True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Chicago Man With History of Impersonating Cops, Arrested Again

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Vincent Richardson

CHICAGO — A man who has been repeatedly arrested for impersonating a Chicago police officer — including once when he was just 14 — has been charged again with posing as a cop,  authorities said.

Vincent Richardson, 26,  is accused of pretending to be a Chicago police sergeant on three occasions in recent weeks and has been charged with felony impersonation of an officer. 

Richardson was first arrested in 2009 at age 14, when he was so convincing as a cop that he was assigned a radio and went on patrol with a real officer.  In that episode,  14 officers, including the captain running the watch during Richardson’s shift and seven sergeants, were brought up on departmental charges, the Chicago Tribune reported.

In 2013, at age 19, Richardson pretended he was an officer and was arrested when he tried to buy police equipment. 

And in 2015, at age 21, Richardson was arrested after police stopped his car while investigating a call of shots fired. He was wearing a protective vest and had a police duty belt, scanner, BB gun and stun gun in his possession. 

He received 18-month sentences for impersonating an officer after each offense.

Georgia Teacher Charged With Masturbating in Front of 19 Second Graders

By HardBoiledNews Staff

CARROLLTON, Georgia — A substitute teacher working at a Georgia elementary school has been busted for  allegedly masturbating in front of a classroom filled with 19 second graders, police said. 

Amelia Ressler, 30, was arrested after staff members at Mt. Zion Elementary School reported allegations of misconduct involving her engaging in “indecent and immoral acts while in the presence of school-aged children,” the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. 

The school is near Carrollton, a city about 54 miles west of Atlanta.

Investigators obtained photos and video of Ressler masturbating in front of a second-grade classroom, authorities said.

Investigators are continuing to conduct interviews with the 19 children who were present in the classroom during the alleged incident and additional charges could be added, police said.

“We appreciate the dedication Carroll County Schools has for the safety of their students as they are working diligently to communicate with all parents of students affected and we will continue to work closely with them during the remainder of the investigation,” the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Oklahoma Legislator Proposes Bill to Establish Bigfoot Hunting Season

By HardBoiledNews Staff

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma — It’s Bigfoot hunting season.

An Oklahoma state legislator has filed legislation to establish an official Bigfoot hunting season as a way to draw tourists.

The bill proposes to have the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Division establish annual dates of the season and set specific hunting licenses and fees.

“Tourism is one of the biggest attractions we have in my House district,” said State Rep. Justin Humphrey, a Republican from Lane, in southeast Oklahoma. “Establishing an actual hunting season and issuing licenses for people who want to hunt Bigfoot will just draw more people to our already beautiful part of the state. It will be a great way for people to enjoy our area and to have some fun.”

Humphrey said he doesn’t want people to actually kill Bigfoot, so he will be working with the state wildlife and tourism departments to craft final language for his bill that specifies only the trapping of Bigfoot. He also hopes to secure at least $25,000 that can be used as a bounty for the first person to trap the creature.

“A lot of people don’t believe in Bigfoot, but a lot of people do,” Humphrey said. “Just like some people like to go deer hunting, while some don’t.”

Humphrey said the town of Honobia, Oklahoma, already has an annual Bigfoot festival each October, so the hunting season ideally would coincide with that.

“Having a license and a tag would give people a way to prove they participated in the hunt,” Humphrey said. “Again, the overall goal is to get people to our area to enjoy the natural beauty and to have a great time, and if they find Bigfoot while they’re at it, well hey, that’s just an even bigger prize.”

Sick Border Agent Charged With Pouring Urine on Boss’ Desk on Last Day on Job

By HardBoiledNews Staff

TONAWANDA, New York — He crossed some serious borders here.

A former Border Patrol agent has been hit with federal charges after allegedly spraying urine on his supervisor’s desk on his last day on the job at a station on the Canadian border.

Prosecutors say Eduardo Flores Jr. was caught on camera splashing urine all over Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Brandon Steele’s desk, chair, keyboard, clothing, books and personal items, including picture frames, in the cubicle at the station in Tonawanda on Aug. 24.

Flores retired from the Border Patrol four days later and the day of the alleged vandalism was  Flores’ last day in the office.   

Steele, upon returning to work after three days off, “noticed an unpleasant scent” at the cubicle, according to the criminal complaint.

Video surveillance footage showed that Flores “began to spray/pour a substance throughout the cubicle” and over the supervisory agent’s belongings and “continued this action for about one minute,” the complaint states.   

Authorities said it cost $458 for a cleaning company to sanitize the cubicle.

Flores was charged with destruction of property. He faces up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.

Hungry Thieves Make Off With Brooklyn Restaurant’s Pasta

By HardBoiledNews Staff

NEW YORK —  Pasta la vista, baby.

A bolognese-loving burglar broke into a Brooklyn restaurant and made off with all its homemade pasta while leaving behind its pricey booze and kitchen equipment.

Workers at Borsalia — a recently opened eatery in Williamsburg — say the thief got inside the night of Christmas Eve by breaking the lock on a hatch on the sidewalk and then drilling a hole into the wall that separated the entrance from the kitchen.

Once inside, the thieves cleared out all 15 pounds of the restaurant’s pasta, which had been made the day before by the kitchen staff. The purloined pasta included ravioli, cappelletti, tagliatelle and gnocchi.

The haul was so unusual, that staffers didn’t even notice the pasta was gone until the cops arrived and were taking a close look around.

“We went downstairs and found this big hole in the wall…but everything in the restaurant was perfect,” Manager Cristiano Rossi told Patch. “When the police came we went into the kitchen and we opened the pasta storage — it was empty.”

He said that aside from the carbo-haul, the only other thing missing was about $40 from a tip jar

Rossi said cops fingerprinted the kitchen and collected camera footage from nearby businesses, but have not had any updates in the case since. He said Borsalia had not yet set up its own camera system since it opened only a month ago.

The heist left Borsalia’s kitchen crew working all day and night on Christmas to replace the pasta supply.

Rossi said the only reason he could imagine why someone would go to the trouble is because their pasta is so good.

“Our pasta is in high demand and is of the highest value,” he said.

Male Escort Admits Screwing Uncle Sam Out of Nearly $300K in Taxes

By HardBoiledNews Staff

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — You’ll never get away with trying to screw Uncle Sam.

A Florida man has pleaded guilty to stiffing the feds out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes from earnings he made working as a high-priced male escort, federal prosecutors said.

Authorities say Jami Kopacz, of Fort Lauderdale, admitted using his company, JK Training, through which he booked many of his trysts, as a vehicle to hide his real income and avoid paying tax.

Federal prosecutors say Kopacz ran the scam from 2015 through 2018, filing false corporate and personal tax returns that “substantially underreported” his income.

The fraud ultimately cost Uncle Sam more than $278,000 in lost tax revenue, prosecutors said

He faces a minimum of three years in prison and will be required to pay the money back.

Santa and His Elves Go Undercover, Bust Several Thieves at California Mall

By HardBoiledNews Staff

RIVERSIDE, California — This gives a whole new meaning to SantaCon.

Undercover cops dressed as Santa and his elves made several busts of shoplifters and suspected car thieves at a shopping mall in California.

The Riverside police say they had assigned officers from their property crimes unit to work with store detectives at the Target store in the busy Canyon Springs shopping center last week. 

Dubbing the operation, “Santa’s intervention,” in a matter of hours, the cops made several arrests, including one where Santa tackled a suspect to the ground.

“As the suspects exited the store with merchandise they just stole, Santa and his elf were waiting to take them into custody for the theft,” the department wrote on its Facebook page.

In one bust, the officers nabbed a woman walking out of the store with a shopping cart full of stolen items. They also found illegal narcotics in her pockets.

A second arrest involved a local transient who cops say is a habitual thief at this particular store. Store detectives recognized him as he entered the store but stopped him before he could steal again. He was subsequently arrested for trespassing and being in possession of illegal narcotics.

The third arrest involved 55-year-old Patrick Seilsopour who allegedly stole expensive Lego toy sets totaling $1,000. He was arrested outside the store by Santa and his elf for grand theft. Cops say Seilsopour is believed to have committed similar retail thefts at several Target stores in the region.

Toward the conclusion of the operation, detectives received information about three suspicious men casing vehicles in the shopping center parking lot.  One of the undercover detectives spotted the men in the act of stealing an older white Honda CR-V. 

Two of the suspects saw the detective and ran off but were quickly apprehended by the other officers.  One suspect resisted arrest but was taken into custody with the help of the undercover Santa, who tackled him to the ground. 

Another suspect was detained by the undercover elf, who held him at gunpoint. The third suspect who actually stole the Honda, managed to get away but the vehicle was found abandoned nearby. Cops say they know who the man is.

S.C. Man Guns Down 72-Year-Old Woman in Fight Over Feral Cats

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Sean Malahy faces murder charges

LEXINGTON, South Carolina — An argument over feeding feral cats turned deadly when a South Carolina man pulled a gun and shot his 72-year-old neighbor in the face, cops said.

Police in Lexington, South Carolina say the incident unfolded Thursday evening when a friend of 49-year-old Sean Malahy got into a fight with Judy Dyanne Burnett about feeding feral cats behind the Town Square shopping center.

Malahy soon joined in the argument which then turned physical. That led Malahay to pull out a gun and shoot Burnett in the face, cops said. She died while paramedics rushed her to the hospital.

Investigators say Malahy and Burnett had been in an ongoing rivalry for years over who would feed, trap and release the feral cats that live behind businesses in a wooded area along Lexington’s West Main Street.

Malahy was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime and was held without bail

Brazilian ‘Pregnant’ Woman Busted Smuggling Coke in Fake Baby Bump

By HardBoiledNews Staff

GUARA, Brazil — She gave birth to a criminal charge.

A Brazilian woman pretending to be pregnant was caught smuggling a baby-sized block of cocaine concealed inside a watermelon shell tucked under her shirt. 

The São Paulo woman had boarded a bus bound for Rio De Janeiro while pretending to be pregnant, but was searched after authorities received a tipoff about a narcotics smuggling ring, according to the São Paulo police.

A search revealed that the woman’s so-called “baby bump” was actually a watermelon harboring four bricks of cocaine paste that weighed around 4.5 pounds total.

The woman confessed that she had been paid $100 to take the coke from Paraguay to Rio.

São Paulo police described the ploy as having “creativity without limit.” The woman has been charged with drug smuggling.

Ex-Indiana Cop Charged in Bizarre Oxygen Tank Theft Insurance Scam

By HardBoiledNews Staff

VERSAILLES, Indiana — It was all a bunch of hot air.

Police in Indiana say a former sheriff’s deputy has been charged with an elaborate insurance fraud scheme in which he repeatedly claimed tanks of oxygen had been stolen from his home.

James Gholson, 35, managed to rake in over $250,000 in the scam in which he allegedly used forged police report forms to make claims about the purported robberies, detectives said.

During the time of the scam, Gholson served as a reserve deputy with the Jennings County Sheriff’s Office, and later a full-time deputy. He resigned in June 2020 when the investigation began. He was arrested after a six-month probe.

The Indiana State Police say Gholson had a side business operating an oxygen supply company from his home in Elizabethtown. In 2018 and 2019 he made several claims with his business and homeowner’s insurance companies claiming thousands of dollars of equipment had been stolen.

James Gholson

In one claim, he was paid over $100,000 by one company and over $87,000 by another. In another claim, he received a $56,000 payout from one company and $10,000 from another, cops said.

Investigators later determined that he used false invoices showing that he possessed the equipment he claimed had been stolen, and a false police report showing that he had reported the theft to the Jennings County Sheriff’s Office.

The scam began to unravel in November 2019, when he tried to file a claim that he had a trailer with two mowers stolen from his property, providing a false invoice showing he had purchased the equipment and a fraudulent police report from the Jennings County Sheriff’s Office.  

The insurance company grew suspicious and began investigating, ultimately denying the claim. They then passed the info on to Indiana authorities.

He was arrested on Monday and charged with  insurance fraud, official misconduct and forgery.

Scientists Counting Sheep Discover Unexplained Monolith in Rugged Utah Wilderness

By HardBoiledNews Staff

IN REMOTE SOUTHERN UTAH — Researchers surveying bighorn sheep in the rugged wilderness of southern Utah discovered a mysterious metal monolith erected amid the barren rocky landscape.

Members of Utah’s division of wildlife were riding aboard a department of public safety chopper when they spotted the shining structure among the arid red-rock landscape. 

The structure, which stands about 12 feet tall, appeared to be planted in the ground, officials said. 

“During the counts we came across this, in the middle of nowhere, buried deep in the rock. Inquiring minds want to know, what the heck is it? Anyone?” the public safety department posted on Instagram.

The helicopter pilot, Bret Hutchings, told local news channel KSL-TV: “That’s been about the strangest thing that I’ve come across out there in all my years of flying.”

Hutchings was helping wildlife resource officers count bighorn sheep in the south of the state.

“One of the biologists is the one who spotted it and we just happened to fly directly over the top of it,” Hutchings said. “He was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, turn around, turn around!’ And I was like, ‘What?’ And he’s like, ‘There’s this thing back there – we’ve got to go look at it!’”

Hutchings said the object looked manmade and appeared to have been firmly planted in the ground, not dropped from the sky.

“I’m assuming it’s some new wave artist or something or, you know, somebody that was a big 2001: A Space Odyssey fan,” Hutchings said.

The monolith and its setting resembled a famous scene from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film, in which a group of apes encounter a giant slab.

Bighorn sheep live in some of Utah’s most rugged and remote areas and survive in hostile climate conditions. Fearing amateur explorers might get stuck in the wilderness while seeking out the monolith, the flight crew have not revealed its exact location.

Jail Guard Who Tortured Teen With Stun Gun Sentenced to 5 Years

By HardBoiledNews Staff

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — A former Tennessee jail guard convicted of torturing a teen who had been tied to a chair with a stun gun has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Mark Bryant, 42, had been convicted in federal court in January of repeatedly tasing an 18-year-old Jordan Norris, who was restrained and surrounded by officers inside the Cheatham County jail for nearly a minute back in 2016. 

Bryant returned two hours later and tased Norris again, this time while the detainee was handcuffed, shackled, and compliant, prosecutors said.

 As a result, Norris suffered burns that an officer on the scene described as making his skin look like “raw hamburger meat.”  As the senior officer at the scene, Bryant then directed his colleagues not to submit reports about the abuse.

“The extraordinary abuse of power displayed by Bryant was both disturbing and disappointing to the many fine men and women in law enforcement who strive every day to carry out their duties with honor and professionalism,” said U.S. Attorney Donald Cochran.  

Mark Bryant

Bryant’s first federal trial ended with a hung jury.But in January, a jury convicted Bryant of two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. The jury acquitted Bryant of two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of lying to the FBI.

Family members said Norris had never been in jail before the night he was abused. They said Norris had frequent nightmares and severe chest pain and that he fell into deep and prolonged depression after the tasings.

Two years after the incident, and after Cheatham County settled a civil lawsuit about the tasing, Norris was found dead in his home. Family members say it was a drug overdose.

Biker Racing With Big Bag of Meth Wrecks, Shoots Self, is Hit by Car, Lives

By HardBoiledNews Staff

KANSAS CITY, Kansas — It just wasn’t his day.

A man carrying a large bag of meth wrecked his motorcycle during a drag race and then accidentally shot himself before being hit by a passing car, cops said.

The Kansas City, Kansas police department said the man was racing on his bike Thursday night when he “lost control and wrecked.”

During the crash, a gun the man had tucked into his waistband went off, shooting him in the hip. After he came to a rest, a passing car hit him and fled the scene, cops said.

He was taken to a local hospital with critical but non-life-threatening injuries. 

The man, whose name was not released, had a felony record, and officers discovered a “large bag of suspected methamphetamine” in his motorcycle, cops said.

Pa. Man Smashes Pal’s Car With Spiked Mace Over Sexual Remark to Wife

By HardBoiledNews Staff

 

EMMAUS, Pennsylvania — He got all medieval on his ass.

A Pennsylvania man faces assault charges for allegedly attacking an acquaintance with a spiked mace after the man made sexually-charged comments to his wife.

Cops say 38-year-old James Gleason Jr., 38, used the Dark Ages weapon to smash up his pal’s car after his wife said the man threatened to sexually assault her, the Allentown Morning Call reported.

Investigators say they spoke to the man and he told them that he simply told Gleason’s wife she was special and he was waiting for someone like her in his life. He said Gleason took the comment out of context and believed he wanted to harm Gleason’s wife.

Later that morning, Gleason pulled up next to the man’s vehicle at a traffic light near an eatery called Superior Restaurant, got out of his car and began wildly swinging the metal spiked mace at the other man’s car.

Gleason shattered the front and back windows of the man’s car and the man said he was worried that he and his 10-year-old son, who was in the back seat, would be hurt. When traffic began to move, cops say Gleason positioned his car to block the man from driving away and hit his car with the weapon several more times.

Authorities said the damage to the vehicle was estimated to be about $1,500.

The man told cops he was struck with the weapon several times and that he believed Gleason was capable of killing him and his son.

Gleason has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with extreme indifference, terroristic threats, simple assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and several vehicle-related offenses.

He was released on $50,000 bail.

Former Ga. Cop Gets 15 Years For Moonlighting as Gang Member

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Vancito Gumbs

ATLANTA — A former  Georgia cop convicted of moonlighting as a hitman for a violent criminal gang has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Vancito Gumbs, 28, of Stone Mountain, Georgia had boasted of being a hitman for the Gangster Disciples while working as a Dekalb County cop, federal prosecutors said.

Authorities said Gumbs had relayed sensitive law enforcement information to the gang and provided a firearm to a fellow gang member.

Gumbs’ family has argued that he was never guilty of being a killer but rather prone to boasting about himself. A military veteran, they have said he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

At the heart of the case against him was a 2015 text message Gumbs sent to a woman in which he claimed: “I’m a gd hitman.” Prosecutors said he was talking about the Gangster Disciples, although his lawyers argued “gd” meant “goddamn.”

He was convicted of racketeering in 2019.

The Gangster Disciples are a national gang with roots in Chicago dating back to the 1970s and have held responsible for 24 shootings from 2011 through 2015, including 12 murders, prosecutors said.

They say Gumbs had been photographed flashing a hand sign used by the Gangster Disciples and had been caught on recorded calls talking to a chief enforcer for the gang while employed as a DeKalb County police officer.

Evidence showed that during these calls, Gumbs relayed law enforcement information to the gang and provided a firearm to a fellow gang member. On later calls, the enforcer noted that he had Gangster Disciples police officers at his disposal.

The jury found that Gumbs remained involved with the gang even while knowing they were involved in murder.

Alaska Airlines Plane Hits Bear on Runway During Landing

By HardBoiledNews Staff

YAKUTAT, Alaska — In the struggle of plane versus bear, the bear loses.

A brown bear wandering across an Alaska runway had the misfortune of meeting an Alaska Airlines jet as it came in for landing over the weekend.

The bear was killed and the jet slightly damaged, but not one aboard the plane was hurt, officials said.

The mishap occurred on the airstrip in Yakutat early Saturday evening, when flight No. 66, a  Boeing 737-700, came in for landing and encountered the bear, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Airport crew had cleared the runway about 10 minutes before the flight was expected to land and had checked for signs of wildlife but hadn’t seen the bear, the state’s Department of Transportation said. 

But as the plane began to slow after landing, the pilots spotted two bears crossing the runway.

“The nose gear missed the bears, but the captain felt an impact on the left side after the bears passed under the plane,” a statement from Alaska Airlines said.

The bear strike dented the plane’s left engine

The plane struck and killed a brown bear sow, but its cub, thought to be about 2 years old, was uninjured.

The pilots saw the “bear lying about 20 feet off the center of the runway,” as the plane taxied to parking just before 6:30 p.m., according to the airline.

None of the passengers or crew members in the plane were injured. It was not immediately clear how many passengers were on the flight. The plane had departed  from Cordova and was headed to the capital, Juneau, next.

Texas Infant Dead With Needle Marks, Heroin in Blood, Family Charged

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Drugs were found in the home the baby lived in with her mother, grandmother and granny’s boyfriend

SAN ANGELO, Texas — A 2-month-old baby who was found unresponsive with needle marks on her body and heroin in her bloodstream has died, police said. 

Brixlee Marie Lee had been rushed to a San Angelo, Texas hospital in the early morning hours on Nov. 7 after officers found her unconscious at her mother’s home.

Hospital staff found injection sites on her extremities and head, police said, and she later tested positive for heroin.  Due to the severity of the infant’s condition, she was moved to a hospital in Fort Worth, Texas and placed on life support, but died three days later, cops said.

Lee’s mother, 21-year-old Destiney Harbour, her grandmother, 37-year-old Christin Chanelle Bradley, and Bradley’s boyfriend, 34-year-old Dustin Wayne Smock, were arrested and charged with first-degree felony injury to a child.

Detectives say Harbour had given birth to the infant at  home in late August but that the baby had never received any kind of medical care since birth.  

Investigators also found drug paraphernalia  and a small quantity of suspected heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and pills at the home. 

Harbour is being held on $100,000.00 bond.  Smock is being held on $50,000.00 bond.  Bradley was released on November 8, 2020, after posting bond.  

Lee’s body was sent for autopsy.  The results are pending.

‘Inhumane Exploitation’: Liquor Store Owners Kept Employee in Slave-Like Conditions

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Amarjit and Balwinder Mann are accused of

GILROY, California — For some, sadly, slavery isn’t dead.

The husband-wife owners of a California liquor store have been charged with human trafficking for locking an employee in the shop and forcing him to work daily marathon shifts, sleep in a storage room and bathe using a mop bucket while never paying him.

Amarjit and Balwinder Mann, both 66, are accused of bringing the victim from India with the promise of work, but then snatching his passport and threatening him with deportation if he talked to police, the Santa Clara district attorney’s office said.

“Slavery officially was abolished in 1865,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Tragically, we are seeing examples of it in 2020. My Office will prosecute anyone to the fullest extent of the law who practices this kind of criminal and inhumane exploitation.”

Investigators estimate that the Manns — who own a profitable liquor store and market  — have stolen more than $150,000 in wages from the victim and three other employees. The Manns engaged in predatory recruitment of their workers from India and lured them with promises of travel and financial independence. 

The Mann’s scheme began to unravel in February when an Alcoholic Beverage Control inspection discovered the victim at M&M Liquors in Gilroy, California. The agent said the man appeared to be living in a small storage room in the back area of the store, where they saw a thin mattress lying on top of milk crates. They also noticed an office desk filled with folded clothes and pots and pans for cooking.

Next to the desk, there was a mop sink and a shampoo bottle that the victim had been using to bathe. 

Investigators determined that the man come from India in 2019 expecting to travel to the U.S. with the couple, but iInstead they took his money and passport and put him to work without pay or a key to leave the liquor store at night.

Three other men – two who worked at the liquor store and one who worked at the market across the street – told agents that they worked extremely long shifts but were paid a pittance. One said he had no idea about the concept of a minimum wage.

The Manns face charges of labor human trafficking, witness intimidation, and wage theft involving four victims.

Three Men Killed in Mysterious Pennsylvania Car Bombing

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Authorities say they believe the bomber was killed in the explosion along with two others

ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania — Three men were blown to smithereens in a mysterious Saturday night car bombing that scattered body parts across a central city street.

Authorities were tight-lipped about the possible motive, but did say they believed the person responsible was killed in the explosion in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The identities of the dead were not immediately released.

“We know there’s been a criminal incident,” District Attorney James Martin said. “We have a high degree of confidence that the perpetrator was probably killed in the incident.”

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is leading the investigation along with the FBI, state police, and city and county authorities.

The explosion rocked a street near a sports arena just minutes before a hockey game ended.

Witnesses described a gruesome scene, with the car ripped in two by the blast and scorched body parts littering the street, the Allentown Morning Call reported.

“This is real life and I’m shaking and freaking out while I’m running,” Stephanie Connelly said. “Every place we looked, there was a body part or something there.”

Authorities said they would release more details about the blast as soon as they could.

“We understand the public interest in this matter,” U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain said. “We will share with you what we can when we can, but I think you can also appreciate that we’re at the beginning of trying to piece this all together.”

 

Famed Italian Gigolo Who Slept With 6,000 Women, Dies Having Sex

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Zanfanti, known as the ‘Romeo of Rimini,’ claimed he bedded 200 women every summer in his prime

RIMINI, Italy  — A legendary Italian lothario known as the “Romeo of Rimini,” who laid claim to having bedded more than 6,000 women, died while in the throes of passion with a 23-year-old tourist in the backseat of a car. Maurizio Zanfanti was 63.

“Zanza died after doing what he did best — loving women,” Il Resto Del Carlino, a Bologna newspaper, reported.

Zanfanti began his run as the reigning playboy of the coastal resort of Rimini when he was just 17 and working as a nightclub promoter charged with luring mainly German and Scandinavian female tourists into a club called Blow Up.

With his flowing locks, olive skin and ample chest hair, he had great success convincing the women to come to bed with him as well. In his prime, he boasted that he would often sleep with 200 women every summer.

In the winter, he would would travel to Scandinavia to work for tourist agencies. His exploits became so famous that some of his lovers erected a wax statue of him in a Swedish town.

His success with women led to him becoming the subject of numerous media profile. In 1986, Italian newspaper L’Espresso named him: “Italy’s most successful lover.” He claimed to have once seduced a French journalist who was interviewing him.

In 2016, he was a guest of honor at a Rimini nightclub at a reunion of Swedish women who had visited in the 1980s.

In an interview with German newspaper Bild in 2014, he announced his retirement and said: “At 59, I’m getting too old for it.”

But on Tuesday, he was “entertaining” a tourist from Romania in the backseat of a car, when he had a fatal heart attack.

The woman called paramedics, but Zanfanti could not be revived.

Local media said it was the way the man once called “Italy’s most successful lover” would have wanted to go. The mayor of Rimini said Italy had lost “a legend of the night.”

 

Handcuff Key in Cop’s Pocket Saves His Life in Police Shooting

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The bullet struck an officer’s handcuff keys, redirecting them into his bulletproof vest

VAN BUREN, Arkansas — It was the key to life.

An Arkansas police officer narrowly escaped death when a bullet fired at him struck his handcuff keys in his shirt pocket, deflecting the slug into his bulletproof vest, authorities said.

The chilling episode unfolded during a domestic dispute call in Van Buren between a husband and wife.

Two Van Buren Police officers arrived at the house and began speaking to the husband,  Johnny Fisher, 68, and asked him to step outside, but he refused, the Arkansas State Police said.

Fisher, who was standing with one of the officers, then pulled out two guns. When the second officer entered the room. Fisher pointed the guns at him and fired, prompting both cops to return fire, killing Fisher.

One of the bullets Fisher fired struck one of the officers in the chest, but the handcuff key in his pocket miraculously save his life, according to KHBS-TV.

The officer was taken to a local hospital and was later released with bruising to his chest. The second officer was unhurt.

Both officers have been put on administrative leave as the state police investigates the fatal shooting.

 

Arrest Made in Baby Stroller Shark Theft at Texas Aquarium, Shark Recovered

By HardBoiledNews Staff

These three folks allegedly stole a shark and wheeled it out of a Texas aquarium in a stroller (bottom left)

SAN ANTONIO — That’s one way to take a bite out of crime.

A Texas man was arrested after he helped steal a shark right out of a tank at an aquarium and then wheel it out in a baby stroller, cops said.

The brazen burglary occurred Saturday afternoon at the San Antonio Aquarium when two men and a woman walked up to an open-topped tank amidst a crowd of people and lifted a one-and-a-half foot long gray horn shark out of the water with a towel, Leon Valley police said.

Surveillance video showed the three suspects then take the animal into a back room, where they placed it in a bucket and then put the bucket into a baby stroller which they wheeled out the front gate unnoticed, the cops said.

The heist was so bizarre that cops initially thought it was a hoax when aquarium staff called to report it.

“When we first got the call, we thought it was kind of a hoax being that it was Shark Week last week,” Leon Valley police Chief Joseph Salvaggio told KSAT-TV.

Late Monday, cops said they had picked up one of the suspects and had recovered the shark and were zeroing in on the other two culprits. Staff at the aquarium said the shark appeared unhurt.

According to the San Antonio Express, the 38-year-old man in custody — whose name had not been released — faced a charge of theft between $750 and $2,500.

 

Bystander Shot on Same Block She Was Hit by Stray Bullet 20 Years Ago

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Fran Williams has twice been the victim of a stray bullet shooting on the very same block

NEW YORK — What are the odds?

A New York woman is clinging to life after being hit in the face in a stray-bullet shooting on the same block where she was shot in a similar stray-bullet shooting 20 years earlier.

Fran Williams, 67, was shot Thursday while waiting for a bus on Jersey Street in Staten Island when a gang member opened fire following a brawl outside a nearby courthouse.

It was on the same block in 1998 were she was shot while doing her laundry, police said.

“What a shame. Here is an innocent lady getting shot 20 years apart,” a law enforcement official told the New York Post. “Even during the crack days, drug dealers didn’t have that bad of luck.”

This week’s shooting came after a scuffle outside the court which led to a group of five gang members stealing a van which they later crashed into a pedestrian, killing him.

About a half hour later, a gang member opened fire in what cops think was an attempt to retaliate for the van strike , but hit Williams instead, as she waited for the bus near her home.

Neighbors said Williams was known as “Ms. Franny,” and was a good-spirited animal lover.

“She’s a great person with a great heart,” a pal said. “She’s always in good spirits. She makes you laugh.”

 

Cops Find Massive Stash of 553 Illegal Guns at Ex-Con’s California Home

By HardBoiledNews Staff

This stash of guns gives new meaning to the word arsenal

AGUA DULCE, California — He was ready to be an army of one.

Police in California were stunned to discover over 550 firearms stashed in the home of an ex-con after receiving a tip that he was amassing a large arsenal of weapons.

Officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff found the weapons cache last week when they executed a search warrant at the home of Manuel Fernandez in a rocky, mountainous community 45 miles north of LA.

In the first search, cops uncovered 432 handguns, long rifles and assault rifles at the 60-year-old Fernandez’s home. Fernandez is a convicted felon and is therefore barred from legally possessing guns.

A warrant executed at a second home belonging to a female acquaintance of Fernandez’s netted another 30 illegal firearms. A subsequent search of Fernandez’s home revealed an additional 91 guns that were hidden within the house.

Detectives also seized computers, cell phones, and hard drives from the residence.

Due to the large number of firearms found, detectives called in the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to help trace where they all came from.

Fernandez has been charged with felony possession of firearms, possession of an assault rifle, felon in possession of ammunition and possession of a large capacity magazine. He was released on bond.

 

Sisters Busted After Getting in Knife Fight in Front of Kids

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The Tate sisters were going to let a little thing like family get in the way

MADISON, Wisconsin — This is taking sibling rivalry to a whole new level.

A pair of sisters in Wisconsin were arrested after stabbing each other while engaged in “mutual combat” in front of five little kids, police said.

Madison police say the fight erupted between Abria Tate, 24, and her 23-year-old sister Alyssa Tate, “after a heated family argument regarding child care.”

When cops arrived at the home where the fight erupted they found “two uncooperative adult female sisters with stab wounds to their arms.”

Cops say there were five small children in the house at the time that witnessed the stabbing.

Alyssa was allegedly armed with a knife, a scissors and pepper spray. A man who was in the home at the time was arrested after cops found a gun in his bag. He was initially accused of instigating the fight.

Both women were treated and  released with non-life threatening injuries. They were both charged with domestic reckless endangering safety, and children’s protective services are trying to figure out what to do with the children.