6 DUI arrests at Independence sobriety checkpoint

From Independence PD: The Independence Police Traffic Safety Unit conducted a sobriety checkpoint along Truman Road at Brookside Ave. The operation began on Saturday 07/28/07 at 11:45 PM and ended on Sunday 07/29/07 at 3:30 AM.

The checkpoint was staffed by (15) officers. During the hours of operation (317) cars were checked with the following arrests: (6) DWI, (13) No Valid Driver License, (1) Drug Possession, (15)  Warrant Arrests.

UT woman talks rapist out of attacking, police say

Police say an 18-year-old man broke into the home of a 23-year-old woman and held a knife to her throat for an hour. She spent the whole time talking -- about religion, her husband, being sick -- until the man let her go to the bathroom, where she was able to call police.

Hancock family drops wrongful death lawsuit

The family of Josh Hancock, the Cardinals pitcher who died in a wreck earlier this year, has withdrawn its wrongful death lawsuit against the restaurant where Hancock had hung out before the wreck, as well as the tow-truck driver whose vehicle he hit and the motorist who was being helped by the tow-truck.

Have you seen this boy?

The Kansas City, Kan., Police Department needs help finding 17-year-old Cliffton Nick Perryman, who is mentally disabled and has been missing since Saturday evening.

Cliffton, who is white with blond hair and blue eyes, is 5-foot-9-inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds. He is described as autistic, bipolar, mentally retarded, subject to seizures and, without medication, likely disoriented and lethargic.

Police think Cliffton may have left in a pickup truck with an unknown person. If you have any information, please call the department's missing persons unit at 913-573-6020 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

Kidnapping: When does pretend become real?

UPDATE: This story is still blurry. But two men have now been charged in connection with the incident. John Mark Spooner, 37, of Prairie Village and Aaron Dowe Reedy, 29, of Excelsior Springs were charged today with felony possession of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. A spokesman for the DA says the case is not, by any means, closed.

My colleague Benita Williams has this news out of Overland Park --- a blurry situation involving teenage girls who reported being photographed for bondage-style pictures, making it appear that they were kidnapped.

Someone else's spit

Here's a story about a man in New York, convicted of DWI murder, who tried to cheat the system --- he put another inmate's saliva into his own mouth before getting a DNA test.

The test was eventually redone, and Martin Heidgen was convicted of killing a wedding limousine driver and a 7-year-old flower girl in a head-on collision. He was, of course, charged with tampering with evidence, too.

Hat tip to The Golfer!

Pimping and babysitting don't mix

Amber M. Salts, 20, of Granite City, Ill., is accused of selling her 12-year-old charge to a 48-year-old man so he could have sex with the girl earlier this month.

The man paid the girl $100 for the first encounter, which she split with the babysitter, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The second time, he paid the girl $40.

Salts was charged Friday with pimping and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The man was charged with two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault.

'Sex toy' jailbird flies to different cages

That's part of the headline the New York Post put on this story.

The paper reports that "purported prison plaything" Demetrius Hill, 28, has been moved thousands of miles to five different prisons since April. That's when "sexy New York jailhouse shrink Magdalena Sanchez" was accused of having "cellblock romps" with Hill and lying about the illicit trysts to authorities.

We're left to draw our own conclusions about the moves --- authorities give no firm explanation.

Famous basketball players get robbed, too

From the New York Post:

Authorities are "sharing notes" on two gunpoint home-invasion robberies of NBA players, believing the incidents could be connected.

Early Saturday, armed robbers busted into Knicks center Eddy Curry's home in suburban Chicago. They bound Curry, his wife and their driver with duct tape and took cash and jewelry from the home. A couple weeks ago, practically the same thing happened to Miami Heat forward Antoine Walker.

'Traffic stop anxiety': It's real, and cops are smart to have a little

Interesting story from Colorado, written after a shooting at a drunk-driving checkpoint.

A criminal justice professor quoted in the story summed it up this way:

"Anyone who says a traffic stop is routine is just using language for the sake of using language," Sandoval said. "That suggests they all follow the same script.

"But there's always the anxiety and constant danger. An officer may fall into complacency, and all it takes is one time to be complacent for bad things to happen."

Teen acquitted in cat-dragging

It seems like we've gone a couple days without any "crimes against cats" stories. Here's one from the Rocky Mountain News.

How to steal a full swimming pool

Actually, nobody knows how they pulled it off. But thieves in New Jersey evidently swiped a 12-foot, 1,000-gallon pool from a family's backyard without spilling a drop.

From the story:

"I don't understand. Like how can you lose a 300-pound pool?" says the Valdivia's daughter, Kimi.

It may be no one will ever know, except for the thieves likely splashing about somewhere wet with glee.

More cities start suing gangs

Los Angeles started doing this back in the 1980s, but several more cities have started suing gang members in an attempt to thwart potential violence.

L.A. now has 33 permanent injunctions involving 50 gangs --- and the people involved don't get to do anything fun. From the AP story:

"The injunctions prohibit gang members from associating with each other, carrying weapons, possessing drugs, committing crimes and displaying gang symbols in a safety zone --- neighborhoods where suspected gang members live and are most active. Some injunctions set curfews for members and ban them from possessing alcohol in public areas --- even if they're of legal drinking age."

Among other complaints mentioned in the story, critics say these kinds of efforts violate people's civil liberties.

In this photo from the AP, Fort Worth Police Gang Unit officers patrolling an area frequented by gang members arrest Edward Palacios, who they say is a known member, after he's found to have outstanding arrest warrants.

Car thefts --- a new trick

Here's a story from Wichita about two new trends that city's seeing in car thefts.

Of course thieves make off with cars when drivers leave them unlocked with the keys inside. But what about posing as the owner of somebody's else's car and having it towed to the junkyard, where you then pick up an easy $100 or so for selling it as scrap metal?

I kind of wish someone would do that to the circa-1991 Lumina with two flat tires that's been taking up space in my parking lot for months. The poor guy interviewed for this story lost a perfectly good Bimmer.

Divorce court: Woman dumps wannabe deity

If your groom claiming to be the second coming of Christ --- and meaning it --- isn't obvious enough indication that he's a crazy megalomaniac, I'm not sure what is.

But it took five years for the wife of Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda to file for divorce in Miami. She said her husband verbally and physically abused her and committed adultery with numerous female followers of his religious sect.

Best quote from CNN's video of the story: "I do greater things than Jesus ... much greater."

Conveniently, de Jesus teaches his followers that there's no such thing as sin.

Polygraphs --- a thing of the past?

A "bulletproof" lie detector could be on the way.

Steve Rock reports in today's Star that there's a St. Louis native developing said failproof test. By using (ready for your psychology lesson of the day?) functional magnetic resonance imaging --- or fMRI --- scientists are able to measure neurological activity in your brain. Specific areas of the brain are activated when people lie, and fMRI, essentially, can make them light up, the guy says.

Obviously, such technology would change the world of crime prosecution forever. BUT (you knew it was coming) even if the test proves successful, it'll likely be years before the research is sufficient to support it.

Exorcism gone horribly, horribly wrong

Police interupted a reported exorcism Saturday in Phoenix. The scene they walked --- or rather pushed, past a door blocked by a bed --- into looked something like this:

A 3-year-old girl --- crying, bloodied and gasping for air.

Her grandfather, his hands around her neck, unphased by blast No. 1 from a stun gun.

His daughter (the girl's mother) naked, also bloody, and chanting something of a religious nature.

After being stunned again, scuffling with police officers and being latched into handcuffs, the grandfather stopped breathing. He couldn't be revived and was pronounced dead at a hospital. The little girl and her mother also were hospitalized, but the extent of their injuries wasn't reported.

Maybe it worked, but I'm skeptical. I'm going to go ahead and call the match. Demons: one. Exorcist: zero.

Body found in river identified, foul play suspected

An update on the body first spotted by fishermen Thursday night in the Missouri River. Police said it was that of 22-year-old Jessica Glidewell of Kansas City, and they suspect she was murdered. Here is John Shultz's story from Saturday.

Open Thread ... Monday

Hello everybody,

Welcome back to Crime Scene KC --- hope you all had a lovely weekend!

The Open Thread, this blog's designated arena for socializing and random dialogue, is open for business. Of course, the usual rules apply: no hate, no vulgarity, no profanity. And sign those comments!

As James mentioned, I, Sara Shepherd, am filling in for him today, so if you've got good crime stories for the blog, e-mail me at sshepherd@kcstar.com.

Have a great day ... and a great week!

Update on Kara Kopetsky case

From The Star: Some Belton residents have set up a motorcycle “poker run” run and other activities today to benefit the family of missing teenager Kara Kopetsky.

Events will begin with a 10 a.m. registration for the bike ride at Guichos Mexican Cantina on Missouri 58 west of U.S. 71. Participants will leave at noon for a 90-mile ride and make designated stops, where they will pick up playing cards. Cash prizes will be given to the riders who have the best poker hands at the end of the ride.

At Guichos, other community events are planned, including a car wash, raffles and cake walk. Public safety officials will be on hand to offer fingerprint identification for children.

There is a $10 entry fee for the poker run. Guichos will offer a Mexican food buffet for $10, with 10 percent of the proceeds going to the Kara Kopetsky fund. Family members have said they are using money from the fund to help with awareness and search efforts.

KC woman gets 5 years for elder abuse of mom

A Kansas City woman is going to prison for abusing her 91-year-old mother and making her live in awful conditions. From Joe Lambe's story:

A police officer testified Friday that the home in the 300 block of East 79th Terrace was the most disgusting situation he had ever seen. Feces, used toilet paper and buckets of urine were all over, and the smell was vile, he said.

Shinn, who had bruises and cuts on her body and a compound fracture of her arm, told police that her daughter was trying to kill her.

Open Thread ... Weekend Edition

Oy, what a week. It's a good thing we have the Open Thread here as a place to mellow out and gather strength for the upcoming work week. Please remember to sign your posts, and please avoid profanity, as well as sexually or racially abusive speech.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: I'm going to be off Monday, but you'll be in the capable hands of my colleague Sara Shepherd. Her email is sshepherd@kcstar.com.

Thanks for hanging out here, and have an excellent weekend!

UT boy dies from icy punishment

A bizarre, awful case from Salt Lake City ... A 9-year-old boy died after he was forced to stay naked in a trash can filled with ice and water for 45 minutes at a restaurant. The suspects are his older sister and one of her friends. The story says the boy was being punished.

Charges in KC birthday party slaying

From The Star: Jackson County prosecutors today charged 19-year-old James D. Hill with first-degree murder in connection with a slaying Sunday at a birthday party.

Prosecutors contend Hill, of Kansas City, showed up with an assault-type rifle about 5:30 a.m. Sunday at a party at 2107 E. 35th Street.

Court records allege Hill spotted a man he had been feuding with and fired three to four times, hitting Kenneth R. Box, 36, in the back. Box fell to the floor and Hill allegedly fired several more rounds into Box. Witnesses said Hill then walked away.

Link to a PDF of the probable cause and charging doc.

Police: Elderly man, knocked out by robber, wakes up and shoots him in the throat

Arkansas police say a robber beat a 93-year-old man with a soda can, knocking him out. Unfortunately for the crook, police say, the elderly gentleman woke up and fired a .38-caliber handgun through the guy's throat. He'll live. No word if the elderly man is a former Marine.

Hat Tip: Thanks to You're A Mean Drunk R2D2!