You are here: Home / Crime

Mojave Cross Replaced… Then Removed

May 21, 2010 By Jeff Leave a Comment

Sometime late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning someone erected a replacement for the “Mojave Cross” which was torn down and stolen by vandals a week ago. The replacement cross was promptly removed by the park service:

The Mojave Cross saga took yet another unexpected turn Thursday, when the contested symbol that vanished last week reappeared briefly before being taken down by federal officials.

National Park Service officials learned Thursday morning that a cross again was on top of Sunrise Rock, about 10 miles south of Interstate 15 near Cima Road, a sparsely traveled route into the Mojave National Preserve. It’s about 30 miles east of Baker.

Some version of the cross has stood there for 75 years as a tribute to fallen World War I soldiers. Vandals made off with the cross May 9, 10 days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it could remain pending the outcome of a decade-long court battle over whether it should be permitted on public land.

Once federal officials discovered Thursday that it was a replica of the stolen cross, the Justice Department said it had to be taken down.

This is beyond silly, it shouldn’t matter whether it’s the old cross or a new cross to replace the one that was stolen.

Filed Under: Crime, Culture, Military Tagged With: , , , ,

Mojave Cross Torn Down and Stolen by Vandals

May 11, 2010 By Jeff Leave a Comment

The Mojave Cross, a memorial to World War I veterans, which has stood in various forms for more than 75 years was torn down and stolen by vandals sometime late Sunday or early Monday morning:

The 7-foot-tall metal cross in a 75-year-old war memorial that withstood the heat of the Mojave Desert and a blazing battle in the Supreme Court over its legality was ripped down and stolen Sunday night, according to federal officials.

“This is an outrage, akin to desecrating people’s graves,” said Kelly Shackelford, president of the Liberty Institute, which represents the caretakers of the Mojave Desert War Memorial. “It’s a disgraceful attack on the selfless sacrifice of our veterans. We will not rest until this memorial is re-installed.”

The National Park Service says someone cut the metal bolts holding the metal-pipe cross to the top of the memorial’s Sunrise Rock and made off with it Sunday night or before dawn on Monday.

Authorities had no immediate motive for the theft but National Park Service officials are considering a range of ideas from scrap metal scavengers to people “with an interest in the case,” said Park Service spokeswoman Linda Slater.

I’m really at a loss for words here, whoever did this, whatever their motivations, is a despicable rat bastard.

That said I can’t help but think this cowardly act was perpetrated by some politically motivated ideologue… you would have to have been freeze dried for the last decade not to know the significance of the Mojave Cross, I can’t imagine even the sleaziest  of scrap metal scavengers would be foolish enough to steal it.

Related

Filed Under: Crime, Culture, Military Tagged With: , , , ,

Palin E-mail Hacker Convicted on Two Counts

April 30, 2010 By Jeff Leave a Comment

A federal jury in Knoxville, Tennessee convicted David Kernell, the 22 year old son of Democratic State Representative, on two of four counts related to the intrusion into former Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s personal Yahoo! Mail account during the 2008 elections today:

(Reuters) – A college student who hacked into former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s e-mail account and posted some of its contents on the Internet was found guilty Friday.

After four days of deliberations, a federal jury found David Kernell, the 22-year-old son of a Democratic Tennessee state legislator, guilty of obstruction of justice, a felony, and unauthorized access of a computer, a misdemeanor.

Kernell was cleared of a wire fraud charge, and the jury could not agree on a verdict on a charge of identity theft.

Judge Thomas Phillips declared a mistrial on the identity theft charge but did not set a date for sentencing.

The obstruction charge alone carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years, while the misdemeanor count is punishable by up to one year in jail.

Ms. Palin issued a statement via her Facebook page, thanking the jury and prosecutors their efforts and explaining the case’s importance:

My family and I are thankful that the jury thoroughly and carefully weighed the evidence and issued a just verdict. Besides the obvious invasion of privacy and security concerns surrounding this issue, many of us are concerned about the integrity of our country’s political elections. America’s elections depend upon fair competition. Violating the law, or simply invading someone’s privacy for political gain, has long been repugnant to Americans’ sense of fair play. As Watergate taught us, we rightfully reject illegally breaking into candidates’ private communications for political intrigue in an attempt to derail an election.

I want to thank the public servants who worked so hard on this case, particularly the jurors who gave up precious time from their jobs and families to listen to the evidence and reach a decision.

My family and I appreciate the good people of Knoxville, Tennessee, who showed us true Southern hospitality. We can’t wait to visit again – but without having a subpoena in hand.

Although I expect Mr. Kernell will see some jail time it’ll be far less than the 20 year maximum, federal sentencing guidelines set a range of 15 to 21 months and allow for probation in cases like this. I do think prosecutors overreached a little in this case and as one witness said “put on a dog and pony show“. They had to though, never mind basic privacy considerations… Sarah Palin was a Vice Presidential candidate in the middle of hotly contested election, investigators and prosecutors had to aggressively pursue this case to send  a message that these types political dirty tricks won’t be tolerated.

Related

Previous

Filed Under: Crime, Internet, Politics, Security Tagged With: , , , ,

And the Stupidest Criminal of the Year Award Goes to…

December 24, 2009 By Jeff Leave a Comment

This guy, I guess no one ever warned him about the big blue spark:

An attempted copper theft at an Eagan substation early Wednesday knocked out power for thousands of residents and sent a would-be thief to Regions Hospital.

Eagan police said the 33-year-old suspect from St. Paul suffered severe burns but was in stable condition Wednesday and is expected to survive.

Two other St. Paul residents found near the substation, a 28-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man, were arrested on suspicion of felony criminal damage to property. They were booked at the Eagan Police Department and released.

Joe Miller, a spokesman for Dakota Electric, said the injured suspect scaled a chain-link fence, cut through the barbed wire at the top and then climbed on top of a transformer, where he was injured when he came into contact with a 69,000-volt transmission line.

Witnesses reported seeing a flash of light and hearing a boom at the substation before the power went out at about 12:35 a.m. About 7,100 Dakota Electric customers in western and southwestern Eagan were without power until 3 a.m.

I guess his friends will be calling him “Sparky” from now on.

(H/T: Ed @ Hot Air)

Filed Under: Crime Tagged With: , , , ,

Breaking: Four Police Officers Shot Near McChord Air Force Base in Parkland, Wash.

November 29, 2009 By Jeff 1 Comment

Details are still sketchy, but KING TV in Seattle is reporting that four police officers where shot and killed near McChord Air Force Base in Parkland, Washington:

Four police officers have been shot and killed near McChord Air Force Base.

Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer says that the officers were in a coffee shop near 116th Street and Steele Street on the east side of the Air Force base at about 8:30 a.m.

The officers were reportedly preparing for their shift when they were ambushed by an unknown number of assailants.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the officers involved and to the members of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.

Update (10:25 p.m.): KING TV is reporting that police have identified a person of interest in the killings of four Lakewood police officers:

Pierce county sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said they are looking for Maurice Clemmons, 37.

Troyer said Clemmons has an extensive violent criminal history from Arkansas, including aggravated robbery and theft. He has also recently been arrested and charged in Pierce County for assault on a police officer and for rape of a child.

Troyer said Clemmons is one of several people investigators would like to talk to and can’t be called a suspect at this point.

Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar identified the four officers who were killed as Sergeant Mark Renninger, and Officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold, and Greg Richards. All were veteran police officers with families.

Update (11:00 p.m.): The Seattle Times is reporting that then Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee granted clemency to Maurice Clemmons nine years ago:

Maurice Clemmons, the 37-year-old Tacoma man being sought for questioning in the killing this morning of four Lakewood police officers, has a long criminal record punctuated by violence, erratic behavior and concerns about his mental health.

Nine years ago, then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee granted clemency to Clemmons, commuting his lengthy prison sentence over the protests of prosecutors.

“This is the day I’ve been dreading for a long time,” Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas’ Pulaski County said tonight when informed that Clemmons was being sought for questioning in connection with the killings.

Clemmons’ criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. The record also stands out for the number of times he has been released from custody despite questions about the danger he posed.

I’ve never been a Huckabee fan and after this I wouldn’t give him the time of day!

(H/T: Confederate Yankee)

Update (Wednesday, December 2, 2009): Maurice Clemmons, the man wanted in connection with the killings of four Lakewood, Washington police officers on Sunday was shot and killed by a police in south Seattle on Tuesday:

A man accused of gunning down four police officers was shot and killed by authorities on Tuesday in a case that could affect a potential 2012 U.S. presidential candidate who granted him clemency in the past.

Maurice Clemmons, wanted in the Sunday morning fatal shootings of four officers in a coffee shop near Tacoma, Washington, was shot dead by a police officer in south Seattle, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said.

I suspect police would have preferred a different outcome but I doubt anyone is going to be shedding a tear of Clemmon’s passing.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Crime Tagged With: , , , ,

Crime Doesn’t Pay: Business Owner Fires on Robbers, Killing 2, Police Say

August 15, 2009 By Jeff Leave a Comment

Things went horribly wrong for the four men who tried to hold up a Harlem restaurant-supply shop on Thursday afternoon… The four men burst into Kaplan Bros. Blue Flame Corp. around 3:00 p.m. and things went downhill quickly for them:

“I’d do it again if I had to.”

Those were the first defiant words out of no-nonsense businessman Charles Augusto Jr.’s mouth yesterday as he came back to work less than 24 hours after opening fire with his trusty shotgun on four robbers — killing two of them.

The four men had picked the wrong shop — and the wrong man — to mess with. And they would have known it had they read the prophetic words from Dante’s “Divine Comedy” written in marker above the door: “Abandon all hope all ye who enter here.”

The thugs entered a world of hurt when they barged into Augusto’s Harlem restaurant-supply shop, Kaplan Bros. Blue Flame Corp., Thursday afternoon, pulling out a 9mm pistol and pistol-whipping an employee as they demanded cash.

“I told them there wasn’t any money. ‘Take your gun, put it in your pocket, and go home.’ They had a chance to leave,” Augusto said.

But they didn’t listen.

So Augusto, 72 — known to most as “Gus” — channeled his inner Dirty Harry and pulled out the Remington shotgun he had hidden under his desk for 20 years. He opened fire three times, peppering all four men with buckshot.

“I did what I had to do,” he said. “It wasn’t my choice; it was their choice.”

The wounded men tried to run but didn’t make it far.

The man armed with the pistol, 29-year-old James Morgan — who had a long rap sheet with nine prior arrests — took the first shot directly to his face and made it only as far as the shop door before crumpling dead to the ground.

A second man, Raylin Footman, 21 — who had a prior arrest for robbery and a relative who was a cop — made it across 125th Street before collapsing. He’d died by the time he was taken to a hospital.

Good shooting, Gus.

I wonder how long it be before the usual suspects show up and start protesting this guy for protecting himself and his employees?

Filed Under: Crime Tagged With: , , ,

Breaking: Military Recruiter Murdered in Arkansas

June 1, 2009 By Jeff Leave a Comment

A gunman opened fire on two soldiers outside an Army Recruiting center in Little Rock Arkansas earlier today. Both of the victims were taken to a nearby hospital, where one of them died a short time later:

A gunman opened fire Monday at an army recruitment center in Little Rock, Ark., killing one army recruiter and seriously wounding another, FOX16.com reported.

A man in a black SUV drove to the recruitment office and began shooting at around 10:19 a.m., a spokesman with the Little Rock police department told FOX News.

Police reportedly have a suspect in custody.

Jonn Lilyea has more at This Ain’t Hell.

Update (Tuesday, June 2, 2009):

The shooter has been identified as 23 year old Carlos Bledsoe (A.K.A. Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad) a Muslim convert with a grudge against the U.S. military. Bledsoe plead not guilt to capital murder at his arraignment today:

A Muslim convert who said he was against the U.S. military pleaded not guilty Tuesday to capital murder in connection with the shooting of two soldiers outside an Arkansas recruiting center.

One soldier died in the attack Monday, police said.

Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, was ordered held without bail at a hearing Tuesday in Little Rock. He is charged in the death of Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway, outside the Army Navy Career Center in Little Rock.

“This individual appears to have been upset with the military, the Army in particular, and that’s why he did what he did,” Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings said.

“He has converted to (Islam) here in the past few years,” Hastings said. “We’re not completely clear on what he was upset about. He had never been in the military.

“He saw them standing there and drove up and shot them. That’s what he said.”

Filed Under: Crime, Military Tagged With: ,

George Tiller Murdered

June 1, 2009 By Jeff Leave a Comment

George Tiller, one of the few doctors in the nation to perform late-term abortions, was shot and killed at his church  in Wichita, Kansas on Sunday. Police have reportedly arrested Scott Roeder in connection with the crime.

The person or persons who committed this heinous crime are nothing more than domestic terrorists… Nothing can justify their actions. In the words of President Obama “However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.”

Period.

Unfortunately that won’t stop hyper partisans on both sides of the isle or the media from engaging in gleeful finger-pointing.

Filed Under: Crime, Culture Tagged With: ,

Crime Doesn’t Pay: 17 Year Old Girl Beats Muggers

April 30, 2009 By Jeff Leave a Comment

A note to would be criminals… Don’t pick on 17 year old girls or this might happen to you:

QUARTZ HILL, Calif. (AP) A 17-year-old high school marching band student beat up two assailants who tried to mug her as she walked to school in this high desert community about 40 miles north of Los Angeles, sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.

The girl punched one of the men in the nose, kicked the other in the groin and beat both with her large baton before she ran away on Friday morning, officials said.

“The moral to this story is don’t mess with the marching band girls, or you just might get what you deserve,” said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Michael Rust.

He said two men approached the girl from behind, grabbed her coat and demanded money. Deputies searched near Quartz Hill High School for the muggers, looking for a man who was holding his bloodied nose and the other limping.

Heh, score one for the good guys. :)

Filed Under: Crime Tagged With: ,

Crime Doesn’t Pay: iPod Scammer Brought Up On Federal Charges

March 20, 2009 By Jeff Leave a Comment

From Macworld:

Prosecutors have just brought federal charges of fraud and money laundering against Nicholas Arthur Woodhams of Kalamazoo, Mich. You may remember Woodhams as the man who scammed Apple out of numerous iPod shuffles, a plot that got him sued by the company in June 2008.

Here’s how the scheme worked: Between March 2006 and October 2007, Woodhams guessed valid, serial numbers of iPod shuffles that were under warranty and have Apple send him replacement products. Then those would be sold for $49 each—that’s $30 less than the then-price of $79.

The government is seeking to seize the alledged procedes of the crime, including more than $571,000 in cash, seven Apple computers, two vehicles, a motorcycle and real estate belonging to Woodhams.

Filed Under: Crime Tagged With: , ,
« Older Posts