Crime Scene

We just can't get enough Taser boy

Like a song that won't die, Taser boy won't go away. So if you get the hankering to hear "Don't Tase Me, Bro!" one more time, hit up the online remix.

I couldn't make this up if I tried.

Be careful ... it's drive-thru

These are dangerous days for drive-thru employees.

On Wednesday, Shade Jones, 17, of Fort Lauderdale was working the drive-thru at an Oakland Park McDonald's, 3073 W. Oakland Park Blvd., according to the Broward Sheriff's Office. Then a blue Toyota Solara with five people inside pulled up at about 4:30 p.m., asking for a 69-cent drink.

But there's no such thing. Jones tried explaining this several times to the people in the car, who got belligerent, BSO said.

Instead, the car pulled up to the take-out window, and one person inside whipped out a large can of pepper spray, blasting Jones.

Also hit was manager Sheryl Woodley, 20, of Oakland Park, who had come over to reiterate that there was no 69-cent drink, BSO said.

Overall, three employees went to the hospital on their own for treatment. Several more complained of residual affects from the chemicals circulating through the restaurant but didn't need treatment, BSO said.

Investigators only had vague descriptions of the perpetrators on Wednesday night, including that one was dressed as a woman but may have been a cross-dressing man with red, white and blue hair accessories.

But don't think detectives are taking it lightly.

"This is not a prank, and it's not funny," BSO spokesman Mike Jachles said. "These are hard-working people at a restaurant and they don't deserve to be victims of a crime like this."

Anyone with information is asked to call the Broward Sheriff’s Office at 954-765-4321 or Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at 954-493-8477.

Thieves hot for portable navigation systems

GPS thefts are on the rise.

Plantation police issued a warning to drivers who use the global positioning systems to get around.

In the city, 52 of the devices have been snatched from cars - most of them parked outside of area hotels, detectives said.

The gizmos, which can be a lifesaver to the directionally challenged, range in price from $250 to several thousand dollars.

And because they're fairly small - about the size of a Blackberry cell phone - they're easy to steal.

Here is the advice offered by cops about how to avoid becoming the victim of GPS theft:

- Don't leave the devices in plain sight, on a dashboard or mounted to the windshield. Put them in a glove box or center console when not in use.

- Record the serial number on the GPS. If yours is stolen, that number could help detectives return it to you if it's found.

Court to OJ: Sorry

The rules laid out before O.J. Simpson's bail hearing last Wednesday in Las Vegas were clear: No photographs allowed, except for the AP pool photographer.

But video footage shot from the hearing clearly showed a court reporter snapping a photo of O.J. with his cellphone camera as the defendant left the courtroom. The next day, court officials sent this apology -- Download simpson-apology.pdf -- to Simpson's attorneys.

"Our court is a professional organization and this behavior is an aberration and will not be tolerated," Las Vegas Township Court's executive officer wrote, adding that the contract employee has been reprimanded and the photo deleted from his phone.

Circus over, for now

O.J. is expected to post bail this afternoon and be out of Clark County's jail by tonight. He will head back to Florida, his attorney said, but will be back in Las Vegas on Oct. 22 for an arraignment on the robbery and kidnapping charges against him.

The media circus is packing up. But only after a requisite press conference on the courthouse steps where a guy in a chicken suit and dudes hawking porno advertisements jockeyed for camera position with O.J.'s attorney. Crazy.

Special thanks to Miami Herald multimedia whiz Adam Beasley for posting the live-blog items today. And thanks, too, to the Clark County court bailiffs who allowed me to send out live dispatches to Adam via text messages and BlackBerry e-mails from the courtroom. Couldn't get away with that in Florida.

Simpson bail set at $125K

O.J. will post $125,000 bail and will be released. He must surrender his passport and is to have no contact with the victims in the case.

Watch it live

AP video is providing live streaming video of the arraignment. You can find it here.

O.J. arrives

O.J. just entered the courtroom. He's wearing a dark blue jail outfit and handcuffed.

And away we go

Hearing is starting now. Judge Joe Bonaventure will preside, not Zimmerman.

A last-minute agreement?

The hearing is about 20 minutes past its scheduled start time. The court bailiff said the attorneys are meeting with Judge Zimmerman upstairs about some 'details.' The hearing will start as soon as they're wrapped up with their conference.

The suits have arrived

The lawyers are here now. O.J. is being represented by Yale Galanter of Miami and Gabriel Grasso. Grasso is a Nevada attorney, who is helping Galanter navigate this state's laws. For the state: District Attorney David Roger is handling the prosecution duties.

Look who's back

The gang's all here: That's former OJ prosecutor Marcia Clark sitting on the left (she's blond now), and the woman taking a photo to her right is Greta Van Susteren.

Into the courthouse we go

They have opened the courthouse and reporters are waiting in line to get in. Bailiffs are making us go through two security screenings - first a metal detector, then a sniff from police dogs.

The arraignment judge, Ann Zimmerman, just came in and went to her courtroom.

Media crews have filled every available inch of sidewalk space outside the courthouse, which is about 20 minutes from opening. Most of the TV reporters and their bulky cameras will stay outside during the hearing. We're going in.

Cirque du O.J.

Good morning from Las Vegas, where it's 5:39 a.m. and the sun hasn't cracked over the Strip yet.

The O.J. hype is in full swing here. A gaggle of anxious reporters and their satellite trucks have been camped outside the Clark County Regional Justice Center for days, and the crowd keeps growing as we get closer to Simpson's 7:45 a.m. arraignment and bail hearing.

Crime Scene will be there. Until then, we're at the off-the-strip Palace Station Casino and Hotel (left), where the alleged incident happened last week. So far, hotel management isn't making the "O.J. Room" available to the media.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the case.

TV reporters are speculating the judge could set a big bail for O.J. - the figure $1.5 million has been swirling around. My cab driver last night was sure this whole saga has been an organized publicity stunt concocted by O.J. and the Goldman family to sell more copies of the "If I Did It" book.

Operation Gang Busters

Previewed in today's Herald, top law enforcement officials from across Miami-Dade gathered today to announce the results of Operation Gang Busters. For the past three months, authorities have served 153 warrants, notched 163 arrests, seized 17 guns, $27,000 and some 2,5000 grams of coke and marijuana.

"Tonight, the streets of Miami and Miami-Dade County are much safer," said Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.

The operation was localized in Little Haiti, which has been hard by drug gang violence during the past couple years. Gang Busters was run by Miami police and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Gang Strike Force, with assists from agencies such as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, North Miami, Miami-Dade and schools police.

Main speaker was Katherine Fernandez Rundle. Among those on hand for the presser: Schools Police Chief Gerald Darling, Miami-Dade Charles E. Nanney, of the narcotics bureau, FDLE supervisor John Vecchio, North Miami Councilman Jacques Despinosse and North Miami Assistant Chief Clint Shannon. Rundle, flanked by gang prosecutor Ed Tapanes, praised Miami Deputy Chief Frank Fernandez and fellow Miami officers.

"They really helped lead this multi-agency approach," Rundle said.

Few clues in identifying skeletal remains

Recognize this hat? Know someone who is missing?

The Broward Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in identifying the skeletal remains of a man's body found last week by landscapers in Southwest Ranches.

Near the bones, detectives found the camoflauge hat pictured above. It reads, "Broward Power Train Co. Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, FLA."

A backpack and a pair of sneakers - size 10 - were also found nearby.

BSO says the remains belong to a man who was wearing a dark blue pullover shirt and dark blue pants with an elastic waistband.

The remains were found last Wednesday in the brush and weeds along the northbound lanes of U.S. 27, just north of Sheridan Street.

Anyone with information is asked to call  BSO Homicide Detective Tim Duggan at 954-831-4210 or Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at 954-493-8477.

Hammered, haircut and handcuffed

It's time to shake the rust off this here blog.

Here's a doozy of a crime to get us started: Carlos Manuel Fuentes got wasted over the weekend at his Homestead home. His wife seized the opportunity to get give him a haircut, something he apparently is averse to.

Angry at his wife for snipping her his hair without his permission, Fuentes picked up a beer bottle and used it to smack a 6-week-old baby inside the home. The baby was taken to a hospital for head wounds. Fuentes was charged with aggravated child abuse and jailed without bond.

Here's Fuentes showing off the haircut that got him so bent out of shape: 

***UPDATE: I goofed on this one. As the article clearly states, it was Fuentes' WIFE who got a haircut that sent Fuentes into a tizzy. She did not cut his hair while he was drunk. Thanks to reader Christian for pointing it out in the comments section. He gets Editor of the Day award.