KCPD finds pipe bomb during drug raid

From John Shultz's report:

Kansas City police serving a narcotics warrant found a pipe bomb along with a stash of drugs this morning.

Officers made the discovery in the 4000 block of Bellefontaine Avenue about 10 a.m., police said. They arrested two people and seized an undisclosed amount of marijuana, crack and money.

The apparent explosive device was safely handled by the police department’s bomb and arson unit. No one was injured.

Cookie-torture suspects banned from school, for now

Southern Illinois University has told two students to stay away from campus while they're facing accusations of holding a man captive and torturing him with hot cookies. (Police say they were trying to collect on a drug debt.)

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Jesse B!

WA man uses shotgun to loosen wheel's lug nut

In Washington State, a 66-year-old got so frustrated when he was trying to remove a wheel from his Lincoln Continental that he used a shotgun to loosen a lug nut.

It did not end well, the local sheriff's office reports.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, kmb!

Florida continues to see wave of armored-car robberies

Robbers held up an armored car earlier today and shot a security guard in the leg near Miami Lakes, Fl. This is actually the third armored-car stickup they've had in South Florida over the past three days, station WPLG reports. And this has sort of been a trend since May.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Spencer!

Lawrence woman says she was held captive in apartment

Police are still investigating. The woman, age 22, says it started on Saturday evening and she escaped on Sunday morning. During the incident, she told police, a 27-year-old man threatened her at gunpoint and a 32-year-old woman hit her with a kitchen utensil, the Journal-World reports.

Police: Teen boys were behind sex offender's murder

Last week, we had a story about a headless, charred corpse found in Michigan. It belonged to Daniel Sorenson, a 26-year-old who was also a convicted sex offender. Friends said the victim was going to take care of a debt when he was last seen.

Now? Authorities say the murder was committed by two teenage boys, ages 17 and 18, who allegedly did it as a thrill killing. (Though it sounds like they did a fair amount of prepwork.) From the prosecutor:

"Anytime anyone kills just because they want to, and that's what the evidence seems to suggest here, is bone-chilling. Why anyone would want to do that, especially being 17 years old, it makes us think and ask a lot of questions about our society."

Photos of the suspects via The AP.

Police investigating 3 dead at Sedalia trailer park

Not many details yet. The bodies were discovered this morning, and police haven't released a cause. Could be carbon monoxide poisoning for all anyone knows right now.

SD man wins appeal of man-on-mannequin sex

The South Dakota Supreme Court has intervened in the case of a young man accused of having sex with a mannequin in public. A lower court convicted the man of indecent exposure, but the S.D. Supremes said that he technically didn't "flash" his genitalia.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, kmb!

Quote of the day: Did Mary Winkler get away with murder?

So a reporter did a long interview with the prosecutor in the Mary Winkler case. The last question: Did Mary Winkler get away with murder? Here's his response:

No. She did not, because she was convicted of a voluntary manslaughter, which is a knowing and intentional homicide. Understand that most people think that we lost this case. Remember, she got a conviction.

She didn't get a "not guilty." She spent some time in jail. And she will forever be a convicted felon ... She was just convicted of a lesser-included offense than what we indicted her for.

Riiiight.

WI mom pleads guilty to giving TOO MUCH information about sex

So ... a Wisconsin mother decides to have the sex talk with her kids, ages 11 and 15, and she apparently gets pretty detail-oriented. She talks about her own adventures, gives instructions on oral sex and, as a visual aid, shows one of her own sex toys, Court TV reports.

The 11-year-old goes to school and tells his counselor, who tells police. Junior reportedly says that he wishes Mom would "keep that kind of information personal."

Amazingly, the prosecutors bring charges -- "exposing children to harmful descriptions," a felony punishable by up to 3 years. Defense tries to get the charges kicked on First Amendment grounds, but the judge refuses. Mom pleads guilty so her kids -- even the little narc -- wouldn't have to testify.

17-year-old accused of hitting on anything that moves

In Madison, Wis., a 17-year-old has been charged with disorderly conduct and child enticement because he allegedly approached women on the street and tried to "smooth-talk" them into having sex with him. Police say he'd try to get directions to a nearby theater, then ask for a number in case he got lost. The women were as old as 51 -- and one was 12, authorities report.

The complaint said Lynch reported to police that he would contact around 3 women daily with the goal of having sexual contact with them and then never talking to them again. Police reported in the complaint that Lynch said he was looking for one night stands to relieve stress.

Story doesn't say if he was ever successful. I'm going to guess he wasn't.

Mega-Hat-Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

Oregon teacher won't be allowed to carry concealed in the classroom

An Oregon teacher has lost her battle to carry a concealed-weapon in the classroom. She'd argued that her permit gave her the right to do so, and she said she needed the weapon to defend herself from an ex-husband.

A judge, though, says the school has the right to enforce its own no-weapons policy, which employees have to accept as a condition of their jobs. The teacher's supporters are already talking about an appeal.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

KC homicide victim was charged in scooter theft, survived other shooting

It looks like the victim of a weekend shooting at I-435 and Holmes, 18-year-old Dominic Bradley, had been in the news before this. He was charged with driving a scooter that had been stolen from a 65-year-old woman. And this wasn't the first time he was involved in a shooting:

Police said Bradley had survived at least one other shooting earlier this year. In March, he was standing in front of an auto repair shop when a car rolled by and an occupant fired at him and some friends. One of his friends, Eliseo Thomas, died in that shooting.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Concerned Citizen

Open Thread ... Monday

The Open Thread is up and running on a lovely Monday morning! This is our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. And if you've seen an interesting story elsewhere, feel free to post a link below!

Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. I read the OT, but if you need to contact me directly, my email is jhart@kcstar.com.

Thanks again for hanging out, and have a great day!

AZ police investigate gruesome child slaying

In Phoenix, a 25-year-old woman has been charged in the brutal beating death of her boyfriend's 12-year-old daughter. (So has the boyfriend.) No word on motive, but police say it's one of the worst cases they've ever worked. The girl's body was left in the apartment for four days before police were called. The girl's 9-year-old sister was also seriously hurt.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, eephus!

Robbers use flowers to get into elderly victim's apartment

UPDATED: The lady gives an interview to the Daily News, blaming her husband for blabbing about their wad of cash.

PREVIOUSLY: Awful story from New York, where robbers posed as flower deliverymen to convince an 80-year-old woman to let them into her apartment. They tied her up and stole more than $60K that she and her husband had saved.

"How can I not open the door? They have flowers, they say (my husband sent) them to me, and, besides, they were young kids," said Nieves, whose husband was out at the time of the Nov. 3 robbery.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Golfer!

Vandal trashes flag memorial on State Line Road

It happened sometime on Sunday at 96th and State Line Road, where volunteers had set up thousands of U.S. flags to honor the servicemen and women who died in Iraq. Someone knocked down most of the flags, forcing volunteers to spend most of the day putting them back up.

Should parents have been charged for dropping kid at skate park?

An Oregon couple has been indicted on felony mistreatment charges after they left their 6-year-old son at a local skateboard park. The boy, who was with his 9-year-old brother, suffered a fractured skull while playing. If a kid's under age 10, the state has the ability to file criminal charges if the child is left alone.

In this case, the drug mules were actually rabbits

Georgia police say they've arrested a man who was smuggling hallucinogenic mushrooms inside chocolate bunnies and ducks.

Italian soccer fans riot against police

After an Italian policeman accidentally shot and killed a soccer fan, hundreds of fans attacked a police station in Rome, breaking windows and setting vehicles on fire. At least 10 officers were injured in the attack.

New Jersey family tries to save "vicious" dog they say was protecting them

A New Jersey family is trying to save their German shepherd, Congo, from the needle after an incident in June. The dog severely mauled a landscaper, but only after the man allegedly grabbed the dog's owner and pulled her to the ground -- which the dog took as an attack. (Actually, there's a long list of stupid things the landscaper did to provoke the dog.)

The family has settled with the landscaper, but a judge has declared Congo vicious and ordered his destruction.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, searching!

Big Brother is riding shotgun

American Family Insurance has a program where it installs a camera inside a teenage driver's car and records any mistakes he might make. Every week, Mom and Dad get a report on how badly Junior is driving -- or sooner, if it's a doozy.

(On the one hand, I understand this is a good thing for parents who are watching out for their kids. On the other, though, we sure are raising a generation of people who are used to being watched all the time, aren't we?)

The most putrid thing I've ever heard

An Ohio lawyer is going to argue that his client didn't actually rape a woman because she was sleepwalking at the time.

"It goes to consent," he said. "How is he to know she is sleepwalking, if it's a dream 'yes' or a real 'yes?' "

Teen buzzes football game with single-engine Cessna

In Charlotte, a 17-year-old is accused of flying a single-engine Cessna over his high school's football game and dropping a ball into the end zone. (Charges are "dangerous flying" and "dropping objects at a sporting event.") It was fairly low -- below the stadium lights -- so people were a little freaked out.

Though some students knew about it and already had collected $700 in bail money for their colleague.

KS might require drug tests at wrecks with injuries or fatalities

A House-Senate judiciary committee has approved the measure, which would require drivers to undergo a drug test at wrecks where people died or were injured. (It'd be done through an oral swab.) The bill will now go to the full legislature next year.