Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Gambling Feud Shootout Leaves 2 Dead, 4 Wounded in Memphis

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The card table gun fight over a gambling feud left two men dead

MEMPHIS  — The Old West lives on in some places.

Two men were killed and four others wounded in a card table shootout that stemmed from a gambling feud.

Tennessee police say the shooting occurred at at a home Saturday night in Memphis, when a gun battle erupted over a game of cards.

“It’s believed that this incident occurred as a result of a feud while gambling,” the Shelby County Sheriff’s office said in a statement. “Investigators believe that this was an isolated incident and that the victims knew the suspects.”

One of the victims was declared dead at the scene and another died later at a nearby hospital.

Police identified the two dead men as Marcus Conway,18, and Marquese Taylor, 22, both of Memphis. The survivors were taken to area hospitals in conditions ranging from serious to critical.

Cops say one of the victims was 13-years-old, but is expected to live.

No arrests have yet been made.

Uber Driver Charged in Death of ‘Car Surfing’ Teen Who Fell off Roof of Vehicle

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Ryan Mullen (l) died from head injuries after he fell from the roof of Danyal Cheema’s car

CENTRAL ISLIP, New York  — An Uber driver was charged with manslaughter for letting a teen “car surf” on the roof of his taxi from the boy fell and later died, authorities said.

Danyal Cheema, 24, was behind the wheel on Sept. 23, when 16-year-old Ryan Mullen and two pals — who had been out drinking at several parties — offered to pay him to let two of them ride atop his Toyota Highlander while the third boy filmed, prosecutors said.

Cheema agreed and Mullen and another boy climbed on the roof of the SUV while the third teen videotaped them on Snapchat, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said. As Cheema began driving, Mullen fell and struck his head on the pavement.

He sustained a fractured skull, but went home and died in his sleep later that morning.

“The defendant made a reckless decision and engaged in reckless conduct that caused the death of a young boy, and he will be held accountable,” Sini said, according to Newsday.

Under the law, second-degree manslaughter means disregarding an obvious risk and causing a death as a result of reckless conduct. Cheema faces 5 to 15 years in prison if found guilty. He pleaded not guilty.

Ryan’s mother, Janice Mullen, told WABC-TV: “There was an adult present, and the adult should have said, ‘No, that’s a bad decision. You’re not allowed to do that.’ ” Ryan’s father, Matthew, asked: “What if the driver was responsible enough to say no?”

Cheema’s attorney, Christopher Renfroe, said his client has expressed remorse for Mullen’s death and does not have a prior criminal record. A spokeswoman for Uber said the company is cooperating with the investigation.

Driver Who Ran Down 4 Girl Scouts Was Huffing Fumes Before Crash

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Colten Treu told cops he was huffing fumes before plowing through a Girl Scout troop

LAKE HALLIE, Wisconsin — A motorist who plowed through a Girl Scout troop as they collected trash from the side of a road, killing four people, had been huffing chemical fumes before the accident, police said.

Colten Treu, 21, and a passenger in his black pickup truck told cops that “they had been intentionally inhaling chemical vapors” — a pastime known as “huffing” — just before the accident Saturday morning.

Investigators say Treu had crossed the middle line of the road in Lake Hallie, Wisconsin and driven through a ditch where the girls were working on the opposite side of the road, hitting five people.

Three young girl scouts, 9-year-old Jayna Kelley, Autum Helgeson and Haylee Hickle, both 10, plus Hickle’s mother, Sara Jo Schneider, 32, were killed. Another 10-year-old girl remains hospitalized in stable condition.

Treu and his pal fled the scene, but investigators were able to track him down by following a trail of vehicle fluid 1.8 miles to his home where they found his car. He had fled but turned himself in — along with his passenger — later that day.

Treu has been charged with four counts of homicide by negligent use of a motor vehicle, five counts of hit and run and four counts of homicide while intoxicated.

“This is a horrible reminder of our nations epidemic of self-indulging with substance abuse without regard of the consequences. Words cannot describe our Lake Hallie community’s sorrow for the witnesses, victims, and their families. This senseless crash was completely avoidable,” said Lake Hallie Police Chief Cal Smokowicz.

Oregon Teens Busted for Trashing Cars In $30K Pumpkin-Smashing Spree

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Jacob Stephen Solomon (l) and Adrian Andres Ochoa have been charged with malicious pumpkin theft

GRANTS PASS, Oregon — Two dopey teens have been arrested after going on a weeks-long, drunken pumpkin-smashing spree that caused at least $30,000 in damages, police said.

Cops in Grants Pass, Oregon say Jacob Stephen Solomon and Adrian Andres Ochoa, both 19, had damaged at least 50 cars during the gourd-trashing fest that began Oct. 7 and ran until Oct. 23.

“It sounds like there was probably alcohol involved and just a bunch of stupid decisions,” Lt. Misty English told The Oregonian.

Police say Solomon and Ochoa would drive around town, often late at night, and snatch pumpkins from the outdoor Halloween displays of local supermarkets.

They would then hurl the ill-gotten gourds through car windows, pulverizing them and shattering the glass, cops said.

In all, the victims have reported up to $30,000 in damages, but police say that figure could go up.

English said the suspects were caught largely because they had been driving around in an easy to recognize gold Buick with a large dent in one side.

“That made it pretty easy to recognize,” English said.

The teens have been charged with multiple counts of criminal mischief.

 

Nude Burglar Busted for Punching Out Police Dog in Florida

By HardBoiledNews Staff

A shame-faced Viktor Revega commits his crimes in the buff apparently

NORTH PORT, Florida — A buck-naked burglar who was caught in the act by cops as he trashed the outside of a woman’s home, was busted after trying to punch out a police dog who was trying to apprehend him.

Police in North Port, Florida say they got a call from a woman who had been awoken by the sound of a man banging a shovel on the outside of her home. Upon further inspection, she discovered her porch had been trashed, a glass table overturned and holes punched through her screens.

When cops arrived, they saw a naked man fleeing from the back of the house into a wooded area. A police dog then gave pursuit and when it caught up to the man, identified as 27-year-old Viktor Revega, a struggle broke out.

Cops say Revega refused order to “roll over” and lay on his stomach and even tried to punch out the police dog, named Dutch, but missed. Officers eventually managed to bring Revega under control and cuff him.

Not surprisingly, officers said they believed Revega was under the influence of drugs, so took him to a local hospital.

Worst Driving Instructor Ever Charged With Driving Drunk During Lesson

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Russell Cohen was a very bad driving instructor

RIDGE, New York — Do as I say, but definitely not as I do.

A Long Island driving instructor was arrested after his four teenage students called 911 after they grew nervous that he was driving drunk, police said.

Russell Cohen, who was working as a substitute teacher for the Suffolk Auto Driving School, was arrested after the students managed to get him to pull over at a McDonald’s at about 11 a.m., according to the Suffolk County Police Department.

The teens said Cohen had been behaving erratically and saying inappropriate things to the female students in the car, so they asked a restaurant employee to call 911, Newsday reported.

When the kids didn’t come out, Cohen sped off and  crashed into the rear end of another car less than an hour later, authorities said.

The 29-year-old driver of the other car was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Cohen, 58, was not hurt, but was charged with aggravated DWI and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

“I’m happy I’m alive,” said student Matt McGeough, 16, of Holbrook.

Man Claims Axe-Wielding Ghost Planted Meth Cops Found In His House

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Michael Auttonberry turns ghostly when he smokes meth, apparently

WEST MONROE, Louisiana — Stay away from whatever this guy is smoking.

A Louisiana man was busted after claiming to cops that a ghost planted drugs on him after he was hit in the head with an axe.

Police say Michael Auttonberry, 59, had no visible wounds to his head when they responded to a report that he had been stabbed at his home in West Monroe, according to an arrest report from the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Smoking Gun reported.

When deputies arrived, Auttonberry not only shouted at them, but also at people “who were obviously not there,” the arrest record said. Officials noted in their report that Auttonberry had not been stabbed in the head with an axe as he’d claimed.

Deputies also were unable to locate the intruders Auttonberry said were in his home.

When officers discovered a pile of crystal meth on his nightstand, Auttonberry allegedly told them that it had to have been planted by a “ghost or intruders” who happened to be climbing out a nearby window.

Auttonberry was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and giving a false police report.

Authorities Discover Crack Pipe Vending Machines Installed in Public Places

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Officials found three such vending machines seling crack pipes

CORAM, New York — Officials seized three vending machines that purported to be selling pens but actually dispensed carefully disguised crack pipes.

The blue-and-white dispensers mysteriously appeared outside a housing complex, a Home Depot and shopping mall on Long Island.

But while the machines offered “pens” for $2, a close inspection of what came out revealed a hidden glass tube and set of filters — a virtual crack pipe kit.

Authorities were alerted to the machines after residents grew angry and, in one case, smashed one of them open with a sledgehammer.

“There are some people who think they’re going to make some money out of this and prey on a community and promote drug use in a community,” Brookhaven Town supervisor Ed Romaine said at a news conference. “They’re going to be sadly mistaken.”

Officials pulled up three machines over the weekend on the grounds that they violated local codes against alerting public property.

While three machines have been located, officials said they couldn’t be certain there weren’t others and asked the public to report any more that they had seen.

 

Florida Couple Busted Running Drive-Thru Drug Window Out of Mobile Home

By HardBoiledNews Staff

William Parrish and McKenzee Dobbs’s drive-thru drew the attention of cops after a spate of overdoses in the area

OCALA, Florida — Business was a little too brisk.

A Florida couple operating a drive-thru window to sell drugs from their mobile home were raided by cops after a spate of overdoses in the area, authorities said.

William Parrish Jr. and McKenzee Dobbs of Ocala, Florida, were arrested on Aug. 23 after they turned a kitchen window into a drive-thru so customers would not have to constantly come and go from their home and draw unwanted attention, WFTV-TV reported.

The couple were so brazen and businesslike, they even hung up signs directing people where to drive and indicating whether they were open or closed, police said.

“We were seeing some overdose incidents that were happening in this particular area, specifically at this particular location,” said Ocala Police Capt. Steven Cuppy. “There [were] some heroin sales that were going on there. Subsequently, through the investigation, we were able to determine that product was laced with fentanyl.”

Parrish, 32, was charged with driving under the influence, keeping a dwelling used to sell drugs, possession of drugs with intent to sell and resisting arrest without violence, according to Marion County Sheriff’s Office inmate records.

Dobbs, 20, has been charged with keeping a dwelling used to sell drugs, possession of drugs with intent to sell, possession of fentanyl and possession of fentanyl with intent to sell, court records show.

William Parrish Sr. told WFTV his son had been on methadone and was “trying to get himself straightened out” and maintained reports of overdoses were a “lie.”

 

Weather Gal Busted in Boozy Bar Brawl With TV Anchor Over Hubby

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Anchor Erica Bivens (l) suffered a fractured skull and ruptured ear drum in the tussle with weather girl, Chelsea Ambriz

CHARLESTON, West Virginia — The weather girl on a local TV news broadcast was arrested after allegedly fracturing the show anchor’s skull in a boozed-up bar brawl over the anchor’s husband.

Meteorologist Chelsea Ambriz, 26, was charged with battery after allegedly tackling WSAZ-TV station anchor Erica Bivens and knocking her to the ground. Bivens was left with a fractured skull and ruptured ear drum in the tussle, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

Bivens had been out drinking with her husband, Donald, in Charleston when the couple bumped into Ambriz at the local Broadway Bar in downtown Charleston, according to a police report obtained by TV news blog, Ftvlive.com.

Ambriz, who works with Biven on the station’s 4 p.m. newscast, began flirting with Donald — but he spurned her advances, according to the police report.

Bivens, who already had a rocky relationship with Ambriz allegedly confronted the weather girl about making moves on her man.

That’s when Ambriz allegedly lunged at Bivens — causing both of them to tumble to the ground near a bartender’s station, according to the police report.

Bivens was rushed to the hospital with hearing loss and a lump on her head.