Crime Scene

Miami-Dade K-9 cops honored

Big ups to three Miami-Dade Police officers and a sergeant who have won a national Top Cops award for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Sgt. Eric Mendez and Officers Edwin Gonzalez, Brad Burke and Richard Hansen were working in the department's K-9 unit on Nov. 12 when they safely freed a woman and her grandchildren from a gunman who was holding them hostage. The kidnapper was arrested without incident.

The Miami-Dade officers were the only ones in Florida to win this year's award; officers from 10 other states also were recognized for their service. Here's a full list from the National Association of Police Organizations.

"It's a big honor for the department," said Det. Mario Rachid, a spokesman.

The four are scheduled to talk with reporters about the award and the November crime at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Miami police department promotions

If you read Herald crime stories or watch local TV news, you've probably heard from the Miami police department's Delrish Moss and Martha Carbana.

Both will be promoted in a ceremony on Friday.

Moss, who has been with the department for 23 years, will be senior executive assistant to the chief.

He'll be in charge of the PIO office, so you'll still be hearing from him.

Carbana, who joined the department in 1989, is becoming a sergeant, which means she'll be back on road patrol.

Here's a link to a post cops reporter David Ovalle wrote on Carbana's first homicide.

"I'm looking forward to a new chapter in my police career," Carbana said Tuesday. "I definitly have been very lucky to have the opportunity to be in this office. I'll miss this position greatly."

Food fight ends with shovel blow

Those crazy Brits.

Michael Garvin and his brother John recently had a tiff during tea time, when Chef Michael made John a shepherd's pie.

But John, you see, insisted that a layer of tomatoes should go atop the fluffy mashed potatoes and meat of the traditional shepherd's pie.

Chef Michael didn't take the suggestion too kindly. He grabbed a shovel and smacked his brother on the head, according to the Telegraph newspaper.

Then John threatened to bomb his brother's apartment, which got him arrested.

Thanks to Mark Bittman's NY Times blog for the story.

Scary crime trend hits Mexico

Imagine getting a phone call at work, a screaming man on the other line telling you he has your child and will kill her unless you pay a ransom.

Your child is really safe at school, but you don't know that until you've already handed over all your jewelry and money.

It's called virtual kidnapping, and it's become an alarming crime trend in Mexico City, The New York Times reports.

Experts say tens of thousands of virtual kidnappings have been reported in recent months, and about a third of those result in actual money changing hands. In a city where kidnappings are a major problem, you can see how people are easily duped into believing it's the real thing.

Crime Scene Recommends: Crime Scene

I like what I see over at our namesake URL: CrimeScene.com.

Basically, they make up a fake homicide each week (set in Oxford, Miss.) and let users try to solve the crime. They post "evidence" like autopsy photos, 911 recordings, suspect lists, etc.

You have to pay a registration fee to join, but I'm thinkin' about it. Sounds like an interactive First 48, and that's something I can get behind.

Here's a Wall Street Journal article that explains the game more.

Fight night: Hill vs. Obama

The good people at the New York Post are just plain geniuses.

This has nothing to do with crime ... but it has everything to do with violence.

I dare you not to click on it. Dare you!

Thief breaks into house, leaves loot

This crook needs to go back to thief school:

An intruder pried open a back door of a house in the 10100 block of Northwest Sixth Avenue on April 16.

Left in the burglar's wake: $100 in damage to the door, along with a hammer and machete.

Taken: nothing.

Thanks to Jeff Kleinman, the Herald's copy chief, for this gem.

7-year-old steals car, hits everything in its path

Many 7-year-olds can't reach the pedals.

That wasn't a problem for a Palm Beach Gardens boy, who stole his grandmother's SUV last week.

His driving skills, on the other hand, need some work.

The boy plowed into mailboxes, hit parked cars and signposts - all in about eight minutes.

He kept going until a sign took off the right front wheel.

The boy, who was not hurt, faces grand theft auto charges, but police said it's unlikely he'll be prosecuted.

Fla. doc accused of fondling

Police say Dr. Kayode Sotonwa, left, inappropriately touched nine patients in his Largo office in the past year.

Sotonwa, 42, has been practicing internal medicine in Florida since 2004. A U.S. citizen, he was born and educated in Nigeria and completed his medical training in Pennsylvania.

Investigators allege he massaged teenage patients' breasts, fondled another patient's clitoris with an ungloved hand and tried to put a business card near another patient's anus, among other complaints. He has been charged with several counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and sexual battery and was released on bond Thursday night.

The St. Pete Times has a good story about the case. The Smoking Gun has the charging documents.

Here was our blog about the last Florida Dr. Do-Bad.

Action News Team saves the day

Idiot of the week: Eric Jones, who allegedly carjacked an SUV and held its driver against his will -- only to stop and ask a camera crew for directions.

This went down in Cleveland earlier this week.

Kudos to 19 Action News reporter Shannon O'Brien and photographer Eric Walls, who were at a bank on an unrelated story, for noticing something fishy. They called 911 and followed the stolen vehicle for 15 minutes until cops pulled the hot car over.

Watch the video here.

By the beard of Zeus! Great Odin's raven!

NBC says No O.J.

NBC execs have shot down rumors that O.J. Simpson was in the running for a spot on an upcoming season of The Apprentice.

O.J. "has never been considered to join the cast," a network rep told reporters.

Oh well. Let's start a new rumor: O.J. and The Donald are in negotiations to star in a remake of Twins.

Late-night journey turns rocky

Rule No. 1 if you're taking out the company boat without permission: Avoid the rocks.

Apparently, a late-night thrill-seeker missed the memo.

The result: A 40-foot yacht that wrecked on a jetty -- and it was still stranded there 12 hours after the accident.

The Coast Guard and Sea Tow were called out to Government Cut about 2 a.m. Thursday, where six late-night yachters had missed a turn, and plowed into the rocks.

No one was injured -- except for the boat, according to Sea Tow Capt. Brian Hawthorne.

Hawthorne was sleeping when the radio he keeps by his bed sounded a distress call. He jumped into his boat, made the 10-minute trip south and found the stranded boaters.

Apparently the night voyage's ringleader worked for a North Miami company -- and hadn't asked his boss for permission to take a spin.

No one was charged in the accident, according to the Coast Guard. Sea Tow planned to have the boat removed by the end of the day.

Thanks to WSVN-7 for the picture.

'Bum Bot' patrols Atlanta bar scene

As you may have read Monday, advances in surveillance technology are making it easier to become a spy.

It seems advances in robotic technology have made it easier to battle, well, vagrants.

According to the Associated Press, Atlanta bar owner Rufus Terrill has built a robot that sweeps through his neighborhood, clearing it of undesirables.

The invention, affectionately known as 'Bum Bot,' even has a water cannon, poised to douse any dissidents.

Does this remind anyone else of Short Circuit? Number 5 is alive!

The Juice to The Donald: Hire me.

Those celeb sleuths at TMZ.com are reporting that O.J. Simpson is trying to land a spot on the next season of NBC's The Apprentice.

And, their sources in Donald Trump's camp say The Juice is "under thoughtful consideration."

It'd be good work for O.J., no stranger to both the small and big screens. Keep in mind, of course, he's due in Las Vegas in September for a lengthy trial on armed robbery and kidnapping charges that could send him to prison for decades.

Man makes grandma play thug

Obviously, Michael Alfinez (left) wasn't paying attention when Bird Road Rudy got busted for posting an Internet video of himself taunting cops.

Police say Alfinez, 18, of Lake Worth, made his 85-year-old grandmother hold a semiautomatic pistol and spew profanities while he filmed her. He wanted to market the clip for a video series called Gangstas & Thugs.

But when deputies recently pulled over Alfinez on a traffic stop, they found the footage in his car and watched it. The tape also included scenes of Alfinez and his buddies shooting a .22 caliber pistol in neighborhoods around Palm Beach County.

He's being charged with elderly abuse and discharging a gun in public. His family says grandma still loves him (video link also here).

Monkeys on the loose!

This blog has totally morphed into a weird-animal-news blog, and that's fine with me.

State workers are trying to round up 15 monkeys (11 adults, four juvies) that broke out of the Lowry Park Zoo near Lakeland on Monday night.

The monkeys - personal pets of zoo owner Lex Salisbury, according to the AP - escaped by swimming across a pond surrounding the zoo island where they live.

The Lakeland Ledger reports it will take another day or two for wildlife workers to capture the monkeys with feed traps.

8-foot-long alligator unwelcome house guest

This gets my vote for the 911 call of the month, placed by 69-year-old Sandra Frosti after she saw an alligator slithering from behind the freezer in her Central Florida home.

Here's part of the call that was posted on CNN:

Dispatcher: What's going on?

Frosti: There's an alligator in my kitchen!

Dispatcher: How tall, uh, how long do you think the alligator is?

Frosti: It's huge!

Dispatcher: Well how long is huge?

Frosti: I don't know. I only saw the first half of it, and that had to be at least three feet. ...

Dispatcher: Are you sure it couldn't be an iguana or a really large...

Frosti: Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

She stayed a lot calmer then I would have...if there was an 8-foot-long alligator in my kitchen.

Passover fire arson?

Police are now handling a fire at a Miami Beach synagogue as a possible arson.

An overnight blaze gutted the Chabad Shul and it appears someone ripped apart scrolls called torahs and prayer shawls called talises.

At the scene, we noticed a police crime-scene investigator examining a wrought-iron fence in the back of the synagogue. About a three-foot chunk was missing, but the broken pieces of fence were nearby. The CSI dusted them for fingerprints and also swabbed them with some sort of Q-tips for lab analysis.

Here's the story from our website, with video to be posted shortly, including interviews with Rabbi Zev Katz, Fire Chief Javier Otero and congregants. 

Yet another scheme up in smoke

Who doesn't love idiotic drug stories?

Here's the latest, from our good friends at the Times Record of Fort Smith, Ark.:

The manager of a Fort Smith Pizza Hut is accused of peddling marijuana from the restaurant’s drive-through window.

Aaron Massey, 28, was arrested at Pizza Hut, 1813 Grand Ave., Friday after Fort Smith and state authorities searched the pizza place and located several hundred dollars worth of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to a news release issued by Sgt. Jarrard Copeland, public information officer with the Fort Smith Police Department.

Narcotics officers with the Police Department began investigating the goings-on at Pizza Hut after receiving information that several employees of the restaurant had been smoking marijuana in the business and the manager, Massey, was not only smoking marijuana, but dealing it from the drive-through window, according to the news release.

A brilliant business model, if you ask me. Get your customers stoned, and when the munchies flare up, reap the profits.

No word if the pies come with extra mushrooms.

In other gator news...

Five Embry-Riddle Aeronautical students are behind bars after getting busted trying to steal a baby alligator from a mini-golf course in Daytona Beach Shores early Thursday.

Police say they caught the teens in the act, finding a roll of duct tape and a wood stick they used as tools. When asked what they planned to do with the gator, one of the teens told officers they "hadn't thought that far ahead yet."

The Daytona Beach News-Journal has the full story and booking photos. My favorite part is the kicker, which notes two other incidents when people have been busted stealing the gators at this mini-golf course.

"In 2001, a pair of tourists were arrested for picking up a gator at the golf course and taking it to their hotel pool where they were caught watching it swim..."

Drug deal gone wrong

A Boca teen apparently thought he'd make a quick buck selling pot.

Instead Scott Leshner got robbed -- and then arrested.

Leshner called police to tell them three gun-toting men had ordered him and his friends to the ground, forced them to take off their pants and pistol whipped his friends.

The robbers stole $2,000, a laptop and marijuana.

Then Leshner called police and gave them permission to search his apartment.

That's when police found a stash of marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms and arrested Leshner for drug possession.

The Palm Beach Post has the story.

'Gator, please step out of the car'

William Johnson, left, is just a dude who loves reptiles.

Unfortunately for him, cops in Brazoria, Texas, say he's also a thief.

See, officers stopped Johnson, 30, on Friday at a drive-thru restaurant after customers complained he was bothering them. Johnson told police he was a tree-trimmer and, oh yeah, he had a snake in his car that bit him. He got a public intoxication citation, end of story.

Almost.

The next night, Johnson was seen rummaging through a mobile home, even asking a neighbor to help him haul away someone else's TV.

When troopers caught up with him several minutes later, they found a 6-foot gator chillin' in the back seat of Johnson's car (left, click for bigger, better photos). He told them he found it on the side of the road (...and offered him a RIDE??).

Police took him to jail on burglary charges in connection with the mobile home incident. The Houston Chronicle has the full story.   

Ex-FB star Walker: I played Russian roulette

I was a huge Cowboys fan growing up, and loved Herschel Walker.

Can't say I saw this one coming:

Herschel Walker said he once played Russian roulette as he struggled with a personality disorder.

"To challenge death like I was doing, you start saying, there's a problem here," the former NFL running back said during an interview broadcast last night on ABC's Nightline.

To watch his Nightline interview, click here.

Is that an iguana in your leg...

In South Florida, we burn iguanas to keep them alive.

In L.A., they smuggle them through fake appendages.

To wit:

LOS ANGELES -- A jury acquitted a man of smuggling endangered iguanas in his hollowed-out prosthetic leg but convicted him of concealing and possessing the endangered species.

The amazing part: These lizards cost as much as a used Honda.

Lawbreaker Triathlon

Call this one Miami driver's version of a triathlon.

He sped. He ran. He swam.

All to get away from trooper - who clocked him going 122 m.p.h. in a 55 zone.

Man sells seniors crouton crack

First we had people smoking green crack on St. Patty's Day.

Now, Jacksonville cops have busted a man for selling fake crack to -- wait for it -- old people.

The Smoking Gun reports 22-year-old Hillman Arnold was arrested at the Golden Retreat Center, a senior-citizen community. He had been selling them "rocks" of stale bread for $5 a pop, trying to pass it off as crack.

Cops say Arnold had been peddling his yeasty wares at the senior center for two months to pay for his marijuana addiction.

Parents argue over tot's gang

Some parents plan for college as soon as their kids are toddlers.

Others, apparently, plan their child's gang affiliation.

Colorado police arrested Joseph Manzanares last week after he threatened to kill his girlfriend at the video store where she worked, KMGH Denver reports.

The girlfriend told police they had been arguing about child rearing - she is a member of the Crips and Manzanares belongs to the Westside Ballers.

"They have different ideas on how the baby should be raised,'' Commerce City police Sgt. Joe Sandoval told KMGH. ""Basically, she said they cannot agree on which gang the baby would 'claim.'"

I don't think that's Pine-Sol

Sometimes people are just morons.

Exhibit A: Police say woman showed up drunk to clean their office

From The Oregonian:

A Newport woman allegedly showed up drunk to her janitorial job [Wednesday] night.

That may not sound like news, but 42-year-old Ruby Ann Pedersen's job is to clean up the Newport Area Command office of the Oregon State Police.

Here's the kicker: She brought her 12-year-old son to work with her.

Just horsin' around

I'll be back next week for your full-time crime-blogging enjoyment. Until then, I couldn't resist sharing this with you from my perch in Tallahassee:

Police arrested a dude in Tampa early Sunday morning for punching a police horse in the butt.

No word yet on whether the horse was injured (that's not him pictured at left), or what the hell Carl Coward, 24, was thinking when he did it.

Police said Coward (nice name, right?) balled his fist and punched the horse in its back right hip area during a patrol operation in Ybor City about 3:15 a.m. Sunday. He was charged with offenses against a police animal and was released on $500 bond.

This is your life, Part 2

Last week, I blogged about a father who drowned his three young children in a Baltimore hotel. As an aside, I was a groomsman at a wedding in that hotel a few years back.

Today, San Angelo, Tex., my home for seven months, leads the Today Show.

From the San Angelo Standard-Times (where I got my first full-time job):

Local and state officials entered the temple of a secretive polygamist sect late Saturday, said lawmen blockading the road to the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado.

The action comes hours after local prosecutors said officials were preparing for the worst because a group of FLDS members were resisting efforts to search the structure.

The Texas Department of Public Safety trooper and Schleicher County sheriff’s deputy confirmed that officials have entered the temple but said they had no word on whether anything occurred in the effort.

The incursion into the temple caps the three-day saga of the state’s Child Protective Services agency removing at least 183 women and children from the YFZ Ranch since Friday afternoon. Eighteen girls have been placed in state custody since a 16-year-old told authorities she was married to a 50-year-old man and had given birth to his child.

I never came in contact with this group, but it doesn't suprise me that it exists. For those of you that have only ever lived in South Florida, there are entire swaths of this country that are nothing but barren, open land. When I lived in Texas, they were offering property at something like $1,000 an acre. Here, that's the going rate per square foot in some condos.

People always asked me what San Angelo was near. I had to explain to them that San Angelo was near San Angelo. It was the biggest city in a 120-mile radius. It's most famous resident: Matthew McConaughey, who owns a ranch nearby.

People keep to themselves in West Texas and have a live-and-let-live philosophy. It's the kind of place where a Big Love-style sect could operate, and no one know about it.

I've been a bad blogger

Sorry for the recent silence. You know how things are.

You'll forgive me after you watch this.

Ouch.

No clothes, no problem

This New Zealand officer was really determined to stop a thief trying to steal his car in the middle of the night.

He ran outside naked -- holding only a torch -- to chase after the man.

"The offender...startled by the sight of a naked constable with just a torch coming towards him, took off," local police were quoted as saying in the Reuters story.

The would-be car thief was arrested a short time later by other cops.

Third graders plot teacher's demise

Seriously.

From FirstCoastNews.com:

WAYCROSS, GA -- It's the type of news you don't expect to hear coming out of an elementary school. Nine third grade students suspended at Center Elementary in Waycross for an alleged plot to attack their teacher.

"This plot was uncovered at the point that something dangerous was brought to the school," says Lt. Dwayne Caswell with Waycross Police.

Police say the students were hatching a plan to harm their teacher Friday morning. They even brought items from home to carry out the plan.

"They had a broken steak knife, a crystal paper weight, toy handcuffs, several items and tape and stuff," says Lt. Caswell.

According to another story, each student had a specific role, including one who was assigned to clean up the blood.

Can't you see the blackboard now? It's like something out of The Simpsons...

I will not try to kill my teacher with a steak knife.

I will not try to kill my teacher with a steak knife.

I will not try to kill my teacher with a steak knife.