Girl turns down would-be suitor -- he vandalizes her mother's grave, cops say

Story is from Ohio ...

Woman calls 911 because boyfriend won't marry her, Tenn. police say

It's not clear if she wanted them to make him marry her at gunpoint, or if she just wanted them to shoot him.

Pizza guy tries to bribe his way out of ticket, Utah cops say

Using a large pepperoni pizza. Maybe if he'd thrown in some breadsticks ...

Parole officers did a terrible job watching Phillip Garrido, report says

Garrido is the man accused of abducting Jaycee Dugard, fathering two girls by her and keeping them prisoner in his back yard for something like 18 years. You might wonder: How could his parole officer possibly have missed something like that? Well, a new state report says, it's very simple: They were doing a horrible job of monitoring him. Think of that: This young woman could've been rescued years earlier if someone had been on the ball.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

Possible kidnapping in Excelsior Springs?

From Bob Cronkleton: Excelsior Springs police have found a car used in what witnesses described as a possible kidnapping of a woman.

The car was found in Lawson, Mo., but no one was around the car. Police are still investigating. They haven’t been able to confirm whether a kidnapping has occurred so they were not releasing the name of the woman.

Witnesses told police that they saw three men kidnap a woman about 9:30 p.m. on S. Myrtle Street in Excelsior Springs. The witnesses told police they saw the woman who was hit and thrown into the trunk of the car. The three men fled from the scene in a red Grand Am with license plate number ME4 Z4N.

Anyone with information is asked to call 816-630-2000.

Not exactly cricket

In North Carolina, police arrested eight high-school seniors for allegedly breaking into the school and releasing approximately 450 crickets in the freshman hall. I would hate to have been the person responsible for counting the crickets.

23 Americans guilty in "extraordinary rendition" case

In Italy, 22 CIA agents and one Air Force colonel have been convicted for allegedly grabbing a radical Muslim imam off the streets of Milan and flying him to Egypt, where he claims to have been tortured. This is what's popularly known as "extraordinary rendition." Italian prosecutors prefer the term "kidnapping." They say they're going to try and extradite the Americans, but that's almost as likely as me eating a barbecued unicorn for lunch today. (Actually, I brought leftover lasagna.)

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Patty PV!

Teen beaten for starting MySpace page, Wis. cops say

From the Sheboygan Press:

The girl said her father held her on the ground while spanking her extremely hard about 20 times. When she squirmed away, Schaal kicked her in the left hip.

Winter grabbed the girl by the hair and pushed her head toward a wall.

The girl had small bruises on her right upper arm, as well as red marks on her left rib where Schaal dug his knuckles into her.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

Maybe she's just not that into you

Gentlemen, if you really want to have sex with your longtime female friend, but your attempts at wooing her consist of handcuffing her and taking naked photos of her, which you'll later use to blackmail her into weekly "consensual" sex ... well, maybe there's a reason she doesn't want to have sex with you.

Also? Props to the lady for talking her way out of this one. From the Orlando Sentinel:

The woman told investigators that Green repeatedly told her he wanted to have sex with her. The woman tried to talk to the suspect and calm him down. She hugged him and said she "loved him like a brother," police said.

After two hours, she convinced him to let her leave. That's when she contacted police.

Firefighter accused of drugging wife's tea, Wis. cops say

He allegedly put a half-tablet of Lexapro in her tea so she'd calm down after their fight over bills. Only the wife is also a police detective. She let their kiddo have a sip to stay warm and noticed a white powder around the child's lips -- which led the missus to have the tea tested.

You're never too old to be Tasered!

In Alaska, Air Force officers Tasered an 81-year-old man who allegedly got upset when they tried to ticket him for speeding. The suspect, who's an Episcopal priest and a real-estate salesman, reportedly drove off when they tried to give him the ticket and had to be stopped again.

Couple arrested for trespassing in their own home

KSHB has more details here ...

Olathe plans Amnesty Day for municipal warrants

It'll be next week, from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10 in Olathe's municipal court. Anybody with an Olathe municipal warrant will NOT be arrested. The full details are available below ...

Bishop convicted for ringing church bells every half hour

Well, he wasn't ringing bells, actually -- he was playing a recording of them. Every half hour from morning to night, every day of the week. It got to the point where neighbors took him to court and won. The court gave the bishop a 10-day suspended sentence and ordered him to cut back how often the "bells" could ring. He's now suing the city of Phoenix, saying his rights are being infringed.

Suspect's home is where his heart is

From seacoastonline.com:

A self-described “traveling artist” who cites his address as his car and “random girls’ beds” was arraigned Monday on a trio of charges stemming from a pair of summer incidents.

The craziest thing you will read today

A woman and her father were trying to get from the American Royal to the Marriott on 12th Street downtown yesterday, but got lost and stopped at Paseo Express, 1500 Truman Road, to get directions. They met a guy, Jason E. Frazier, who offered to lead them to their destination in exchange for gas money, authorities say. So they took off following him. (The woman and her dad were in separate cars.)

They got to the 500 block of Central Avenue before the woman decided something was wrong. The woman tried to turn around, but Frazier allegedly got out of his car with a gun and ordered her out of the vehicle. Dad, though, backed his car at Frazier and told her to drive off. She did, and Dad followed.

They pulled into a convenience-store parking lot in the 700 block of Central, thinking Frazier was gone. From the U.S. Attorney for Western Kansas:

When Frazier drove up, Katrina Schwer sped off westbound on Central Avenue with Frazier pursuing her. Her father followed. At 12th and Central Frazier pulled alongside Katrina Schwer’s car. He shouted, “Get in my car.”

Her father maneuvered his car in front of Frazier’s car and backed into the front end of Frazier’s car, disabling Frazier’s car. Her father flagged down a Kansas City, Kan., Police Department officers, who located Frazier and arrested him.

Frazier is now facing federal charges. If the whole account is accurate, it's like something from a TV show.

UPDATE: KCPD officer hurt when suspect's gun discharges

Just an update about the incident this morning at the bus station near Troost and 11th ...

From KCPD: During the below described struggle between detectives and a suspect, identified as Kalvin Loyd, detectives placed Loyd in custody. Once in custody a gun fell out of Loyd's pocket, hit the ground (concrete) and discharged striking the officer in the leg. The officer was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Kalvin Loyd has since been charged in federal court with Unlawful User of a Controlled Substance in Possession of a Firearm.

The morning roundup

A KCPD officer suffered a minor gunshot wound after a gun fell from a suspect's pants and discharged. Happened about 6:20 at the Greyhound station near 11th and Troost.

KCK is investigating a male who was found shot to death a little after midnight in the 1300 block of North Fourth Street. KCTV says the victim might be a teenager. Not many details are available yet.

Another reminder: KCPD will conduct a DUI checkpoint at some point this weekend.

A 7-Eleven in the 10600 block of Blue Ridge was robbed a little before 1 this morning, KSHB reports.

KCPD is investigating a carjacking near 30th and Jackson that ended near 19th and Lawn, where the stolen car became airborne and landed on a fence, KCTV reports.

Contractor hid video camera in woman's house, Ind. police say

Only the Muncie woman quickly noticed the device and went to his office to confront him, police say. The man allegedly tried to play the whole matter off as a joke, but noted that he did want to see the woman naked, authorities allege.

DOJ has a bone to pick

The Justice Department is bringing charges against a biotech firm and some of its top people because they marketed a bone-growth putty for unapproved uses. From NPR's health blog:

The government says medical technicians were encouraged to blend OP-1 Implant or OP-1 Putty with a filler called Calstrux, shape the mixture into a "tootsie roll" or "vienna sausage" shape, then implant the stuff in patients. Voila! A custom bone-growth stimulant for broken arms, legs or spines.

Really, it looks just like Vienna sausages. The DOJ says there were problems, though:

The bone-growing mixture didn't always stay put, and pieces of it that looked like " 'oatmeal,' 'grits' or 'white sesame seeds' " migrated elsewhere. When those wayward bits bit landed in places they shouldn't have, bone sprouted and, in some patients, had to be surgically removed.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Rhonda!

Yet another severed foot washes ashore in British Columbia

This is No. 7 in a weird chain of "discoveries" dating back to August 2007, though we haven't had any in a while. It's sort of like being visited like an old friend.

Did Utah teens get arrested for rapping?

In American Fork, Utah, four teenage boys were cited for disorderly conduct after they reportedly tried to "rap" their order at a McDonald's drive-thru. The clerk told them to order the right way. They rapped again, only slower. The manager then told them to leave and, as a bonus, took down their license information and called the police. Amazingly, the po-po tracked them down and cited them.

The teens are accused of using swear words and making the McMinions feel threatened. The teens admit to one swear, but say it wasn't used in a threatening way. There's also a disagreement over whether they were holding up the line.

No charges for people who watched gang rape?

There's another nasty wrinkle in the case of a teen being gang-raped in Richmond, Calif. The authorities believe that approximately 20 people watched the crime, but none of them will likely be charged. Why? Because, under state law, the public has to report any sexual assault if the victim is under 14 years old. The victim here is 15.

Suspect dies in shootout with FBI, bureau says

In Dearborn, Mich., FBI agents raided a warehouse while trying to arrest Luqman Ameen Abdullah, the leader of a radical mosque. Instead, Abdullah died in a shootout with the authorities, the FBI states. Authorities accused him of leading a group that wanted to establish a Muslim state in the U.S. Snip:

The U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI in Detroit unsealed a 43-page document, however, describing a sinister, radical fundamentalist group allegedly headed by Abdullah. The document notes conversations he had with undercover agents and federal informants that ranged from talking about attacking Super Bowl XL in Detroit to blowing himself up as a final act of courage.

None of the charges yesterday, though, involved terror charges. Abdullah and his associates faced accusations that included gun charges and mail fraud, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Photo via AP

Now, THAT is a fetching mugshot

A Florida woman was stopped for allegedly making an illegal threat -- and then proceeded to flip the heck out, authorities allege. She's accused of making death threats against the deputy, spitting on him, using racial slurs, mentioning that her dad was in the Klan and then deliberately urinating in the back seat of the deputy's vehicle.

So when you see her booking photo, it's surprising to see how happy she looks.