True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Vet Gets 80 Years in Fatal Fight Over Whether Army or Marines are Better

By HardBoiledNews Staff

BILLINGS, Montana — A 69-year-old Army vet was resentenced to 80 years in prison following his second conviction in a brutal stabbing during a drunken argument over whether the Army or the Marine Corps are better.

William Earl Cunningham was first convicted of deliberate homicide in Montana in 2015 in the death of 40-year-old Nathan Horn, the year before.

The stabbing came after two nights of drunken arguments over which military branch was superior. Horn had claimed at the time to have served in the Marines, although he never did.

Ultimately Cunningham blew his top and repeatedly slashed Horn across his neck and face, killing him, authorities had said. Prosecutors said Cunningham had a long history of drunkenyl assaulting people with a knife. 

The Montana Supreme Court overturned Cunningham’s conviction and 80-year sentence in 2018, saying he was denied the chance to question the professional history and credibility of a state witness and not allowed to fully testify about why he was afraid of Horn. He testified he killed Horn in self-defense.

Cunningham didn’t testify at his retrial last summer.

Cunningham told a pre-sentence investigator that Horn’s death was an accident and that he believed he had served enough prison time.

Cunningham’s attorney asked for a 40-year sentence with 20 years suspended, which would have made Cunningham immediately eligible for parole. Prosecutors again sought the 80-year sentence.

Canada Cabbie Drives Maskless Passenger Straight to Jail

By HardBoiledNews Staff

VICTORIA, Canada — He breathed on the wrong cabbie. 

A taxi driver whose drunken New Year’s Day passenger refused to wear a mask, drove straight to a police station where the man was arrested and hit with a whopping fine.

Police in Victoria, British Columbia say the driver called 911 just after 1 a.m. to report that his passenger was refusing to wear a mask and was touching the driver’s face and “belligerently” refusing requests to adhere to Covid-19 guidelinest, police said.

When the cabbie pulled into the Victoria Police Department’s headquarters, officers were waiting. The passenger then refused to leave the vehicle and was removed by force and taken into custody, according to the Powell River Peak.

The man was fined $690 in total for failing to wear a facial covering, abusive or belligerent behaviour, and failing to comply with the direction of an officer. He was also ticketed for being intoxicated in a public place and was jailed until he sobered up.

Florida Man Says He Blew Up Truck to Give Cops Something to Do

By HardBoiledNews Staff

CRESTVIEW, Florida — The cops were so thankful, they took him straight to jail.

A Florida man was busted after setting his truck ablaze and blowing it up then telling cops he did it because he wanted to give them something to do.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s office said deputies responding to reports of a loud boom near Crestview, Florida on Dec. 18 found a Chevy Silverado truck fully engulfed in flames.

While speaking to the vehicle’s owner, 28-year old Kevin Robert Murphy, at the scene, he told deputies he had poured gasoline onto and into the truck, then set it on fire. He added he set the blaze “to give us something to do” and to give himself an extra Christmas present, cops said.

Kevin Robert Murphy

After being arrested for arson, officers, not surprisingly, found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in Murphy’s pockets.

No one was injured by the fire, but a nearby car and building suffered minor damage. The Dorcas Fire Department arrived quickly and put out the blaze.

Murphy is charged with arson, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Sax Player Busted Trying to Burn Down Strip Club After Being Thrown Out

By HardBoiledNews Staff

BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut — He must have thought a little T & A stood for torch and arson.

A one-time prominent saxophone player and the son of the former mayor of Bridgeport has been arrested for allegedly trying to burn down a strip club that had refused to let him in.

Stephen Moran, the son of former Mayor Mary Moran, who led Bridgeport from 1989-1991, had been thrown out of Scruples Gentleman’s Club last week for allegedly creating a disturbance, cops said. 

As he was leaving, police said he set fire to a bush outside the club, which was quickly extinguished.

But on Friday night, the 54-year-old Moran returned and after being told he couldn’t come in, police say he came back with a can of gasoline, which he allegedly splashed on the building and then set it on fire.

Club employees were able to put out the fire and held Moran until police arrived. He was charged with second-degree arson, reckless burning and first-degree reckless endangerment.

Stephen Moran

“This is a serious arson case,” prosecutor Nicholas Bove said, according to the Connecticut Post. He said the owners of the strip club worry  Moran might try to strike again.

Moran was once a well-respected saxophone player, performing in the 1990s with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. But his life took a turn, and in 2018 and 2019, he had numerous alcohol-fueled arrests.

Moran’s lawyer asked for leniency for Moran, saying he needs to be home to care for his parents who are both ill with coronavirus.

The judge agreed the incident was serious and noted that Moran is awaiting sentencing in the same court for numerous other charges, so ordered him held on $300,000 bond.

Drag Racers Slam Into Oregon House, Sparking Deadly Blaze

By HardBoiledNews Staff

ALOHA, Oregon — A pair of drugged-up drivers lost control while drag racing in an Oregon suburb, slamming into a house on a quiet residential street and setting it on fire, cops said.

The Washington County Sheriff’s office says the cars, one a 2009 Honda Accord and the other a 2010 Lexus, were speeding through Aloha around 1:15 a.m on Monday when they both failed to navigate a turn and slammed into the house.

The Lexus crashed into the front of the home and the Honda ended up in the garage where it slammed into a car parked there, sparking a blaze that quickly spread to the rest of the house.

The residents of the home managed to escape and were injured but a family cat was killed and a dog hospitalized, police said.

Deputies arrested the driver of the Honda, 23-year-old Andrez Velasquez, of Beaverton, on charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving and assault. A 23-year-old female passenger in his vehicle, was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. 

The driver of the Lexus, a 21-year-old woman, was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries. She was also charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving  and criminal mischief.

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.

Florida Man on ‘Spiritual Journey’ Steals Police Cruiser, Credit Card

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Duncan Smith was responding to a higher calling

GAINESVILLE, Florida — He was on a mission from God.

A 20 year-old Florida man was busted after stealing a police cruiser from the Gainesville Regional Airport, later telling cops he did it because he was on a “spiritual journey” and needed to get home.

Video surveillance footage showed Duncan Smith tearing out of the airport in the Alachua County Sheriff’s office vehicle last Thursday evening, WGFL-TV reported.

Two hours later, deputies detected that Smith had used a credit card that was in the stolen car in nearby Columbia County.

They later caught up with him in Alachua County and arrested him. Deputies say Smith confessed to stealing the cruiser because he was on a “spiritual journey” and needed to find a way home. 

He was charged with burglary, larceny and vehicular theft.

Florida Domestic Dispute Ends in Drunken Pumpkin Brawl

By HardBoiledNews Staff

A pumpkin, like this one, ended up being used in a very unfestive way

LARGO, Florida — Unhappy Halloween!

A Florida man was busted after getting into a fight with his girlfriend and smashing a pumpkin over her head, cops said.

Pinellas County deputies say when they arrived at the Largo, Florida home of Nathan Garisto, in response to a domestic violence call, they found his 29-year-old girlfriend covered with pieces of pumpkin and pumpkin seeds.

According to the criminal complaint, the 26-year-old Garisto was “heavily intoxicated” when he got into a loud argument with the girlfriend, who was not publicly identified.

When she demanded he leave, he smashed the pumpkin over her head and flipped a tarp covered in various things on top of her, the complaint read.

Garisto told cops he was aiming for a sliding glass door when he threw the pumpkin, but accidentally hit his girlfriend. He was charged with domestic battery and released on $1,000 bond. He was also ordered to wear an alcohol monitor.

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.

Florida Crackhead Busted in Theft of Donation Jar for 7-Year-Old Shooting Victim

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Tammy Crews was caught on camera swiping the donation jar

JACKSONVILLE, Florida  — A cold-hearted thief who stole a collection jar containing $600 for the family of a 7-year-old girl killed in a stray-bullet shooting, has been arrested, police say.

Tammy Crews, 46, was  arrested on Saturday, after getting caught on surveillance video grabbing the donation jar of the counter at Tapatio Restaurant in Jacksonville, shoving it in her bag and swiftly walking out.

The restaurant was collecting money for the family of Heydi Rivas-Villaneuva, who was shot while sitting in a parked car after a gun battle erupted between two men standing on either side of the vehicle.

Police say the restaurant had collected about $600 in donations when Crews nabbed the container.

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office, Crews “admitted that she took the donation jar and used the money to support her crack cocaine addiction.”

Once cops posted the surveillance video to Facebook, they were flooded with tips and caught up to Crews the next day, just a few blocks from the restaurant.

Tammy Crews

After cops began speaking to her, she admitted carrying a crack pipe for which she was detained. Once back at the precinct, she admitted she had stolen the jar and spent much of the cash on drugs.

Three people have been arrested in connection with the little girl’s shooting.

 

Man Charged in Brutal Slaying of ‘Full of Life’ 101-Year-Old Neighbor

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Gregory Jesmer is accused of brutally stabbing his 101-year-old neighbor

ROCHESTER, New York — A 101-year woman with “a lot of life left in her,” was brutally killed when her knife-wielding wacko upstairs neighbor stabbed her repeatedly in her own apartment.

Cops were called to Marcia Morrison’s home Tuesday morning when a senior transportation company came to pick her up, but she did not answer the door.

Inside, they found a gruesome scene, with the centenarian lying in a pool of blood after being stabbed repeatedly in the neck, throat and upper torso, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported.

“This is one of the most egregious crimes that we as a community have ever seen,” said prosecutor Monica O’Brien, head of the Monroe County District Attorney’s elder abuse bureau.

A short time later, cops arrested 54-year-old Gregory Jesmer, who lived above Morrison, after he got off a bus and began following a 13-year-old girl and offered her money to come home with him. A passing motorist intervened.

Investigators say that as they questioned Jesmer, certain evidence emerged that pinned him to the slaying of Morrison.

Jesmer has had previous arrests for grand larceny and driving while intoxicated.

Marcia Morrison

Morrison did not have children and her husband had died decades ago, but she was very active in the community. Neighbors said Morrison was a stalwart in the building where she lived and was a powerhouse despite her age.

“She had a lot of get-up-and-go in her,” neighbor Sandra Fields said. “She was like our grandmother.”

“She had a lot of life left in her, more than some young people,” Fields said.

She said she knew Jesmer and that he drank a lot, but that he didn’t seem violent or threatening. Fields said Jesmer sometimes asked neighbors for money and she thought Morrison had sometimes helped him out.

He has been charged with second-degree murder.

Texas Woman With Shaved Head Busted For Sending Meth to Jailed Double Murderer

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Sara Russell’s shaved hairdo is a hairdon’t

WICHITA FALLS, Texas — A woman with a distinctive shaved hairstyle has been busted for trying to send drugs to a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in prison.

Investigators say mail room workers at the James V. Allred prison in northern Texas intercepted a letter sent by 29-year-old Sara Elizabeth Russell to Jason Burkett after spotting an unusual bulge behind a photograph inside a handmade card.

A closer inspection revealed a package containing a white powder which later tested positive for methamphetamine, KFDX-TV reported.

They also found handwritten instructions on how to disguise the meth in the card, including a note to tape the outside edges of the package shut.

Burkett admitted that he had made the card and mailed it to Russell but claimed to investigators that he did not ask her to mail him drugs.

Investigators say the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Lab matched fingerprints found on the package to Russell. They believe Burkett sent her the card with pre-arranged directions to place the drugs inside and return it to him.

Jason Burkett is serving life in prison for double murder

She has been charged with one count of prohibited substance in a correctional facility and was held on $10,000 bond.

Burkett is serving life sentences for the murders of two teenage boys in Conroe, Texas in 2001.  His co-defendant, Michael “Romeo” Perry was executed in 2010 for the murder of the mother of one of the boys.

 

Georgia Sheriff in Hot Water for Buying $70K Muscle Car With Federal Grant

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The Gwinnett County sheriff bought this $70K muscle car with cash it got from a federal grant

LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia — The U.S. justice department is demanding tis money back from a Georgia sheriff who used a government grant to buy a $70,000 muscle car that he uses to drive to and from work.

In a letter to Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway  the DOJ characterized the purchase of a Dodge Charger Hellcat — a 707-horsepower muscle car that some have called the fastest sedan ever built — as “extravagant.”

The purchase of the vehicle, which was paid for with federal asset forfeiture funds, was initially approved, but now the feds are questioning if the Hellcat is being used for what the department said they planned to use it for.

Conway stands behind the purchase.

“Sheriff Conway maintains that this vehicle is an appropriate purchase, especially for an agency with a $92 million budget and the opportunity this vehicle provides in making our roadways safer,” Deputy Shannon Volkodav, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The initial application said the car could  be used for a program that stages drag races in controlled environments to educate drivers about the dangers of illegal street racing. The department also said the car could be sued to undercover and covert operations.

But the DOJ questioned the car was a legitimate purchase.

“The vehicle in question is a high-performance vehicle not typically purchased as part of a traditional fleet of law enforcement vehicles,” the department wrote in a letter to the sheriff.

The sheriff’s office defended the claim, saying he sheriff also used it “when he participates in field operations, covert and otherwise, with our deputies.

Drunk Woman Bites Off Nose of Party Host Who Asked Her to Leave

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Jessica Collins was left with blood on her face after biting off a party host’s nose

CONROE, Texas  — A night of drinking took a gruesome turn when a woman bit off the nose of a party host who asked her to leave.

Jessica Collins, 41, had been out with the victim and a mutual pal for a night of drinking before heading back to the woman’s house.

The victim told KTRK-TV that they all returned to her home after the bar, when Collins demanded more alcohol and cigarettes.

She then told Collins to leave, but she instead jumped on the host, pulling her to the ground by her hair. Collins then allegedly bit off a large piece of woman’s nose and swallowed it.

“I didn’t have time to react, to push her away,” said the woman, whom KTRK identified only by her first name, Tatiana. “I think I was trying to fight back, but I couldn’t. All I could remember was the taste of blood in my mouth.”

She says she passed out several times and didn’t realize her nose was injured until she was in the ambulance.

“I started calling my husband when I was in the ambulance,” Tatiana said. “I was screaming, like, ‘I don’t have a nose. I’m 28 years old and I don’t have a nose anymore.'”

Doctors told her that she needed urgent reconstructive surgery, but Tatiana says she doesn’t have health insurance. Friends set up a GoFundMe account to raise money to pay for the surgery.

Collins was charged with assault.

 

Florida Man Insists He Wasn’t Drinking While Driving, Only at Stop Signs

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Earle Stevens says drinking at stop signs doesn’t count as drinking and driving

VERO BEACH, Florida — In a hair-splitting defense, a man caught behind the wheel with a bottle of booze, claimed he wasn’t drinking and driving because he was only taking sips at stop signs.

Earle Stevens Jr., 69,  was stopped after a woman complained he kept hitting her rear bumper in a McDonald’s drive-thru in Vero Beach, Florida.

Cops say that not only did Stevens not have a driver’s license, he had an open bottle of Jim Beam bourbon in a brown paper bag on the passenger’s seat and stank of booze. Stevens told cops he felt “pretty good.”

“He further explained that he was not drinking while the car was moving and only when he stopped for stop signs and traffic signals,” the affidavit stated, according to TCPalm.com.

He admitted imbibing “actively” on the road from Port St. Lucie to Indian River County. There are many stops in the approximately 30 miles Stevens says he drove.

Cops didn’t buy Stevenss’ defense and he was arrested for DUI and driving without a license after failing a field sobriety test. Investigators later determined Stevens had a blood alcohol level as high as 0.153, nearly double the legal limit.

 

Couple High on Drugs Open Fire On Fireflies They Thought Were Aliens

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Jesse Shields and Katherine McCloskey thought the warming glow of fireflies was a harbinger of an alien invasion

LOGANTON, Pennsylvania — A couple high on bath salts opened fire at a swarm of fireflies that they thought were laser beams being shot by aliens, police said.

Katherine McCloskey, 22, and Jesse Shields, 30, both of Mill Hall, were driving around in a pickup truck near Loganton last Friday when they spotted the glowing insects, state police said.

Thinking the lights were supernatural, Shields pulled out a .357 Magnum belonging to McCloskey’s father, and fired it to scare off “whoever was messing with them,” PennLive reported.

Shields then allegedly ran to a nearby home and demanded the homeowner call police, saying they were under attack. While the homeowner was on the phone, Shields used his gun to smash in the window of a screen door.

After waiting 20 minutes for cops, Shields and McCloskey ran off to another home. There, the couple woke up a family who found Shields in their living room screaming about being attacked and asking them to call 911. McCloskey was there crying as well.

As the homeowner’s wife dialed 911, the homeowner wrested the gun away from Shields.

Shields then asked if he could take a shower to get the “goo” off him that was burning his skin.

He was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, possession of a firearm without a license, possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, public intoxication and disorderly conduct. He was held on $250,000 bail.

McCloskey was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, DUI, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness and held on $15,000 bail.