truesee's Blog

Girl rescued from cardboard tube

JAMES L. WHITE
Harrison Daily

Sometimes a game of hide and seek can be very exciting.

That’s what a 7-year-old girl found out Thursday morning when Harrison firefighters and a friend of the girl’s parents had to rescue her from a large cardboard tube she had tried to hide inside.

James L. White/Staff Harrison Fire Chief John Neal looks into a large cardboard tube in which a 7-year-old girl got stuck Thursday morning while playing hide and seek at St. John’s Episcopal Day School.

Jackie Buxton, director at St. John’s Episcopal Day School, said the girl and her classmates were playing hide and seek when the girl got in the tube. School workers said other children had hidden and climbed in the tubes in the past.

However, this time the girl got her leg wedged in the tube. Buxton said they took the tube outside and tried to use cooking oil to lubricate the girl’s leg, but it didn’t work.

So, they called the Harrison Fire Department’s rescue squad to come finish the job.

Fire Chief John Neal talked to the girl to keep her calm while firefighters and Brandon Bolander, a friend of the girl’s parent, used bolt cutters, a hacksaw and a cordless sawsall to cut the tube away from the girl’s leg.

Neal explained that the child had gotten her leg wedged in the tube, her knee against the top and the bottom of her foot against the bottom. Due to that position with her heel against her buttock, she couldn’t move forward or backward.

Eventually, Bolander cut the tube as firefighters kept the blade clear of the girl’s leg and peeled away sections of the tube.

The girl was freed and didn’t suffer any real physical injuries. Rescuers packed up there equipment to leave, but the girl made her feelings known.

“Thank you,” she told them as they walked away.

SWEET LEMONADE KID $LAPPED BITTER AGENTS WRITE $50 TICKET

FRANK ROSARIO and TIM PERONE

Last updated: 4:13 am
August 16, 2009
Posted: 2:13 am
August 16, 2009

Three sourpuss Parks Department agents put the squeeze on a 10-year-old girl in Riverside Park yesterday, slapping the tyke with a $50 ticket for hawking lemonade without a permit.

Clementine Lee, who lives just blocks from the Upper West Side park, had dreamed of opening a lemonade stand since last year and took advantage of yesterday's beautiful weather to set up shop.

"It was such a hot day I figured people would want a cold drink," the aspiring juvenile juice mogul told The Post.

Business was booming for Clementine and her photographer dad, Richard, 49, for the first 20 minutes at the stand on West 73rd Street and Riverside Drive.

The father-daughter team was able to sell 10 glasses of the ice-cold drink for 50 cents each and the dozen chocolate chip cookies they baked.

But their day turned into the pits at 3 p.m. when the heartless pack of city sticklers iced their operation.

"They approached us nonchalantly but then surrounded us," the peeved papa recalled. "They were very hostile as soon as they approached, saying 'Where's your permit? Where's your permit?' "

When Richard admitted he didn't have the right to sell on Parks property, the agents immediately slapped the dad and daughter with a summons for selling food without a license, which carries a maximum fine of $200.

"You've got to be kidding me, this is outrageous!" he told the agents.

Dozens of onlookers rallied to the pair's defense, shouting that the Parks officers were violating the Lees' civil rights, but the brokenhearted pair packed up and went home.

"Don't these agents have anything better to do?" Richard fumed to The Post. "They could have at least told us to move but they didn't give us a chance.

"There are better ways to raise money for the Parks Department then busting 10 year-olds."

His soccer-enthusiast daughter said the ordeal left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"I was really nervous when these three agents cornered me and my dad," said Clementine, who loves classical music and has been playing violin since she was 4.

"I think they should let people sell lemonade out here. We weren't hurting anyone."

But yesterday, after The Post contacted the department, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe announced that the ticket would be nixed.

"The agent used extremely poor judgment" and didn't properly enforce the rule, Benepe said.

The bumbling Parks enforcement patrol officer will be re-trained on rules and regulations and will be reassigned, he added.

"We're going to make lemonade out of lemons . . . I look forward to buying lemonade from her if I pass by," said the commissioner.

Clementine said she might take him up on the offer.

"I'm going to wait a little while, but I'd love to [sell lemonade] again," she said.

As for her dad, he was relieved that "justice was served."

JUST FINE! Clementine Lee holds the ticket that agents (above) handed her and her dad. Parks boss Adrian Benepe voided it.

Man jumped off a ferry yelling "I need a break" to stop his wife from nagging him

The Daily Telegraph

August 11, 2009 3:59PM

Man throws himself overboard to end wife's constant nagging ... The man after he was found alive said he thought he was going to die but it felt better than hearing his wife's nagging. Source: Getty Images

A MAN jumped into a fast-flowing river because he couldn't take his wife's nagging anymore.

The Chinese lorry driver, known as Zhou, and his wife were on a ferry on the Yangtze River when it all became too much for him, the Chongqing Evening Post reports.

Members of the ship's crew saw the man suddenly run out of his cabin with his hands covering his ears, and shouting: "I can't stand it any longer."

They initially thought he was suffering from an ear injury and went to help him but found he was unhurt.

"While we were still puzzling over the this, his wife ran up and continued nagging him," said a crewmate.

"The husband covered his ears again and said: 'I need a break' before jumping over the side into the rushing river.

"We immediately found lamps to light up the water but found nobody. The possibility of survival can be zero."

However, later that night, police found the man who had managed to swim about 2km across across the broad river.

"I felt I was dying, but even that's better than my wife's nagging," he reportedly told the police.

The couple were reunited the following morning at the local police station where Zhou's wife promised to give up her habit of nagging him

Cruel Burglar Taunts His Victim On Facebook

5:18am UK, Sunday August 16, 2009

A cruel burglar has logged onto his victim's Facebook page to taunt her about the break-in, boasting: "Listening to music on my new phone - feels so good."

Victoria Richardson has been taunted by the burglar who raided her home

The thief accessed Victoria Richardson's Facebook homepage the day after breaking into the home she shares with her family in Hove, East Sussex.

Mrs Richardson lost an iPhone, a Nintendo DS games console, a handbag containing a purse, cash and debit cards and a black Toshiba laptop in the burglary.

She says the invasion of privacy has made the crime doubly painful.

One message read: "on my new laptop" while another said, "listening to music on my new phone feels so good".

The thief then adds further insult by saying he left the TV in the house as it was "rubbish".

The taunts on Victoria's Facebook page

He adds that he plans to make a trip to a pawn shop with some of the other goods.

The heartless criminal signs off with the message: "Regards your nighttime burglar".

Mrs Richardson, 42, told the Brighton Argus: "I felt very spooked."

She added: "It felt like they were rubbing my nose in it. They have been in your physical space, and then they are in your online space."

She urged people with computers to protect them with passwords so they did not fall victim to similar invasions of privacy.

Sussex Police confirmed it attended the incident

Drunk man tries to make getaway in squad car

STACY VOGEL 

The Janesville Gazette   

Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009

JANESVILLE — A man whose blood alcohol level was more than five times the legal definition of intoxication apparently tried to make a getaway attempt in a squad car Aug. 7, according to a report from the Rock County Sheriff’s Office.

He was one of 10 people cited for underage drinking outside a home in the 9400 block of West Mineral Point Road, Center Township.

Deputies responded at 11:22 p.m. to an anonymous complaint and found 30 to 40 cars parked outside, the report says. Several vehicles were leaving the scene when deputies arrived. The house was dark and no one would come out, the report says.

As a deputy peered inside, a 20-year-old Janesville man walked out of a cornfield, the report says. The man admitted he’d been drinking, and deputies put him in the back seat of a squad car.

A few minutes later, Deputy Matthew Jacobson heard the squad car’s alarm going off and saw the 20-year-old man in the driver’s seat. When asked where he was going, the man said he wanted to go back with his friends. He was cited for obstructing a police officer, handcuffed and put in the back seat.

The man submitted to a breath test and blew a 0.41, more than five times the level considered intoxicated, the report says. Jacobson thought the result might be a mistake, so he had the man take another test with a different breath-testing machine, resulting in a 0.38 reading.

He was issued a citation for underage drinking, second offense, and his mother picked him up from the jail, the report says. Jacobson advised the mother to watch the man and suggested she take him to Mercy Hospital, but the man was not seen at the hospital, a spokeswoman there said.

When contacted Friday, the man said he wasn’t sure how much he drank that night but estimated “a couple of cups” of beer. He said he thinks the breath tests were inaccurate.

He denied making an escape attempt but admitted he didn’t remember everything that happened that night.

Nine other people were cited for underage drinking during the incident, including seven who were discovered in two vehicles driving away from the party, one who was in the driveway and one a deputy discovered passed out in a ditch across the street, the report says.

Victim Kills Would-Be Robber

Robber shoots his partner

Elizabeth Braun

Melanie Stout

TMJ4

MILWAUKEE - A man was being robbed at gunpoint when he pulled out his own gun and shot one of the suspects.

Stabbed in the buttocks over car park space

The Sydney Morning Herald 

Woman faces felony burglary charges

By Mike Rose 

Austin Daily Herald

Published Thursday, August 13, 2009

A warrant was issued Tuesday for an Albert Lea woman suspected of burglarizing an Austin home on multiple occasions.

Susan Lynn Johnston, 41, faces three felony counts of second-degree burglary and one felony count of theft.

According to a court complaint, Johnston broke into a home on the 1200 block of 12th Drive Southwest at least three times, the first being in early July, and the last two coming July 12 and 13 — both of which were caught on camera.

The 73-year-old man who lives at the home told police that he set up a motion-sensitive camera in a tree near his front door.

The camera caught a woman wearing what appeared to be a white DirecTV shirt enter the house the last two dates and leave with various items.

The man claimed among his missing possessions were a paint sprayer, valued at $600 to $700, and $1,250 in cash.

He said the burglar broke a window on his front door to gain access the first time. Subsequent entries were made by removing plywood that covered the broken window, the man said. He was not home at these times.

Officer Kevin Sederquest of the Austin Police Department went to Direct Communications in Austin to see if any employees recognized the woman due to her shirt.

One employee was able to identify her as Johnston.

Detective Brian Krueger contacted Johnston’s husband on July 15 and learned she lived in Albert Lea.

The next day Krueger went to the house on 890th Avenue and spoke with Johnston’s daughter, who said her mother had just left.

Krueger left contact information and said it was important he reach Johnston.

That occurred July 20 when Johnston called Krueger and volunteered to come in.

A few days later, Johnston met with the detective. She admitted to entering the house and stealing items, saying what she did was “wrong” and “stupid.”

Johnston said she had canoed near the house on several occasions in the past and thought that it was abandoned, which is why she said she attempted the burglary.

On July 23, Johnston returned a number of household items she had taken, including a vacuum, a wrench set, a few flashlights and a cooler.

She said she had not seen $1,250 in cash while in the home.

She also said she didn’t recall seeing a second cooler that had been reported missing.

The man later said a golden bar and silver bar were gone, though he had not previously indicated them missing.

Johnston said she didn’t know anything about the missing bars.

She did return a box for the paint sprayer but said it was empty when she took it, and she had not seen the item in the house.

Man arrested for hitting girl with pizza

Florida Today

August 15, 2009

GAINESVILLE — A Gainesville father has been arrested for hitting his daughter with a pizza slice.

The 38-year-old man was arrested early Friday on a charge of child abuse without great harm, a third-degree felony. The man’s name was being withheld to protect the identity of the victim.

Deputy Nick Vickers says the man used racist and sexist terms when he asked his daughter to turn off her computer, and she fired back with some crude language of her own.

Vickers says the father “intentionally threw a slice of pizza at the victim, striking her in the back of the neck, against her will.”

 The girl, whose age was not available, called 911 and her father was arrested.

Police: Tarentum Man Forced Boys Into 'Training' Fights

Children Allegedly Threatened With '10,000 Smacks'

POSTED: 12:14 am EDT August 14, 2009
UPDATED: 6:57 pm EDT August 14, 2009

LINK TO VIDEO AND PHOTO

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/20393216/detail.html

TARENTUM, Pa. -- Police have charged a Tarentum man and his girlfriend after he allegedly forced the woman's two sons to fight.

Steven Meyer is also accused of paddling the boys and faces charges of simple assault and endangering the welfare of children.

Police said the boys -- ages 6 and 9 -- were forced to fight on numerous occasions at their mother's home while she and Meyer watched.

The boys' father contacted police when he discovered bruises on his 9-year-old son after picking him up from his mother's house, police said.

The oldest boy told a child advocacy specialist that Meyer forced he and his brother to fight about 20 times and referred to it as "training," according to police.

The 9-year-old also said his younger brother was threatened with "10,000 smacks" by Meyer if he didn't beat his brother up, adding that Meyer paddled him several times after he accidentally ripped a tarp with a toy truck, police said.

Both boys said their mother -- Joyce Sabotka -- was present when they would fight in Meyer's bedroom, according to police. Sabotka was charged with child endangerment.

Sabotka told Channel 4 Action News reporter Tara Edwards that Meyer is good with her children and that her ex-boyfriend is using these allegations to get custody of the boys. 

Local business offers kit to build your own casket

07:34 AM EDT

Friday, August 14, 2009

MARK BOONE

NewsChannel 36

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-081309-mrn-casketkit.da323514.html

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- When he saw the $12,900 bill for a relative's funeral last year, Merritt Eggleston saw an opportunity. 

Several months later, he has launched a business building low-cost caskets.

"You ought to see what some of them are going for on the internet, even for animals," Eggleston said of his research on casket prices.

Eggleston, 66, spent decades working in home construction, an industry hit hard by the recession.

He lost his job and was forced to sell the dream home he was building in Chester county.

Working out of a small shed in his backyard, Eggleston cuts and assembles pine boxes large enough for people or pets, offering them for sale at under $500.

John Gullickson, a licensed funeral planner and owner of Insurance Services of the Carolinas, said Eggleston has found a niche business which could prove to be popular, especially in a slow economy.

"I thought it was a great idea because one of the biggest costs of the funeral is the cost of the casket," Gullickson told NewsChannel 36. "You’re looking at saving people two to five thousand dollars" off the cost of a basic casket offered by most funeral homes.

For families who want to save even more money, Eggleston is offering a ready-to-assemble casket for $275.

The kit can be assembled with glue and a screwdriver and can be stored under a bed until needed.

Eggleston said he hopes to market his caskets at a Fort Mill flea market and is setting up a booth in the Trader Marc's building on Saturdays beginning August 22.

Police: Man Calls Cops On Himself After Robbing Restaurant

Posted: 12:16 pm EDT August 14, 2009Updated: 2:43 pm EDT August 14, 2009

Teen car thief is caught after jamming his arm in the door and calling for help

Daily Mail

Last updated at 5:38 PM on 14th August 2009

A suspected teenage car thief was caught red-handed after he attempted to prise open the car door but trapped his arm and had to scream for help.

The 17-year-old managed to wedge his arm so tightly that he was unable to escape.

He had been attempting to steal a Vauxhall Cavalier but after bending back the door to slip his arm through, he slipped, pushed the door shut and found his arm was well and truly stuck.

In a tight spot: Police arrive to find the 17-year-old still stuck tight in the car door

The hapless teen had to call for help, and woke residents in Ardsley, Barnsley in the early hours of the morning with his screams of 'let me out'.

Police officers found him still trapped on the car roof with his left hand caught between the driver's door and bodywork.

The car's owner Janet Hooley, 68, said: 'It's an old car and he had managed to get his fingers in the door and prise it open.

'The kid must have been lying on top and got his arm in to pull up the button.

'When we heard a noise I went to the window and then outside. I said to him: "What are you doing with your arm in my car?"

It's a fair cop: The teen, from Hull, is handcuffed after officers manage to free him

'He replied: "It wasn't me." He was shouting "let me out" and I said "I am not."

'We called the police and about five police cars came. It was an easy cop for them.'

The teenager, who had raised the alarm at 1.10am on Tuesday morning was later charged with attempted theft and appeared at Barnsley Youth Court.

The 17-year-old was granted conditional bail with a curfew. He will appear again in court at Hull later this month.

Davie man accused of stealing from his two fiancees

Jon Burstein

South Florida Sun Sentinel

6:22 p.m. EDT, August 12, 2009

LINK TO PHOTO AND VIDEO:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=645963e9-3b38-4ff6-a903-4900e1f5c828&src=front

BROWARD COUNTY - A Davie man who got engaged to two women within a matter of weeks not only stole his fiancees' hearts, but their money as well, authorities said.

rancois, 55, used his charm to take more than $387,000 from the two women who believed they were going to spend the rest of their lives with him, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office arrest affidavit.

Deputies arrested Francois on Wednesday morning, booking him in the Broward County Jail on two counts of first-degree grand theft and one count of organized scheme to defraud.

The women only learned about each other after he drained their bank accounts and intimidated them when they asked for their money back, court records show.

"He's preying on lonely women — he's preying on their hopes, dreams and desires," said Joe Pappacoda, an attorney who is representing both women.

Rose Marie Anglade, 50, said Francois swept her off her feet in June 2007 when she met him in South Florida while vacationing from New York. Within two months, he persuaded her to sell her home in Queens, quit her job as a dental assistant and come down to Miramar with her 18-year-old daughter, she said.

When she arrived, Francois drove her straight from Miami International Airport to a Boca Raton bank, and got her to withdraw $20,000 that he said would be used to buy them a home in Miramar, according to court documents. At Francois' insistence, they also opened a joint bank account, in which she deposited $228,122, court documents show.

Francois drained that bank account and when she pressed him about it, he hit her and gave her a black eye, according to court records.

Anglade said she is now penniless, jobless and facing imminent foreclosure in the Miramar home.

"He took everything," Anglade said. "He has no heart. He wants to put me out on the street."

The second woman — Sheila Brissault — met Francois in June 2007 through his brother, a New York City cab driver, court records show. Brissault, 43, also a single mother, said Francois sweet-talked her into getting married on their second date.

He persuaded her to take out a $100,000 home equity loan on her house in Elmont, N.Y., and took the money, she said. He then started demanding that she sell the home, but told her that he didn't want her to move to Florida, Brissault said.

When she didn't sell the house, Francois broke up with her, and threatened to kill her and her children when she demanded her money back, she said.

"He broke my heart," she said.

Broward Sheriff's detective John Calabro, who handled the case, said he believes there may be more women who have been victimized by Francois.

"What's amazing about this is the cold-heartedness and the ensuing threats," he said.

Francois, who is also listed in court records as Clement Francois, was arrested at a home on the 13800 block of Chathan Place in Davie. He was being held in lieu of a $125,000 bond.