Legal Juice

Pranks are funny. But really, the only person who can prank a cop is … another cop. Tell it to these folks in Houston. As reported by khou.com …

Harris County deputies said they were initially called to a home in the 13600 block of Treebank Thursday night after reports of a domestic disturbance.

The deputies said they spoke with a couple who was in the home, resolved the situation and left.

But then, around 7 a.m. Friday, deputies received another call from the home.

When officers responded, they said they found the front door cracked open, so they went inside.

You might not want to …

… as they pushed the door open, a bucket fell on one of the deputies, and the others were splashed with liquid.

Alright, where are ya?!

The deputies called for backup, explaining that a bucket full of an unknown substance had fallen on them, and they were unsure if there were other traps in the home.

Other deputies and a bomb squad swarmed the scene. At one point, deputies drew their guns and surrounded the home. The bomb squad checked the home for other traps, but found none.

Whoa there. So what happened after all that?

In the end, though, deputies determined that the bucket was just full of water. No one was injured.

And the perps?

The occupants of the home were nowhere to be found, and no arrests were made.

Here’s the source.

Could there be a worse use of the one phone call you are allowed from jail? Okay, maybe if you made a bomb threat. But this is right up there. As reported by The Naperville (Illinois) Sun:

Carly A. Houston was taken to the Naperville police station over the weekend, after she allegedly became embroiled in a heated, early morning dispute with a taxicab driver.

A police officer dutifully supplied the 29-year-old Chicago woman with a telephone, instructing her she could make one call to find a relative or friend who could come to the station to post her bail.

Instead, Houston used her call to dial 911, which immediately connected her to Naperville police dispatchers. She pleaded for help, complaining she was “trapped inside the detention facility,” police said Monday.

Snap! Trapped in jail …

[This] earned her another criminal charge … for making a false 911 report.

It was not a good morning for Ms. Houston:

[Her] troubles began about 1:40 a.m. Sunday, when police were called to the BP service station at 901 N. Washington St., police Cmdr. Mike Anders said.

A cab driver there told police he had picked Houston up near the city’s downtown, and that she had instructed him to drive north on Washington Street, Anders said.

When the driver asked for her specific destination, Houston allegedly “yelled, screamed, cursed and extended (both) middle fingers at the cab driver and threatened bodily harm” against him, Anders said. He stopped at the gas station, where employees and patrons were also “alarmed and disturbed” by her reputed behavior, he said.

(source: e-boost consulting)

Not only did this gent have an interesting method of shoplifting shoes, but he took orders by text! As reported by www.fox41.com:

An arrest report for 36-year-old Sean A. Harrington lists him as “not employed,” but some may say that’s debatable after reading the description of his alleged crimes. Police say he was caught stealing merchandise from Rack Room Shoes on S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., near Six Mile Lane, on Friday afternoon. According to the report, Harrington was allegedly, “concealing shoes down the front of his pants” and left the store without paying.

It’s not uncommon for police officers to charge people who flip them off. When those people fight the charges, they win. But what about f-bombing a police officer? Well, that depends, as an Ohio woman recently found out. As reported in The Knoxville News Sentinel:

Dorthea Frazier’s son Cody was arrested by Akron police after a brief car chase. Dorthea Frazier yelled at the arresting officers: “What the f[uck] are you arresting my son for? What are you doing?” She then yelled at a lieutenant: “You f[uck]ing crooked a– cop” and “You’re a b[astard?].” [uncensored by The Juice].

The lieutenant apparently ordered her to desist from further yelling, but Frazier persisted. Officers on the scene testified that her cursing drew a growing crowd and presented a possibly dangerous situation.

Officers charged her with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. In the course of her arrest, she suffered a broken arm.

Her defense, of course, was the First Amendment. The result?

A jury found her guilty of disorderly conduct. During that trial, she requested a jury instruction on freedom of speech that read in part:

“In the event that you find that the Defendant’s conduct was Constitutionally protected free speech, then you must find the defendant not guilty. A person cannot be convicted of disorderly conduct based on the words the person has spoken because such speech is constitutionally protected unless the defendant’s words rise to the level of fighting words.

“A person cannot be convicted of disorderly conduct by the use of words because the First Amendment protects a significant amount of verbal criticism and challenge directed at police officers.”

The Judge refused the request. Ms Frazier appealed and … lost. You can read a lot more here.

Yes sir. These streakers were in for a real surprise when they ran into a police officer while streaking through a neighborhood in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. And they got what was coming to them, which was … nothing! As it should have been with this truly victimless crime. Per The Union Leader:

In a scene reminiscent of Will Ferrell’s run through the neighborhood au naturel in the movie “Old School,” a Greenland police officer working a construction detail on Bartlett Street early Monday morning got a surprise when a naked woman ran by him.

Portsmouth police responded around 3:30 a.m., and found a man also out and about without any clothes on. The pair said they were playing strip poker with friends and, as part of losing, had to run around the block in the buff.

When police brought the two back to retrieve their clothes, they found two other people in various stages of undress. The streakers got off with a warning.

Sanity!