Tue Jan 27, 8:44 pm ET

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Authorities said the St. Lucie County firefighter who took a man's severed foot from an Interstate 95 crash scene last year has been charged with misdemeanor theft. The firefighter told the Florida Highway Patrol after the Sept. 19 crash that she took the remains to help train her cadaver dog. She eventually resigned from the St. Lucie County Fire District. She was arrested Monday.

FHP Lt. Tim Frith said the severity of a theft charge is usually determined by the value of what is stolen. Since there's no law specifically dealing with the theft of a body part, he said it was difficult to determine the monetary value of the foot.

The firefighter was released from jail on her own recognizance Monday afternoon.

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Information from: The Stuart News, http://www.tcpalm.com

1/27/09

5:41 PM EST

The boy did not have a gun, never issued any tickets and didn't drive the squad car, Deputy Superintendent Daniel Dugan said.

Assistant Superintendent James Jackson said the ruse was discovered only after the boy's patrol with an actual officer ended Saturday. Officers noticed his uniform lacked a star that is part of the regulation uniform.

Police said they were investigating how the deception went undetected for so long in what they described as a serious security breach.

Police didn't identify the boy because of his age. He has been charged as a juvenile with impersonating an officer.

Dugan said the boy looks older than 14 and was motivated by a desire to be an officer, not malice or "ill intent."

The boy once took part in a Chicago program for youth interested in policing, so he would have been familiar with some procedures, perhaps helping him blend in, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said.

Mike Roberts

This undated photo provided Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009 by Mike Roberts shows a 7-carat diamond ring that Roberts rescued after it fell in a toilet at the the Black Bear Diner in Phoenix, Ariz. It took eight hours and bills totaling more than $6,000, but the Arizona plumber became a hero to a California couple after retrieving the $70,000 diamond ring.

Just a case of plumb luck.

It took a plumber to retrieve a woman's 7-carat diamond ring after city workers failed in efforts to flush the gem out of the pipes of a restaurant toilet.

The $70,000 wedding ring fell from Allison Berry's hand when she flushed the toilet in the restroom of the Black Bear Diner on Jan. 14, the plumber said. The ring plopped in and the water whisked it away, said Elena Castelar, the restaurant's shift manager.

City workers opened a pipe outside the restaurant and continuously flushed the toilet, hoping to push the ring out to the opening. When that didn't work, the city called the office in suburban Tempe of Mr. Rooter, a plumbing services franchise based in Waco, Texas.

"This is going to be like dredging for a treasure chest in the ocean," Mike Roberts, general manager of Mr. Rooter, said at the time.

Roberts guided a tiny video camera into the pipe with an infrared light attached. He eventually spotted the ring just 3 feet down and 5 feet over from where it was flushed.

Then it took an hour-and-a-half of jackhammering and pipe removal before Roberts and a technician could recover the ring, eight hours after it fell in the toilet.

"They always say diamonds are a girl's best friend. In this case, a plumber is a girl's best friend," Roberts said. "She was just so excited, she had tears in her eyes. She gave us a hug and said 'Thank you so much.'"

The Mr. Rooter bill came to $5,200 and the city's bill was $1,000.

Berry, of Eureka, Calif., and her husband also tipped Roberts and the technician $400 each and gave $200 to a diner employee for staying late.

Chris Tomlinson © GJSentinel.com

A Ranger checks on a van Thursday that hangs with its rear wheels over the brink of a 180-foot precipice above Red Canyon in the Colorado National Monument.

Photo by Chris Tomlinson © GJSentinel.com

A van teeters on a cliff side in Red Canyon in the Colorado National Monument Thursday afternoon.

GRAND JUNCTION — An outcropping of rock in the Colorado National Monument may have helped save the life of a man whose van came within a few feet of plunging into a canyon.

Authorities say the 34-year-old man drove some 120 feet off Rim Rock Drive in an apparent suicide attempt at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, but he called 911 after the van became stuck on the rock overhang.

His van careened into Red Canyon onto a rock overhang about six miles from the east entrance. Officials at the scene said if the van had missed the overhang by 10 feet, it would have plummeted the entire 300 feet to the bottom of the canyon.

“This was definitely not an accident,” Park superintendent Joan Anzelmo said. “We feel strongly that he intentionally drove himself off Rimrock Drive.”

More than two dozen members of the Grand Junction Fire Department and Mesa County Search and Rescue secured the teetering van, then lifted the man to safety. He was trapped for about two hours before being airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital at about 6:30 p.m.

Anzelmo said "it is but for the grace of God or a higher power" that the man survived.

His name was not released.

The Daily Sentinel contributed to this report

RELATED STORY:

Canyon plunge driver suspect in child's rape

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Published January 24, 2009 at 9:21 a.m.
Updated January 24, 2009 at 9:21 a.m.

GRAND JUNCTION — A Clifton man who drove his van off a cliff in Colorado National Monument in an apparent suicide attempt is wanted by authorities in the sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl.

A judge Thursday signed a $60,000 warrant accusing Daniel John Lyons, 34, 477 32 1/8 Road, No. 4, of sexual assault on a child, sexual assault on a child in a pattern of abuse and other felony counts.

Mesa County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Heather Benjamin said Friday that Lyons will be arrested upon his release from St. Mary’s Hospital.

Lyons’ condition wasn’t available for release to the media Friday. Hospital spokeswoman Samantha Moe said Lyons isn’t listed in the hospital directory. Lyons declined to comment when reached by phone in his room Thursday.

Lyons’ van dropped off Rim Rock Drive on Wednesday and tumbled about 120 feet into Red Canyon, where it snagged on a rock ledge about 170 feet above the canyon floor. Mesa County Search and Rescue crews rappelled into the canyon and rescued Lyons. Monument Superintendent Joan Anzelmo said officials believe Lyons was trying to kill himself.

The incident happened less than four hours after investigators questioned him in connection with a series of sex assaults reported earlier this week.

The victim’s mother contacted the Sheriff’s Department on Monday. She told investigators that her daughter told her a few nights earlier that Lyons had molested her, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The 4-year-old told investigators Lyons assaulted her five times. She said Lyons told her not to tell anyone because he would go to jail, the affidavit said.

A second young girl reported that Lyons had tried to assault her but that she didn’t let him, the affidavit said.

Lyons went to the Sheriff’s Department for an interview at 1 p.m. Wednesday, and investigators said he admitted to sexually assaulting the 4-year-old twice. An investigator wrote in the affidavit that he told Lyons he would be seeking a warrant for Lyons’ arrest.

Lyons left the Sheriff’s Department after the interview. He dialed 911 on his cell phone at 4:30 p.m. to report he had driven off the monument but survived.

Lyons has been arrested at least four times on the Western Slope since 1996 on charges including burglary, assault, harassment, trespassing, criminal mischief and driving while ability impaired, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.

The records show he pleaded guilty in 2004 to harassment and was sentenced to a year on probation. The disposition of the other cases was not immediately known.

Sat Jan 24, 2:36 pm ET

Posted Thu Jan 22, 2009 3:50 PM EST

by MOEZILLA     

A legendary banking story turns out to be true

It It seemed like an urban legend -- but it's confirmed by a 1979 article in the L.A. Times. A Pennsylvania banker punished more than 50 customers who were late on their loan payments by...spanking them in his office.

In the tiny town of Baden, Pennsylvania (population 4,377), bank manager David Rhodes admitted that he'd spanked all 50 of the delinquent customers, bragging that it was effective because "I never had any trouble with them afterward."

The best part of the story? He was later convicted for "misappropriating" $88,000 in bank money -- and was sent to prison for three years.

The reason? "[H]e was forced to make eight unrecorded loans totaling $88,268 when six of those who were spanked threatened to report him to his superiors."

Rhodes had worked at the bank for 14 years, averaging about 1,500 loans a year. But most of the customers he spanked were men -- not middle-aged men, but younger -- and one of them threatened to report it as a homosexual activity. At the trial, Rhodes' attorney defensively presented polygraph results and psychiatric tests, saying later that "all undertones of homosexuality were disproved." (Rhodes was married and had two teenaged children.)

"Although he was aware the loans were illegal," the AP reported, "Rhodes said he didn't turn himself in because he didn't think the authorities would believe his story."

Jet magazine called him the "Banker Spanker," and provided one more crucial detail about his case. "He said he was glad when bank auditors caught up to the scheme." And the L.A. Times' site provides the ultimate epitaph, offering the "all-time great headline" which appeared in another newspaper.

Ex-banker, Spanker, Winds Up in Tanker.

The Rockland Board of Health issued the fine to Fausto Pinos on Wednesday. He had been charged with 24 housing code violations for conditions in the building in Spring Valley, a town north of New York City.

"The people living there were subjected to appalling conditions that were not fit for human habitation," said Dr. Jeffrey Oppenheim, the health board's president. "It was just disgusting."

Pinos, of Bushkill, Pa., did not appear at the meeting, but his brother, Jesus Pinos, speaking on his behalf, said the landlord did not dispute the charges. He said Pinos thought that removing the toilet, bathtub, sink, oven and countertop would force the woman and her child to move.

County officials had been tipped off to problems in the apartment in early November by an agency that was trying to help the woman. Inspectors found numerous health and safety violations, including a roach infestation and sewage in the bathtub.

The Department of Health issued emergency violations letters to Fausto Pinos on Nov. 5, according to records. When inspectors visited the apartment again Nov. 17, they discovered that the toilet and other fixtures had been removed.

The tenant told inspectors that Pinos removed the items the day before and told her to leave. But she said she had no other place to go.

The Department of Social Services helped relocate the woman and her child.

There was no listing for a Fausto Pinos in Bushkill, Pa.

The Associated Press

Thu Jan 22, 9:29 pm ET

A judge in Huntley, Ill., found Julieta Clinton guilty on Tuesday of reckless conduct and child endangerment as part of a plea deal in which Clinton did not admit guilt.

McHenry County prosecutors say Clinton was driving 54 youngsters to school last April when she became frustrated with their unruly behavior and braked hard twice.

Her attorney says it was an accident.

One youngster was treated at a hospital and 18 others were treated at the scene.

The children ranged in age from 5 to 10.

Clinton is scheduled to be sentenced on April 3. She could face up to a year in prison

Wed Jan 21, 11:03 am ET

The Associated Press

GALVESTON, Texas – A contractor helping clear debris from Hurricane Ike is looking for the owner of an ammunition box he found buried in sand that contained keepsakes, including an 1863 Confederate $50 bill, war medals and diamond earrings.

The green steel Army ammunition canister found by Michael Pate also held several clues that may help him confirm the owner: family photographs, a driver's license and a Social Security card.

Pate was working on a tractor equipped with a grappling arm, snatching storm debris from the sand at Galveston Island State Park, when he found the box Jan. 7.

"I was on the beach side about 100 to 150 feet from the water. I was raking the sand and saw this snake come out of the pile," he said in a story posted online Tuesday by The Galveston County Daily News. "It went right down beside this box."

The can's rubber seal perfectly preserved the treasures inside. Among the other items were dog tags, military medals, silver certificates, silver bracelets, watches, an Art Donovan football card and a glass Model A Ford radiator cap.

Pate is following up on a name listed on the driver's license.

"I thought it would be an encouraging story for the community," Pate said. "We've seen so much destruction."

Hurricane Ike walloped the upper Gulf Coast on Sept. 13, devastating Galveston and nearby counties.

Richard Shears
January 20, 2009 11:38AM

Two men who drifted helplessly for 25 days in a large icebox through shark-infested waters have been rescued after a chance sighting by an aircraft crew.

The men were found desperately waving their shirts as an Australian Coastwatch plane flew across the Torres Strait, between Australia and Indonesia. The plane's crew called for a rescue helicopter.

After being winched up into the helicopter, the men identifying themselves as Burmese, told their terrifying story of how their fishing boat with 18 others  aboard  broke up in rough waters and everyone was thrown into the sea.

The pair are believed to be the only survivors.

Survivors: These two Burmese men waved their shirts at passing aircraft crew after floating around for almost a month in a giant icebox

'We are so glad you found us - we couldn't have lasted much longer,' the men told their rescuers after being hauled into the helicopter from the 5ft by 4ft box, used to store fish in ice.

It is understood the men managed to survive by drinking rain water that gathered at the bottom of the box and by eating pieces of fish that were also in the container.

As soon as they were hauled into the helicopter they gulped down fresh water that was offered to them.

'We drifted for hundreds of miles and although we think some ships saw us they didn't come to help.

'Even when the fishing boat we were on sent out distress signals, no-one responded and when the boat sank we had to grab what we could or we would drown.'

The men said the old and creaky fishing boat was some 200 nautical miles north of Australia when it began to break up and 'splintered into the ocean'.

The two fishermen were pictured in hospital last night. Though they have been pictured they still have not been identified

As the boat went down, the Burmese men climbed into the icebox as other crew members searched for something to hold on to as they slipped into the water.

'We saw a Thai man floating past us but we couldn't reach him to help.' 

The men said there were a total of 11 other Burmese crew and seven Thais on board - but so far no-one has been found.

Days and nights passed as the men, jammed in the ice box, drifted through shark infested waters, helpless to do anything but allow the tide to carry them along.

At times, they said, they feared they would be thrown out when the seas turned rough.

Finally they were spotted by the Coastwatch aircraft, which flies around northern Australia on the look out for illegal immigrants and fishermen illegally entering Australian waters.

The plane's crew summoned a rescue helicopter, which finally ended the men's ordeal.

The pair are believed to be the only survivors

Helicopter pilot Terry Gadenne told Australia's Channel 7: 'They were ecstatic to see us.

'When we winched down the rescue crewmen into the water, a guy in the esky (ice box) leaped out.

'He was desperately keen to get on board the helicopter. He was pretty keen to get away from the water.

'When they both got up they sculled (drank) two litres of water each within seconds.

'It's a bloody big ocean to be drifting around in.'

Tracey Jiggins, a spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the men could not have survived 25 days in the water without a floatation device

Tenn. Officials Baffled After Man Suffers Severe Burns In Apartment With No Signs Of Fire

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 20, 2009(AP)  Investigators are baffled as to how a man suffered second- and third-degree burns inside his apartment _ even though the only sign of a fire was a candle in the bathroom. Knoxville Fire Department crews found the 56-year-old victim inside his apartment bathroom Monday afternoon with third-degree burns to his face and second-degree burns to his hands.

Officials say they knocked on the door of the unit at Cagle Terrace Apartments, and went inside when they heard someone moaning.

The man, who was not identified, was later taken to a burn center for treatment.

Fire officials say their investigation is ongoing.

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Information from: WVLT-TV, http://www.volunteertv.com