Legal Juice

Dude could have earned $100 many times over with all the effort he put into trying to collect $100 he claims a woman owes him. As reported at www.phillyburbs.com:

A Falls man is accused of sending a woman 75 text messages threatening to set her house on fire, bomb her house and harm the woman’s special needs child if she didn't pay off a $100 debt.

Say what? Let's break it down.

Edward Mellor, 40, at first was charged with disorderly conduct following a confrontation at the woman’s house on West Bridge Street in Morrisville Friday night. That's when he allegedly punched and kicked open the woman's front door, then fought with one of her friends.

Still, he didn't stop texting or calling her, police said.

Done? Nope.

He even posted a Facebook message saying that Morrisville police let him go Friday night and “there isn’t anything they can do,” according to the affidavit.

Mellor told the woman he would “put her in a grave” and get his “biker buddies” to “get her," according to a probable cause affidavit.

And it appeared - to Mr. Mellor - that it worked.

The woman called police and then sent Mellor a text message with a photo of a $100 bill and told him to come get his money. Mellor responded saying he’d be right over and wanted no cops, police said.

Right, no cops. Uh-huh.

But police in an unmarked car were waiting outside the woman's home and took Mellor into custody when he arrived.

Doh!

Mellor now faces charges of terroristic threats, harassment and disorderly conduct. He was arraigned Saturday before Warminster District Judge Daniel Finello Jr. and sent to Bucks County prison in lieu of 10 percent of $100,000 bail.

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

Well, yes, the family that drinks together often does get drunk together. And they do stick together too. As reported by timesonline.com (Beaver, PA):

Rochester police said [Jason Dean] Sheets [25] Sheets and John William Moore Jr., 47, also of 300 Jackson St., Apartment 31, were pumping gas at Sheetz on Adams Street on May 1 when they began harassing a young black man in the store. The two men followed the man out of the store and an argument started, police said.

Not cool.

When officers arrested Sheets, he began to struggle, yell and swear at them, the police report said. Once inside the police car, Sheets tried to kick out the windows and slammed his head against the glass partition, police said.

And mom just stood by and ... no?

[Annette Marie] Davis [44], who is Sheets’ mother, became irate during the arrest and also began to struggle with police and kick them in the legs.

Yikes. The charges?

Davis ... is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, and one count each of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.

Sheets ... is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, and one count each of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.

What about Mr. Moore?

Moore, who was driving the vehicle Sheets and Davis were riding in, was charged with drunken driving.

Here's the source.

This young man may have done his stepfather a favor by expediting his own eviction, albeit in a mean and uncool manner. As reported by The Tampa Bay Times:

Jorge Jonathan Cruz-Blanco [19 years old] was mad because he knew the eviction notice was coming, his stepfather told deputies, according to a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report.

Kenneth Pangborn said his stepson didn't have a job and wasn't going to school, so he was kicking him out.

Mr. Cruz-Blanco was not pleased.

The report said Cruz-Blanco threw things around the house and shoved 72-year-old Pangborn to the ground. Cruz-Blanco stepped outside to wait for deputies when he heard Pangborn calling 911.

When they arrived, Cruz-Blanco explained that he had to use the bathroom while he was waiting, so he pulled down his pants and left the mess on the porch.

He pooped on the porch. That's just not cool.

Cruz-Blanco, of New Port Richey, was arrested on a charge of battery on a person over 65. He remained Tuesday at the Land O'Lakes jail without bail.

That'll make the eviction a whole lot easier. Here's the source, including a mug shot.

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.



Well sir, this young man went on one hell of a tear. As reported by timesonline.com (Beaver, PA):

The incident began at 3:47 a.m. March 19 when police were summoned to a father and son dispute at 422 Moore Ave., [Brian Victor] Roppa’s residence. Roppa’s father, unidentified in the report, told police that Brian Roppa was intoxicated and driving.

Officer Derek Shipley of Baden stopped Roppa at the intersection of Moore and Berry Street. Shipley asked Roppa to turn off the engine and step from the car, according to the report. Roppa, citing God, refused.

Shipley leaned into Roppa’s car to take the keys and Roppa punched him in the jaw, according to the report. Shipley was knocked to the ground as Roppa sped away.

Ouch. He's going to hear it at the station ...

Roppa led a chase that involved officers from Baden, Conway, Freedom, Rochester and Beaver. Rochester officers placed spiked strips in front of Roppa, piercing the tires on the passenger side of the car, according to the report.

You think a couple of flat tires is going to stop this dude?

Roppa drove on two tires and two rims from Rochester to Industry, evading an attempted road block in Vanport Township, according to the report.

After he was stopped in Industry, Roppa kicked a Beaver officer in the knee. Police found marijuana and a pipe in Roppa’s jacket, and he admitted to taking Opana, a prescription pain reliever, according to the report.

Yikes. The charges?

In addition to the aggravated assault charges, Roppa is facing five counts of reckless endangerment, two counts of resisting arrest, two counts of fleeing from police, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and three counts of careless driving.

You'll find the source here.

Most folks know there are cameras EVERYWHERE. The US is becoming more like the UK this way with each passing day. Apparently this Florida woman is not aware of the phenomenon. Per the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office:

A Charlotte County Sheriff's deputy arrested a Port Charlotte Target employee Tuesday after security went back through surveillance video that showed her steal cash from her register 14 times totaling $2,300. Arrested for Grand Theft was Melissa A. Sayre, 29, 11798 Van Loon Avenue, Englewood East.

14 times!

Target security began checking archived surveillance video after Sayre’s cash register came up short starting Feb. 7 and continuing until Mar. 15. Sayre was called to the Target Offices to discuss the shortages; she admitted that she stole the money and was immediately terminated. The deputy arrived and arrested Sayer who said she took the money out of need to pay her rent and fix her car.

Here's a link to the story, which includes a mug shot.

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.

In this case, The Juice is willing to mete out some instant justice. Guilty!

Brought to you by the Colorado Springs Police Department Police Blotter:

CSPD received a report of a small SUV driving West in the 1700 Block of Woodman Rd that was weaving all over the roadway. The SUV crossed the median striking a Stop Sign and side swiping four other vehicles. The SUV turned South on Academy Blvd in the North bound lanes, continuing South to Dublin Blvd, where it turned West in the East bound lanes striking yet another vehicle. The vehicle continued traveling, pulling into the Sunflower Market at 1700 Dublin Blvd. Arriving Officers located and contacted the occupant, a 30 year old female, and began assessing her as a possible DUI driver.

With all that havoc, and the fact that she could have killed some folks, some time in the pokey is in order.

(The Juice is a personal injury lawyer practicing in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia.)

Surgery is scary enough. I'd like to know that my doctor is certain that operating while on crack would be a bad thing. It's not that California ear, nose and throat specialist Li Quang Nguyen actually operated while on crack, but check this out, as reported by the OC Register:

In July 2007, Dr. Nguyen was staying at the Howard Johnson Express in Huntington Beach. Police responded to a call that maids could not enter the locked room for cleaning. Police found Nguyen in a deep sleep. Police removed rock cocaine, a clear vial of liquid cocaine, a glass pipe and a lighter, the documents say.

Hard to say "what crack" in those circumstances, right?

Nguyen admitted to police that he had freebased cocaine the day before but said he was not "hooked," according to the documents. In April, he pleaded no contest to drug charges and was ordered to enter an 18-month treatment program.

Okay. Looking good, until the disciplinary hearing for his medical license...

... during his hearing, Nguyen said he knew nothing about the drugs and "went so far as to testify that he did not know if it would be dangerous to perform surgery under the influence of cocaine."

The board's disciplinary documents say, "He claimed he could not know if this would be dangerous since he had never tried it, but such an assertion made by a trained physician is simply preposterous and rather frightening."

What, what, what? Dr. Nguyen, who had a previous disciplinary action, had his license revoked. To read more, click here.

Please, if you are prone to being grossed out, stop here. Remember, The Juice warned you. So, it started with what appeared to be a routine suspected DUI. Then it got weird, and gross. As reported by The Durango Herald (Colorado):

According to an arrest affidavit, the events began at 11:59 p.m. Feb. 11 when a Durango Police Department officer observed a vehicle turn right onto 32nd Street from Main Avenue without using a turn signal.

The officer, Chad Langley, pulled Kausalik [a 31-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service who has been in Durango since 1982] over ...

While speaking to Kausalik, the officer detected alcohol on his breath, according to the affidavit. Kausalik said he had not been drinking.

Kausalik performed voluntary roadside maneuvers, but not to Langley’s satisfaction, the affidavit says.

A preliminary breath test indicated he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.142, almost three times the 0.05 legal driving limit in Colorado.

Fairly routine stop thus far. Man appears to be drunk, smells of alcohol, denies drinking, fails field sobriety test, fails initial BAC test.

Langley arrested Kausalik and took him to the Durango police station ... for a formal breath test.

Please, not the formal breath test...

At the station, Kausalik asked to use the restroom. Officer Langley twice found Kausalik asleep in the restroom.

He told Kausalik he could not stay in the restroom all night to avoid the breath test, and he needed to either take the test or choose a refusal.

Actually, there is another option, which could be considered a refusal of sorts ...

Kausalik eventually left the bathroom looking at the floor, walking toward the officer.

Langley asked Kausalik what was in his mouth, and he continued to walk toward the officer, head down and expressionless.

When Kausalik was about 4 feet from the officer, Kausalik looked up, opened his mouth and took a deep breath.

“As I observed what he had in his mouth, I took a step back and began turning my head as he violently spit the contents of his mouth toward my face,” officer Langley wrote in the affidavit. “I felt the matter [FECES!!!!!] strike the left side of my face and head.” Kausalik also had feces on his hands, the affidavit says.

If you're not completely grossed out, check your pulse. You can read the full story, and see the mug shot here.

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've probably heard someone say that TV is like a drug. Well, this story certainly bolsters that notion. Per the Northwest Florida Daily News:

Natasha Lynn Head, a 34-year-old Fort Walton Beach woman, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after she picked up a knife and told the victim he was going to leave "in a body bag," according to her Fort Walton Beach Police Department arrest report.

Yes, the fight started over a remote control!

She and the victim had been arguing over the television remote control, which he hid from her so she could not watch television in the bedroom, according to the report.

The victim said Head charged at him with the knife, which caused him to hide in the bathroom and call 911, the report said.

Her defense?

Head told police she never intended to harm the victim and only got the knife so she could break into the bathroom and get the remote.

What? Like you've never used a knife to open a door? Here's the source, mug shot and all.

The Juice really doesn't know where to start with this Maryland law, so here it is:

A person may not sell or offer for sale a contraceptive device, whether or not advertised as a prophylactic, by means of a vending machine or other automatic device at a kindergarten, nursery school ...

So, that means no "condom" slot in the soda machine? How will the teachers cavort safely? Maryland, what have you done? Click here to read the statute.

It's a big world, and there are lots of different fighting styles - boxing, kung fu, jujitsu (jiu-jitsu), MMA, taekwondo, to name a few. And then there's this gent's fighting style, unlikely to be replicated by anyone, ever. As reported by The Santa Cruz Sentinel:

A 24-year-old Santa Cruz man was arrested Sunday after police got a call complaining that a drunken man was being disruptive and challenging people to fight, police said.

Officers arrived near West Cliff Drive and Pelton Avenue near Lighthouse Field about 1:45 p.m. and found that Dimitri Z. Storm had encountered an opponent who took him up on his challenge to fight, Sgt. Dave Perry said.

Nothing out of the ordinary so far.

When the man didn't back down, Storm dropped his pants, exposing himself, and then inserted a finger in his own rectum, Perry said.

Whoa. That's going to make it kinda hard to fight, don't you think?

Police also found him with a small pair of brass knuckles and arrested him on suspicion of indecent exposure, with a prior, being drunk in public, fighting and possession of brass knuckles, records show.

Maybe he was reaching for the brass knuckles and missed, badly? You'll find the source here.

In addition to squirrel hunting and self defense ... add to the list of things an AK-47 is handy for ... disciplining your children! As reported by the Star Tribune:

A St. Paul man who recently purchased an assault rifle out of fear of an impending gun ban threatened his teenage daughter with it because she was getting two B's in school rather than straight A's, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday. Kirill Bartashevitch, 51, was charged in Ramsey County District Court with two felony counts of terroristic threats after alleging pointing an AK-47 at his daughter and wife during an argument over high school grades on Jan. 13.

Bartashevitch had recently purchased the rifle because he thought that such guns soon will be banned, the complaint said. He admitted to St. Paul police that he had pointed the gun at his wife and daughter but said it wasn't loaded and that he had checked the chamber beforehand.

He was just trying to scare them is all. What's the big deal?

"Any gun owner in America will tell you that's incredibly irresponsible," said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi. "You just don't point guns at people." Threatening someone with a gun is a crime of violence regardless of the type of weapon or whether it's loaded, Choi said.

Uh, um, sorry?

The incident took place at the family's house on Englewood Avenue. The girl's concerns came to light four days later at Central High School when a social worker received a report from a parent who was monitoring her son's electronic communications and read a message from the girl.

"Mom on Facebook saves the day!"

According to the complaint, the argument began when Bartashevitch berated his daughter for not making straight A's at school. The girl swore at her father and stated that she "hated" him. He then pointed his new AK-47 at the girl, the complaint said.

The mother said that when she tried to protect the girl, her husband pushed her to the floor.

And what does the dad do for a living? He works for the Minneapolis Public Schools. Maybe he can be reassigned as an armed guard ... Here's the source, including a photo.

A pack of cigarettes! She stole a pack of cigarettes! 22 years ago! People! Where is your sense of proportionality? As reported by wesh.com:

A mother of two sits in jail Monday unable to post bail after being put behind bars for the 1991 theft of a pack of cigarettes.

Jail? You couldn't release her on her own recognizance for this?

"Back in 1991, I shoplifted cigarettes from Walmart," Hall said.

So how'd they catch her now?

That 22-year-old crime followed her to Port Canaveral Thursday, where she was wrapping up a dream vacation with her husband and two kids.

The family had cruised aboard the Disney Dream, and authorities were waiting for her when they got back. "I was pulled to the side and told I had a warrant," Hall said.

Authorities said Hall had failed to pay the $85 in court costs when she was 18; and when authorities checked the ship's passenger list for terrorists, they found a warrant for Hall.

And to this even more ridiculous, check out the exemplary life Ms. Hall has led since her days as a career criminal ...

Since the theft, she had put herself through college, receiving a degree in architecture, and now she helps design jet engines for Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut.

Clearly she's a flight risk, right? What is wrong with these people? Here's the official explanation:

The Brevard County Jail will not let her post bail because it's an Orange County charge and she has to be transferred. However, because of the weekend and holiday, that might not be until Thursday.

That's a bunch of bureaucratic bullshit. The Juice is not pleased with this "case." Here's the source, including a video news story.

Prison? Marry this boy? Prison? Marry this boy? This is just so wrong. As reported by wgntv.com:

A school teacher in North Carolina had sex with a 15-year-old boy, but she avoided going to prison because she married him.

42-year-old Leah Gayle Shipman waited until her divorce was final, then married Johnny Ray Ison six days later. By that time, Ison was 17, and his mother had to give permission since her son was still a minor.

Shipman was facing 15 years in prison on charges of statutory rape; but now, under North Carolina law, Ison can’t be compelled to testify against his new wife.

Without his testimony, prosecutors have no case.

Here's the source, including a video news story.

Ah roommates. If you've ever had a roommate, and you say you've never had an argument, you're lying. Still, a knife? As reported in The Brooklyn Paper:

The victim told police that he knocked on his roommate’s door at their apartment between Norman and Nassau avenues at 12:30 am and asked him to lower the volume of his tunes.

Seems like a reasonable request.

The two then started to fight ...

Uh oh.

... at which point the housemate grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the victim in hand, and then punched him in the head and face, cops said. The victim suffered a deep cut on his hand and bleeding and swelling to his face and was taken to Woodhull Hospital.

It wasn't enough to stab him?

Police say that when they arrived at the house, they found the knife in the kitchen sink.

Hey, at least he's not a slob too. The charge: assault. "Wanted: Quiet, considerate, non-knife-wielding roommate."

The Juice wasn't there, but that's never stopped him from passing judgment before. This seems like a harmless prank. What do you think? As reported by The Sun News (at Cleveland.com):

A Northfield boy, 17, was arrested Dec. 17 and charged with disorderly conduct after he alarmed shoppers at Nordstrom in Beachwood Place.

The boy's method of alarming involved putting on a Batman mask and red sunglasses on his face and a hood covering his head and then running full speed through the shopping area. Police were called and took the boy from the store.

The Juice doesn't see the harm, though he does see the source, which is here.