Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

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

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

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.

 

(Visited 9 times, 9 visits today)

Dad Charged in Beating Death of Creep Who Tried to Get Into Daughter’s Toilet Stall

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Melvin Harris blew his top after finding out a man tried to bust into his daughter’s bathroom stall a a Phoenix shop

PHOENIX — An Arizona dad has been charged with murder for fatally stomping a man who tried to bust into bathroom stall his daughter was using, cops said.

Melvin Harris, 40, went to pick up his teenage daughter and her pals at a convenience store when he was approached by a man, late identified as Leon Armstrong, 26, in the parking lot asking for money.

Harris gave the man some money after which he went into the store. A few minutes later, Harris’ daughter came out and told him a man had tried to force his way into her bathroom stall, according to AZCentral.com.

As a security guard escorted the man out of the store, Harris recognized him as the person he gave money too, so he ran over and told the guard that they needed to take care of the situation of he would do it himself.

The guard assured Harris that he had it under control, but witnesses say Harris the went over to the man and punched him in the face, knocking him down. Witnesses say Harris continued to punch and kick Armstrong on the face.

Harris then left Armstrong lying and moaning on the ground. Police say he suffered a severe brain injury in the beating, and died a week later.

Harris admitted to cops that he punched Armstrong, but only after he swung at him first.

Armstrong’s sister told KNXV-TV, “He didn’t have to take my brother’s life when he was down on the ground. He should have just called the police. I understand you want to defend your daughter, I totally get that I have daughters myself, but the way you went about it was totally wrong.”

Harris has been charged with second-degree murder.

 

(Visited 4,624 times, 1,318 visits today)

Man Robbed at Sword-Point After Letting Woman In to Use the Bathroom

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

The suspect whipped out the sword after being let in to use the toilet

BUFFALO, New York — Is that a sword in your hands, or are you just happy to see me?

A Buffalo man was robbed at sword-point after letting a woman into his house to use the bathroom, police said.

The man told police that he didn’t know the woman, but let her in after she knocked on his door Saturday asking to use his bathroom, the Buffalo News reported.

After doing her business, she grabbed the weapon that was laying near the door to the man’s house and threatened to hurt him if he didn’t hand over his cash.

After he handed over his wallet, the woman knocked him to the ground and ran off with his cash, cops said.

(Visited 40 times, 2 visits today)

Ex-GOP Leader Charged With Killing Mom’s Dog, Claims God Made Him Do It

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Todd Kincannon, the former head of the SC Republican Party, insists he is the son of God and that is why he killed his mother’s dog

SIMPSONVILLE, South Carolina — Some people argue that the GOP leadership has lost its mind. In this case, they’d be right.

The former head of the South Carolina Republican Party has been arrested for allegedly murdering his mother’s dog with his bare hands and then telling cops that God told him to do it.

Todd Kincannon, 37, told officers: “I’m the second coming of Christ and I got a command from God to do it.”

Simpsonville Police were called on July 26 to Kincannon’s parent’s house, where he was living. There they found him walkin out of the house covered in blood and dog hair and wearing only his underwear.

His mother had locked herself inside a bathroom because she said she was “absolutely terrified” of Kincannon who killed her dog “with his bare hands,” according to The State newspaper.

In addition to claiming God made him do it, Kincannon told cops,“that every 1,000 years there needs to be a sacrifice and blood must be spilt.”

According to the arrest warrant, Kincannon “intentionally, willfully, maliciously, cruelly and needlessly” mutilated his mother’s 10-year-old beagle-cattle dog mix named Bailey. Investigators say Kincannon choked and stabbed the medium-sized dog multiple times with two knives.

He was taken to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation and charged with ill treatment of animals.

Kincannon was the executive director and general counsel of the state Republican Party from 20024 until 2010. He had been well known in South Carolina for sending incendiary tweets about slain teen Trayvon Martin and attacking Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

In 2013, Kincannon’s Twitter account was temporarily suspended for his fiery tweets.

In 2015, Knicannon was charged with criminal domestic violence, for threatening to kill his wife and himself, According to a report from that incident, Kincannon “threatened to kill himself, his then wife, and her family,” WYFF-4 reported. Later in 2015, Kincannon’s law license was suspended.

 

(Visited 39 times, 1 visits today)

Maryland Wig Store Robbery Quickly Becomes Hair-Raising Brawl

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

This wig store quickly turned to chaos as three thieves rumbled with employees

SILVER SPRINGS, Maryland — A hair-raising robbery attempt turned into a full-scale rumble at a wig store when two employees tried to stop the thieves.

Authorities in Silver Spring, Maryland say three robbers attempted to run out of Esther’s Beauty Salon/Supplies with wigs in tow when the employees intervened. The three women tried to blast their way out of the shop with pepper spray.

Surveillance camera footage shows the scene erupt into a wild melee with fists and wigs flying, mannequins being knocked to the floor and one of the female suspects almost losing her shirt.

One employee, a 74-year-old man, tried to the lock the door to keep the women inside, but two of the suspects manage to force their way outside, leaving the third inside.

The 59-year-old female employee then wrestled with the remaining thief, attacking her with a piece of a mannequin, but the woman managed to force her way out the door as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5mCuW8Slow&feature=youtu.be

In the struggle, police said the male employee suffered a cut on his head. The robbers managed to get away with one wig.

 

(Visited 12 times, 1 visits today)

Driver Miraculously Survives Being Ejected From Car in Wild Police Chase

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

 

 

The driver narrowly survived being ejected from the vehicle

FLORENCE, South Carolina — A woman who led police on a lengthy high-speed chase, miraculously escaped with her life when she was ejected onto the road after her SUV flipped over.

Shocking dashboard camera footage reveals how Brittany Nicole Jeffords, 24, rammed numerous police cars, tore through yards and weaved through oncoming traffic before losing control of her vehicle.

The episode unfolded on July 12, when South Carolina cops attempted to pull Jeffords over for a traffic violation. As it turned out, Jeffords had a bench warrant for failure to appear in court for armed robbery charges and her license had been suspended for an earlier DUI, so she refused to stop.

She eventually pulled into a parking lot, where a passenger got out and was arrested, but as cops slapped cuffs on the man, Jeffords sped off, sparking the long chase. The man told cops Jeffords ran because she didn’t want to go back to jail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkdAmyTR8TU

Eventually cops were able to bring the chase to an end when they used a maneuver to hit the back of Jeffords’ vehicle, causing it to spin out. But instead, she lost control and flipped over.

As the car tumbled wildly out of control, Jeffords can be seen being thrown out of the vehicle.

Brittany Nicole Jeffords

Miraculously she survived and remains in jail on charges of fleeing police as well as the charges from her earlier cases.

 

(Visited 732 times, 1 visits today)

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

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

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.

 

(Visited 43 times, 1 visits today)

Jailbird Dog Finds Way Home After Becoming Internet Star

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Bean the runaway pug landed behind bars before being reunited with her owner

CAPE MAY, New Jersey — Pug life, yo.

A runaway pug was returned to her owner after cops in Cape May, New Jersey posted her mugshot online.

Bean was found wandering in a family’s backyard on Sunday, prompting Patrolman Michael LeSage to look to the web to find her owner.

“This is what happens when you run away from home. This guy was captured sneaking through yards on the 1300 block on New Jersey Avenue. #pugmug,” the Cape May police posted on Facebook along with the mugshot which quickly went viral.

A few hours later, Bean’s owners contacted police after being informed by a neighbor that their dog had become a minor internet sensation.

“The pug’s owner has been located, and he has been released on bail,” police joked later on Facebook.

Hadley Hubbard, of Baltimore, Maryland, identified herself as Bean’s owner on social media.

“Bean is sound asleep at home after an exciting afternoon on the run,” she wrote.

(Visited 23 times, 1 visits today)

Missing Woman Found 7 Days After Plunging Down 200-Foot Cliff in California

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Angela Hernandez survived by drinking water from her radiator after plunging down a 200-foot cliff

BIG SUR, California — A woman who had been missing for seven days was miraculously found alive at the bottom of a 200-foot cliff where her car had landed after plunging off of a windy and remote stretch of coastal road.

Angela Hernandez, 23, had sat injured and dazed for a week on a small craggy beach at the bottom of a steep cliff along Central California’s picturesque coastline. She had survived by drinking water from her wrecked Jeep’s radiator.

She was finally found on Friday when a pair of hikers spotted her Jeep, which was partially submerged in the Pacific Ocean. When they came down for a closer look, they discovered Hernandez alive.

“My sister is alive, she’s talking, and she’s still trying to come to understand everything,” Angela’s sister Isabel Hernandez wrote on Facebook early Saturday. “She’s a fighter and she fought this long and she will continue to. It’s not going to be an easy recovery. I hope everyone will have patience for her and her recovery.

Hernandez’s disappearance had triggered a wide search. She had last been seen leaving a gas station in Carmel on July 6 as she drove from Portland, Oregon to visit her sister near Los Angeles.

Her family had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts as authorities searched on the ground and by air. Fog in the area had limited visibility for several days which likely slowed finding Hernandez.

She told rescuers that she had lost control of her Jeep Patriot along Highway 1 after swerving to avoid hitting an animal that morning and then plunged 200 feet over a cliff

After being found, crews worked for hours to hoist her back up the cliff face to the roadway.

Rescuers said Hernandez was found to be in fair and stable condition and was treated for a concussion and an injured shoulder. She was then airlifted to Twin Cities Community Hospital in San Luis Obispo County.

 

(Visited 3,473 times, 1 visits today)

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

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

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.

 

(Visited 30 times, 1 visits today)