Santa Claus, an explosion and an amazing coincidence

A Texas man dressed as a Santa Claus drove up to a wreck and pulled one of the drivers from his vehicle before it exploded last week, WFAA-TV reports. As it happens, Santa's son died in a wreck seven years ago. The man he rescued? His daughter was friends with Santa's son.

Quote of the day

Someone kidnapped Frosty the Snowman and did terrible, terrible things to him:

"He has a burn mark to his backside that's either been caused by a blowtorch or a cigarette burn so there might have been a bit of interrogating going on we think."

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Mike!

Wednesday's Open Thread

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, please email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Dear Criminals: Timing is everything

Sure, a lot of people try to shoplift during the holiday rush. It's probably not a great idea to do so during the "Shop With A Cop" night at your local Walmart.

Meanwhile, in Wisconsin ...

Police were called after a man barked (like a dog or maybe a seal, the story isn't clear) at his roommate, who then repeatedly kicked him in the face on Christmas Eve, the authorities say.

Drugs might have been a factor

I don't know why the police just assume that, simply because someone breaks into a stranger's house while clad only in his underwear and swings a Tiki torch at the occupants, drugs must have been the cause. Maybe the Tiki torch was supposed to be symbolic.

Robber escapes with bag of dog poop

It's his own fault: He goes up to a lady walking her dog and demands everything she has. She obliged.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Mike!

Tuesday's Open Thread

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, please email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

What are the odds?

Turns out that things don't always have to stay in Vegas.

And that was a very good thing for one Texas man.

_ Posted by Tony Rizzo

Facebook rage

Maybe this guy in Pennsylvania should have gotten his frustration out by Tweeting or something.

_ Posted by Tony Rizzo

 

Christmas horror

Police in Texas say the killer in this Christmas Day slaughter was dressed as Santa Claus.

_ Posted by Tony Rizzo

Three KC killings mar Christmas weekend

Kansas City police have identified the city's third homicide victim from the Christmas weekend.

The two killings from Christmas Eve and the woman found dead on Christmas Day bring Kansas City's yearly toll to 113.

_ posted by Tony Rizzo

Dad facing criminal charges over Facebook photo of his bound-and-gagged toddler

A Chicago man is facing criminal charges after he allegedly posted a photo his 22-year-old daughter, bound and gagged, on Facebook -- which his family described as a joke, the Chicago Tribune reports. 

No criminal charges in Aisha Khan disappearance, search

From Dawn Bormann:

Overland Park Police are not pursuing criminal charges against Aisha Khan after her disappearance that triggered a police and volunteer search across the city, officials said today.

After six days of searching, police made contact with Khan on Wednesday and verified that she was not being held against her will and was not a victim of a crime.At this point, police said she will not face charges because the case was not reported as a crime.

Police: Man shoots at mouse, hits roommate in chest, accidentally gets third roomie arrested for teen sex

Story is from Utah. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!

A nude awakening

Police in Montana arrested a man who allegedly trespassed by sleeping naked in a garage and who then roared at officers who were called to the scene.

John Edwards asks for delay in trial

From AP: 

Former presidential candidate John Edwards says he has been diagnosed with a medical condition that would make it difficult for him to attend his approaching criminal trial over campaign finances and is asking for it to be delayed.

Nobody's saying what the illness is yet, though.

Fla. grandma, 80, chases off gunman who beat her daughter

She's 4 feet 9, and her only weapon was her aluminum cane. But she thought her daughter had just been killed, so she had raw fury on her side.

Sadly, it sounds like she missed the taping of "Sabado Gigante" they were going to see.

Friday's Open Thread

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, please email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Thursday's Open Thread

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, please email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Mo. Appeals Court blasts prosecutors for handling of KC murder case

The Missouri Court of Appeals issued a HUGE decision yesterday about the case of Richard Buchli, a local attorney convicted of murdering his law partner. Basically, the appeals court ruled, the prosecution didn't play fair with the evidence and can't be trusted to give Buchli a fair trial.

So all of the state's evidence should be tossed, which means Buchli, whose conviction was previously overturned, can't be retried. (Assuming the court's decision stands.) Mark Morris has the full story here.

The right to have all of that evidence — called “discovery” in legal parlance — effectively trumps the state’s right to prosecute Buchli in the death of Richard Armitage at their downtown law office, the court ruled.

“There is unquestionably a societal interest in prosecuting cases of murder, but this does not give the state free reign to prosecute this defendant for an indefinite period of time, no matter how many decades it takes the state to comply with its legal obligations,” Judge Gary D. Witt wrote in the 24-page majority opinion.

More thoughts on why the U.S. prison population is (slowly) shrinking

In my column for the paper this morning, I wrote about the decline in the combined U.S. prison population, which hasn't seen a reduction since the 1970s. The Pew Center on the States credits changes in how states are running their parole and reentry programs.

One of our readers, though, made a good point: There might be fewer people going to prison because the United States has been experiencing a significant drop in violent crime over the past several years.

Which, frankly, most people don't seem to realize. We've done a lot of posts over the years pointing this out. It might be partly due to -- and believe me, I hate saying this -- the media. Crime coverage is a big part of most local news. (Justifiably so, I would argue.) And police procedurals / crime dramas constitute a considerable chunk of TV programming.

If you're constantly hearing about people getting murdered, even fictional ones, it's no wonder that you might think crime is a problem.

Man accused in KC molestation case had volunteered as drill team leader

From Brian Burnes:

Daniel M. Roberson, a Kansas City man charged last week with sodomy involving an 11-year-old boy, long has offered drill team instruction to area young people, both as a volunteer and paid employee.

Authorities have charged Roberson, 39, with statutory sodomy and two counts of attempted statutory sodomy for alleged acts that occurred earlier this year.

Defendant pleads guilty in Missouri sex-slave case, gets 20 years

From Mark Morris:

A Kirkwood, Mo., real estate broker pleaded guilty Tuesday to sex trafficking for contributing to the alleged sexual enslavement of a young woman in a rural mobile home.

Bradley Cook, 33, whose online screen name was “PutHer2GoodUse,” agreed to accept a 20-year prison sentence in his plea agreement with prosecutors.

Belton man gets 15 years for killing his wife, will probably be out in 10

The murder of Amber Hartwig drew a lot of attention early on because her killer, husband Michael Adams, had gender-identity disorder. Hartwig was getting ready to leave him and take their kids because of the changes in Adams' life: 

The couple’s teenage daughter ran into the kitchen of the Belton home that night in 2009 and found her mother, 36, dead on the floor and her father, Michael S. Adams Jr., dressed in women’s clothing, sitting on the floor smoking a cigarette. He had a superficial, self-inflicted bullet wound to his chest. A .45-caliber handgun lay nearby.

During his courtroom apology, Adams described the shooting as an accident. As part of his plea deal, he gives up any appeals, and his kids won't have to testify.