Legal Juice

This Florida woman has never been luckier. Actually, her estranged husband was lucky too. What is The Juice talking about? Check this out, from the Hillsborough County [Florida] Sheriff's Office:

On May 19, 2013 at approximately 1:27 a.m., the defendant, Julio Villanueva-Vasquez used a tool to puncture the tires of a friend who was visiting the defendant’s estranged wife. The defendant then went to the main entry of the residence and used a tool to attempt to pry the door open. The victim heard strange noises at the door and observed the defendant through the window crouched down. The victim opened the door to take a picture as proof of the defendant being there. The defendant rushed in uninvited.

Here's where the luck comes in.

The defendant and the victim engaged in a physical struggle before the defendant pulled a semi-auto handgun from his waist area. He then pulled the trigger after pointing the gun at the victim’s chest. The gun did not fire so he racked the slide twice and fired twice more, but the gun malfunctioned. The defendant fled on foot.

Three misfires? That's some serious luck.

The victim sustained a small laceration to the face. She positively identified Villanueva-Vasquez as her attacker. A domestic violence injunction was in effect against the defendant. He was located at his residence and arrested without incident.

You'll find the source, including a mug shot, here.

First of all, is The Juice the only one who didn't know some Walmarts are open 24 hours? Maybe if they had more "associates" working, things like this wouldn't happen. Per The Belleville News-Democrat (Illinois):

According to police reports, two men walked into the [Wal-Mart store in Collinsville] at about 3:20 a.m. They each grabbed a TV and walked out of the store without paying. They got into a car where another man was waiting and fled the scene. The vehicle was described as a blue 1986 Chevrolet station wagon with license plate number R309361.

It's probably a stolen car, right? Well, maybe not ...

The description of the suspects' vehicle matches a car that police said was used in a similar robbery May 6 at the Best Buy electronics store in Fairview Heights.

The men are still at large, though probably not for long. Here's the source.

Everyone knows nicotine is physically addictive. But check out what these gents went through just to get some cigarettes, per ThePoliceNews.net:

La Marque, Texas -- Police are looking for two men who pulled pistols on a convenience store clerk and made off with a supply of cigarettes valued at about $100.

The pair of black men, dress all in black and wearing ski masks pulled the robbery Wednesday morning at the Main Street Grocery Store in the 1600 block of FM 519, then fled on foot.

Police ask anyone with information about the two call La Marque Crime Stoppers (409) 938.8477

Ski masks and guns for $100 in cigarettes? That's a head-scratcher. Here's the source.

Everyone craves some type of food at one time or another. And although you may not consider Cheez-Its to be food, a New Hampshire man had a serious craving, and apparently no cash. So, according to The New Hampshire Union Leader ...

Officer Jacob Tyler was on patrol when he stopped to check on the business. When he pulled up, the clerk came out to tell him he had just been punched in the face. The officer noted redness around the clerk's eye.

The clerk told Tyler he saw a man go out the door after hiding a three-ounce bag of Cheez-It in his pants. The clerk confronted him outside, the two got into a struggle, and the shoplifter punched him in the face and then ran off.

The thief is described as a white man, 6-foot to 6-foot-2 and weighing about 220 to 230 pounds. He wore a black hat and black shirt, both with white designs on them. He also wore black jean shorts with a white belt and white socks.

Two things: Clerk, you pursued a good-sized man over a bag of Cheez-Its? and Thief, you punched a guy in the face over a bag of Cheez-Its?

A man and a woman were also with him, the clerk said. Police located them in front of the Carpenter Memorial Library, 405 Pine St.

One of them, April Skinner, 18, of 800 Union St., was arrested after police say she became agitated, repeatedly shouted obscenities and refused to quiet down, drawing the attention of others inside the library.

She was arrested after a brief struggle with officers on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Perhaps the group is bound together by their common lack of good judgment.

Police said they expect to obtain warrants for the arrest of the shoplifter, who they declined to identify.

Here's the source.

That's not a question this man will want to answer. Why? Because the answer is ... dognapping. As reported by The Sun Sentinel:

A canine con man was busted Wednesday after trying to extort an $8,000 cash ransom from a North Naples woman in exchange for her two white 3-year-old Samoyeds, Ava and Snowdot, according to a news release from the Collier County Sheriff's Office.

On Monday, a man, later identified as Dathan Charles Cyr, sent a text message to the woman asking her if she was still looking for her two lost dogs that had been missing since April 14th when they got lost, deputies said.

The brokenhearted woman reportedly had placed ads in local publications and passed out fliers offering a reward for her lost pooches.

The woman answered the mysterious texter, who claimed to be a Latina female named 'Diana' who lived in Immokalee, that she was still looking for her dogs. 'Diana' claimed to have the dogs, the release stated.

'Diana' then allegedly threatened to shoot the dogs if the woman wouldn't pay the $8,000 ransom.

You bastard!

So the woman contacted deputies who devised a plan to collar the doggie-napper.

A meeting with 'Diana' was arranged, and on Wednesday an envelope was dropped off at a designated location in Naples chosen by 'Diana."

Clearly "Diana" never watches TV.

When 'Diana", aka Dathan Charles Cyr, showed up five minutes later and snatched the envelope, deputies stationed nearby put a leash on the suspect and later hauled him the The Big Dog House, according to the report.

For added measure a detective dialed the phone number that the suspect used to call the woman...and the cell phone in Cyr’s car's center console began to ring, according to deputies.

Boom!

Cyr reportedly later 'fessed up to the crime in an interview with detectives.

Here's the source, including a mug shot, and photos of the dogs.

So do you think someone can get jail time for watching a cartoon? Would it make any difference if the cartoons were sexual? Decide for yourself, after reading this from stuff.co.nz:

Ronald Clark downloaded the Japanese anime cartoons three years ago, setting in train events that would see him in court in Auckland and jailed for three months for possessing objectionable material, and sparking debate as to what harm is caused by digitally created pornography.

That's a yes. Perhaps a little background will assist you, perhaps not.

Clark has previous convictions for indecently assaulting a teenage boy and has been through rehabilitation programmes, but the video nasties he was watching in this case were all cartoons and drawings. He says the videos came from an established tradition of Japanese manga and hentai (cartoon pornography), a massive, mainstream industry in that country.

They weren't even depictions of people - Clark's lawyer Roger Bowden described them as "pixies and trolls" that "you knew at a glance weren't human". Bowden said the conviction for possessing objectionable material was "the law gone mad".

However, while the cartoon characters were elves and pixies, they were also clearly young elves and pixies, which led to concerns the images were linked to child sexual abuse.

So what do you think? If you're uncertain, you can read more (a fair amount) here.

Someone hits your car on purpose. Of course, you get all the pertinent information. If you're this guy, that would not be the license plate, type of car, etc. Per sfgate.com:

A woman intentionally rammed her car into a man’s car while arguing over a parking spot in the Haight, but the victim was so focused on her low-cut dress that all he could describe to officers afterward were her breasts, San Francisco police said Thursday.

The woman drove away after hitting the man’s car at Haight and Cole streets at 5 p.m. Tuesday, said Park Station Officer Al Wu. The man couldn’t tell officers what kind of car it was, let alone supply a license-plate number, but he “was able to give a detailed description of the suspect’s cleavage,” police said.

No one has been arrested.

And nobody every will be. Here's the source.

Have you ever heard of a charge for DWM? It stands for Driving While ... This is some seriously aberrant behavior, and incredibly dangerous. Check out this story from WJHL in Kingsport, TN:

Three women testified against former Mount Carmel Vice-Mayor William Blakely, graphically recounting times he exposed himself while driving. News Channel 11 had the only reporter in court for Thursday's preliminary hearing in Kingsport.

"I was scared that I was gonna wreck, he was gonna cause me to wreck," witness Deborah Sturgill said.

"It seems that every victim would tell the same story. But I knew all the victims did not know each other," Kingsport Police Detective Terry Christian said.

Yikes.

Personal accounts in Thursday's testimonies started the same - Blakely allegedly waving to get the drivers' attention, then escalating to honking and partially crossing over into the drivers lane.

Certainly a little scary.

"Waving, grabbed his shirt, kind of pulled it up," witness Deanna Dykes said.

Now it's getting creepy too.

"After the waving, it turned into a lot of beeping, him grabbing his chest area, and asking me going 'please, please' (clasping hands together) with his hands, may I... show me yours," witness Kelly Street said.

Creepier.

Each witness testified they were fearful Blakely's driving would cause an accident. "He was taking his hand, wetting his mouth, and masturbating," Sturgill said. "At over 90 miles per hour, he had his penis out [the window]... he was masturbating

Well, there's the "M" part of "DWM." So after all of those incidents, how did he get caught?

... and that's when it got really, really bad. I wouldn't look over any more, and I wrote his tag number down on my hand, which I believe he noticed, and he exited very quickly," Street said.

Bam!

Detective Terry Christian says it's Street's writing down of the license tag number that served as a catalyst for William Blakely's charges.

"It went on for so long an nobody's addressed it," Christian said, referring to the dozens of phone calls the department has received over the course of three or four years - she said, related to Blakely's behavior. Ages of the alleged victims range from 16-65. Christian says Thursday marked a turning point, when three women, out of what's said to be many more - conquering fear and embarrassment.

Nice job, ladies. Dude was an accident waiting to happen. You can read more here.



Yeah, it does seem like an oxymoron. Decide for yourself. (Please, MADD, no emails. Of course The Juice is against drunk driving. Is anyone in favor of it?) Here's the skinny, per TheIndyChannel.com:

Just before 12:30 a.m. Monday, the Jasper County Sheriff's Department received a 911 from a man reporting that he was drunk and needed to be taken off the roadway.

Say what? He must have been stinking drunk to do that, right?

A trooper found Matthew Devore, 24, in his vehicle on the side of Interstate 65 northbound near the 226 mile marker. Devore told the trooper he was sick of Indiana so he decided to go for a drive. Police determined Devore lost control of his car and drove into the grassy median.

He was able to drive out, but he told police he realized one of his tires was flat and decided to call 911 to report himself.

So how drunk was he?

Devore's blood-alcohol content tested at 0.09 percent, police said, and he was arrested on a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

The legal limit in Indiana? .08. Here's the source, including a mug shot.

It's party time, and you have no booze. Now maybe it was a one-man party, or maybe a bit larger. Regardless, the gent had to get some booze. Apparently not the violent type, he got a little creative, per The Brooklyn Paper.

Someone cut a hole in the ceiling of the a Moore Street liquor store and ran off with several bottles of scotch and a wad of cash on March 25.

The owner of the spirits shop between Graham Avenue and Humboldt Street told police that he when he opened the store at 10 am, he found a giant hole cut into his ceiling and about $500 worth of cash gone, as well as 12 bottles of Johnny Walker Black.

Not cool, but it sure beats a stick-up. And Black ain't Blue, but at $30+ a bottle, it ain't cheap either.

Some might say this story is dripping with irony. The Juice respectfully disagrees, believing instead that it is dripping with poetic justice. As reported by The Santa Cruz Sentinel:

A thief stole the bike of a teenage boy as the teen and a friend were being arrested for allegedly trying to pawn a stolen violin Friday morning, Santa Cruz police reported.

Boom! You would think that this kid, especially this kid, would know that, hey, people will steal things, especially unlocked things.

The boys, both 17-year-old Santa Cruz residents, went to a Mission Street music store and tried to sell the violin, which had been reported stolen during a car burglary on the Westside the night before, police said.

A store employee alerted police and an officer came to arrest the teens on suspicion of possessing stolen property. While that was going on, someone stole one of the boys' bikes, which was outside the music shop, police said.

The boys were booked into Juvenile Hall. Their names were not released because they are minors. The stolen bike wasn't found, but the violin was returned to its owner.

Here's the source.

Not only did this young woman visit her husband in the Penitentiary, but she also brought their infant son, and ... a gift! The folks at The Lincoln Journal Star reported it this way:

A state prison inmate's wife faces a charge herself after allegedly getting caught trying to deliver marijuana during a visit in January. Lakeisha Davis, 20, of Omaha is accused of delivery of marijuana, which carries a one- to 20-year sentence if she's convicted.

In an affidavit for Davis' arrest, Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Officer Benny Noordhoek said Penitentiary staff confiscated a small package of marijuana from Michael Benson during a visit Jan. 13 with his wife and infant son.

It would appear that they may have gotten away with it, but ...

About 20 minutes after the visit started, he said, staff became suspicious of how Benson and Davis were behaving.

A check of video surveillance showed Davis putting something in Benson's pants pocket, Noordhoek said. He said prison staff took Benson to a strip search room, where Benson threw a bag of marijuana to the floor.

Fortunately for their infant son ...

Davis was allowed to leave that day. Earlier this month, a warrant went out for her arrest.

Whatever you think about weed, it's still illegal in most states. This was just plain idiotic, even more so for a presently single mom. Here's the source.

Where is the absolute best place for a fight to occur? Think about access to medical care. From The Arab Times:

KUWAIT CITY, March 16: Four citizens, including two youths, sustained serious injuries when two families of 30 Kuwaitis engaged in a bloody fight at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, reports Al-Qabas daily.


Sources said police rushed to the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital after the Operations Department of the Interior Ministry received information about the fight, and arrested several participants and referred them to Jabriya police station.


Apparently, the fight started due to a dispute between a man and his ex-wife, and sources said the man was in hospital for treatment due to injuries he sustained in a traffic accident. The man is said to have argued with his ex-wife who happened to be in the hospital at that period and he started beating her, so members of the two families rushed to the hospital and started fighting.

Yikes.

In the world of 911 operators, this probably wasn't even that wacky of a call. Still, it was really stupid. It's almost like you'd have to be drunk to do something this dumb. Per clickorlando.com:

A Brevard County mother was arrested after she called 911 and asked dispatchers to sends officers to scare her children, police said.

You know, it's not so easy raising teenagers. Wait, the kids are how old?

According to jail records, Melissa Townsend, 27, was arrested Tuesday after making the call to emergency officials about her kids, ages 1 and 3.

Doh.

"I need a police officer to come out and scare the (expletive) out of my kids," Townsend said on the 911 call. "They're not listening to me and they need to learn respect. They need to learn that lesson."

Yeah, if you start letting them disrespect you at age 1, who knows how they'll turn out?

The dispatcher told the upset mother that police would not do what she asked. "We don't come out and scare kids," the dispatcher said.

Police responded to Townsend's Indian Harbour Beach home and found the mother drunk, officials said.

And if this behavior wasn't troubling enough, check this out:

Police said when they tried to arrest Townsend she kicked an officer in the groin multiple times.

That there's about the worst kind of resisting arrest.

Townsend was booked into the Brevard County Jail on several charges, including child neglect and battery on a law enforcement officer.

Click here for the source, which includes a mug shot.

These gents only wish they had the opportunity to grill under the influence. Alas, their plan was foiled by Johnny Law. As reported by tcpalm.com:

Police officers were fairly certain they had recovered a stolen gas barbecue grill when they saw two intoxicated men pushing it up the road late one night this week.

You'd have to drunk to think that wouldn't look suspicious.

The officers couldn’t immediately connect to the grill to its home. However, police used a crime website called Uneighbors.com to send out an alert about the recovered grill and heard back from its owner within a day.

Drunk people often make bad choices, followed by more bad choices ...

The series of events started Monday when two North Carolina men on foot in the 3700 block of Mockingbird Lane stole the grill from a home, police said. About 10:50 p.m., a patrolman saw the men pushing the grill in the 500 block of Fiddlewood Road. Jacob Cecelski, 19, of Carolina Beach, N.C., and Riley Brenner, 20, of Wilmington, N.C., wouldn’t give the officer straight answers about where the grill came from and also gave him false names, police said.

Both were charged with misdemeanors for disorderly intoxication and giving false names while detained. They eventually admitted to stealing the grill, but couldn’t remember which house, police said.

Here's the source, with mug shots.

The gent says he just wanted to talk with the preacher. Well sir, it is alleged that a little more than that happened one day back in February 2012, as reported by knoxnews.com:

Andrew Byrd filed a lawsuit Feb. 15 in Sevier County against the Rev. Joel Arwood, his wife Theresa Arwood and deacon Charles Shields, all of Sevierville, as well as the Family Chapel Church of God and the Church of God International.

So what happened?

According to the lawsuit, Shields and the Arwoods asked Byrd on Feb. 21, 2012, to attend a meeting at Family Chapel Church of God, 1038 Charlotte’s Court in Pigeon Forge. During the meeting, Theresa Arwood said Byrd had a “demon or spirit that needed to be cast out,” according to the lawsuit.

“Thereafter, Joel Arwood and Charles Shields physically assaulted (Byrd) , while being encouraged by the shouts of Theresa Arwood,” Byrd states in the lawsuit.

According to a Sevier County Sheriff’s Office report, Byrd suffered a broken tooth, bruising and lacerations to the face, and pain and lasting injury to his back and leg.

Yikes.

Byrd alleges the pastor later bragged to the congregation that he had “punched the devil and knocked the devil’s tooth out.”

Byrd alleges in the lawsuit that Joel Arwood then “published” allegations accusing Byrd of murdering three people in Sevier County, including a 16-year-old girl, and having a contract to kill two more people, knowing that the statements were false.

Should be one helluva trial. Here's the source.

Continue reading "Wait, So You Didn't Want The Deluxe Exorcism Package?" »

You probably know that, in many jurisdictions, crimes committed against the elderly are treated more seriously, and thus punished more severely. So, what happens when an elderly person commits the crime? Leniency? As reported by The Cleveland Plain Dealer:

A 70-year-old Hinckley Township man is accused of robbing the Huntington Bank on Center Road. Hugh Crouch is charged with aggravated robbery.

Yikes!

Brunswick police were called at 1:13 p.m. Tuesday to the bank at 3630 Center Road. Officers encountered the suspect leaving in a 2009 Chevrolet Silverado and tried to pull it over.

The driver kept going. Brunswick officers were joined by Medina and Medina Township officers, Medina County deputies and state troopers. The chase ended on East Smith Road in Medina, where Crouch was arrested after the Silverado struck a Brunswick police car.

"Now officer, do I look like a bank robber?" Perhaps not, but ...

Additional charges are being considered.

Here's the Plain Dealer article.

On Valentine's Day, this is how you treat your fiancee? The Juice hopes they did not put any wedding-related deposits down. From The Union Leader:

Gary Cormier, 41, of 515 Hall St., is accused of first threatening his fiancee on Valentine's Day and, after being released on bail, stalking her.

Yikes.

Cormier is accused of jumping out in front of the woman's vehicle on Hall Street and pounding on the hood and when she put the vehicle in reverse, opening the door and trying to pull her out, scaring her.

After his release on bail, he is accused of returning to the Hall Street address. Police prosecutors then filed a motion to revoke Cormier's bail on the first charge. "Because I went home," Cormier said.

Cormier will be held without bail until a hearing Tuesday in Circuit Court, Manchester District Division.

To Mr. Cormier's credit ...

At his arraignment Friday in Circuit Court, Cormier said: "I'd like to pleady guilty and get it over with." Told each charge carries a sentence of up to one year, Cormier said: "If I go to jail for a year, I go to jail."

To the judge's credit ...

The judge refused to accept a guilty plea, telling Cormier he needs to talk to a lawyer. Cormier agreed and trial was set for March 21.

You'll find the source here.

Continue reading "So, Does That Mean The Wedding Is Off?" »

When you're a burglar, going to the same well twice is going once too often.

A Madrid man faces multiple felony charges after he allegedly stole coins and cash during two separate home invasions, St. Lawrence County sheriff’s deputies said.

Yeah, they were separate home invasions, but invasions of the same home!

Jeffrey R. Lavare, 29, of 401 Haig Road, was charged with two counts of second-degree burglary, fourth-degree grand larceny and petit larceny.

Deputies said Lavare entered a residence located on the Elliot Road and stole coins value at more than $1,000. Deputies said he returned to the residence at a later date and stole coins and cash valued at about $350.

You'll find the source here, at North Country Now (Potsdam, New York).

Okay, The Juice ran out of material, so he just flat-out made this up. Ha! No, loyal readers, sadly this is a true story. From The Toronto Star, we have this story of a tremendous waste of government resources.

On a Monday evening in October 2011, 62-year-old Kathryn David returned to her home near Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Eglinton Ave. She pulled into the shared driveway between her home and that of her neighbour, Kevin Cooper. According to the judge’s decision, she got out of her car to move Cooper’s hose that went along the side of Cooper’s house and under a tall wooden gate to the backyard. Eventually, she tugged on the hose, causing it to catch on a patio chair in Cooper’s backyard and tear.

No big thing, you might think? What if The Juice told you this, this awful act was caught on videotape? Right, still no big thing, or ... was it?

The incident was caught on video surveillance cameras set up by Cooper and he called the police to report property damage. David was then handcuffed and taken to a police station in the back of police car, says her lawyer, Erec Rolfe.

What? Why?

That is standard procedure, says Toronto Police spokesperson Victor Kwong, adding that “if the public wants us to be police and not be judge and jury, we go ahead with the charge regardless of dollar amount. And then it’s up to the courts to decide whether to mediate this or go to trial with it.”

The Juice isn't blaming the cops, just the geniuses who set up this ridiculous, overly-inclusive procedure.

“The criminal charges were laid against our neighbour following a detailed police investigation and an independent decision by the Crown prosecutor to pursue those charges,” said Cooper and his wife Sylvia by email late Tuesday night.

So what happened?

“Fortunately for the Toronto Police Service, the Supreme Court of Canada has said that stupidity in relation to the law and negligence is not a case for malicious prosecution.” said Provincial Court Justice William Wolski before dismissing the charge, according to a transcript. “Why these charges were laid is still a mystery to me.”

Next case! Here's the source, including a photo of the scene of the crime.