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August 2011


22 August 2011

A hunter from Florida decided that the bear he had shot on a hunt in Alaska didn't make a big enough rug. Therefore, he complained about the 'quality of the hunt' and at the same time disputed the charge with his credit-card company, claiming that someone else had charged the trip to him. Our greedy hunter, Jack Vincent Dickerson, then applied for another big-game licence, under a friend's identity. He has now admitted to the above-mentioned stunts and has been fined $50,000. Also, he was forced to pay restitution to the hunt organiser and the state of Alaska, and his rifle has been confiscated.

According to Florida's Lake County Sheriff's Office, a prisoner took advantage of a glitch in the system in order to amass the $1,250 he needed for his bail bond. Larry Stone, 32, discovered that the telephone system, which is supposed to refund the cost of a phone call if the call isn't connected, was returning the money twice. Stone simply began making calls and hanging up.
He was re-arrested a few hours later, after officials decided to investigate local inmates' substantially increased phone use.

A man in the Rosengård district of Malmö, Sweden, aroused the ire of at least five tenants in his block of flats because he 'masturbates and screams', as the other tenants put it in a complaint filed with the city's environmental administration. One wrote that at any hour of the day or night the man 'moans louder than an animal. [...] I can feel how it affects my state of mind'.
The neighbours had already raised the matter with the landlord, without success. The man was known previously for watching television late at night at high volumes.

A 24-year-old Texas woman is accused of forcing her six-year-old daughter to use a mobile telephone camera to videotape her having group sex. The mother confessed to three such incidents, involving six men. The girl has been removed from her mother's home. Marissa Gonzales, speaking for Texas Child Protective Services, said of the girl: 'Physically, she's fine.' The mother has been charged with indecency involving a child.

As part of his work to make Vilnius, Lithuania, more bicycle-friendly, Mayor Arturas Zuokas decided to highlight the problem of illegal parking on the capital's streets, which typically involves expensive cars. While being filmed for a Swedish television programme, he dealt with a Mercedes that was illegally parked on a cycle lane - with his method of choice being a Soviet-era tank. After the filming, Mayor Zuokas rode off on his bike.

Two Kansas boys, aged 11 and 12, began arguing, and the argument escalated into a physical fight. Then the mother of the elder boy stepped in - urging him to throw a brick at the other boy. Her son complied and displayed good aim, hitting the 11-year-old in the forehead.
According to Police Lieutenant Doug Nolte, the mother, 44, was arrested on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the victim was taken to a local hospital, and the brick-throwing youth has been detained.

A woman arrived at a Scottsdale, Arizona, home for an interview for a job as a professional assistant and found her two potential employers - Vanessa Klein, 24, and Steven C. Lester, 60 - dead on the front porch. The woman rang the police, who reported that both had died from gunshot wounds. The double shooting is still under investigation, but initial reports are that Lester shot girlfriend Klein and then killed himself.

After Sunday services at Alabama's New Welcome Baptist Church, Simone Moore became upset when the church pastor told him that his services as church musician were no longer required. He therefore used a stun gun on the pastor. A brawl ensued: six people were injured, with one of the injuries alleged to involve church deacon Harvey Hunt stabbing Moore's mother in the arm. Hunt is still at large, while Moore has turned himself in.

Joshua Seto, a 27-year-old Arizona man whose fiancee owns a pink handgun, decided to carry that gun himself. While trying to secure it in his waistband, he managed to send a bullet into his left thigh, via his penis. The fiancee, Cara Christopher, rang emergency services, reporting that 'he is still conscious; there is just a lot of blood'. He is reported to be recovering in hospital.

Superior Court Judge Walter Schwarm has ordered California's Michael Kevin Lallana to pay for a co-worker's therapy and loss of wages, for twice making an addition to her bottle of water. She had noticed that the water tasted strange and submitted it for analysis, which revealed that it contained semen. After a jury determined that Lallana had committed the acts for sexual gratification. he was given 180 days behind bars and ordered to pay her $27,000,

The case has been dismissed against a judge who handed acorns stuffed with unwrapped condoms to two women outside the Pennsylvania Capitol last September. In its ruling, the state's Court of Judicial Discipline stated that, while Judge Isaac Stoltzfus's action 'certainly lacks good judgment and must not be repeated', the judge from Intercourse did not violate the law. The court also wrote that Stoltzfus's 'preoccupation with acorns is mystifying'.

A 24-year-old man from the Detroit area admitted that he knew the brakes on his pickup truck weren't working when he headed home on a busy area highway. He was tired, however, and had to work the next day, so he set off anyway. When he reached a red light, he used the power of his feet against the asphalt for brakes. This technique resulted in a braking distance of about three kilometres and a collision with two vehicles. At another junction, he continued what Roseville Police Deputy Chief James Berlin called a case of 'moronic decision-making', crashing into two further vehicles.

Sebastian Russo left his van running when he entered a shop. That was all the time needed for a car thief to collect the vehicle, and the children and toy poodle within.
While Russo frantically contacted the authorities, the thief had to deal with the yapping dog and being scolded for rummaging in the van's nearly-empty loose-change tray. In the end, the thief asked the children for their address and dropped the vehicle off in the relevant driveway.

Reuters reports that a Finnish island-hopping tourist ferry ran aground near Helsinki while the captain was in the loo. The ferry hit the rocks while he was shouting for assistance with the stubborn WC lock. The 54 passengers on board suffered only bruises, while some of the tableware didn't recover. Reuters quotes Head of Investigation Jan Sundell as saying: 'As soon as the staff member got the door open, it was too late.'

The 'German Herald' and Metro, among others, report this story, but I'd like something more definitive:
Marus Schmidt of Bedburg, Germany, crashed his Volkswagen Golf after a night of drinking. The 27-year-old man decided to convey the car to his home, with the aid of a stolen forklift truck. He wasn't able to load the car onto the forklift particularly smoothly when at twice the legal blood alcohol limit. He was soon collected by police officers, one of whom offered: 'It must have seemed like a good idea at the time [...]. He didn't want anyone to call us.'

Tennessee State Representative Julia Hurley has admitted to carving her initials into her desk in the state legislative chamber. She explained that she 'wasn't thinking straight' during a late-night session in May. House Speaker Beth Harwell has said in a statement that she believes Hurley 'will be more than happy to compensate the state to make the repairs'.

Someone in Success Village, Connecticut, waved down local police officers in order to report that a mother was feeding beer to her children in a public park. Approaching the scene, they noticed an empty 1,183 ml bottle of Steel Reserve beer on the ground and a baby bottle containing a dark liquid. Witnesses reported that mother Juliette Dunn, 29, had ordered her four-year-old son to chug the beer and he had complied, whereupon she called him an alcoholic.
In addition to beer, Dunn's 10-month-old daughter was found to have cocaine in her system. Police are now looking after Dunn, along with her 33-year-old companion, Lisa Jefferson. Dunn claims that it is Jefferson who gives the boy a bottle of beer each day.

Judge Charlie Vess, of Natchez, Mississippi, collects military memorabilia. Nonetheless, given the cases he deals with, he was worried when his wife found a mortar shell on the patio at home. After a bomb disposal team exploded the item, they discovered that a friend of Vess had left the mortar as a gift, without leaving a note to accompany it. He said in conclusion: 'I think people may not want to give me little happies like that anymore.'


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© 2011 Anna Shefl