a hostile work environment. That suit alleges managers failed to stop repeated verbal harassment, including the use of derogatory words, against employees of Mexican descent. However, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has said the company has worked hard in recent years to show it cares about diversity. Bill Mitchell, a former Walmart employee who was shopping Wednesday at the store, said that he was saddened to hear about the announcement but that "as a black man, I've heard worse things." As customer Sharon Osbourne, of Williamstown, left the store Wednesday, she called the announcement "appalling, stupid and sad." Last Edited: Yesterday, 8:23 pm Yesterday, 8:12 pmDad leaves baby in oven overnightDrunk, high dad leaves baby in oven overnight, police say Jason Kessler, CNN March 16, 2010 9:58 p.m. EDT
Larry Long, 33, is charged with first degree wanton endangerment.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
(CNN) -- A Kentucky man high on marijuana and drunk on whiskey put his 5-week-old son in the oven Sunday and left him there overnight, police said. The oven door was slightly ajar, and the oven was not turned on. After smoking marijuana at the restaurant where he works as a cook, Larry Long, 33, returned home to share a fifth of whiskey with the baby's mother, Brandy Hatton, McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden said in a statement. Hatton had four or five shots and went to bed while Long finished the bottle, Hayden said. At 5:30 the next morning, Hatton awoke to the sound of the baby's cries coming from the oven. He had been in it for several hours, police said. Emergency crews responding to the scene transported the infant to a local hospital, where he was found to be unharmed. The incident was reported to authorities by a psychiatric facility that Long turned to when he learned what he had done, officials said. "He actually called a mental health crisis line immediately thereafter and told them that he had done this. And they contacted us," Hayden said. Police arrested Long and charged him with first degree wanton endangerment. He is being held on bail of $10,000. Long blamed his actions on the marijuana, which he believes was laced with a hallucinatory agent, officials said. Authorities have removed the baby from its mother's care and awarded emergency custody to members of her family. Yesterday, 6:29 pmJudge marries defedent to victim of domestic violencewww.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bal-md.judge18mar18,0,2455093.story
Baltimore Sun Judge marries defendant to alleged victim Balto. County jurist dismisses case, is reassigned Nicole Fuller
March 18, 2010
A Baltimore County judge was reassigned Wednesday after he presided over the marriage between a man being prosecuted for domestic violence and the alleged victim - a marriage that led to the man's acquittal.
LINK TO PHOTO AND FOLLOW-UP STORY
Last Edited: Yesterday, 6:40 pm Yesterday, 5:51 pmHusband sells wife of CraigslistYesterday, 7:14 amFree food giveaways offered by the big chainsWho Could Eat All This? Joseph De Avila
provided by
The chains with free food prizes and the people (600,000!) who want them. Next month, Denny's will pick the winners of its "Grand Slam for a Year" promotion. Each can order 52 servings of a Denny's Grand Slam breakfast, or two eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausage links and two pancakes. That's a stack of pancakes four feet high, with 17,680 calories, not counting the syrup. Denny's Corp. hopes the contest brings more customers through the door, especially since people can't necessarily eat this much themselves and often bring along their friends. "Consumers still respond to free," says John Dillon, the company's vice president of marketing. Doughnuts, popcorn chicken and foot-long sandwiches are free for the taking, too. Among the chains with giveaway contests and other promotions: Subway, Chick-fil-A Inc., Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. and KFC Corp. Giveaways are an inexpensive way for companies to stretch their marketing dollars during the recession. Contestants also tend to brag about the sport of entering free food contests, something that's easier than ever with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. That spreads the restaurants' marketing message even further. Out of the 600,000 people who entered the Denny's contest, 450,000 opted to join the Denny's Rewards program, which regularly emails updates on new menu items and specials. Denny's bets these emails will draw more loyal customers to its 1,545 restaurants, Mr. Dillon says. Jesse Martin camped out overnight this month outside a San Marcos, Texas, Chick-fil-A for a chance to win a year's worth of chicken sandwiches. The Atlanta-based fast-food chain gives away free meals for a year to the first 100 customers at new stores' grand openings. So far, Mr. Martin, a 34-year-old college pastor from Austin, Texas, has been to five Chick-fil-A grand openings and won at four of them. Chicken, More Chicken What the chain calls a year's supply, or about $300 in store credits, lasts about two or three months in the hands of Mr. Martin. "I eat there sometimes two or three times a week. Sometimes I eat there three times a day and eat free all day," he says. He typically orders the chain's classic chicken sandwich and nuggets. Mr. Martin shares his winnings with friends and with his 9-year-old son Josiah and 6-year-old daughter Kelli. Even when he doesn't have free gift certificates, he typically eats at Chick-fil-A once or twice a week either by himself or with others. In May, he plans on taking his wife to the next grand opening in a nearby town so she can get her own gift certificates for the family to share. "I'm a raving, craving fan," says Mr. Martin, adding that Chick-fil-A has been his favorite fast-food chain since he was 10. A Chick-fil-A spokeswoman declined to comment. The public and governmental pressure on restaurant chains to make their menus healthier and encourage adults to stay in the 2,000-daily-calorie range hasn't appeared to dampen the food giveaways. Free-food offers first gained in popularity during the 1970s, when America was hit hard economically by the energy crisis, says Burt Flickinger III, managing director of consulting firm Strategic Resource Group. "The worst of times economically are the best of times for establishments offering something free," he adds. ShopRite grocery stores, which are members of Wakefern Food Corp., a Keasbey, N.J.-based cooperative, began offering buy-one-get-one-free offers in 1979, a spokeswoman says. In the early 1980s, the company started giving away free turkeys for Thanksgiving and free hams for Easter. Later restaurants began offering all-you-can-drink beverages and then all-you-can-eat buffets, Mr. Flickinger says. Subway in February announced a food giveaway to promote its "Five Dollar Footlong" sandwich. In it, 71 winners will win free sandwiches for a year, amounting to a $260 gift card. Subway was able to add 400,000 customers to its marketing database with the promotion, says Tony Pace, the company's chief marketing officer. Krispy Kreme offers a dozen free doughnuts a week for a year to the first customer at new store openings. The next 11 customers get one dozen free doughnuts a month for a year, but the terms vary by location. Giving away free food for a year to 100 people at a restaurant opening costs a national fast-food chain at least $30,000 per opening, says Lori Walderich, principal of IdeaStudio, a marketing company specializing in chain-restaurant marketing and promotion. This includes food costs, security, advertising and other expenses. "It's an inexpensive way to build customer loyalty," she says. Denny's, based in Spartanburg, S.C., says that its Grand-Slam-for-a-year prizes are worth about $311 per customer, and that winners are selected at random by a computer. Fighting for Stomachs "Our customers are looking to stretch their dollar as much as it can go," says Mr. Dillon, the marketing executive. The competitive landscape has become more cutthroat during the recession. "We are each fighting for a share of the stomach." An estimated 30% to 40% of free-food coupons are redeemed, says Mr. Flickinger. By contrast, just 1.5% to 2% of coupons offering discounts are used. And winners rarely dine alone -- they're likely to bring friends who maybe have never dined at the restaurant or who may pay for their own meal, says Stowe Shoemaker, associate dean of research at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston. Donna Feild has just $100 remaining of the $1,000 in free meals she won by entering an online contest at KFC Corp. last year. The pharmacist from Brush Prairie, Wash., expects to keep going to KFC after her winnings are up. Her teenage sons have developed a taste for KFC's popcorn chicken and chicken strips. "We've gotten in the habit. Teenagers, they don't tend to change, they want the same thing over and over," Ms. Feild, 49, says. KFC, a subsidiary of Yum Brands Inc., runs promotions like the one Ms. Feild won, which also included a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., two or three times a year, says Laurie Schalow, a KFC spokeswoman. The chain typically uses a year's worth of free food to bring in customers to promote a new product. Last Mother's Day, the company sponsored a sweepstakes to promote its new grilled chicken, for example. Last year, Ryan Leer won a video contest sponsored by sandwich-maker Quiznos. For creating a clip that features a fake rocket-launcher shooting the chain's "Toasty Torpedo" sandwiches, Mr. Leer won $10,000 and a year's worth of sandwiches. Quiznos sent customers to its Web site so they could vote on winning videos, giving them valuable exposure in return. This video contest helped add about 68,000 new customers to Quiznos marketing database. "That's the best way to advertise," says Trey Hall, chief marketing officer for Quiznos. While Mr. Leer entered the video contest for the cash, the year's supply of sandwiches -- actually $260 worth of gift certificates -- was a nice bonus, he says. The 23-year-old video-production major at the University of Wisconsin-Superior and his friends made about 40 trips to the sandwich shop in six months. "It is supposed to be a year supply, but that went pretty quick," he says. "I have been there a couple times since with my own money, so they did their job." Joel Levinson, 29, from Los Angeles was a runner-up behind Mr. Leer. For coming in second, he won a year's supply of Quiznos sandwiches. For his video, Mr. Levinson went to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta and compared Quiznos sandwiches to the skyscrapers. Despite making a video about Quiznos and winning a year's worth of free sandwiches, Mr. Levinson has yet to cash in a single gift certificate. "I'm trying to move away from fast food" and eat more organic food at home, he says. Last Edited: Yesterday, 7:15 am Yesterday, 6:34 amIntruder gets into bed with sleeping residentCold intruder gets into bed with sleeping resident Wednesday March 17, 2010 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  A Mount Washington man was sleeping in his apartment early this morning when he felt someone get into bed with him. Figuring it was his girlfriend, he called out her name. A deep male voice replied, "No it's not." The unidentified resident jumped out of bed and called 911 as he held the intruder at bay with an aluminum baseball bat. Police arriving around 5:30 a.m. found doors to the apartment building and the victim's unit had been forced open. They took Michael Karanja Kamau, 33, of Cranberry, into custody. The suspect told them he was cold and wanted to get inside to get warm. Police, in a news release, said Mr. Kamau was intoxicated but not to the point that he didn't understand what was going on. March 17, 2010, 11:46 pmWoman sends text about drugs to drug agentWoman arrested after texting Drug Task agent Altus Times March 16, 2010 Mindy Lynn Neugebauer, 26, of Mangum, was been arrested after a Drug Task agent received a text from her about drugs.
Last Edited: March 17, 2010, 11:48 pm March 17, 2010, 10:42 pmPolice send 123 bags of illegal drugs to store
Dallas police mistakenly send 123 bags of illegal drugs to store
7:33 AM CDT on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 SCOTT GOLDSTEIN The Dallas Morning News
At the Dallas CityStore, customers can find affordable furniture, bikes, electronics and other merchandise from the police property room and other city departments. But a city employee was recently surprised to stumble upon a different product: 123 bags of illegal drugs mistakenly shipped over in a file cabinet by the Dallas Police Department Property Unit. "It was a terrible oversight," said Sgt. Warren Mitchell, a department spokesman. "We're going to see where we went wrong and try to fix that problem." The discovery last week came before the cabinet was moved from a back storage room of the store at 3131 Irving Blvd. Police say the public never came in contact with the heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine. "The property room immediately went over there and retrieved a file cabinet of the drugs, and they weighed each bag and each bag weighed the same that was listed on there," Mitchell said. "Every seal was still sealed. They did not appear to be tampered with and they put them back in the vault" in the property room. The case was referred to the Police Department's internal affairs division, and the people responsible could face discipline. The mistake apparently happened in January as employees in the police property room were cleaning out file cabinets used to store drugs from criminal cases. Officials were making room to build shelves, and the empty cabinets were sent to the CityStore. The bags were connected to cases dating between 1994 and 2005, and police say it's unlikely any of those cases are still pending. This is not the first sign of trouble for the Dallas police property room. A 2008 city audit found that it was disorganized and lacked proper climate control and security. Department officials largely agreed with those findings. They said at the time that the division was understaffed, overworked and struggling in an aging facility with flooding and electrical problems. Last Edited: March 17, 2010, 10:44 pm March 17, 2010, 10:24 pmJuror steals fellow juror's credit cardJennifer Mercado allegedly swipes fellow juror's credit cards - during trial of credit card thief! BY Brendan Brosh and Kerry BurkeDAILY NEWS WRITERS Originally Published:Tuesday, March 16th 2010, 11:47 PM Updated: Wednesday, March 17th 2010, 8:27 AM
Florescu for NewsJennifer Mercado of the Bronx hides her face. She used the credit cards of fellow juror John Postrk (inset) for a $500 shopping spree. Chu for News Jennifer Mercado is accused of swiping a fellow juror's American Express card and using it at to buy four pairs of shoes, including Nike Air Jordans. There was more than one criminal in this courtroom. The Bronx trial of an accused credit card thief was thrown into turmoil when a juror's plastic was stolen and used for a shopping spree - allegedly by another juror! Jennifer Mercado, 20, went from sitting in judgment to sitting in a cell after she brazenly waltzed in from lunch breaks loaded down with bags. The prosecutor of the trial - which also involved a stolen credit card - helped nail her by reviewing the store's security video. Mercado doesn't deny she used fellow juror John Postrk's American Express card to buy more than $500 worth of loot, but she apparently didn't learn much about reasonable doubt while doing her civic duty. "The guy did give me permission to use his credit card," she told the Daily News. Asked why Postrk would do that, Mercado came up with an alibi worthy of "Law & Order." "He came on to me," she said. "It's a he-said, she-said situation. In court, they will find out he's lying." Postrk, 49, who works for the Children's Aid Society, said prosecutors asked him not to talk about the case. He and Mercado were sitting on the trial of Warren Stewart, arrested in 2006 for burglary, grand larceny and possessing a stolen credit card. On March 8, Postrk's American Express cards and MetroCard were swiped from his coat, court documents charge. That day, and the next two days, his card was used at local stores during jurors' lunch hour. When Postrk reported the theft to the judge on March 10, he already had a suspect in mind because the charges on his American Express account came from stores where Mercado had been shopping. "It's the person that came back with the baggage," Postrk told Judge Barbara Newman. He noted that a court officer commented on Mercado's bags. "As we were leaving one of the court officers mentioned, 'Oh, that's a really nice bag,' " Postrk said. "And I just happened to look. And she did a double-take back, like I scared her." Assistant District Attorney Jacob Kaplan, who was prosecuting Stewart, investigated Postrk's claims during a recess. With another prosecutor and investigator, he went to stores across from the Bronx Hall of Justice and viewed videos of a woman who appeared to be Mercado using Postrk's card, court transcripts say. Twenty minutes later, Mercado came back to one of the stores and tried to make a purchase. A manager asked her for ID and she apparently got spooked. "She pulled out what [the manager] believed to be another American Express card in what he believed was John Postrk's name," Kaplan told the judge. "And when he turned around, she dropped the credit card and walked out of the store." At the Jeans Plus shop, Mercado made quite an impression, buying four pairs of shoes, including a pair of Nike Air Jordans. "She was talking nice to me, asking for a discount," manager Jason Ayoub said. Mercado was arrested March 12 and charged with grand larceny, stolen property, identity theft and unlawful use of a credit card. She faces four years. Her lawyer declined comment. Mercado was removed from the Stewart case but Postrk stayed. The jury acquitted Stewart of having a stolen credit card, but convicted him of burglary. Stewart's lawyer, Soraya Hurtado, asked for a mistrial because of the incident but was denied. The district attorney's office declined to comment, but word of the case spread quickly. "You've got to be really stupid to do that in front of a judge, court officers, law enforcement and all the cameras in this building," said one courthouse employee. March 17, 2010, 4:30 pmHawaii's law to ignore people asking about Obama's birthHawaii considering law to ignore Obama 'birthers'
MARK NIESSE Associated Press Writer Wed Mar 17, 2:48 am ET HONOLULU – Birthers beware: Hawaii may start ignoring your repeated requests for proof that President Barack Obama was born here. As the state continues to receive e-mails seeking Obama's birth certificate, the state House Judiciary Committee heard a bill Tuesday permitting government officials to ignore people who won't give up. "Sometimes we may be dealing with a cohort of people who believe lack of evidence is evidence of a conspiracy," said Lorrin Kim, chief of the Hawaii Department of Health's Office of Planning, Policy and Program Development. So-called "birthers" claim Obama is ineligible to be president because, they argue, he was actually born outside the United States, and therefore doesn't meet a constitutional requirement for being president. Hawaii Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino issued statements last year and in October 2008 saying that she's seen vital records that prove Obama is a natural-born American citizen. But the state still gets between 10 and 20 e-mails seeking verification of Obama's birth each week, most of them from outside Hawaii, Kim said Tuesday. A few of these requesters continue to pepper the Health Department with the same letters seeking the same information, even after they're told state law bars release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who does not have a tangible interest. Responding wastes time and money, Kim said. Both Fukino and the state registrar of vital statistics have verified that the Health Department holds Obama's original birth certificate. The issue coincides with Sunshine Week, when news organizations promote open government and freedom of information. "Do we really want to be known internationally as the Legislature that blocked any inquiries into where President Obama was born?" asked Rep. Cynthia Thielen, R-Kaneohe-Kailua. "When people want to get more information, the way to fuel that fire is to say, 'We're now going to draw down a veil of secrecy.'" Nobody at the hearing questioned the fact that the president was born in Hawaii. Attorney Peter Fritz asked why the state would pass a law punishing repetitive requests for open records. Instead, the state could simply say it would only answer each person's question once. If the measure passed, the state Office of Information Practices could declare an individual a "vexatious requester" and restrict rights to government records for two years. The committee will schedule a vote on the measure, said Chairman Jon Riki Karamatsu, D-Waipahu-Waikele. ___ The measure is SB2937. ____ On the Net: Hawaii Legislature, http://capitol.hawaii.gov/ Last Edited: March 17, 2010, 4:44 pm March 17, 2010, 4:12 pmToyota Doubts Runaway Prius Driver's StoryToyota Doubts Runaway Prius Driver's Story 9:35am UK Tuesday March 16, 2010
Alison Chung Sky News Online
Toyota says it has found no evidence to support a driver's claim that the accelerator pedal on his Prius jammed at 94mph, sparking a dramatic police chase. The carmaker said its technicians found the car's accelerator pedal and back-up safety system were working correctly on the 2009 gas-electric hybrid vehicle. A Toyota spokesman said 61-year-old James Sikes' account of racing out of control on a motorway in San Diego, California, did not correspond with a series of tests. "We have no opinion on his account, what he's been saying, other than that the scenario is not consistent with the technical findings," Mike Michels said. US safety investigators have also carried out separate tests but have failed to recreate the sudden, unintended acceleration that Mr Sikes said he encountered. "We would caution people that our work continues and that we may never know exactly what happened with this car," said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The highway patrol said the initial findings of Toyota and NHTSA did not constitute sufficient grounds to re-open an inquiry into the incident. We're not saying Mr Sikes is wrong or that he lied, we're saying that questions have arisen in the investigation. Kurt Bardella, speaking about the US government's report into the incident "Up until now, they've presented no physical evidence that's like a smoking gun to disprove Mr Sikes' statement," said spokesman Brian Pennings. "We have to take Mr Sikes at his word until there's evidence to discount his statement." Mr Pennings said that observations of the highway patrol officer who came to Mr Sikes' aid supported his claim. When the state trooper caught up with Mr Sikes' Prius on the motorway, the car was travelling at break-neck speed with the smell of burning brakes in the air. Mr Pennings added that even when Mr Sikes managed to slow the car by following the officer's instructions to apply the footbrakes and emergency brake, the driver appeared to be "literally standing on the brakes". But Toyota said it had found no evidence that Mr Sikes had been applying the brake forcefully and said he should have been able to stop the Prius by doing so, or by shifting into neutral or turning off the electronic power switch. The drama on March 8 added to the headaches for Toyota which has been struggling to reassure the public that it is dealing with safety issues that sparked a recall of 8.5 million vehicles. Last Edited: March 17, 2010, 11:59 pm March 17, 2010, 10:46 amMan's gold grill ripped from mouth while in jailGrill ripped from man's teeth at Tenn. jail Lawyers reach $95,000 settlement deal; sheriff's lieutenant suspended In an undated handout photo provided by attorney David Raybin, Anthony McCoy shows the damage done to his teeth after a sheriff's lieutenant at the Davidson County, Tenn. Jail allegedly ripped the gold grill off his teeth. (AP Photo/ via David Raybin)
 updated 5:08 p.m. ET, Tues., March. 16, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - When a Tennessee jailer ripped the gold grill from a new inmate's teeth two days before Thanksgiving last year, it left the 31-year-old man in excruciating pain and left taxpayers on the hook for nearly $100,000 in damages. Anthony McCoy spat out blood and teeth in a trash can and was in agony for more than a week after Davidson County Sheriff's Lt. Tanya Mayhew reached into his mouth and yanked out the grill, along with the cement attached to his teeth, said his lawyer, David Raybin. The forced extraction pulled the enamel off McCoy's front teeth and left him with a damaged mouth that still isn't fixed, Raybin said. City lawyers were planning Tuesday night to ask the Nashville Metro Council to approve a $95,000 settlement to avoid a lawsuit over the incident. It happened Nov. 24, a day after McCoy was admitted to the Metro Jail on charges of contempt of court for failure to pay child support, two counts of violation of an order of protection and harassment. When a guard asked McCoy to remove his grill while he was being processed in the jail, he said it was permanently cemented to his teeth years earlier.
$10,000 damage to teeth
McCoy made repeated but futile requests for medical treatment," Raybin said. "There was no urgency at all," Raybin said of the Metro Jail officials and Correct Care Solutions, the company that Nashville contracts with to provide inmate medical care. "This guy was in agony for over a week and a half." The inmate's claim is based on pain and suffering, as well as the dental damage.
CCS has agreed to pay $20,000 because of the "unwarranted delay" in receiving treatment, the Metro Council's legal analysis says. It also says Mayhew broke sheriff's office policy by reaching into the inmate's mouth. The paperwork also acknowledges that McCoy waited 10 days before ever receiving medical treatment beyond Tylenol, in spite of repeated pleas for help.
It's not clear why McCoy had to wait so long to get treatment or how many times he asked for help. It's also not clear whether jail officials ever requested that CCS see him sooner. A Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said that since the incident, a new policy specifically prohibits jailers from removing inmates' grills. The Sheriff's Department referred other questions about the case to the county Health Department, which oversees the contract with CCS. A Health Department spokesman said that federal privacy laws barred officials from saying whether McCoy sought medical treatment while in the jail.
'Reprehensible act'
"This appears to be an unusual and pretty reprehensible act," Councilman Ronnie Steine, chairman of the budget and finance committee, told The Tennessean newspaper of Nashville. "My hope is that the employee has had the appropriate disciplinary action for something that seems to be an egregious act." The lieutenant who pulled out the grill was demoted and received five days suspension. McCoy was later convicted on the harassment charges and released from jail on Feb. 2.  Page of 131  |
