True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Florida Woman Charged in Shocking Mistaken Identity Slaying

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Jennifer Hill

OCKLAWAHA, Florida — She shot first and asked questions later.

A Florida woman has been charged with fatally shooting a man she thought had robbed her, only to discover she mistook him for someone else, police said.

The Marion County Sheriff’s office says Jennifer Hill, 41, pulled up alongside the victim, 39-year-old Michale Hofacker, as he walked along a road with a female friend in Ocklawaha and asked him his name.

When he said his name was “Mikey,” Hill allegedly opened fire, shooting him in the head, cops said. He died the next day at a local hospital.

Hill’s husband later told detectives that a man named Michael had confronted him and his wife with a gun three days earlier while they were looking for items that had been stolen from their home.

According to an affidavit, Hill at first said the man she shot had threatened her with a gun, but deputies said they found no evidence Hofacker was carrying a gun.

Witnesses told cops that Hill said she thought the man she shot was the Michael who had confronted her and her husband earlier, but when she looked at the wounded man after the shooting, she realized she had the wrong guy.

Hill was charged with second-degree murder and was held without bond.

Russian Police Bust ‘Volga Maniac’ Serial Killer Behind at Least 26 Slayings

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Radik Tagirov

KAZAN, Russia — Russian investigators have arrested a long-wanted serial killer known as the “Volga maniac,” who stands accused of murdering at least 26 elderly women in their homes.

The suspect, identified as 38-year-old Radik Tagirov, was arrested in the city of Kazan in southwestern Russia as the result of a years-long investigation into dozens of murders in 2011 and 2012 that police have long believed had been committed by a single person.

The serial killer was dubbed the “Volga maniac” because many of the slayings were committed in 12 cities situated along the Volga River, Europe’s longest waterway.

Tagirov had previously been convicted in 2009 for theft and was connected to the killings through DNA evidence and shoe prints found at some of the crime scenes, cops said.

Most of the victims were elderly women, between 75- and 90-years-old, who lived alone. Investigators said that the suspect posed as a social services or utilities worker to enter the apartments.

Once inside, police say Tagirov strangled the women with his hands or nearby objects, and would often take valuables and money from their homes. Investigators have suggested that the total number of victims could be as high as 32, which would make Tagirov one of the most prolific serial killers in modern Russia.

In a video released by the police online, a handcuffed Tagirov admits he committed murders but he didn’t specify how many. When asked by the police why all his victims were elderly women and why he decided to kill them instead of just robbing them, he said he had no explanation.

“All that happened spontaneously. I wanted to eat. I lived partly on the street,” he said when answering what motivated him to commit his first murder. He said he couldn’t recall when exactly it took place.

Tagirov said that he chose to strangle the women as he thought it was “quiet, fast” and “painless for them.” 

The suspect reportedly committed his first murder back in 2011 in Kazan. Within months that year several more women were found in the city. One woman survived, but was blind so was unable to describe the attacker.

Domestic Abuser Fatally Stabbed, Beaten With Golf Club by Vic’s Mom, Sis

By HardBoiledNews Staff

SOUTH PASADENA, California — Don’t mess with this family.

A California man who broke into his ex-girlfriend’s house to attack her was stabbed and beaten to death with a golf club by the woman’s mother and sister, police said.

The man, identified as 40-year-old Justin Goss, of Glendale, had thrown a concrete block through the window of the home in South Pasadena on Saturday morning, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Goss then ran inside and began punching and choking his ex, police said. That’s when her mother and sister jumped in and stabbed Goss with a kitchen knife and beat him with a golf club.

South Pasadena police officers responding to a domestic violence call at the house, found the front window shattered and heard a screaming woman inside. When they went inside they found the bleeding Goss stabbed and beaten.

He  was pronounced dead at the scene. 

His former girlfriend, described by police as being in her 30s, was hospitalized for facial lacerations and contusions and later released. Investigators believe her mother and sister acted to save her life, and they have not been arrested following the incident, cops said.

“They were well within their rights to defend her by using deadly force against him,” Lt. Barry Hall with the Sheriff’s Department said.

Thieves Steal Tire, Replace it With Turkey Just in Time for Thanksgiving

By HardBoiledNews Staff

MILWAUKEE — It’s a crime even the Butterball hotline couldn’t solve.

A Milwaukee man says he was dumbfounded to find a tire had been stolen from his car just before Thanksgiving and replaced with a turkey.

The man told WITI-TV that he came out to head to work when he noticed the stunning switcheroo.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” the man said. “I heard of people putting bricks, but I’ve never heard of a turkey underneath. I hope you enjoy that tire because you could have given that turkey to somebody who really needed it.”  

The man said he filed a police report, and added it will cost him $600 to get it fixed.

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.

Former Oregon Ministry Leader Sentenced to Life for Child Rape

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Edward Thompson was sentenced to 125 years in prison

EUGENE, Oregon — A former ministry leader at an Oregon church was sentenced to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of sexually abusing a child. 

Edward Samuel Thompson, 40,  was sentenced to 125 years in prison after a jury unanimously found him guilty of four counts of first-degree rape, five counts of first-degree sex abuse and one count of first-degree sodomy, the Register-Guard reported.

He has been in custody since August 2018 when he was accused of abusing a young girl he babysat. Court documents said the abuse happened between 2012 and 2018.

At the time of his arrest, Thompson worked as a music ministry leader at Christ Fellowship Church and was a former member of Eugene Faith Center. Christ Fellowship Church put out a statement at the time saying Thompson had no duties that involved supervising children.

After Thompson’s arrest, the Christ Fellowship Church closed and its pastor retired.

Thompson had been held in a federal  prison after his arrest related to charges in a federal child pornography case.

Stolen ATM Found in Road After Breaking Free From Thief’s Car

By HardBoiledNews Staff

LAKE RONKONKOMA, New York — It was not the smoothest of getaways.

Bank robbers who tried to drive off with a bank ATM chained to the back of the car were forced to abandon the goods after the machine broke free in the middle of the road.

Police in Suffolk County, New York, say they received a call about a “transformer” laying in the middle of a road in Lake Ronkonkoma early Tuesday but were surprised to find an ATM instead.

The machine had been stolen from outside a nearby bank.

Police said the thief — or thieves — dragged the machine several blocks from a Capital One branch using a chain attached to a vehicle before the ATM became “dislodged” and ended up abandoned in the middle of the street.

Investigators say it did not appear the ATM had been broken into. Detectives were canvassing the area for witnesses and surveillance videos.

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.

4 Florida Teens Busted For Beating Teen, Running Over Mom in Romantic Dispute

By HardBoiledNews Staff

POLK CITY, Florida — Four Florida teens have been charged with beating up a romantic rival in his own driveway and then running over his mother as they made their getaway, leaving her clinging to life.

The Polk County Sheriff’s office says the teens, 18-year-old Elijah Stansell, 16-year-old Raven Sutton, 15-year-old Kimberly Stone, and 14-year-old Hannah Eubank, had purposely run over the rival’s mother with a van as they made their escape.

“This was a coordinated, planned attack, carried out by a group of teens who beat up a teen then ran over his mother, leaving her for dead,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. “I can’t even fathom teenagers doing something so heinous. Our prayers are with this family.” 

It all began when the teens showed up at the victim’s front door to challenge him to  fight over someone he had been seeing, cops said

“The suspects banged on the victim’s front door, but the victim came out of the side door and into the carport to see who was there,” the Polk County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “The group of suspects ran to the carport, where Stansell physically attacked him. The victim retreated into his home, followed by Stansell and Sutton. At that time, the victim’s mom came home, and the suspects ran off.”

Authorities then say that the victim’s mother followed the four teens and began to take pictures of the suspects and the van with her cell phone as they were getting into the vehicle to make their escape.

Police say that Stansell then intentionally ran into the woman and then over her, even though there was plenty of room for him to drive away without doing so, according to witnesses at the scene of the crime.

“There were several eyewitnesses to the crime, along with home surveillance videos,” the  Sheriff’s Department said in the statement. “The video footage shows the suspect approaching the front door, the group of suspects going around to the side and attacking the victim, the attack inside the home, the suspects fleeing, and the suspects running over the victim’s mother.”

She remains hospitalized in very critical condition, cops said.The Polk County Sheriff’s office said that the four suspects were subsequently interviewed by detectives and that all four admitted to confronting the victim involved in the attack at his home, fleeing the scene of the crime as well as being in the vehicle when Stansell intentionally ran over the mother of the victim. Stone had shown the others where the victim lived, but remained in the vehicle during the whole event while the other three suspects went to “handle” it.

Nude Florida Woman Busted For Second Time Masturbating in Public

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Vanessa Lee Jones has a thing for doing her thing in public

ST. PETERSBURG Florida — She had a party in her pants and wanted everyone to know about it.

A Florida woman has been busted for openly masturbating in public outside a fast food joint for the second time in several weeks.

Cops say Vanessa Lee Jones, 38, was picked up after a witness reported spotting her masturbating near a dumpster outside a Popeyes in St. Petersburg. Jones was fully nude at the time, the Smoking Gun reported.

Jones was arrested for exposure of sexual organs, a misdemeanor and was held on a $150 bond.

The arresting officers noted that Jones showed no indications of being under the influence of  drugs or alcohol and no signs of mental health issues. 

In late September, Jones was arrested after similarly exposing herself and masturbating in front of a 7-Eleven in St. Petersburg in broad daylight. Jones was charged with lewd and lascivious exhibition since she allegedly “continuously rubbed her vagina” in view of a minor who was accompanied by a male relative who recorded the incident.

Jones remained jailed until Oct. 28, when she was freed after prosecutors declined to pursue the felony case. The 7-Eleven is just a few blocks from the Popeyes restaurant where Jones was arrested.

According to court records, Jones has prior convictions for theft, possession of drug equipment, trespassing, and possession of synthetic marijuana. 

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.

Funeral Van Transporting Body Catches Fire on Florida Highway

By HardBoiledNews Staff

ORLANDO, Florida — They almost threw the cremation in for free.

A Florida funeral home van carrying a body burst into flames as it drove along an Orlando highway.

The Florida Highway Patrol says the conflagration erupted on the I-4 near SeaWorld at 11 a.m. last Saturday.

Pictures from the scene showed the white van completely engulfed in flames with thick black smoke billowing out its windows.

Authorities said the driver managed to pull the body out of the burning vehicle before it was inadvertently cremated, according to WKMG-TV.

No one was hurt in the blaze.

Man Claims Golf Club Stabbing Death of Ex-Gal Pal Was an Accident

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Yosandra Munoz-Corporan died from stab wounds after her ex, Alexander Acosta-Quezada, wielded a broken golf club

ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania — A likely excuse.

A Pennsylvania man on trial for the murder of the mother of his two kids says he didn’t mean to stab her to death with a broken-off golf club — he was simply trying to defend himself.

Alexander Acosta-Quezada, 27, stands accused of dragging the woman, Yosandra Munoz-Corporan, out of her new boyfriend’s car her hair after she arrived late on March 31, 2019, to pick up their kids 

Prosecutors say Acosta-Quezada then punched her in the face and started swinging wildly with the golf club and a baseball bat. The club head broke off after he smashed the vehicle’s windows and he then allegedly stabbed Munoz-Corporan in  the thigh and abdomen with its jagged end.

“The defendant, acting out of both anger and rage, did take an everyday item, a golf club, and turned that item into a murder weapon,” Lehigh County Deputy District Attorney Kevin McCloskey said, according to the Allentown Morning Call.

Acosta-Quezada’s has argued that he was merely fending off multiple assailants who had hopped out of the car and began wrestling with him, and accidentally gored the woman with the fractured club.

“He explained that this was a tragedy, that this was horrible, but that he would never take the life of the mother of his two children,” his attorney, Robert Sletvold, said.

He said his client didn’t realize Munoz-Corporan was standing behind him when he swung the club. He said Acosta-Quezada immediately turned himself in when he discovered that she had died.

He faces life in prison if convicted.

Russia’s Sausage King Killed in Crossbow Attack

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Vladimir Marugov owned some of Russia’s largest sausage factories

MOSCOW —  The Sausage King is dead. All hail the king.

Several intruders broke into a sauna at the home of a Russian meat tycoon known as the “Sausage King,” tied him and a woman up and demanded money before killing him with a crossbow, authorities said.

The woman managed to escape the attack in the Moscow region and alert the police but when officers arrived, 54-year-old Vladimir Marugov, owner of the “Ozyorsky” and “Meat Empire” sausage factories, was dead.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said the intruders had demanded that Marugov hand over cash kept at his home but then opened fire with the crossbow before fleeing in a car.

Investigators managed to find the weapon and the getaway vehicle in a village in the suburbs of Istra, a town west of Moscow where some affluent Russians have weekend homes.

Police say they have taken a 49-year-old Moscow man into custody in connection to the slaying.

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.

News Orleans Prostitute Charged in Mardi Gras Slaying of Businessman

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Mardi Gras slay suspect Megan Hall has a history of prostitution busts

NEW ORLEANS — A woman with a history of prostitution arrests has been charged in the hotel stabbing death of a Pennsylvania businessman who was in News Orleans for Mardi Gras, police said.

Megan Hall, 25, turned herself in to New Orleans cops  Sunday morning after being sought for questioning in the bloody slaying of Pennsylvania jewelry store chain owner, Patrick Murphy, on Thursday. She has been charged with second-degree murder.

Investigators have not yet said what they believe the motive was in Murphy’s slaying, but said Hall was seen on surveillance footage checking in with Murphy at the Empress Hotel early Thursday, and leaving alone two hours later.

Police were called around noon the next day after hotel staff found Murphy lying dead in bed in a pool of blood. An autopsy determined that Murphy had been stabbed to death.

Murphy, 62, had been in town with his wife for Mardi Gras. He owns Murphy Jewelers with stores in Pottsville, Tilden Township and Center Valley in Pennsylvania.

Patrick Murphy

Hall, of Munford, Tennessee, had several prior prostitution busts in Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans; and Houston. If convicted, she faces life imprisonment.

Tennessee Man Charged With Dipping Testicles in Cheap Tipper’s Salsa

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Matt Webb and his testicles took double-dipping to a whole new level

MARYVILLE, Tennessee — What a nut!

A Tennessee man has been charged with dipping his testicles into a container of salsa being delivered to a low-tipping restaurant customer.

Howard Matthew Webb, 31, of Tuckaleechee Pike, was arrested after police in Maryville were contacted by the Dinner Delivered service about a video that seemed to show someone tampering with food being delivered to a diner.

The 14-second video, apparently shot from the driver’s seat of a vehicle, shows a man in the passenger seat take a white cup and hold it to his groin area while moving his pants.

In the background a voice that sounds like a woman is laughing and saying, “This is what you get when you give an 89-cents tip for an almost 30-minute drive.”

The man says, “Ah, this feels good on my nuts.”

Webb is charged with “adulteration of food, liquids, or pharmaceuticals,” the Daily Times in Maryville reported.

Aliyah Wilson, a general manager for Dinner Delivered, told the paper that the driver, who was an independent contractor, no long works for the company. “She will never drive for Dinner Delivered again,” Wilson said.

 

Calif. Woman Charged With Impersonating Cop, Groping Woman Outside Bar

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Denise Latta allegedly has a thing for posing as a cop in order to grope women

TUSTIN, California — A depraved fraudster posed as a cop to force a female patron out of a southern California watering hole where she allegedly groped and robbed her, authorities said.

Denise Latta, 54, of Huntington Beach, went into a bar in Tustin on Sept. 13, and whipped out a badge as she approached the bartender and female patron, police said.

Investigators say Latta instructed the woman to produce an identification card, which the phony cop then cut several pieces. Latta then demanded the victim leave the bar with her.

Once outside, Latta forced the victim to put her hands on a wall and spread her feet, and while searching her, touched her breast and groin through her clothes, police said. Latta then told the victim that she wasn’t going to arrest her and told her to leave and never come back to the bar.

In late November, Tustin police tracked Latta down and charged her with kidnapping, robbery, false imprisonment, sexual battery, and impersonating a police officer. She is being held on $100,000 bond.

When Latta was arrested, officers found fake badges, identification cards that read “agent,” and clothing that read “fugitive recovery agent,” among her belongings.

Latta told detectives that she worked as a private detective and bail enforcement officer, but lacked any identification to prove it. Latta was also in possession of several items that led detectives to believe this may not be an isolated incident and cops are looking for additional victims.

Nude Man in Home Invasion Sends Fruit Basket to Apologize to Victims

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Desmond Drakes thought the fruit basket was a nice touch after wrecking his neighbor’s home

TEMPE, Arizona — What a considerate criminal.

An Arizona man who allegedly forced his way into his neighbor’s home while naked and then attacked the people living there, later sent the family a fruit basket to apologize.

Problem for Desmond Michael Drakes, 28, is that by sending the basket, he violated the restraining order the family had gotten against him after the initial assault,

Police in Tempe say Drakes broke into his neighbor’s home on Oct. 23 while naked and allegedly fought with the residents inside, KNXV-TV reported.

Drakes is accused of punching and kicking a teenager in the home and attacking an adult woman, before kicking holes through a large section of drywall.

When cops arrived, they found Drakes at his home next door where he resisted arrest until officers used a Taser to subdue him.

While in custody, Drakes was given a restraining order barring him from harassing the family next door. Drakes violated the order by sending the fruit basket, authorities said.

Drakes later told police he sent the basket as a way to apologize. He has been charged with indecent exposure and criminal trespassing. 

 

Nude Break-In Artist Eats Noodles, Plays Bongos in Florida Eatery

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The nude man just wanted a place to hang out

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — If Florida is a magnet for crazy, this place must be the epicenter.

Florida cops investigating a break-in at a St.Petersburg eatery were surprised to discover a second, nude burglary episode at the same place as they looked further back at the surveillance tape.

While the initial thief just helped himself to a plate of chicken wings and a beer, the second break-in artist stripped nude, ate a bowl of ramen noodles he had brought and then beat on a bongo drum.

Police say a closer review of surveillance video showed a man ride his bike up to The Chattaway restaurant last week, slip through the back gate and go through a storage shed.

The man then gets into a restaurant bathroom and exits stark naked.

He then sat naked at a picnic tables and began chowing down on a meal of Maruchan Instant Lunch ramen. The video also shows him playing the bongos, while still naked.

“He came in with pants on but he rode off on the bike without pants,” Chattaway server Chad Pearson told the Tampa Bay Times. “I’m not sure if he took his pants with him but we didn’t find them. We still don’t know where his pants are.”

The intruder also spray-painted a few chairs, the bongos and a pickle jar, but no one noticed until they checked the tape.

“We would not have known about the naked guy without the cop finding that video,” said manager Amanda Kitto.

Police identified the man, who is homeless, but did not release his name publicly. Kitto declined to give his name and said the restaurant will not press charges because he caused no harm.

“His goal was to not break in, his goal was to just hang out at The Chattaway.”

Police still haven’t caught the other suspect who made off with about $500 worth of stuff.

Kitto said that even though the two incidents happened back-to-back, she does not believe they are connected.

“I used to always joke and say that if you were going to break into The Chattaway to make sure to grab a beer. And it finally happened.”

78-Year-Old Punches Out Bear in Terrifying Back Yard Attack

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Sonny Pumphrey wasn’t going to take no guff from some bear

WHITE OAK, North Carolina — Really, don’t mess with this guy.

A tough-as-nails 78-year-old punched out a bear that attacked him outside his North Carolina home, suffering only some cuts and bruises before driving the beast off.

Sonny Pumphrey said he was walking down his driveway in White Oak, when the mother beat wandered by with her two cubs. The cubs bolted, but the mother was ready to fight.

“She made a charging dead run at me. That sucker was eyeball-to-eyeball to me,” he told WLOS-TV.

But before it could get to him, Pumphrey says he punched the bear in the nose, casing the creature to duck down and bite his hip.

“She kind of shook me a little bit, and I’m still … I’m hitting her steady on the top of the head just as hard as I could swing, man, for dear life,” he said. “I just continue pounding and pounding and pounding and she’s continuing trying to bite me.

“And like I said, she got a hold of me and then shook me a little bit, then she let go and she took a swat at me. And when she took a swat at me she knocked me about eight feet over on the concrete,” he continued.

Hearing screams, his wife Betty ran outside with their Yorkshire Terrier and was shocked to see her husband trading blows with the angry beast.

“I saw her stand up and rear her paw back and all I seen was a mouthful of teeth,” she said. “And I just knew he was going to be gone.”

But between their dog barking and the two of them yelling, the bear got scared and ran off. Betty then got a shotgun and fired a shot in the woods to make sure the animal didn’t decide to return.

Wildlife officers tracked the bear but were unable to locate it. They say food has been scarce at higher elevations, so bears have been foraging lower.

Pumphrey had to get rabies shots, but was otherwise okay.

“I could have been dead. I could have been really cut up bad,” he said.

“We have a lot to be thankful for because we were both very, very lucky,” Betty said.

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.

3 Girl Scouts, 1 Adult Killed in Hit-and-Run While Picking Up Trash

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Authorities at the scene of the hit-and-run crash that left 3 girl scouts, 1 adult dead

LAKE HALLIE, Wisconsin — Three girl scouts and an adult chaperone were tragically killed when a pickup truck lurched off the road and plowed into them as they collected trash from the side of a highway.

Police say the 21-year-old driver, Colton Treu, fled the scene but later turned himself in. He is expected to be charged with four counts of homicide through the negligent use of a vehicle, cops said.

The accident occurred Saturday morning along a county road in Lake Hallie, Wisconsin, where the girls — all fourth graders who attended Halmstad Elementary School in Chippewa Falls — were collecting trash as part of a volunteer cleanup program.

Cops say Treu inexplicably veered off the road into a ditch where the girls were working, striking several children and a woman who was accompanying them. Two girls and the chaperone died at the scene. Two others were airlifted to a hospital, where one of them died.

Police said there was no blind spot in the area and it was unclear why Treu left the road. Investigators were looking at whether he had been distracted by something at the time.

 

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.

 

Cow Suit-Wearing Shoplifter Offers to Let Cop Suck Udder to Avoid Arrest

By HardBoiledNews Staff

UDDER MADNESS: Ashley Curry tried to use her teats to get out of a shoplifting bust

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas — Sounds like a case of mad cow disease.

A woman dressed in a black and white cow costume was busted for shoplifting at an Arkansas Walmart and then told the arresting officer he could suck one of the pink udders hanging from the front of her suit.

Pine Bluff police say Ashley Curry, 27, tried to walk off with a pack of Flonase, but was spotted by security officers monitoring the store’s surveillance cameras, because of her not-so inconspicuous outfit, KATV-TV reported.

After being detained, Curry told a cop searching her, that he could “suck a pink cow udder,” as she thrust the nipples dangling from the front of her costume in the officer’s face.

It was unclear if the offer was meant as an insult or a bribe.

Either way, cops charged Curry with shoplifting and resisting arrest.