Crime Scene

Today Christmas feels like Halloween

Christmas Day can be scary. Here are some of the dangers you should watch out for:

EVIL SANTAS

How do you explain to a child that a man dressed as Santa wasn't really Santa?

All over the news on Christmas day: A Santa impersonator killed at least five people, set a house on fire during a Christmas Eve party, and later killed himself.

THE CRAZED NEPHEW

And for one family in Overtown, a terrible nightmare: A man used a table to savagely beat his aunt and then used a rope to kill her on Christmas Eve.

The man said he was bothered by his aunt's Joy meddling.

MERCILESS SNOW

However dysfunctional your family may be, Christmas is about being together. Still there are thousands stuck at airports around the U.S. trying to get home.

Who knows? This may have prevented murders.

DANGEROUS TOYS

The good news: No deadly toys this year.

Although, The Miami Herald's Evan Benn reported a 10-year-old girl and her 15-year-old brother got hurt while playing with an ATV they got for Christmas last year.

There are still eight more hours for Christmas day to end. Please stay safe.

Man steals fire truck to get to mom for Christmas

Some people will go to great lengths to get home for Christmas.

A Utah man decided to steal a $500,000 fire truck for the ride.

While he tried to drive off in the massive rig he hit the horn.

The blaring noise alerted the firefighters, who were on a medical call at the time.

He tried to put the truck in reverse and almost hit an ambulance. Then he scuffled with firefighters trying to restrain him.

"Both my firefighters were engaged in a brawl with this guy,'' South Salt Lake Fire Chief Steve Foote told the Deseret News. "It was a pretty hairy scene there for a while.''

The 25-year-old man told authorities, he just wanted to get to Washington "to see his mom on Christmas.''

He might be spending Christmas in a jail cell instead - he was booked on two counts of assault on emergency medical workers, criminal mischief and unauthorized control of a vehicle.

Beauty queen in handcuffs

There comes the gracious beauty queen waving with a smile.

Wait, this one is in a truck filled with guns and ammunition?

Her escorts: Suspected gang members.

Instead of flowers, the truck she was riding in had two AR-15 assault rifles, 38 specials, 9mm handguns,  nine magazines, 633 cartridges and $53,300 -- amongs other things. 

I guess Mexico's Miss Sinaloa 2008 may not be going to the Miss Universe contest after all.

Fla. woman jailed after biting hubby's penis

Let's get this out right off the bat: There is nothing funny about domestic violence or sexual abuse.

Now, let's talk about this story out of Deltona: A 27-year-old woman was arrested after biting her husband's penis because she didn't want to have sex with him.

Charris Bowers (click the link above for a pic) told police she and husband Delou came home from a bar Friday night when Delou took off his clothes and tried to force himself on her.

Charris says she bit her husband's penis to get him away from her. The responding police officer saw the private-part injuries, photographed them for evidence, and charged Charris with misdemeanor battery.

*Thanks to Crime Scene's own Jen for the tip. Feel better, partner.

Man dies after ride with cop

A drifter named Anibal Ocasio flagged down a police officer near Indianapolis on Sunday night. Because it was freezing outside and Ocasio wasn't wearing warm clothes, the cop told Ocasio to get in his cruiser to warm up.

The officer then dropped off Ocasio at a nearby McDonald's, where his body was discovered the next morning by a garbage hauler. He died of natural causes.

The Indy Star reports that the cop wasn't able to drive Ocasio where he wanted to go because it was out of the cop's district, so he figured McDonald's would be the next best thing. The officer, a volunteer reserve Hamilton County deputy, did nothing wrong but feels bad about what happened, his bosses say.

Said department spokeswoman Vicky Dunbar: "We're not a taxi service." 

*Thanks to David for the tip.

A crime against chocolate lovers

In this case, I humbly accuse the French police of a terrible crime.

Custom agents seized 33,000 boxes of gold-foil-wrapped morsels of chocolate bonbons. Just picture it: Ten tons of coconut-filled dark chocolates and milk chocolate balls seating in some warehouse.

That is enough chocolate to fill all of my chocolate cravings for 2009.

Bad ham at health dept. holiday party

Restaurants don't usually have the benefit of knowing when the health department is coming.

One in southern Illinois did, and instead of rolling out the welcome mat, they sent dozens from the health department running to the bathroom.

"I'm telling you, it got me down,'' the head of the department, Phyllis Wells, told the Associated Press. "I about passed out and everything else. It's not been funny. It's taken the punch out of my whole Christmas.''

Though it hasn't been determined for sure, the likely cause of the malaise was diced ham from the salad bar. About 42 of the 72 people there had stomach problems after eating from the buffet. 

"It's just my luck,'' Wells said of the situation. "Usually, it's our job to investigate other things. But us getting sick is ironic.''

Oldest prisoner's rap sheet "like a book"

The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting obit over the weekend, memorializing Nicholas Montos, who died this month at 92 -- the oldest prisoner in Massachusetts.

Montos' criminal career began when he stole a saxophone at age 14 and stretched seven decades. He served time in Alcatraz, escaped from chain gangs and twice found himself on the FBI's Most Wanted list.

His specialty was cracking safes -- and it turned out to be his last act of criminal mischief.

According to the obit, Montos was 78 years old in 1995 when he tried to break in to the safe at a Newton, Mass., antiques store. The granny who owned the shop smacked Montos over the head with a bat, and the coppers hauled him off to jail, where he died Dec. 3, 2008.

*Thanks to Taylor for the tip.

Pigeon poop causes canopy collapse

Nothing like a blog about poop to start a Sunday morning.

Deputies in Arizona say an accumulation of pigeon droppings -- 4 or 5 inches to be exact -- led to the collapse of an awning at a Shell gas station.

Rain drenched the bird poop and the weight caused the canopy to buckle, authorities said.

It fell on a BMW and a Hummer.

No injuries were reported.

Hollywood PD sends cards to naughty

Gang members in Hollywood will get holiday well wishes from an unlikely source - the
police department.

The greeting cards (at left) are being sent to about 50 "at risk youth'' who said they were in a gang at the time of their arrest.

Along with the typical holiday pleasantries, the cards include addresses and phone numbers of the local Boys & Girls Club and Police Athletic League. It's the first year the department has sent the cards.

This from the press release sent out by the police department:

"The card contains a public service announcement in the form of a simple message. The message states that there are safe places to spend their free time and lists community based programs geared towards at risk youth.''