Short News for 8-15-07

Would-Be Robber Wears Mop On His Head During Robbery
August 14, 2007
ESTERO, Fla. -- Talk about a disguise. A man wearing a mop tried robbing a gas station in Estero, but left empty-handed.
Police said the would-be robber demanded cash from the register, but the clerk stalled and the man fled the store on foot.
Police are looking over surveillance video from inside the gas station. They said the suspect wore the mop on his head.

Driver Holding Beer Arrested Driving Car With Only Three Tires
August 15, 2007
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A new change in the Orange County chase policy helped deputies get a dangerous driver off the streets.
Several 911 calls alerted deputies to someone driving on the wrong side of the road, almost hitting people. A recent amendment to the chase policy allowed deputies to follow the driver, who was driving on three tires and a rim.
The man's truck stopped on Eden Park Road near Apopka, but he kept on running.
"A 12-pack of Corona he was working on was left int he front seat, but he took one with him when he ran and we captured him with a beer in his hand," said Jeff Stonebreaker of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
A police dog bit the suspect, which helped deputies catch him. Channel 9 learned the suspect has a long list of DUI's and felonies on his record.

Police Say Nude Dude Used Stranger's Hot Tub
Police Say Man Had Crack Pipe
August 14, 2007
UPPER ALLEN TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A 49-year-old man is in hot water after police said they found him naked in a stranger's hot tub in Cumberland County.
Upper Allen Township police arrested Richard Hedin early Sunday morning, reported WGAL-TV in Lancaster, Pa.
Police said they arrived at the outdoor hot tub behind a home after receiving a report regarding "an unknown suspicious male that was observed nude in a hot tub."
Police said Hedin, who is from Mechanicsburg, had a crack pipe when they arrested him.
Officers took Hedin to the Cumberland County Prison, where he was processed and released.
Hedin is charged with indecent exposure, open lewdness, disorderly conduct, possession of drug paraphernalia and public drunkenness.

Man Angry At God Crashes Into Church
August 15, 2007
CRESCENT BEACH, Fla. -- A St. Augustine man told authorities he crashed his pickup truck into a Crescent Beach church because he was mad at God. The crash caused several thousand dollars in damage.
Deputies found Thomas Kyle Nursey sitting in his F-150 Ford pickup when they arrived at St. Anastasia Catholic Church early Tuesday morning. Officials said the church's door was demolished.
A St. Johns Sheriff's Office spokesman said Nursey may have been drinking, but not enough to severely impair his driving.
Nursey told deputies he was Catholic, but did not explain why he was angry at God.
Nursey was charged with felony criminal mischief. He was released from jail Tuesday afternoon on a $500 bond.

E-Mail Scam Threatens Life With Murder
August 15, 2007
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A scam is circulating the Internet where an alleged hit man cons people out of money by threatening them with murder.
A former undercover cop in Daytona Beach, who wanted his identity concealed, said he received an email from an alleged hit man who said if he paid $6,000 he could get a copy of the videotape recorded when the hit man was hired.
FDLE said it's the latest form of similar scams over the internet.
"There are people that I think would become scared when reading something like that," he said.
FDLE is investigating the scam and wants people to be aware it's out there so they don't fall for it.

Husband Pulls Over His Deputy Wife Twice
Aug 13, 2007
ELKO, Nev. (AP) - An off-duty Elko County sheriff's deputy was arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol after her husband, a fellow deputy, pulled her over.
Charlotte Moore, 36, a jail deputy, was off duty driving her 2004 Pontiac Grand Am on Saturday when she was pulled over by her husband, Elko County Sheriffs Deputy Mike Moore, a police report said.
In two separate accounts of the incident, Mike Moore indicated she initially was pulled over for either speeding or making an illegal turn.
She allegedly left before being administered a portable breathalyzer test, the Elko Daily Free Press reported.
Mike Moore pulled her over again and called for backup. He left shortly after another officer arrived.
Mike Moore was following procedure when he asked for backup, Elko County Undersheriff Rocky Gonzalez told the newspaper.
Neither Mike nor Charlotte Moore was available for comment Monday. She reportedly had been drinking approximately two hours earlier at a downtown business group's wine walk, the newspaper said.
Charlotte Moore was released on Sunday and placed on paid administrative leave.

Cremated Human Remains Found in Mailbox
Aug 14, 2007
POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Cremated human remains were found Tuesday inside a package placed in a mail collection box, police said. "In my 19 years of police work, never has something like this occurred," Pottstown police Capt. F. Richard Drumheller said.
The letter carrier found the package wrapped haphazardly in a plastic bag, with no mailing address or return address, and notified police. A police dog did not detect any explosives, so officers opened it and found a box with a metal plate with the deceased person's name on it and the years "1957-2000."
Police asked that the person's name not be released until relatives are found.

Driver Seeking a Brake Job Crashes
Aug 14, 2007
LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) - Yep. It was the brakes all right. A motorist whose brakes were "acting strange" and wanted them checked drove through the front window of a tire store when the brakes failed as he was pulling into a parking slip, Longview police Officer Erik Hendrickson said.
No one was injured in the Monday morning incident at a Les Schwab store on Longview's Ocean Beach Highway, although "six or eight feet of the car was inside the store," Hendrickson said.
The driver of the Cadillac DeVille was able to stop by throwing the transmission into park, Hendrickson said. No citation was issued because the driver was seeking assistance for the problem and there was no intent to cause harm, he said.
The car was towed to another shop for repair.
"This is probably the third time in 15 years" that a car has crashed through the store's front window, Les Schwab manager Ken Millus said with a chuckle. "It's pretty much the same spot, too. When you hear it, you're not even surprised anymore."
Insurance would cover the cost of repairs, estimated at $4,000 or $5,000, Millus said.

Cops Bust 'Law & Order' Actor On Child Porn Charge
WAYNE, N.J. An actor who once played a lieutenant on NBC’s Law and Order: Special Victims Unit has been charged with possession of child pornography, authorities said Tuesday.

Albert Insinnia, 57, of Bloomfield, turned himself into the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department Monday and was released on bail Tuesday morning, said sheriff’s spokesman Bill Maer.

Insinnia was charged with two counts of possession of child pornography after authorities allegedly discovered 180 images of child porn on the hard drive of the actor’s laptop computer.

If you exploit a child in Passaic County, you will be hunted down and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, said Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale.

The sheriff’s department has not ruled out additional charges and the investigation is ongoing, Maer said.

The investigation began after Insinnia took his computer to a Best Buy electronics store in West Paterson for repairs. A technician found the images, police said, and alerted a police detective working security at the store.

Mom Sentenced For Posing As Son's Wife In Court
EVANSVILLE, Ind. A woman was sentenced to 30 days in jail for claiming in court that she was her son's wife. Christopher Crowe, 25, was in court recently to plead guilty to four felony counts including residential entry and domestic battery.

During the hearing, the judge asked if Crowe's wife agreed with the plea deal.

Crowe's mother, 47-year-old Rebecca Crowe, stood up, said she was Crowe's wife and said the plea agreement was OK.

Later, Vanderburgh County Deputy Prosecutor Anna Clutter discovered Rebecca Crowe's identity when she saw a picture of Christopher Crowe's wife, a much younger woman.

Courtroom personnel later admitted they thought the woman looked too old.

Lawn Mower Fireball Burns Georgia Home
Danny Fendley started more than just his lawn mower when he tugged at its pull cord - he started a fire that destroyed his home.

The mower exploded Tuesday in hot, parched conditions.

Fendley was trying to start the mower in the garage of his two-story brick home in this Atlanta suburb when the machine burst into flames.
Before he could extinguish the fire, it had spread through the garage.

Then his wife tried to toss a can of gasoline out a window as the blaze spread, but she missed, spreading the fuel "everywhere," Fendley said.

The flames engulfed the house in less than a minute. The couple escaped without serious injury.