Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Creep Claims Groundhog Made Him Flash Kids In Kentucky Park

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Robert McCoy

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — A registered sex offender caught allegedly masturbating in a public park claimed he only dropped his pants because he’d been frightened by a groundhog.

Louisville Metro Police say Robert McCoy had been spotted jerking off in the bushes in Lannan Memorial Park in Thursday while following kids around and watching them play.

When cops approached McCoy, they say he sped off on a moped. They later caught up with him and he claimed he had simply been urinating in the bushes when a groundhog jumped out and startled him, causing him to drop his pants around his ankles and expose himself to the victim.

McCoy had previously been convicted of attempting to rape a 9-year-old and is a registered sex offender.

He has been charged with sexual abuse and violating his parole was held on $15,000 bond.

Man Who Caused Montana Testicle Fest Bus Crash Hit With Homicide Charges

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James William Bayford had been thrown out of the testicle fest and was being driven home

MISSOULA, Montana — A  slobbering drunk Montana man who tried to grab the wheel of a shuttle taking people back from a Testicle Festival, causing it to flip and kill two passengers, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide.

James William Bayford, 42, of Missoula had been thrown out of the festival — where contestants compete to see who can eat the most bull testicles — and became upset while being driven back to town in the shuttle.

Cops say he then grabbed the wheel from the driver, causing him to lose control and roll over onto the median. Passengers Vannessa Anderson, 33, and Donny Barlow, 36, were thrown from the vehicle and were killed, the Missoulian reported.

Cops say Bayford had a blood alcohol level of .209 even though he had been barred from drinking as part of his probation from a separate case where he pleaded guilty just two weeks earlier to assaulting two young nephews.

Bayford has been charged with two counts of criminally negligent homicide and six counts of criminal endangerment. He was held on $200,000 bond.

Serial Arsonist Nabbed in N. Mexico Church Blaze

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Gordon Schuler apparently has a thing for fire

RIO RANCHO, New Mexico — A serial arsonist has been nabbed for allegedly trying to burn down a New Mexico church just a week after being let loose from jail, authorities said.

Gordon Schuler, 23, has been charged with setting fire to the Peace Lutheran Church in Rio Rancho in the early hours of July 31. Fortunately, a fire crew leaving a nearby hospital, spotted the smoke and were able to snap into action quickly.

Officials say that likely saved the building, but the interior of the church was very badly damaged, prosecutors said.

Police immediately suspected Schuler, a known firebug who had just been released on probation on July 25 on charges related to two arson fires last year.

Authorities say Schuler has been eyed in up to 10 arson fires in the Rio Rancho area but hasn;t been charged in all of them due to lack of sufficient evidence.

An investigation revealed that a video surveillance camera from a nearby business captured footage of Schuler carrying a backpack and hammer the night of the fire. A backpack and hammer were recovered in the ashes of the fire.

Schuler has been charged with using fire to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce, as the church sends more than 2% of its revenue to a central Lutheran church in Wisconsin.

He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Ohio Man Hid Dead Girlfriend in Freezer as New Gal Pal Assumed Her Identity

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Arturo Nova (L) and Katrina Layton

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A man stashed his dead girlfriend’s corpse in a freezer in his Ohio home for months while his new gal pal assumed her identity, using her credit cards and even taking care of her dog, authorities said.

Arturo Novoa, 31 and Katrina Layton, 34, have so far been charged with corpse abuse as investigators try to determine the cause of death of Shannon Graves, 28, who had last been seen alive around Christmas time.

Youngstown prosecutors said that around the time police believe Graves vanished, Layton moved in with Novoa and began using Graves’ car, phone and credit cards and taking care of her dog.

The creepy caper came undone when Novoa asked a friend to keep a padlocked freezer, police said. But the friend grew suspicious and called police after finding Graves’ remains when he pried the freezer open.

Shannon Graves had last been seen around Christmas

Novoa and Layton are each being held on $1 million bond.

YouTube Star Austin Jones Hit With Child Porn Charges

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CHICAGO — Austin Jones, a musician and YouTube star has been hit with child pornography charges for allegedly talking underage fans into sending him sexually explicit videos.

The 24-year-old pop singer, who resides in Bloomingdale, Illinois, has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, most of whom are young girls, and his YouTube videos are routinely watched millions of times.

Federal prosecutors say he is charged with talking two 14-year-old girls he met on Facebook into sending him video of them exposing their private parts while twerking for the camera and talking about how young they are.

“Get super close and say these lines: hey Austin, it’s (name) and this butt is (age) years old and then make it clap for 30 seconds. Got it?” he was quoted in the indictment as telling one of the victims.

To the second victim, Jones was quoted as saying: “Think about how amazing that would be for you!! To have your favorite singer spanking your ass!” He then said, “If you’re lucky, maybe I’d let you suck my d**k.”

Prosecutors said Jones would goad the victims into making more explicit videos by telling them they had to prove they were his biggest fans. If they demurred, he would threaten to break off communication. He admitted to the FBI that he would masturbate to the videos.

After being contacted by the FBI, Facebook deactivated Jones’ account, prosecutors said.

Jones was arrested on Monday at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and was set to go before a judge on Wednesday to face two counts of producing child pornography. He faces between 15 and 30 years on each count.

In 2015,  a petition circulated demanding Jones be removed from the Warped Tour for allegedly soliciting underage girls to send him twerking videos. He later apologized to fans, saying in a post on Facebook that he had gone into therapy and that he never “intended to mistreat or humiliate anyone.”

Sheriff Suspended After Flashing Bust in Atlanta Park

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Jeff Mann was elected Dekalb County Sheriff in 2014

ATLANTA– A Georgia sheriff has placed himself on suspension after he was busted for exposing himself in a public park and then fleeing from police.

DeKalb County Sheriff Jeffrey Mann was caught with his pants down late Saturday in a part of Atlanta’s Piedmont Park known for people committing “sexual acts after dark,” Atlanta police said.

According to a police report, Mann had exposed himself and was walking towards and officer. As they got close, the officer turned on his flashlight, and commanded Mann to stop. But Mann fled instead and led the officer on a quarter-mile chase before giving up, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

He was charged with indecency and obstruction.

DeKalb County Commissioner Nancy Jester said the arrest was “certainly not a good headline for DeKalb County.”

She said Mann — who has been with the department for more than a decade and was elected sheriff in 2014 — had always been considered professional, but “now we have this, so I don’t know.”

“We’ll see where this takes us,” she told the paper.

In a memo to his staff, Mann said he had no choice but to place himself on suspension for conduct unbecoming an officer.

“I cannot ask my employees to abide by a code of conduct unless I am willing to subject myself to it as well.  In fact, I must be held to an even higher standard than my employees,” he wrote.

Still, he said the suspension didn’t qualify as an admission of guilt and that he planned to defend himself against the charges.

Joker Look-Alike Hauled in On Gun Charges

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MIAMI — They didn’t need to call Batman to bust this joker.

Cops in Miami had no trouble at all taking in a man accused of pointing a gun at passing cars whose face tattoo and dyed green hair gave him an uncanny resemblance the joker character in the Batman movies.

Lawrence Patrick Sullivan, 29, was stopped Tuesday night with a loaded handgun in his pocket after residents had called to complain that a man had been brandishing a gun at motorists, cops said. He was easy to track down due to his facial tattoos.

The police report states that Sullivan told the cops that he had “a gun in my pocket,” but that he didn’t have a concealed weapons permit, “cause it’s expensive.”

Sullivan was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and he was released on $5,000 bond.

He told cops he works as a tattoo model.

Sullivan questioned why he was charged with a felony.

“The gun’s in my name, it’s not a dirty gun. Why they gonna charge me with a felony?” Sullivan told WTVJ-TV after being released.

When reminded he didn’t have a permit for the gun, Sullivan responded, “F**ck the permit. We live in America.”

Cops Bust Steven Tyler Look-Alike Who Dressed as Woman to Evade Police

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OCALA, Florida — This dude indeed looks like a lady.

A fugitive wanted on gun charges dressed up as woman to evade police, but bore a striking resemblance to Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler when cops eventually tracked him down.

Marion County Sheriff’s deputies had been searching for Woodrow Dyer, 38, last week to arrest him on gun possession charges but he got away.

The following day, cops caught up to him dressed in women’s clothing and wearing long scarf wrapped around his head in an effort to fool police as he drove through town in a friend’s car.

DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY!!

The ruse didn’t work as it was clear to deputies that Dyer was just a unshaven dude wearing women’s clothes.

“Any resemblance to Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is purely a coincidence,” the department said in a statement.

After cops pulled the vehicle over, a police dashboard camera recorded Dyer hop out of the car and flee into the woods where he was caught by a police dog named Tipster, the sheriff’s office said.

 

Masturbating Sicko Busted for Hiring Prostitutes to Strip on Neighbor’s Porch

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David Goldsberry

OMAHA, Nebraska– Worst. Neighbor. Ever.

A Nebraska man has been charged with hiring prostitutes to strip on his neighbor’s front porch while he covertly watched and masturbated in his home across the street.

Douglas Goldsberry, 45,  was arrested The couple who lived in the home with their two young children reported to police numerous alarming encounters of call girls showing up at their door demanding payment and pimp’s peeking in their windows, police said.

Investigators say they believe Goldsberry had been engaging in the bizarre practice for several years. His neighbors reported at least 75 instances of woman coming to their home, but cops believe there may have been many more instances that occurred when the family wasn’t home.

At first, the episodes would occur once a month or so, cops said, but had recently escalated. In March, the family said women had arrived on eight separate occasions.

“When it got more and more and more, they got law enforcement more heavily involved,” Lt. Will Rinn of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office told the Omaha World.

The reports led police to set up surveillance and they were able to zero in on Goldsberry after interviewing several of the prostitutes, who had been hired out of classified ads posted on Backpage.

“What we found out was, basically, this guy hasn’t been paying these prostitutes either,” Dunning said.

When Goldsberry, who works as a chef,  was arrested last week, cops found him in an Omaha Hotel with a suicide note and a noose fashioned from an electrical cord nearby. He was charged with felony pandering.

On the day of his arrest, Goldsberry’s wife filed for divorce.

Blood-Soaked Man Carrying Mom’s Severed Head Stabs Oregon Grocery Clerk

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Joshua Lee Webb

ESTACADA, Oregon — A blood-covered lunatic carrying his mother’s severed head was arrested after walking into Oregon grocery store and stabbing a clerk, police said.

The Clackamas County Sheriff’s office said Joshua Lee Webb, 36, was taken into custody on Mother’s Day after being subdued by other workers at at the Harvest Market Thriftway in Estacada.

Investigators later determined that the head belonged to Webb’s mother, Tina Marie Webb, 59, who was found dead at her home in nearby Colton, Oregon.

Police said the gory sequence of events came to an end when Webb stabbed 66-year-old grocery clerk, David Wagner, before being tackled by other employees. Wagner is expected to live, police said.

Cops said Webb appeared catatonic as he was placed under arrest and didn’t say a word.

Webb’s father, David Webb, said his son lived at home and was on social security as he and had problems with his eyesight.

“I never foresaw a problem. If I had I would have stopped it,” David Webb told The Associated Press. “I just can’t believe I lost my wife and son in one day. … I don’t know. I wish I did. I wish I had some answers, but I don’t. I waited all my life to retire with my wife, and now I can’t. That’s all I know.”