truesee's Blog

SALEM, ore. - Instead of making away with whatever they were planning to steal, two burglars who broke into a Chinese restaurant ended up getting busted.

On Thursday, the owner of the Blue Willow on Lancaster Drive decided to stay late to work on his security system. Around 4:30 a.m. on Friday he was still there and heard people making noise on the building's roof. So he did what anyone would do in that situation - he called police.

It turned out that two men had pried a hole through the roof and dropped into the restaurant. But by then, police had the place surrounded. One man tried to run out the back door and the other out the front. Both were quickly taken into custody.

"We always say that we generally don't catch the smart ones because we're too busy with the dumb ones," said Lt. Steve Birr with the Salem Police Department.

The suspects were later identified as 43-year-old Lonny De Hut and 47-year-old Kurtis Kent. The two are facing charges of first-degree burglary, second-degree theft, first-degree attempted aggravated theft, first-degree criminal mischief and identity theft. They are being held at the Marion County Correctional Facility.

SALEM, Ore. - What happens when you give a homeless guy some money and then ask for it back?

It gets you arrested - well at least it did in one woman's case.

The whole situation went down Thursday outside a PetSmart store on Lancaster Drive N.E. in Salem.

According to police, 26-year-old Meghan Fleming went shopping at the store and on her way out decided to give a few bucks to a homeless man who was outside.

So far so good but police say Fleming changed her mind about handing over the cash after getting to her car. So she drove up to the man, pointed what looked like a handgun at him and demanded that he give the money back to her. A man in the car got involved as well and also demanded that the homeless guy hand it over.

The homeless man ended up giving back the money, which wasn't much (police say it was $5). He then walked into the PetSmart store and told workers there he had just been robbed. Those at the store were familiar with the woman the man said had robbed him and were able to give police her name.

Fleming was arrested a short time later at her home. Police say she had her two 2-year-old twins in the car with her when the incident unfolded and they were turned over to relatives.

"Meghan certainly could have asked for her money back, but that was not the case," Lt. Steve Birr with the Salem Police Department said in a news release. "She crossed the line when she pointed what looked like a firearm at him and demanded he hand over the money."

The man who was in the car with Fleming - 19-year-old Timothy Fleming (her nephew) - later turned himself in to police in Turner. He is pictured at right.

The 'gun' turned out to be a BB gun.

Police say the victim was just out of prison and didn't want to press charges, but the District Attorney's office decided to pursue the case.

Both Meghan Fleming and Timothy Fleming are charged with robbery and are now sitting at the Marion County Correctional Facility.

26-year-old Isaac Leon Lipkins

12:24 p.m. EDT, September 30, 2011

Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro lashed out at U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday for demanding changes on the island in order to improve bilateral relations and referred to him as "stupid."

On Wednesday, Obama told Hispanic journalists that he would be willing to change the country's tough line on Cuba "when we start seeing a serious intention on the part of the Cuban government to provide liberty for its people."

On Thursday, Castro responded with sarcasm in a written essay published in Cuban state media.

"How nice! How intelligent! So much generosity has failed to let him understand that after 50 years of blockade and crimes against our country, they haven't been able to bow our people."

He went on to say many things would change in Cuba, but only thanks to Cubans' own efforts and "despite" the United States. "Perhaps that empire will collapse first," he added.

He also slammed a recent ruling by a U.S. judge against a Cuban agent, but he said it was to be expected.

"Otherwise, the empire would cease to be the empire and Obama would cease to be stupid."

Woman held in bank threats was trying to hide job loss

07:20 p.m., Thursday, September 29, 2011

 

Newsday

Diane McCloud appears in Nassau County court to plead guilty on shoplifting charges August 12, 2011 in Mineola, Long Island.

Diane McCloud, 47, of Hempstead, LI, was sprung in January to get on a heart transplant list.

But she was busted again in August for stealing $500 in toiletries from a CVS drugstore. Prosecutors said the crime was part of McCloud's one-woman shoplifting spree since she was released from jail.

Nassau County Judge Francis Ricigliano ordered McCloud to serve the original 15 month sentence, also for shoplifting, and another year for the new charges, according to her lawyer.

McCloud, who had been going for screenings at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan to get on its heart transplant list, no longer qualifies for the procedure since Medicaid doesn't cover inmates.

The judge had threatened to toss her back in jail if she didn't quit smoking, a promise he planned to keep when her doctors alerted him that she hadn't kicked the habit.

But when she returned for a court appearance in August, she was arrested on new shoplifting charges, making the smoking deal a moot point.