This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Crime

  • Saturday Feel Good Stories

    AW1Ed says he apologizes in advance for the gawd-awful site composition- the jarring colors gave him a headache.

    https://www.bxtimes.com/stories/2018/44/44-morrisondelishooting-2018-11-02-bx.html

    It’s in the Bronx. I expect better of the Bronx.  But: Police are investigating an attempted robbery that left a suspect fatally shot by a bodega owner. According to the NYPD, 43rd Precinct police responded to a call of a robbery in progress inside of 1260 Morrison Avenue on Sunday, October 21 at 10:32 p.m. Upon entering J Market, police officers discovered Daniel Meeks, a 32-year-old Soundview resident, unconscious and unresponsive after sustaining a sunshot wound to his head. EMS responded to the scene and transported Meeks to Jacobi Hospital where he was pronounced deceased. Meeks allegedly entered the store and demanded cash from the owner before jumping over the counter. The owner allegedly produced a .357 Magnum revolver and shot Meeks. The investigation is ongoing and is being treated as a case of self-defense.

    Never piss off Mama Bear:

    https://www.foxcarolina.com/i-would-ve-killed-him-if-i-had-to-mother/article_c7cda65b-e84e-5238-830d-dff2e796e138.html

    A mother of three in South Carolina said she used her firearm to protect her family when a stranger tried to enter her house.

    Ashley Jones told FOX Carolina she heard someone banging on the door of her home in Anderson County around 6 a.m. Thursday.

    She looked out the window and didn’t see anyone, so she asked who was there. No one answered her, but she heard people speaking in front of the house. Next, Jones said she called 911 and grabbed her gun.

    As she walked downstairs with the gun, she said she saw a strange man in a red shirt knocking on her window by the front door.

    Jones said she was initially hesitant to be a gun owner and hoped she never had to use it. She took steps to train with the firearm and taught her children to avoid it. But after the events that unfolded Thursday morning, Jones said she is glad to be a gun owner.

    And finally, in vino veritas:

    https://www.reporternews.com/story/news/crime/2018/10/31/crime-blotter-abilene-police-said-drunk-intoxicated-man-hit-head-own-gun/1831591002/

    Abilene police said an intoxicated man was hit in the head with his gun after he was disarmed by his potential victim at a south-side hotel.

    The 38-year-old man from Oklahoma and a 19-year-old man got into a verbal argument in a parking lot in the 3400 block of South Clack Street about 11:15 p.m. As the victim was getting into his vehicle, the suspect charged him. The victim told the suspect to back off because he had a gun in the vehicle, police said.

    The suspect went to his hotel room to retrieve a gun and returned to the parking lot, where he pointed the gun at the 19-year-old, police said. The victim took the gun from the suspect and hit him with it on the ear, police said.

    During his arrest for public intoxication, the suspect admitted to be drunk and making bad choices, police said.

    Must be something in the water in Abilene, TX. Thanks to AW1Ed for supplying the stores.

  • Friday Feel Good Stories

    From Wilted Willy:

    https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ne-port-orange-volusia-shooting-stalking-20181101-story.html

    An armed 32-year-old Port Orange man was shot at by law enforcement Wednesday night at a 7-Eleven and died of a gunshot wound to the head, Volusia County sheriff’s deputies said in a Facebook post this morning.

    The man, John Wurms, was taken by helicopter to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities said he had pointed the gun at police when he was shot.

    The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.

    “The good thing, thank God, is, number one, our victim in this case….is alive,” he said.

    Chitwood said Wurms had committed several crimes since July and appeared to have “come off the rails.”

    Wurms was sought by Port Orange police after he reportedly threatened the woman, identified as the victim in a pending aggravated stalking case for which the man had been charged, deputies said in their overnight social media post.

    From AW1Ed:

    A trucker was uninjured Tuesday morning after defending himself against an attacker at a gas station in Florida.

    http://livetrucking.com/armed-trucker-able-to-defend-himself-against-gas-station-attacker/

    Police say the trucker was outside of a 7-eleven when a man suddenly attacked him.

    The incident happened at around 2:15 a.m. in Northeast Miami-Dade, Florida.

    Miami-Dade Police say that the trucker was standing outside his rig speaking to someone at a 7-eleven at 1000 Northeast 215th Street when a man suddenly came up and attacked him. Luckily, the truck driver was armed and was able to pull out his gun, opening fire on the assailant, who promptly fled to the 7-eleven building to find help.

    Excuse me, the assailant needed help? Glad the trucker’s okay.

    Next on our menu:

    http://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20181031/da-quinn-cab-driver-acted-in-self-defense-in-fatal-shooting

    FALL RIVER — Bristol County DA Thomas M. Quinn III said his office has determined that a cab driver acted in self-defense when he shot and killed one of two men trying to rob him during a botched Aug. 10 holdup in New Bedford.

    “After a thorough investigation, it is clear that the cab driver acted in lawful self-defense and the use of deadly force was justified under the circumstances,” Quinn said in a statement released to the media Wednesday at the Superior Court arraignment of 23-year-old New Bedford resident Kyle S. Dawson, the surviving robbery suspect.

    The cab driver for the Yellow Cab Co. picked up Dawson and Christopher Dunton, 24, of New Bedford about 1 a.m. in the area of Cottage and Willis streets and drove them to Bentley Street in New Bedford’s near North End, four houses away from Dawson’s home, prosecutors said.

    Dawson asked the cab driver if he had change for a $50 bill and then Dunton placed him in a chokehold, while Dawson held a knife to his side, prosecutors said. The cab driver freed himself and fired three rounds into the cab, killing Dunton, investigators said. Dawson ran out the passenger side and door and was arrested later that day by police.

    “The victim was violently robbed by two men who threatened his life while choking him and putting a knife to his side,” Quinn said in the statement. “Fortunately, he was able to extricate himself and get out of the cab.

    But you’ll be pleased to know that the robbery suspect faces heftier charges.

    http://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20181008/surviving-new-bedford-robbery-suspect-faces-heftier-charge

    Kyle S. Dawson, 23, of 28 Bentley St., Apartment 1, the surviving suspect in the Aug. 10 robbery in New Bedford, will be arraigned Oct. 31 in Fall River Superior Court, according to Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III.

    A Bristol County Grand Jury indicted Dawson on charges of armed assault with intent to rob, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and involuntary manslaughter, Miliote said.

    The charge of involuntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in state prison, is a new charge brought against Dawson by the grand jurors. Dawson is currently being held without bail at the Bristol County House of Correction, after a dangerousness hearing in New Bedford District Court.

    As if Pittsburgh needed this now.

    https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/11/01/police-medical-examiner-mount-oliver-home/

    MOUNT OLIVER (KDKA) – Allegheny County Homicide Unit Detectives said a suspect is dead after an attempted home invasion in Mount Oliver.

    Lt. Andrew Schurman said the man who resides in the home on Sherman Avenue shot and killed the intruder just after 5 a.m. Thursday.

    Detectives said the intruder had a weapon “similar to an assault rifle” and they think he entered through a second-story window.

    The homeowner, who was taken away for police questioning, said he believed the intruder had a weapon and shot him with his personal handgun.

    No charges have been filed.

    The identity of the deceased has not yet been released since investigators said he did not have any identification on him at his time of death.

    “The homeowner was the one who called 911 and was very cooperative with investigators,” said Lt. Schurman. “The victim, the burglar, the actor, was pronounced dead at the scene.”

     

  • Thursday Morning Feel Good Stories

    Here’s a bunch, several provided by AW1Ed:

    https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2018/10/masked-gunman-killed-by-armed-father-in-mcdonalds-shooting-identified-as-birmingham-24-year-old.html?utm_source=reddit.com

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) – A masked gunman, who police say opened fire in a Birmingham McDonald’s and was killed by an armed father, has been identified.

    The Jefferson County Coroner identified the gunman as 24-year-old Antonio Demond Sanders.

    Police say Sanders entered the McDonald’s on Lomb Avenue and opened fire before being fatally shot by an armed customer Saturday night. The customer and one his sons were injured in the shootout, but their injuries are not life-threatening.

    Police say the father is not facing charges at this point, and do not know the victim’s motive for initiating the shooting.

    http://www.nbc-2.com/story/39388541/lehigh-acres-mom-shoots-father-of-her-child-in-selfdefense

    Deputies arrested a Lehigh Acres, FL, man for assault and battery charges.

    Latravin Fain is accused of beating the mother of his child and putting a gun to her head.

    The mother left with her kids looking for help in fear for her life. Deputies said Fain caught up with her and her sister, cutting them off in his car. Fain started walking toward them as the woman stated he should not approach.

    With an eight-month-old baby in the backseat, she shot Fain in the arm with the same gun put to her head.

    Fain ended up driving to Lee County Core Facility after getting shot for help, but then he ran out of Lehigh Regional Medical Center hours later against doctors

    There’s a video at the link, too. And we need the Name Scrabble score on Fain.

    https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/cumberland-county-news/motorcycle-seller-shoots-would-be-thief-during-meeting-at-school-fayetteville-police-say/1562043955

    FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) – A man trying to sell his motorcycle fought back and shot a thief who tried to rob him at gunpoint during an incident at a school in Fayetteville Monday night, police say.

    The two men met around 8:10 p.m. at school property in the 200 block of Bonanza Drive, according to a news release from Fayetteville police.

    Police did not say which school was the site of the meeting, but Westover Middle and High schools are located in the same block as the meeting.

    The possible sale of the motorcycle was set up using a “smartphone buy/sell mobile app,” police said.

    The incident happened when the “potential buyer” displayed a handgun and tried to rob the motorcycle owner, police said.

    “The victim then produced his own handgun and shot the handgun at the suspect, ultimately striking the suspect,” the news release said.

    Police said a man later showed up at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center with a gunshot wound.

    https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/cumberland-county-news/one-shot-outside-fayetteville-food-lion/1395043037

    FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) – Police say one person was shot outside the Food Lion on Rosehill Road in Fayetteville Friday night after a man swung a knife at a man who was with his toddler daughter.

    According to Fayetteville Police, 26-year-old Marquel White was leaving the store carrying his 2-year-old daughter when a man approached him, yelling expletives as White was walking to his car.

    After White put his daughter into the car, the man began swinging what authorities believe was a knife. White then shot the man, hitting him in the abdomen.

    Richard Bradley, 31, was identified by police as the man who was shot. As of Sunday night, Bradley was in stable condition at the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

  • Chutzpah? Yep. PTSD? Not So Much.

    Yeah, PTSD is real. And some people really are screwed up bigtime from it.

    But I have my doubts whether all PTSD claims are on the up-an-up. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out a large fraction are BS, either totally or in part.

    Why? Well, if the multiple doubtful cases previously presented here at TAH weren’t enough – here’s yet another reason.

    Short version: a guy named Michael Pecka from Fairport, NY, claimed to suffer from “PTSD”. He claimed it was due to “witnessing” and “helping investigate” two suicides while serving in Kuwait during 2004-2005. The experience supposedly left Pecka “traumatized,” and he filed disability claims with the VA twice on that basis, in 2011 and 2014.

    The VA granted Pecka compensation for his “PTSD” – to the tune of $3,000+ monthly. He eventually collected about $92,000 in tax-free VA disability compensation.

    Yeah, the words in quotes above are in quotes for a reason. When the VA OIG investigated Pecka’s case in detail, they found he didn’t witness either suicide or help with any investigations. Hell, he wasn’t even in the same country at the time one of the suicides occurred (the suicide in question occurred IVO Fort Drum while Pecka was deployed to Kuwait).

    Oh, and did I mention that Pecka had the gall to file the first of his claims with the VA while in prison on unrelated bank fraud charges? Color me “shocked, shocked” to find out that a convicted fraudster would attempt yet another fraud.

    Pecka recently pleaded guilty to making a false claim in connection with his VA disability application. He’s now facing a maximum possible sentence of 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. He’s to be sentenced in Jan 2019.

    You can read more about the case in this article. Personally, I hope the judge gives this lying a-hole the absolute max sentence (and fine) allowed. I also hope the judge orders Pecka to pay restitution.

    We give the VA grief when they screw up. But here, the VA figured out that they were dealing with a Pecka-head sh!tbag – and nailed him to the wall.

    Kudos, VA OIG. Hopefully, this is just a start. Perhaps perusing this site’s archives would be helpful in the way of leads.

    —–

    Note: hat tip to frequent commenter AnotherPat for originally identifying the case in this comment to another article.

  • Boston Gangster Found Dead in Prison- Update ‘Whitey’ Bulger beaten to death by prison inmates with possible mob ties

    whitey bulgerFILE – This June 23, 2011, file booking photo provided by the U.S. Marshals Service shows James “Whitey” Bulger. Bulger died in federal custody after being sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons say he died Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018. (U.S. Marshals Service via AP, File) The Associated Press

    Update.

    Infamous Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, who was found dead at a West Virginia prison on Tuesday, appeared to have been fatally beaten by inmates with potential mob ties, according to a report.

    Bulger, 89, “was found unresponsive” around 8:20 a.m. Tuesday morning at USP Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, W.V., where he’d been in custody since Monday, the Bureau of Prisons said in a news release. Bulger was recently moved from a prison in Florida and had a stop in Oklahoma City before arriving in West Virginia.

    Two unidentified Bureau of Prisons employees told The New York Times that multiple inmates at the facility had beaten and ultimately killed Bulger. The suspected inmates were potentially “affiliated with the mob,” however details were unclear, one source told the outlet.

    More at Fox News

    Notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger has died in federal custody nearly five years after being sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

    Looks like his sentence was carried out.

    James “Whitey” Bulger, the murderous Boston gangster who benefited from a corrupt relationship with the FBI before spending 16 years as one of America’s most wanted men, died in federal prison. He was 89.

    Bulger was found unresponsive Tuesday morning at the U.S. penitentiary in West Virginia where he’d just been transferred, and a medical examiner declared him dead shortly afterward, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Authorities did not immediately release a cause of death but said the FBI was notified and is investigating.

    Bulger, the model for Jack Nicholson’s ruthless crime boss in the 2006 Martin Scorsese movie, “The Departed,” led a largely Irish mob that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets. He also was an FBI informant who ratted on the New England mob, his gang’s main rival, in an era when bringing down the Mafia was a top national priority for the FBI.

    Bulger fled Boston in late 1994 after his FBI handler, John Connolly Jr., warned him he was about to be indicted. With a $2 million reward on his head, Bulger became one of the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” criminals, with a place just below Osama bin Laden.

    When the extent of his crimes and the FBI’s role in overlooking them became public in the late 1990s, Bulger became a source of embarrassment for the FBI. During the years he was a fugitive, the FBI battled a public perception that it had not tried very hard to find him.

    After more than 16 years on the run, Bulger was captured at age 81 in Santa Monica, California, where he had been living in a rent-controlled apartment near the beach with his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig.

    Well let’s all squeak out a tear for Whitey Bulger. Or not. I’d be interested in how the FBI justified using him as an informant, and how he was able to stay a free man for so long. Anyway, AMF Whitey; this qualifies as a Feel Good Story, but needed to stand alone.

    The article is cross posted from the AP’s Denise Lavoie’s article, which can be read at US News and World Report

  • Tuesday Morning Feel Good Stories

    sympathy meter

    While I know that some of you like to know that the Bad Guys have met their Maker, those stories aren’t quite as easy to find as you’d think. So I have this to offer instead.

    The first offer was posted elsewhere earlier, by one of you. It includes the bit about the employee being so shaken up by the sound of gunfire that he had to hide.

    https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2018/10/staff-writer/armed-father-defends-sons-from-mcdonalds-gunman/

    Around 10:45 p.m. Saturday night in southwest Birmingham, Alabama, a dad and his two sons were leaving a McDonald’s. As they started to walk out the door, a masked man entered and opened fire in the restaurant. It’s not known whether the attacker was targeting someone or attempting a robbery.

    According to a witness who was in the drive-through line, eight or nine shots rang out as people, including children, started running away. The witness then heard two more gunshots.

    Those two were likely the dad’s, who returned fire after both he and one of his sons were wounded. The attacker is now dead. Dad and son sustained non-life-threatening injuries from which they’re expected to recover. Besides those three, no one else was injured during the shooting.

    In this article, the sailor walked into a trap and murdered for his good intentions. The shooter is in jail and faces serious charges. it’s an effing shame that a decent human being’s life ends this way. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-news-suspect-charged-shooting-death-navy-sailor-20181029-story.html

    A suspect has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of a Navy sailor who was gunned down in California while trying to help a motorist who appeared to be stranded.

    Brandon Acuna was arrested Saturday hours after Curtis Adams was fatally shot on Interstate 5 in San Diego, San Diego Police Department Lt. Anthony Dupree said.

    The 21-year-old was apprehended after police were tipped off by witnesses who saw him walking away from a vehicle that matched the description of the one seen at the murder scene.

    Acuna was charged with first-degree murder and second-degree burglary, online records show. He is currently being held without bail at the San Diego Central Jail, and is due in court Wednesday.

    The last story is particularly vile. In my view five life sentences for the man are barely enough to punish this chode, and his wife certainly needs more than just 33 years. How about life?

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-news-five-life-sentences-impregnated-daughter-20181025-story.html

    SAN ANTONIO – A judge has handed down five life sentences to a Texas man who admitted sexually assaulting his adopted daughter for 15 years and fathering three of her children.

    The San Antonio Express News reports that Eusebio Castillo pleaded guilty to 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault for the abuse, which began when the girl was 9. His wife, Laura Castillo, previously pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated sexual assault and was sentenced to 33 years in prison.

    Prosecutors say the couple adopted the girl, who was a relative, and forced her into group sex. Prosecutors say the victim gave birth to three children, who were raised to believe the Castillos were their parents.

    During sentencing Tuesday, Judge Joey Contreras told Eusebio Castillo his actions were “unforgivable.”

    At keast, they are in jail and while it does not say so, I hope it is without possibility of parole.

  • Would-be looter killed trying to steal law enforcement vehicle

    panama city hurricane michaelHurricane Michael: Devastation in Panama City, Florida

    Fox News is reporting a man trying to steal a law enforcement vehicle was shot and killed last week, hours after Hurricane Michael roared ashore in the Florida Panhandle.

    The shooting unfolded Thursday night in hard-hit Panama City, a little more than 24 hours after Michael made landfall as a Category 4 storm, WEAR-TV reported. Witness Landon Swett told the station he saw the man approach the vehicle from across the street.

    “He yelled at me a little bit and said, ‘Oh, I’m looting.’ And he opened the door to the police officer’s SUV with the lights going. Got in it, shut the door,” said Swett, who added that he gathered his family and turned to go inside his house.

    “As I’m crossing the doorway, I look back, I saw the officer at the passenger side, I don’t believe the door was open yet,” Sweet said. “Then I got about three more feet inside, and I heard the shot.”

    A Florida Highway Patrol spokesman stated that the Florida State Fire Marshals were involved in the shooting, and added that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was investigating the incident.

    Not much to investigate. Darwin grins.

  • Hillary Clinton loses security clearance

    Hillary

    The Washington Times reports that Hillary Clinton, also known as Felonia McPantsuit or Das Hildebeast, has lost her security clearance in the wake of the scandal over her handling of secret information on her email server, the Senate Judiciary Committee revealed Friday.

    Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley also revealed top Clinton aide Cheryl Mills and four others no longer have clearance.

    Mrs. Clinton’s clearance expired at the end of August. The others lost their access privileges in September.

    The State Department, in a letter to Mr. Grassley, had said Mrs. Clinton and her aides retained clearance in order to conduct research after she left office.

    The names of the four additional aides besides Ms. Mills were redacted from the State Department letter that the committee released.

    Well that only took what, three years? Had it been any who post or comment here with a clearance, well, you know. Clearance stripped in about 30 seconds and frog-marched to the Special Handling Unit in a Federal pen at the ass-end of Nowhere, North Dakota.