“It all began at Kmart"

*Maryland*

     A shirtless man (later identified as Clifton Rodney Duncan Jr., 32) used a crowbar to destroy a glass door at Kmart (in the 200 block of North Point Boulevard).  At approximately 2:20 pm [last Wednesday] Duncan allegedly approached a man in the parking lot and threatened him and claimed to have a gun.  From the store, Duncan fled [by car] to a neighborhood in Colegate, where he broke into a home in the 7700 block of Eastdale Road by using a flower pot. When officers called out to him to exit the premises, Duncan replied, “Get back – I have a gun!” 

    Duncan did NOT surrender at the house; he left through the back door and ran into the Winner Distributing Company (600 block of Canter Center Drive).  The Baltimore County Police Tactical Team responded by this time and he was yet again ordered out.  About 45 people were evacuated and 5 remained inside but had NO contact with Duncan.  The five were in another part of the building but were unable to leave, that is until officers were able to obtain additional information on him (which took 2 ½ hours). 

    The area around the facility was secured, which included locking down the Colegate Elementary School.  This lockdown consisted of the school being put into “alert mode” , the doors were locked and dismissal for the 250 students was delayed.  Also locked down at the time (and evacuated) was the Kmart where it all began as officers scrambled to gather information on Duncan. It was also discovered during this time that Duncan had stolen a knife from the home and ammunition and narcotics were found in his vehicle. 

     By 6:46pm, police entered the Winner facility after Duncan opened the door to the office in which he had [previously] barricaded himself into.  According to reports, he showed no indication that he would leave the facility of his own free will.  Officers subdued him with a Taser and were able to find and secure the knife he had stolen and used to injure himself with.  After being removed from the facility, he was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, to be treated for injuries that were classified as “non-life threatening”.

   Duncan is currently being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center with his bail set at $350,000.  His faces the following charges: burglary, theft, destruction of property, trespassing and five counts of false imprisonment.  His trial is set to begin on April 12^th.

   

“Weird in Iowa”

Doughnuts Lead to Disaster

     Ian Waseskuk (18) of Urbandale was doing doughnuts in his car in the parking lot of a church just before he crashed into the church’s air conditioning unit.  When his car crashed it caught fire and Wassekuk was knocked unconscious.  Police were able to pull him from the wreckage before any additional injuries occurred.  The entire incident was caught on the officer’s dash cam.

Rodeo Weed

     Rodeo clown, Rory Meeks (55) of Marion was recently convicted of growing more than 1,000 marijuana plants from 2004-2011.  He was supplementing his clown income with the product and now faces a possible punishment of 20 years or more in prison. 

Cell Phone Soft Porn

     Kevin Kay Robinson (30) of Tripoli has been charged with 2 serious misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy-nudity.  Robinson was arrested for allegedly using his cell phone to film 2 women in the nude WITHOUT their permission.  According to police, Robinson was seen by “one victim holding a cell phone over a wall while she tanning in an adjoining room.”  It was after his arrest that officers were able to examine his phone and that is when they found the footage of the second victim.

Spidey Sighting

     Three Spider-Man statues were spotted duct-taped to the side of the newly remodeled Iowa State University’s Integrated Visual Arts and Design on Main office.  The way that the statues were taped to the side of the building, it looked as if the multiplied Spidies was crawling up the side of the building on their way to the second floor. 

Drunken Car Theft

     A 42 year old Johnston man reported that his car was stolen on March 10th while it was parked in the parking lot of Doc’s Lounge.  According to witnesses, the car thief appeared to be drunk.  No word on how the intoxicated man was able to enter and steal the car while impaired.

Random Weirdness in Johnston    

**03.05 à Michael Burns (44) and Bret Roberts (45) were cited for dog running at large.

**03.08 à A 13-year-old boy reported a theft from his locker at Johnston Middle School. A male subject was identified and returned the item. Parents of the victim did not want to press charges.

 **03.07à A 27-year-old man reported being scammed by someone claiming to be from Homeland Security requiring money.

Epic Helicopter Escapes…….Sort of

The French Canadian Express

     Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau (36) and Danny Provencal (33) escaped Sunday (2:20pm) from the Saint-Jerome jail (northeast of Montreal) by climbing a rope and then entering a hovering helicopter.  The duo was recaptured by Monday about   30 miles north of the jail along with the two that assisted in their escape.  Provencal was the ONLY one that put up a bit of a fight.  Police were in negotiations with Provencal (who had barricaded himself) until after midnight Sunday.   

 

French Fried Love

     Nadine Vaujour took helicopter lessons in order to break her husband out of prison.  Michel Vaujour, her husband, was serving time for attempted murder and armed robbery and Nadine was not in the mindset to live out her life without him.  Therefore, in May 1986, Michel made his way to the roof of a Parisian prison by using nectarines that were painted to look like grenades.  Nadine picked him up in a helicopter and the two landed in a football field and drove away.  Unfortunately for the love sick duo, their life together was very short lived.  Nadine was found and arrested in southwestern France and Michel was shot in the head in the midst of a failed bank robbery.

The Mexican Escape

     In 1971, NY native, Joel David Kaplan escaped a Mexican prison yard via helicopter.  Kaplan was serving time after being accused of killing his Mexico City business partner.  Kaplan has ALWAYS proclaimed that he was innocent of the crime.  He has NEVER been recaptured or returned to Mexico.  His escape inspired the book, “The 10-Second Jailbreak: The Helicopter Escape of Joel Kaplan” as well as the 1975 movie, “Breakout”.

Frequent Flier Points

     Record holder for planning the most escapes via helicopter is Pascal Payet, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.  This French native began his usage of helicopters as a form an escape when he fled a Luynes prison in 2001.  In 2003, while a fugitive still, he assisted fellow inmates of the prison he escaped from in their own escape using the same escape plan.  He was caught [eventually] and escaped yet again via a chopper that was high jacked by four other men.  Payet and the four escaped without harming the pilot.

Birds of a Feather

     Nordin Ben Allal had NO plans to have others join him in his helicopter escape in 2007.  So when his accomplices landed at the Belgian prison he was serving his time at and other inmates forced their way onboard……..he knew his planning may have been for not.  The extra weight caused the helicopter to spin out of control causing the pilot and several [attempted] escapees to be injured.  Ben Allal was still able to escape only to be recaptured.

Get Em To the Greek

     This past February, convicted murderer, Panagiotis Viastos, attempted to escape via chopper with the help of accomplices.  According to reports, the accomplices hovered over the Greek prison attempting to liberate Viastos via a rope and unleashing a hail of AK-47 shots toward the prison’s guards. The guards fired back, to the ‘surprise’ of the accomplices.   During the botched attempt, Viastos was shot and the chopper ended up having to land in the prison’s parking lot. 

 

 

 

Vatican Gay Sauna, Illegal Nun & Priest in Cuffs

Vatican Gay Sauna

   The Vatican owns 20 apartments in the same building as Europe’s LARGEST gay sauna.  In 2008, the Catholic Church spent a whopping 20 million Euros ($17.5 million) to purchase the apartments that are intended to house priests for the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.  The luxury building is home to Europa Multiclub, which (according to its website) is “Italy’s top gay sauna” and promotes ‘bear parties’.  ‘Bear Party’ promotional videos show men stripping down to thongs before donning the uniform of a priest.

   The nightclub features a Turkish bath, a Finnish sauna, whirlpools and massages.  Many are shaking their heads in sheer confusion as to why the apartments were bought and have yet to be sold due to the Church’s strict views regarding homosexuality.

Ohio Nun Charged with Illegal Voting

     Sister Marguerite Kloos, along with two others, have been charged by the Hamilton County prosecutor with illegal voting.  Kloos is said to be pleading guilty [via her attorney] to the charge, claiming that she voted on behalf of a fellow Nun solely to fulfill the woman’s dying wish.  The Nun in which she voted on the behalf of passed away before the election this past November.

    Among the others charged is a man that voted for his late wife and a poll worker.  The poll worker is being charged with 8 illegal-voting counts for voting TWICE in this most recent election and for various others as well. 

Priest Caught in Handcuffs Call 911

     Back in November, Father Tom Donovan of St. Aloysius Church (Illinois) placed the following call to 911:

“Donovan: Hi there, I am stuck in a pair of handcuffs. I’m going to need help getting out before this becomes a medical emergency.

Dispatcher: What’s the problem?

Donovan: I’m stuck. In a pair. Of handcuffs.

Dispatcher: You’re stuck in a pair of handcuffs?

Donovan: Yes.”

   Per Kathie Sass, spokesman for the Archdiocese,  Father Donovan was granted a leave of absence just before this past Christmas and that "he came to the bishop before anyone was aware of the incident”.  It remains unclear how or why he was in cuffs inside the church or how it would lead to a medical emergency.

 

Stolen: Cookies, Money & Sense

The Grinch that Stole Cookies

          Woodruff resident, Christopher Maurice Morton (37) has admitted to stealing $18,900 worth of Girl Scout Cookies from a shipment that he was hired to transport via semi.  Morton was arrested on Wednesday on a breach of trust charge more than $10,000.  According to investigators, the theft happened at a Spartanburg warehouse and police were notified by owner, Brian Carey (Carey Moving and Storage), when he noticed that more than 450 cases of the famed cookies where missing.  Per Carey’s statement, the shipments of cookies began arriving at his facility on February 15^th and it has been assessed that the theft occurred on the 26^th.  While doing inventory, it was discovered that cases of Thin Mints and Shortbread cookies were unable to be accounted for.

     Master Deputy Kevin Bobo has revealed that 352 cases were found BEHIND Carey Moving and Storage and Morton (a company driver) has been fire in lieu of the theft and his arrest.  No one has commented on where the remaining cases are or why Morton stole them. 

Fees Funded Fieldtrips

     Founder/superintendant (Lisa Hamm) and treasurer (Stephanie Millard) of the Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy (CCPA) have been indicted on 26 charges including: theft, tampering with evidence and tampering with records and unauthorized use of property.  Per the indictment filed in Hamilton County Court, the acts took place from October 2006 through February 2013 with the amount misspent funds totaling $148,000. 

   Hamm is accused of taking over 20 trips with family members and staff.  Some of the trips were labeled as training but the vast majority were “best practice visits” and the allotted budgets for the trips were consistently surpassed.  Millard would pay the credit card bills after each trip without the CCPA board’s knowledge.  Not once did Millard inform the board that the budgets were being exceeded or that Hamm was prone to rent cars with drivers and take such lavish trips (at times) void of staff members. 

     Court documents state that among Hamm's trips was a $20,000, 10-day tour through California which covered expenses such as a rental car with hired drivers, expensive meals and hotel stays above and beyond what was required for her training in San Diego. On other occasion, Hamm was supposed to make visits to Chicago charter schools but attended a Tina Turner concert instead. Hamm also coordinated a trip to Boston to see Oprah Winfrey and took a sightseeing tour of Europe when the purpose of her trip was to fulfill residency requirements for her doctorate program. 

   Hamm and Millard’s attorney, Mike Allen, remains hopeful that the duo will be vindicated.  "It's a dispute between the auditor's office and our clients as to what constitutes a legitimate expense for a seminar and again, we expect to prevail in court."

Plastic Surgery or Photoshop

   Lil Kim and her staff have stated that they are waging war on the paparazzi claiming that they are photo shopping her photos.  After some extremely unflattering pictures of her surfaced on a blog, a member of her staff released a statement insinuating that members of the paparazzi were intentionally placing the female MC in a bad light.

Traveling Cats, Cannibal Cops & Lego Property

The Traveling Cat

     Bisou the cat flew from Cairo to Radcliffe-in-Trent after climbing into the suitcase of her owner who was going to visit her sister.  The 7 year old Persian cat was NOT detected by airport security, or right away by family members in Cairo.  Bisou’s stow away was discovered when her owner, Mervat Ciuti, reached into her bag to answer her ringing phone while in a cab.  A family member that believed Bisou was lost had called and stated, “When she realized what had happened, she said she was trembling.  She thought she would be dead.”

     Bisou is currently quarantined at the Calagran Kennels in Chesterfield awaiting clearance in order to be returned to Cairo.

Cannibal Cop Cries

     Former NYPD officer, Gilberto Valle, cried out in court just after his attorney wrapped his defense.  Valle contends that he was merely using a website for fictional, fantasy play and was not intending to act upon what he wrote about.  The US attorney’s office contends that Valle conspired with three others from NJ, England & Pakistan, to kidnap, torture, cook and eat women (including Valle’s own wife).  Valle met his alleged cohorts on a website co-founded Sergey Merenkov for those who have extreme sexual fetishes to intermingle “no differently than on FaceBook.” Merenkov (during a video deposition from Russia) does admit that the images featured on the site are graphic, but are simply FANTASY. 

                “Everything that you see on FaceBook, basically, you can encounter on the website.  These are private chats, groups, the ability to publish photo albums on the site.” – Merenkov

     According to the prosecutor in the case, Valle used the profile name “girl meat hunter” and Merenkov’s testimony could not confirm that his site was free from criminal activity, “That the site can be used for illegal activity, yes, there is a possibility of that.” 

   It is unclear at this point if Valle’s tears resonated with the jury, but it is crystal clear that the graphic sexual images affected his family that has been present throughout the trial.  As they have sat in the courtroom, they have all been seen shaking their heads (most notably his mother) as the details of his online escapades were revealed. 

   Closing arguments are scheduled to take place this Thursday.

Hogwarts: Lego Style

     Alice Finch (38) has built a scale model of the Hogwarts School using 400,000 Lego pieces.  It took 12 months to complete the school for the characters of the Harry Potter series.  Finch’s model features the recreation of scenes from the films within its various rooms……including meal time in the Great Hall. 

                “It is designed to be architecturally accurate and completely playable.  There are about 10,000 bricks just in the big central staircase to give you a sense of scale.  At one point I over-stressed my knees by leaning over my work table for hours upon hours and I’ve worn off my fingerprints several times.”