Small Bits of News

Man fought off armed robbers with three tins of Spam
A chef fought off two would-be robbers who threatened him with a knife ... using three tins of Spam.
Brett Matthews had just withdrawn £40 from a cash machine in Market Street, Wigan, when two men armed with a knife demanded he hand over the money, a court heard. He turned to see Karl Ashton, 19, and his accomplice William Peake, 20.Henry Riding, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that Ashton poked the knife into Mr Matthews' side saying, 'Give me the money or I'll stab you'. But Mr Matthews, from Wigan, fought them off with a carrier bag containing three tins of Spam. The pair ran off but was later arrested. Mr Riding added: "Unfortunately for the defendants he had spent most of his life in South Africa where 'violence is common place. He was made of sterner stuff than the average citizen and not the least bit intimidated by the threats. "More unfortunately for the defendants he was a man also armed, if only with a carrier bag containing three tins of Spam."

Assault On Police Sends Teen To Jail
A Broomfield High School champion wrestler, who faced up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine for an Airsoft gun assault on an off-duty police officer, has been sentenced to a weekend in jail, one year of probation and 100 hours of community service.
Cory Casady faced charges of reckless endangerment and felony menacing for the April 9 assault on Thornton police Officer Shawn Walsh near Broomfield High School. Casady pleaded guilty to third-degree misdemeanor assault as part of a plea deal reached in September.
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Man Wearing Handcuffs Near Courthouse Questioned
Some fashion statements draw more attention than others and wearing handcuffs while walking near the Tulsa County Courthouse is one that got noticed.
A man wearing a pair of handcuffs on one wrist drew the attention of passersby Friday, who contacted law officers.
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Fake cops take urine samples from boys
Authorities in Indianapolis have intensified the search for two men who forced six boys to give urine samples in a park.
The incident happened at Chapel Hill Park on the city's west side. "He came home crying and sweaty and said, 'Mom, I took a drug test,'" said one of the boys' mother, who did not want to be identified.
The impersonators took the boys one-by-one and demanded they submit to a drug test out in the open at the park."They opened up the police car, handed them a cup and had them use it in the cup," the mother said. "They made them sit down on a picnic bench afterwards and … told them, 'OK, go home.'" Police said a woman who was also in the park at the time of the attack witnessed the boys with their pants down and questioned the activity. Police said there have been 80 cases of officer impersonation in Indianapolis in the last five years, but this is the first involving urine samples.

Man Asks Boy for Urine Sample at Mall
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - A man who was apparently worried about a random drug test asked an 11-year-old boy at a mall for a urine sample.
White Plains Police say Marcos Delacruz, 42, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. He was arrested several hours after the incident in the men's room at the mall on Wednesday.
Deputy Public Safety Commissioner Daniel Jackson said Delacruz took the sample to his appointment with his probation officer.
The 11-year-old boy told his mother that a man in the men's room had asked him to urinate in a bottle. The mom called police and the boy described the man.
Jackson said the officers contacted local probation, parole and court offices and found Delacruz who had an appointment at the Westchester County Probation Department.
Information from: The Journal News, http://www.thejournalnews.com/