Jud'oh! Black belt floors burglar

Thursday, February 19, 2009

'Take him down'

February 19, 2009

Metro United Kingdom

A burglar was chopped in his tracks after picking on a victim who turned out to have a black belt in judo.

The 25-year-old thief got the nasty surprise after sneaking into a house in the northern German port city of Bremen.

He was rifling through jewellery in an upstairs bedroom when the homeowner surprised him with several blows from behind.

February 21, 2009

11: 03 PM EST

BEIJING – At least 44 miners died and 21 remained trapped underground after a gas blast ripped through a coal mine in northern China on Sunday, state media said.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the pre-dawn blast occurred while 436 workers were in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao city near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province.

Rescuers said the death toll had risen to 44 by 11 a.m. local time, Xinhua said in a brief dispatch without providing details. State television channel CCTV reported that 21 workers remained trapped.

Earlier reports said 340 miners had escaped but 96 were trapped underground. Those reports said 11 miners had died after being taken to hospitals.

An official with the provincial government duty office confirmed the accident, but did not have any details. He would give only his surname Chen.

The mine is owned by Shanxi Jiaomei Group, China's largest producer of coking coal and an operator of 28 mines.

Although China has worked to cut mine accidents by closing more than 1,000 small, dangerous mines last year, the country's mining industry is still the world's deadliest. About 3,200 miners died in accidents last year, a 15 percent improvement over the previous year.

Many of the smaller mines have lax safety measures, and are plagued by fires, explosions, floods and other accidents.

Associated Press Writer

Saturday, February 21, 2009

(02-21) 10:39 PST Wampum, Pa. (AP) --

An 11-year-old boy has been charged in the death of a pregnant woman who was found shot in a bedroom of her western Pennsylvania farmhouse, police said Saturday.

A statement from state police said the boy was charged with criminal homicide and criminal homicide of an unborn child in the killing of 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk. The victim was 8 months pregnant.

The statement said the boy had been arraigned in District Court and placed in the Lawrence County jail.

Officers couldn't immediately say Saturday whether the boy and the woman were related and wouldn't give any other details.

Police said Houk's 5-year-old daughter found her mother's body Friday morning in a bedroom of their home in a wooded area in the community of Wampum.

The home, located at the end of a half-mile-long driveway along a road scattered with abandoned and burned-out trailers, was cordoned off with yellow police tape and a Pennsylvania State Police vehicle was parked out front early Saturday afternoon. Next to the house was farm equipment and a barn filled with hay.

A neighbor, Cameron Tucker, said Houk was engaged and had been renting the house for no more than a year. Tucker said he had never met Houk's fiance, but that both of them had children.

"She was very protective of her kids," he said, adding that she seemed very excited about her pregnancy.

Tucker's wife sometimes drove Houk's daughter to the bus stop because she went to preschool with the Tuckers' 5-year-old.

WPXI-TV identified the dead woman's father as Jack Houk. There was no immediate response Saturday to a call by The Associated Press seeking comment from a Jack Houk of New Castle, a town next to Wampum.

A preliminary hearing is set for Thursday.

The rural community is about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

A Georgia man who won the state lottery twice on Valentine's Day eve says he owes his good luck to his wife, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said.

James McAllister, 62, of Acworth, Ga.,scratched off a $5,000 winner in the Georgia

Lottery Millionaire Jumbo Bucks game while having breakfast with his wife last Friday, then bought another ticket that paid $250,000 later that day while he was buying her a card.

McAllister wasn't available for comment, but he did issue a written statement through the Georgia Lottery crediting his wife with being his lucky charm.

It was because of Valentine's Day, he said. If it hadn't been for my wife, I probably wouldn't have won either time."

(UPI)

 

Henry K. Lee

Chronicle Staff Writer

(02-20) 11:29 PST OAKLAND -- A 23-year-old visitor from the East Coast had just gotten money from an ATM when he told his friend on a cell phone that he had a bad feeling about two men approaching him at the Fruitvale BART Station in Oakland.

His worst fears were realized when one suspect, Victor Veliz, 18, held a folding knife with a 5-inch blade to his neck and the other, Christopher Gonzalez, 18, threatened to shoot him Thursday night, authorities said.

In a blind panic, he lashed out at his attackers, grabbing the knife from one of them and punching the other as his friend listened in horror on the phone.

Without realizing it, authorities say, the man stabbed Gonzalez in the chest. Gonzalez stumbled to his family's home around the corner, collapsed into his father's arms and died.

Veliz, who is affiliated with a gang, was arrested at Gonzalez's home after police allegedly found him with the East Coast visitor's cell phone. He will be charged with murder in the death of his accomplice, along with a robbery count, prosecutors said.

The robbery victim suffered only cuts in fighting off his assailants. He ran from the station, flagged down an Oakland police officer on Fruitvale Avenue and turned over the bloody knife. His name was not released.

The man was "scared senseless" when he was attacked about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, said Allison Danzig, an Alameda County deputy district attorney. He acted in self-defense and will not be charged, she said.

When police told him that Gonzalez had died, "he was very saddened and very upset," Danzig said.

Gonzalez's father, Javier Gonzalez, said Friday that his son had cried out for his parents and sister when he burst into his home on San Leandro Street. He died there.

Javier Gonzalez sobbed at the loss of his son, who worked with him in his roofing business and at Oakland Raiders games.

"I'm angry at both of them," he said of the robbery victim and Veliz. "They took my son away from me. He was a hard-working kid."

He added, "My son is dead. I want somebody to pay for this."

The incident wasn't the only violence near a BART station Thursday night. In Daly City, police said, a triple shooting outside the BART station that left one man dead and two others wounded may have resulted from a mistaken belief that the victims were gang members.

Two of the four men who were in a 1995 Buick Regal when the car was sprayed with bullets were wearing red baseball caps, and the color red is associated with a Latino gang, said Daly City police Lt. Jay Morena.

But the victims were not gang members, Morena said.

The dead man, a 21-year-old from San Francisco, has not been identified, and no arrests have been made.

This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

 

The Los Angeles police department (LAPD) has confirmed it will start an internal investigation after a picture of a battered and bruised Rihanna was leaked online.

As previously reported, TMZ.com somehow obtained a photograph of the “Umbrella” singer after her alleged attack by Chris Brown. (Pictured right)

"The Los Angeles Police Department takes seriously its duty to maintain the confidentiality of victims of domestic violence," the LAPD said in a statement on Thursday (February 19).

"A violation of this type is considered serious misconduct, with penalties up to and including termination."

Brown, 20, was arrested on a charge of making criminal threats on February 8th after an altercation with an unnamed woman, believed to be Rihanna, in Los Angeles.

Brown has since issued a statement saying he is "sorry and saddened" by the incident. The “Forever” star also stated he’s seeking counseling from his church pastor.

Although Rihanna told police this incident wasn't the first time Brown had been physically abusive towards her, according to the police source, "she may have thrown the first punch" on this occasion.

BREAKING NEWS: Photo of Rihanna After Alleged Chris Brown Assault Released
Thursday February 19, 2009

A photo of Rihanna after she was allegedly assaulted by Chris Brown has been obtained by TMZ.

In the disturbing picture, the singer appears to have a swollen, bloody lip, two black eyes and marks on her forehead.

Rihanna -- who turns 21 years old tomorrow -- has been lying low in her native Barbados following the alleged attack the morning of the Grammys, which started when another woman sent a text message to Brown, Us Weekly reports in its newest issue, on stands now.

Brown, 19, was arrested for making criminal threats, but has yet to face charges from the Los Angeles District Attorney.

He released a statement on Feb. 15 saying he was "sorry and saddened...over what transpired."

Thursday, February 19, 2009

(02-19) 08:34 PST PALM BAY, Fla. (AP) --

Police say a trail of candy wrappers helped them find five Florida teens suspected of breaking in to a nearby home.

Officers responded to a burglary report Tuesday in Palm Bay on Florida's central Atlantic coast. An officer then followed a trail of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups packages in the backyard. The officer noticed another wrapper on the front porch of a house near the victim's home.

Officers found several juveniles at the other house. Police say the teens confessed to the burglary and informed officers that the stolen property was in the attic.

Three of the teens face armed burglary charges and two others face charges of resisting arrest without violence and tampering with evidence.

Information from: Florida Today

HONG KONG – A Chinese woman who freaked out at Hong Kong's international airport after missing her flight has hit the big time on YouTube after her hysterics were filmed and uploaded to the video sharing website.

The middle-aged woman was seen charging at a security guard at the departure gate, before screaming "aieyyahhhhh," at the top of her lungs in a rant that lasts about three minutes.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbVw7entkxg)

The woman, sprawled on the ground, was seen wailing. An elderly man travelling with her tried to pull her to her feet but she shouted in Cantonese: "I want to go, I want to go."

Cathay Pacific said it had already closed the aircraft's doors and had offloaded the woman's baggage, and so was unable to allow her to board the flight to San Francisco.

"Don't be so upset, don't be so emotional," a male Cathay Pacific staff member is heard saying on the video.

Cathay Pacific said the incident occurred earlier this month, and the video appeared to have been loaded onto YouTube late last week. By Monday, the "woman going insane after missing her flight video" had over 400,000 hits.

In 2006, another sensational outburst by a stressed-out Hong Kong man captured the imagination of many people in this fast-paced, money-obsessed, Asian financial capital.

The middle-aged man, who chastised and swore at a youngster in a six-minute-long diatribe aboard a double decker bus, was dubbed "Bus-Uncle" and a video of the incident received close to two million hits.

His quote "I have pressure, you have pressure" became a catch-phrase and sparked navel-gazing at the pressure that many over-worked Hong Kong citizens suffer.

As for the woman at the airport, Cathay Pacific said it put her and her two travel companions on a later flight to Los Angeles, at no extra cost.

02/17/2009 10:25 AM

TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 18 (UPI) -- A University of South Florida official announced he will resign after he was accused of stealing a $100 bike that was parked at the school.

Abdul Rao, senior associate vice president for research, said Tuesday that he has signed a document stating that he will leave his $384,280-per-year position at the school Friday, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Wednesday.

Rao previously said in a statement that he took the bike from a parking area on the loading dock of the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute to help a day laborer in need of transportation, The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune reported.

The security tape of the incident, which was later posted on Youtube, shows a woman leaving a red mountain bike in the parking area at 2 p.m. Monday. At about 8:50 p.m., Rao and another man arrive in a van and look at the bicycles before choosing the bike left by the woman and loading it into the van.

Christine Dillingham, the woman who parked the borrowed bike at the school, told the St. Petersburg Times that she "basically wanted to see (Rao) take responsibility for his actions. Stepping down seems to show he did that."

Timothy Boyd, who had loaned the bike to Dillingham, said Rao told him after the bike was returned that he had only intended to borrow it for one day. However, Boyd said he wants Rao charged with theft.

 Feb 20, 2007 11:04 pm US/Central

 When a couple brought their pickup truck into a Midas service center in St. Paul, little did mechanics know they would find a $157,000, highly illegal problem.

The middle-aged couple whose truck was towed in -- a 48-year-old man and 62-year-old woman from Washington state -- claimed not to have much money.

The mechanics at the Midas shop felt sorry for the two and gave them a lift to their Hastings, Minn. motel while they worked on the truck.

It didn't take long for the mechanics to discover the fuel system was clogged.

When the two suspects were told the tank needed to be replaced, they were "adamant" that the repair wasn't needed, Bailey said. Eventually, they relented but insisted that the pickup's old tank be saved.

When they removed the gas tank from the truck, they noted the tank seemed inordinately heavy. It also had new weld marks.

"It took two big guys to move that gas tank," said mechanic Ted Thompson. "For a tank without much gas in it, that is pretty unusual."

The mechanics were suspicious and anxious to see what was causing the tank's weight discrepancy. They contacted police, but opened the gas tank before they arrived to see what was inside.

The 40-gallon gas tank were two metal boxes. Needle-nosed pliers pulled out marijuana.

As authorities descended upon the scene, the Midas men cut open the boxes and revealed 150 pounds of compressed marijuana. The estimated street value of the stash is $150,000.

The couple told investigators they were driving from Yakima, Wash., to Chicago, according to Kent Bailey, acting agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Twin Cities office.

"Their bad luck is their vehicle had some fuel problems and they ended up taking it into a Midas Shop," Bailey said.

The two suspects in the case are in jail.

DITCHES MOM  RIDES FOUR STOPS

6:08 pm

February 17, 2009

 
AP-Authorities say a 3-year-old wandered out of a McDonald's in Queens while his mother went to get napkins, and then he got on a subway and traveled four stops before transit workers noticed him and called police.

Christian Marquez was reunited with his mother about a half-hour after he disappeared Tuesday from the fast-food restaurant. He walked into the No. 7 line station at Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street, somehow got past the turnstile and stepped onto a westbound train. The 10-minute trip covered about 4 miles.

The mother realized her son was missing just before 2 p.m. and asked police eating at the McDonald's to help her. Meanwhile, transit workers saw the child in the train, called police and stopped the subway.

Christian was unharmed. His mother's name wasn't released.