truesee's Blog

False crash report runs $30,000 tab, officials say

Man says he thought real call to dispatcher was a 'nightmare'

by Garrett Andrews
Herald Staff Writer

Whatever your definition of a bad dream, this surely qualifies

Officials with the La Plata County Sheriff's Office on Friday set the total cost of responding to a false report of a plane crash in the remote southern end of the county at $30,000, and said the department would seek to recover the full amount from the local man who authorities said was drunk when he made the 911 call Thursday night.

The man, Edward Pretzer, 59, was visibly intoxicated when he was arrested for false reporting to authorities, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. His arrest came after 50 emergency workers and numerous volunteers from multiple agencies responded in 18 vehicles to his call. Sheriff's deputies used GPS data from his cell phone to track him down near the scene.

In jail Friday morning, Pretzer told sheriff's office investigator Dan Patterson he had a nightmare overnight.

He told Patterson he believed he was talking on the phone with his friend, when he actually was on the line with an emergency dispatcher at Durango Central Dispatch.

He is being held at La Plata County Jail on $250 bond.

Dave Abercrombie with the Durango Fire & Rescue Authority said Pretzer called 911 at 8:47 p.m. Thursday to report he had just been in a plane crash and was bleeding profusely from a severed arm.

He told the dispatcher he was a government official with a high-level security clearance who had been on a flight originating in Washington, D.C., with an unknown destination. He said the other eight to 12 people aboard the flight were dead, lying somewhere in the low brush off La Posta Road.

After that, the signal was relayed across police scanners and emergency personnel, volunteers, hospital staff and media representatives from across the region scrambled to respond. DFRA's mobile command post and two night vision-equipped helicopters were deployed to the scene.

The sheriff's office, DFRA, La Plata County Search and Rescue, La Plata County Emergency Management, Southern Ute Tribal Police and the Durango Police Department all responded to the incident in some capacity.

Off-duty personnel were called in to replace those at the scene.

As crews raced up and down the dirt roads in High Flume Canyon, just inside the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, Sheriff's Deputy Barrett Pottoff used GPS coordinates provided by dispatch to locate the caller. When Pottoff found Pretzer in a house off Green Shadows Road, Pretzer said he recently had seen a man's body on the ground about one mile away. Pottoff asked Pretzer to accompany him to the site, and the two drove about 100 yards before Pretzer said to stop.

No wreckage was found.

Pretzer was arrested and booked in county jail for false reporting after he told responders the cell phone number central dispatch captured on caller ID was his.

The $30,000 estimate is a total of the cost of resources, personnel hours and fuel.

According to a news release sent out by the sheriff's office, it likely will seek to recover the full amount through civil court

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Gordon Wilczynski

Macomb Daily Staff Writer

He was careful to use his turn signal during high-speed chase

A Detroit man wanted by Eastpointe police for stealing a purse from a female shopper was arrested on Thursday evening after a high speed chase in which he tried to flee from his moving car but failed when his foot got stuck in his seat belt.

"This is a first," Eastpointe Detective Lt. Leo Borowsky said. "The suspect was captured by his own seat belt and broke his leg while trying to escape."

Borowsky said Lawrence Neal, 45, of Flanders Street, was kept in a hospital overnight and transferred to jail Friday morning. He was charged with unarmed robbery, fleeing police and resisting a police officer. He is being held in the Macomb County Jail on $200,000 bond set by 38th District Judge Carl Gerds, who scheduled a preliminary examination for 8 a.m. Aug. 19. Neal asked for a court-appointed attorney, police said.

Borowsky said Officer Bob Koenigsmann was on routine patrol at 9:15 p.m. Thursday on Nine Mile near Piper Street when he saw Neal walking between Joe's Keg and Wine party store and the Quarter Car Wash next door. Koenigsmann thought the man looked suspicious so he watched him from his marked scout car a short distance away.

Borowsky said Koenigsmann said he saw the victim drive into the parking lot and walk toward the business. When the woman got out of her car, Neal approached her quickly on foot and Koenigsmann witnessed a struggle. He then saw Neal run to a car that was parked in the Car Wash lot, Borowsky said. Koenigsmann chased Neal, who was driving an Eagle Vision, because he suspected him of robbing the woman.

They fled across Eight Mile into Detroit and Neal drove through several red traffic signals. Neal was on Eastburn approaching Hayes when he opened the driver's door and attempted to jump out.

"His foot got caught in the seat belt and the left side of Neal's body dangled outside of the car," Borowsky said. "He was dragged by his own car for several feet before the car stopped on a front yard."

"Koenigsmann and officers Chris Rhodea and Cpl. Tom Ostrowski arrested Neal after a brief struggle," Borowsky said. "This is a great example where modern-day technology cannot replace good old-fashioned police work."

Police said when Neal fled he put on his seat belt and used his turn signal every time he prepared to turn.

Police said the victim suffered only minor injuries when she was knocked to the ground and her purse taken from around her neck.

Neal has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 1986, Borowsky said

A luxury resort in San Diego is offering rooms for $19 a night

4:33 a.m. August 8, 2009

SAN DIEGO — A luxury resort in San Diego is offering rooms for $19 a night – if you don't mind sleeping in a tent.

The Rancho Bernardo Inn boasts three pools, a spa and golf course. It typically charges more than $200 a room.

But business is down. So from Aug. 16 to 31, guests can get a "Survivor Package" that charges them less for each amenity they give up.

For $19, guests give up breakfast, air conditioning, lights, sheets and even the bed. Staff will remove the mattress and headboard and leave a small tent instead.

Oh, and bring your own toilet paper.

General manager John Gates says the hotel hopes people who try the promotion will return at full price.

–––

Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.signonsandiego.com

Taxpayer funds $20,000 court case to prosecute man for stealing $.25 banana... and he is found not guilty

Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:52 PM on 07th August 2009

Cleared: James Gallagher was found not guilty of stealing a $.25 banana. But his two-day trial cost taxpayers $20,000

A man prosecuted for stealing a $.25 banana has been cleared after a trial which cost the taxpayer $20,000.

James Gallagher, 23, was accused of stealing the fruit from the Del Villagio restaurant in Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre.

But a jury at Birmingham Crown Court jurors took less than half an hour to find him not guilty of burglary and a lesser charge of theft.

Speaking after the verdict was delivered, Mr Gallagher said: 'It's shocking, it's just a waste of taxpayers' money. I cannot understand how they've got away with it.'

Recorder Mr Shamim Qureshi told the jury before they delivered their verdict: 'It is easy sometimes to think "What is this case doing at the crown court?"

'Today is day two - this theoretically has cost $20,000.

'Our criminal legal system in this country is second to none when compared to many other legal systems around the world, it enables the person to come to the crown court and say I want to be tried by my peers.

'The allegation is one which is burglary and that is always a serious allegation no matter what is alleged to have been stolen in the burglary itself.

'It is fairly easy to make lots of jokes, but do remember it is a serious allegation that the defendant faces.'

Mr Gallagher, who lives in Handsworth, Birmingham, said he was relieved and had chosen a crown court trial because he expected magistrates would have found him guilty.

Mr Gallagher was charged with burglary contrary to the Theft Act.

He was accused of entering the Italian restaurant with Christopher Ogelsby, 22, at 8.45am on March 13 when its deli was not due to open until 10am, and stole a banana.

The jury heard that the shutters at Del Villagio were halfway up and after seeing a member of staff in the store, Mr Gallagher and Ogelsby went underneath them into the store and picked up bananas.

They were already being watched by security officers and were apprehended almost immediately before being arrested.

Ogelsby pleaded guilty to burglary at Birmingham Magistrates Court on March 14 and was given a 12-month conditional discharge.

In Mr Gallagher's defence, Mr Niall Skinner told the court he and Ogelsby were tipsy after drinking until the early hours to celebrate Mr Gallagher's birthday two days before.

He said he had not been given the chance to pay for the goods, even though he had money on him, because the security team had acted and accused him so quickly.

Martin Lindop, district crown prosecutor for Birmingham Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'The Crown Prosecution Service recommended that this matter was suitable to be dealt with in the magistrates' court.

'However, Mr James Gallagher elected trial by jury, as is his right, so the case was heard in the crown court.

'It is not the cost of the item that determines whether we proceed with a prosecution, but whether there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest.

'In this case, we felt that there was sufficient evidence and it was in the public interest for the prosecution to proceed.

Restaurant Threatens To Kick Out 6 Month Old Not Wearing Shoes

Andy Banker

http://www.fox2now.com/ktvi-baby-no-shoes-kickedout-restaurant-080409,0,5070606.story

Burger King Offers An Apology For "No Shoes" Mishap

http://www.fox2now.com/ktvi-burger-king-shoes-follow-080509,0,3860883.story

Mouse STRIKES ATM

Dick Mason

The Observer

August 07, 2009 02:11 pm

After amnesty, paraplegic man still owes Palm Bay a hefty fine

BY KIMBERLY C. MOORE 

FLORIDA TODAY

August 6, 2009

PALM BAY -- Harold Westlake will pay $60 a month for the next year to clear a lien on his house, the required amount through a short-term program that forgives 90 percent of what's owed to the city

Westlake had questioned whether he was properly notified of the code-enforcement fines, which had grown since 2005. But the Palm Bay officials didn't make any concession.

"I'm going over my budget this month," Westlake said. "If I can afford it, I will."

Westlake, 46, has been a paraplegic for more than a decade because of a diving accident. He draws $850 a month in Social Security and pays $200 in child support for three of his four children.

FLORIDA TODAY told his story after the Richardson Street resident got a letter from Palm Bay's code compliance department in May, saying he owed almost $7,200 for a citation he received -- and said he fixed -- in 2005.

Under the amnesty program in effect until Sept. 30, he would pay 10 percent, or $722.

Westlake also found out he was ineligible to hook up to city water unless the lien was paid. He had hoped to qualify for a Florida program that would have paid hookup costs.

With the lien payments set, he can get his water, but there's no more money in the state's program this year for help.

"I believe he is financing the water hookup under our existing program for a 20-year period," City Manager Lee Feldman said. "Making monthly payments (it) came out to about $30 a month."

That will make his monthly payment to the city $90.

Westlake received a certified letter in May 2005 alerting him to code violations: one for parking a junked vehicle in his side yard and the other for driving in a shallow swale so he could access his van with his wheelchair on the driveway. It did not detail penalties.

Code enforcement records say two other letters were sent, but not certified. One told him of a code enforcement hearing, which he didn't attend.

A fourth "finding of fact" letter was sent -- and recorded as a lien on the property in October 2005 with the Brevard County Clerk of the Court office. A copy states that "a fine of $25 be imposed for each and every day the violation continues or is repeated."

But Westlake said he never heard from the city after the first letter in 2005. And he stopped driving through the swale -- the only problem he remembers from that letter.

"From my perspective, the matter is closed," Feldman said.

But Westlake said he would like to meet with the city manager as a private citizen and not as a part of the group Faceoff, which is fighting code enforcement fines.

"I just want to get my little situation cleared up."

 
Harold Westlake discusses the fines accrued with code enforcement at his Palm Bay home in June. In 2005, Westlake received a warning about parking his van in the grass beside his driveway to allow his handicapped ramp to extend onto the driveway. He stopped parking that way, but fines still accrued to more than $7,000. (Christina Stuart, FLORIDA TODAY)

Norwalk woman charged with pretending to be a registered nurse

NORWALK -- A city woman who worked for a Norwalk doctor as a registered nurse and allegedly staged a dinner honoring herself as Nurse of the Year was arrested Thursday after investigators determined she was not licensed to practice nursing, state Division of Criminal Justice spokesman Mark Dupuis said in a release.

Betty Lichtenstein, 56, of 24 Reservoir Ave., was arrested by inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney and charged with illegal use of the registered nurse title, six counts of second-degree reckless endangerment and criminal impersonation. She was released after posting $5,000 bond.

An investigation of Lichtenstein began in March, after a patient of Norwalk neurologist Dr. Gerald Weiss complained that she acted unprofessionally. Investigators found she was never licensed to practice nursing, even though she injected medications and gave medical advice to patients, her arrest warrant affidavit said.

Lichtenstein did not return a call for comment. Weiss declined comment.

Nearly three months ago, police arrested Lichtenstein at a local pharmacy, charging her with second-degree forgery and illegally obtaining prescription painkillers, according to Norwalk Sgt. Andre Velez. That investigation began when an employee of the East Avenue Rite Aid pharmacy called Weiss to check if he wrote a prescription to Lichtenstein for oxycodone, a narcotic.

When Weiss said he had no knowledge of the prescription, police waited for Lichtenstein to show up and fill the prescription.

She was charged with forgery and illegally obtaining prescription medication. That case is pending at state Superior Court in Norwalk.

Lichtenstein, who earlier told The Advocate she began working for Weiss in 2007, went to great lengths to show that she was a competent nurse.

In November 2008, according to the affidavit, she received the 2008 Nurse of the Year award at a dinner supposedly hosted by the Connecticut Nursing Association.

Investigators in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney's office determined that no such organization exists and that she paid $2,000 of her own money to stage the event, the affidavit said.

Lichtenstein is to be arraigned on Aug. 26.

Staff Writer John Nickerson can be reached at

Posted: Thursday, 06 August 2009 12:50PM D.A.: Don't jail pot suspects with small amounts Dave Cohen Reporting

New Orleans' District Attorney says people caught with small amounts of marijuana should not be arrested. "It would allow for sort of a releases, relieving the crowded conditions in the parish jail, because many of these people could be given essentially a traffic ticket and a summons to show up in court to handle their particular marijuana charge," Leon Cannizzaro said. Leon Cannizzaro today also called on the City Council to make it so that such pot possession cases don't have to be prosecuted in the state court system. "Consider a city ordinance which would allow for the prosecution of the simple possession of marijuana cases in the municipal court," Cannizzaro requested of the city council.

Cannizzaro says some 700 simple marijuana possession cases are currently pending in criminal court in New Orleans. He says making it a municipal offense would open make the courts more efficient.

The D.A. wanted to make it clear that he doesn't want this to be misinterpreted. "I am not here advocating the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana in any way whatsoever," he told the council.

Cannizzaro pointed out that the maximum penalty for simple marijuana possession would remain six months in jail and/or a $500 fine.

The judges currenlty handling the marijuana don't like the idea.  In a statement this afternoon, they said as a group: "For public safety and constitutional reasons, the Criminal District Court Judges oppose first offense marijuana prosecutions being transferred from State Court to Municipal Court."

LINK TO DISTRICT ATTORNEY:

http://www.wwl.com/D-A----Don-t-jail-pot-suspects-with-small-amounts/4954043

An obese Harris County jail inmate turned over a pistol that had been hidden in the folds of his skin after he went through at least five searches upon his arrest and was booked into two different local lockups, authorities said.

George Vera, 25, is charged with possession of a firearm in a correctional facility. He also is charged with possessing or selling unlabeled recordings, the original reason for his arrest.

Authorities said he was caught with 439 compact disc recordings which did not have labels noting manufacturers or distributors.

Vera is free on a total of $10,000 bail. The Chronicle was unable to reach him at his home.

The Houston Police Department, which operates the city jail, and the Harris County Sheriff's Office, which operates the county jail, are investigating.

The case comes on the heels of the county jail passing a state inspection last week after the facility corrected problems found during a previous inspection in April.

"It's certainly troubling and that's why we're conducting an investigation to see what happened," said Christina Garza, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.

A spokesman for the Houston Police Department, Kese Smith, said that procedures call for a suspect to be searched upon arrest, twice at the city jail and once more upon his transfer. He said there's no special provision regarding obese people, but officers are trained to thoroughly search suspects.

Vera, who is 5-foot-10 and weighs more 500 pounds, was arrested by Houston police and booked into the city jail Sunday on suspicion of bootlegging compact disc recordings, said Donna Hawkins, spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

By Monday, Vera was transferred to the county jail, where he was searched at least once. While he was in the shower that day, he told a guard that he had weapon on him.

Garza said officers found a 9-millimeter handgun beneath folds of his skin. The gun was not loaded and it was unclear whether bullets were found.

The incident comes after the troubled jail at 1200 Baker passed a surprise inspection last week by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. The review found that all deficiencies cited during the April inspection had been corrected.

In April, the lockup failed inspection because of malfunctioning intercoms, broken toilets and crowding in holding cells, where inmates are placed before they are formally booked.

FAIRBANKS — A Fairbanks woman who let her 7-year-old son drive while she was passed out drunk in the passenger seat has been sentenced to six months in jail with all but 20 days suspended.

A judge ordered Karen Koch, 37, to report to jail by Oct. 1. She will be on probation for three years and have to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings three times per week for the next six months.

“While life as a single mother is hard, turning to alcohol and making stupid decisions puts the public at risk, puts you at risk and puts your child at risk,” District Court Judge Raymond Funk told Koch.

Koch pleaded guilty to one count of reckless endangerment in exchange for prosecutors dropping the other charge of allowing an unauthorized person to drive. Sentencing was up to the judge at Wednesday morning’s hearing.

A neighbor at the Lakeview Terrace mobile home park called troopers in May after seeing a young boy driving a silver Mazda Protege with a passed out adult passenger.

The neighbor told troopers that the young driver came within a few feet of striking her parked vehicle.

Troopers were able to trace the plates to Koch’s nearby home and arrived just as the boy was exiting the driver’s seat.

Koch, who had leaned back in the front passenger’s seat, woke up a few minutes later and identified the child as her son.

She told the trooper that she let her son drive the car from a nearby stop sign and did not see what the problem was, according to court records.

Koch, who has three previous convictions for drunken driving, did not make a statement during the hearing.

Funk compared the punishment to what a defendant would usually receive for a second DUI conviction. Because two of her convictions are more than 10 years old, if Koch had been charged with drunken driving, it would have been considered a second offense.

Koch’s public defender, Katie Kelliher, contended that Koch was sober as she let the boy drive home, and as the boy was listening to radio in the car, Koch went inside and had two drinks, which is when troopers arrived.

“Ms. Koch has realized she made a mistake,” Kelliher said. “She misunderstood what she could and couldn’t do with allowing her child to drive. ... Alcohol was not a factor in her decision making until after the incident.”

However, Funk said that regardless of whether Koch was sober, it was a poor decision to let such a young child drive.

“I’m worried that if anything I’m being too lenient,” he said. “I want you to understand that it’s appalling to let a 7-year-old drive, and to say you didn’t see the problem is just horrific.”

Koch’s sentence is slightly longer than that of a Fairbanks man who in August 2007 was convicted of letting his 11-year-old son get behind the wheel because he was too drunk to drive. In that case, the man was sentenced to more than three months in jail with all but 15 days suspended.

Men Who Do The Housework Are More Likely To Get The Girl

An Oxford study suggests that if you want to settle down, your chances of getting married or living with someone are probably highest in Great Britain, the Scandinavian countries and the United States. According to the study, men in those countries are more likely than their Australian counterparts to do the household chores and thereby make marriage a more attractive option to their nation's women.

The study constructs an 'egalitarian index' of 12 developed countries, based on responses to questionnaires about gender, housework and childcare responsibilities. Norway and Sweden top the egalitarian index, with Great Britain in third place, followed by the United States. At the bottom of the index are Japan, Germany, and Austria, with Australia languishing as the least egalitarian. Data about the number of women in partnerships was then compared against the index. Women of similar age and educational background were compared across the participating countries to see if their country's rating on the egalitarian index bore any relation to whether they were living with a man or not. Other controlling factors, such as the female unemployment, were taken account of.

The study found that women living in less egalitarian countries were between 20 and 50 per cent less likely to be living with a man than comparable women living in a more egalitarian country. For instance, the findings would predict that the average British woman was 8.5 percentage points more likely than a similar Australian woman to be in a live-in relationship.*

Study author Dr Almudena Sevilla-Sanz, an ESRC-funded researcher at the Centre for Time Use Research at Oxford University, concludes that women living in countries with the highest proportion of egalitarian men are more likely to marry or live with a man. The study also suggests that a more egalitarian woman in any country is less likely than a less egalitarian woman to set up home with a man because, everything else being equal, most men would choose a woman who they can rely on to do housework and look after the children. While egalitarian men seem to be viewed as a better bet by women, egalitarian women are seen as a less safe bet by men.

Dr Sevilla-Sanz said: 'In egalitarian countries you might, in principle, expect to see women preferring to remain single rather than face the prospect of spending more time doing household chores. However, this study shows that in egalitarian countries there is less social stigma attached to men doing what was traditionally women's work. For instance, if paternity leave is the social norm, more men take it. This leads to men in egalitarian societies taking on more of a domestic role so the likelihood of forming a harmonious household becomes greater, resulting in a higher proportion of couples setting up households in these countries. 'If developed countries want to look at why the birth rate in their country is falling, we need to focus on the drivers for whether couples decide to live together and start a family. It seems to show what couples ask 'Will I be better off?'. Women in less egalitarian countries are saying 'No'. Countries with a low birth rate face the challenge of a shrinking workforce in coming decades with questions about who will pay for public services and social support.

Sample size for index: The representative sample of 13,500 men and women, aged between 20-45 years old from each of the 12 countries, was taken from the same survey carried out in 1994 and 2002 as part of the International Social Survey Program. (ISSP is a program of cross-national collaboration on surveys between several social science institutes.)

Calculation explained: According to the egalitarian index, British women face a more egalitarian society than Australian women. The egalitarian index in Great Britain is 0.08, compared to - 0.16 in Australia, which results in Britain being a more egalitarian society by 0.24. Given the author's estimate that a higher egalitarian index increases the likelihood of a woman to live with a man between 20 and 50 percent, this yields a difference in the likelihood that a British woman lives with a man of 8.5 percentage points higher than her Australian counterpart, ie. 50% X 0.24+20%X 0.24=8.4 percentage points, or 0.08 per cent. The country with the highest egalitarian index is Sweden with a value of the index of 0.43.

The countries in the egalitarian index (in descending order) are: Norway, Sweden, Great Britain, United States, Northern Ireland, Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, New Zealand, Japan, Germany, Austria and Australia.

Teacher Forces Student to Smoke 42 Cigarettes in 2 Hours

Thursday, August 06, 2009

The Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia —  A Malaysian teacher forced a student to smoke 42 cigarettes in two hours as punishment after finding the boy had a cigarette and lighter, a news report said Thursday.

A school official confirmed that the English teacher subjected the student to the unusual punishment but said the teenager was made to smoke fewer than 42 cigarettes. He declined to elaborate.

He said the teacher was upset when she found that her model student had a cigarette and a lighter in his locker in the school in the northern island of Langkawi.

The boy also smelled of cigarettes, said a school official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. He said the school apologized to the boy's uncle, who lodged a police report when he found out about the punishment.

"This is not normal. We don't do that often," the official said.

He said it was up to the state's education department to take action against the teacher, but officials there could not be immediately reached Thursday.

Police on Langkawi could not be reached for comment.

The New Straits Times daily quoted the 16-year-old boy as saying he was made to smoke 42 cigarettes — four at a time for more than two hours. The punishment was witnessed by other teachers and students.

In 2007, another Malaysian teacher was reprimanded after she made almost 140 teenage girls squat in a pond at a boarding school as punishment for clogging the toilets.

The punishment caused an outcry, leading to Malaysia's Education Ministry to announce it would issue specific guidelines on how teachers should discipline students.

The government permits boys to be whipped with a rattan cane in schools for such offenses as smoking, vandalism and harming others.