Naked ex-mayor arrested at campsite

Gainesville’s Musselwhite denies causing earlier trouble

Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Friday, June 26, 2009

A former mayor found sitting naked and holding a beer at a Rabun County campsite told police he wasn’t the same naked man seen walking around earlier.

Mark Musselwhite, 43, said he was hot and had been in the creek, according to a Georgia Department of Natural Resources incident report. He apparently didn’t think he was doing anything wrong.

 

 

Mark Musselwhite was elected to the Gainesville City Council in 2000, serving for six years, including as mayor of the town.

Musselwhite, of Gainesville, was arrested last weekend after being confronted by state DNR authorities. He was charged with public indecency.

“He told me he was the ex-mayor of the city Gainesville and he was a very political person,” DNR Ranger Brandon Walls wrote in the report.

Walls and a deputy sheriff went to the campsite Saturday evening after a complaint of a man walking naked in Earls Ford Road, according to the report. Musselwhite appeared to be intoxicated, and several alcoholic beverages were at the campsite, Walls said.

Walls said he had spoken to Musselwhite earlier in the day regarding an ATV the former mayor was driving.

“He looked at us and said hello,” according to the report.

Musselwhite then asked why he was being visited.

“I said the complainant had specifically said his campsite, and the fact that he was still nude made me think it was him,” Walls wrote.

Musselwhite denied that he was the nude man identified in the complaint.

An unidentified female was also at the campsite.

Musselwhite, a Republican, was elected to the City Council in 2000. He served on the council for six years, including as mayor of the town. In 2006, he lost a bid for a state Senate seat.

Musselwhite previously served as deacon of First Baptist Church in Gainesville.

He could not be reached for comment Friday evening.

Lake Success home catches fire twice in 2 days

News Day

11:46 PM EDT, June 25, 2009

 TPD: Man deposits drugs in bank drop

Matt Gilmour 

DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

June 26, 2009

Cameron B. Jefferson, 38, was arrested on charges of possession of cocaine and possession of cannabis (less than 20 grams), Tallahassee Police spokesman David McCranie said.

According to the arrest report, the teller notified a supervisor that a customer in a white SUV had sent her a deposit canister containing $200, a deposit slip and a bag of marijuana with another bag of white powder inside.

TPD was called about 4:30 p.m., and Officer Jamie Martinez stopped the only white SUV in the teller line. He detained the driver, Jefferson, who was identified by the teller as the customer who made the deposit, according to the report.

Jefferson told Martinez that he sent the canister with $200, according to the report. He became frustrated that the transaction was taking so long and asked several times for his money back.

Jefferson told Martinez, "If you said I did it, then I did it," according to the report. When asked if he accidentally grabbed the plastic bag when putting his money in the canister, Jefferson said "I put it ...," then refused to comment further.

Martinez searched Jefferson's vehicle and found the remnants of three marijuana cigarettes, according to the report.

McCranie said the incident was a reminder of how important it is for members of the community to report crimes.

"We know from experience that, as a general rule, drugs lead to violence," McCranie said. "By calling the police, this citizen may have prevented another crime from occurring in the future."

Jefferson was taken to the Leon County jail and released on $3,000 bail.

Dallas Cops Find 100 Pounds Of Pot In Casket

DALLAS (AP) - A casket minus a cadaver yielded nearly 100 pounds of marijuana after a traffic stop by Dallas police.

William Dale Crock of Cave City, Ark., was jailed Friday on $100,000 bail on a marijuana possesion charge, plus traffic and seat beat violations. Lew Sterrett Justice Center online records had no listing for an attorney for Crock.

Crock was arrested Wednesday when bundles of marijuana were discovered under the casket's cover and pillow.

Sr. Cpl. Kevin Janse told The Associated Press that the van turned up during surveillance on a suspected drug house.

Police stopped the van in Mesquite, after noticing Crock not wearing a seat belt, plus he allegedly ran a red light and did an improper lane change.

A drug-sniffing dog alerted officers to the casket in the van

Michigan Breaking &Entering suspect turns himself in — kind of

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) -- Police wish all their cases were this easy to solve. A breaking and entering suspect inadvertently turned himself into the police after committing his crime on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old man walked into the Department of Public Safety around 4 a.m. He was bleeding from cuts on his arms and hands and apparently was drunk. He told officers he had seen someone breaking into a building.

WWMT-TV, WOOD-TV and the Kalamazoo Gazette reported the man told police he wanted to stop the crime, so he climbed into the building and scuffled with the other person.

When officers investigated, it became clear to them the witness actually was the suspect.

The Kalamazoo police say in a statement it "cannot always count on suspects to report their own criminal activity."

                      STORY FOUND IN   NEWSWEEK

The Greenville County Sheriff's Office-AP

Jerri Althea Gray (left) and her son, Alexander Draper (right)

The word "neglect" implies that someone has given up caring. But in cases of medical neglect by parents, it can be just the opposite. Recent, highly publicized cases of child medical neglect highlight this paradox. Take Daniel Hauser, the Minnesota boy currently on the run with his mother to avoid court-ordered medical treatment for his cancer. His parents care deeply about his health and well-being, but in a way that conflicts with the best-accepted medical practices for treating Hodgkin's lymphoma (They want to treat him with holistic therapies).

In some cases, parents don't have the ability or resources to give their children the help they need, but also can't bear to give them up, which may be the case with a South Carolina woman, Jerri Althea Gray. Gray and her son, Alexander Draper, fled the state on Thursday, May 21, allegedly to avoid a court hearing to determine if she was being medically negligent in caring for her son. If so, custody of the child would be turned over to the state Department of Social Services. Alexander, 14, weighs 555 pounds, and though authorities have cited his weight as a main concern, they also allude to more pressing medical problems that prompted social services to take action. (The South Carolina DSS issued a statement saying their involvement is always "limited to cases where health-care professionals believe a child is at risk of harm because a parent is neglecting to provide necessary medical care. DSS would not take action based on a child's weight alone.")

That day, both Gray and Draper were discovered at a laundromat in Maryland. Gray was arrested on a S.C. warrant for violating a child custody order and taken to a correctional facility in Baltimore. Her son was examined by paramedics and turned over to the Maryland Department of Social Services while arrangements were being made to get him back to his home state.

With the case of Daniel Hauser, the state was able to make a very clear argument for what they consider neglect: Daniel had cancer that was 90 percent curable with a certain treatment, and his parents were refusing that care. (Whether or not you think it's neglect is a different matter: a Newsvine poll posted on Thursday is split almost down the middle.)

We don't have nearly as much information about Alexander Draper's condition, except that the charges of neglect are in some way related to his extreme obesity. But his mother's arrest has raised questions. What constitutes medical neglect when cases aren't as clear-cut as Daniel Hauser's? It's neglect if a mother isn't giving her sick child proper medication. But what if she's missing doctor's appointments for a chronic condition? Not feeding a child is neglect, but what if a father only feeds his son donuts and soda? There's clear precedent for the state to step in if a parent isn't doing anything to stop cancer that could kill a child in six months. But what if a parent isn't doing anything to stop the onset of type 2 diabetes, a condition that could cause serious lifelong problems and eventual death?

As a matter of necessity, cases of neglect taken on by the DSS in most states are ones that are incredibly dire. "I don't think any social-service agency that's operating at all sensibly will try to look very far in the future if you're talking about things like diet," says Carl E. Schneider, a professor of internal medicine and law at the University of Michigan and a member of the president's commission on bioethics. "They're always under-funded, they always have all these acute cases to worry about, and in terms of allocation of those limited resources, you have to go where those acute problems are."

In fact, the social-service stories that often make the news are ones where agencies didn't intervene in time: where they failed to protect severely abused children. Sadly, the cases only attract public attention when the neglect results in death or serious harm.

But aside from structural problems within the social-service system, Schneider points out the extremely challenging position the state faces when the issue is medical neglect. "[The state] can tell you to take better care of your child, and if you just don't do it, then what? It's hard to sanction parents," he says. "Are you going to fine some parent who is probably poor to start off with? Are you going to put the mother in jail? That won't do the kid any good. After that, you have to start talking about taking the child away, and that is unlikely to be a good thing."

The effects of poverty can't be overlooked when evaluating cases of possible neglect. Doctor's appointments and medicine are expensive. The government provides social services to help parents who don't have the financial or emotional means to care for a child, but understanding, accessing and corralling those services—which can be spread out through different departments and branches of government—can prove challenging for even the most organized parent. And the parents who end up working with social services are often facing circumstances that make being organized nearly impossible. Many don't get paid sick leave, so taking a child to a Medicaid doctor across town can mean losing a day's pay or even a job if the absences are repeated. Often, says Schneider, "these are parents who are leading very, very difficult lives with all kinds of horrifying problems to deal with, and the child is only part of the difficulty of their lives. They have very few resources for helping themselves, much less helping the child."

In situations like these, the state has to make a choice between endangering a minor's physical health by doing nothing, or endangering his emotional health by taking away whatever stability the family provides. Even when parents love their children, the government often has to determine if that love is enough. It's never easy, it's always heartbreaking and—worst of all—the child loses out, one way or another.

LINK TO ORGINAL STORY:

http://www.mahalo.com/alexander-draper

So the honeymoon is over?

Pa. mother charged with changing daughter's grades

HUNTINGDON, Pa. (AP) -- A high school secretary illegally changed grades in a school computer system to improve her daughter's class standing, according to criminal charges filed Thursday.

Caroline Maria McNeal of Huntingdon is accused of using the passwords of three co-workers without their knowledge to tamper with dozens of grades and test scores between May 2006 and July 2007 at Huntingdon Area High School in central Pennsylvania, the state attorney general's office said.

McNeal, 39, is alleged to have improved her daughter Brittany's grades and reduced those of two classmates to enhance Brittany's standing in the 2008 graduating class.

School officials corrected the grades before the students graduated, prosecutors said.

Attorney General Tom Corbett said the case involves "a serious violation of the public trust."

"Our citizens depend on people in public positions, including school employees, to protect the safety and security of these records and not use confidential information for their own benefit," Corbett said.

McNeal was charged with 29 counts of unlawful use of a computer and 29 counts of tampering with public records. Each count is a third-degree felony punishable by a maximum of seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine, said Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for Corbett's office.

No telephone number was listed for Caroline McNeal. Brittany McNeal is not charged with any wrongdoing.

Jill Adams, the school district superintendent, said prosecutors have asked school officials not to comment publicly about the case.

"We would like to have it be finished, over and done," she said.

In all, McNeal is accused of altering nearly 200 scores and grades covering four school years.

The situation came to light in October 2007, when an employee of the high school guidance office discovered conflicting SAT scores for Brittany.

Scores provided directly by the College Board showed a cumulative score of 1370, while an unknown source had previously entered 1730, according to court papers.1

Further investigation revealed that the data had been entered from Caroline McNeal's computer starting more than a week before SAT scores for other students were entered.

Three other secretaries at the school told investigators they had shared their passwords with Caroline McNeal during vacations or other prolonged absences.

Posted by Doug Stanglin at 01:53 PM/ET, May 18, 2009

Last updated June 21, 2009

USA Today

A North Texas pastor still passes the collection plate at Cross Timbers Community Church, but now he tells struggling members of his congregation to take what they need, KDAF-TV reports.

Toby Slough, pastor of the non-denominational church in Argyle, Texas, says the church has given away half a million dollars in the past two months. Some has gone to single moms and widows in trouble, some to a local mission, some to people behind on their utility bills.

Slough says it all started early this year when he told his congregation to take money from the plate if they needed it, even though donations were down. That day, he tells the Dallas-Fort Worth TV stations, the church took in the largest offering ever.

Then, Slough says, he gave a ride to a jobless man who was down to his last bus pass. That's when he decided to turn the collection plate into a giving plate.

"In these economic times, we can't be so into church business that we forget what our business is, and that is to help people," Slough says.

LINK TO VIDEO OF PASTOR AND CHURCH PROJECTS:

http://www.the33tv.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3769743

http://www.the33tv.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3769070

WHAT A STEAL

STORE GIVES LOST 19G RING TO WRONG GAl

KIERAN CROWLEY

New York Post

Last updated: 3:01 am
June 25, 2009
Posted: 2:29 am
June 25, 2009

This ring was some discount -- even for Target.

A Long Island store employee handed over a lost $19,000 diamond ring to the wrong woman after the customer falsely claimed it was hers, cops said yesterday.

The ring had slipped off the 42-year-old owner's finger as she was reaching into her purse at a Target store in Commack on May 6. She then left the store without realizing it was gone.

An employee soon spotted the jewel-encrusted ring and ran out to the parking lot to return it.

Unfortunately, he found a different woman with a similar hair style and black raincoat, and asked her if she had lost a ring made up of 12, half-carat princess-cuts placed around a platinum eternity band.

According to police sources, the woman at first said, "Oh, maybe."

Then the worker showed her the pricey jewelry and she said, "S--t, that's my ring!"

"Thank you very much, have a nice day," the sneaky bauble bandit said. She hasn't been seen since.

The victim -- a mom of three who asked that only her first name, Maryann, be used -- soon returned to the store after realizing the ring was gone and was stunned to find out it had been handed to another woman.

"She wasn't looking to go steal something, but they put it in her hand and I guess she thought it was hers," Maryann said. "She could be wearing it right now."

She also was upset at the worker, who handed the ring over without trying to get the woman to describe it, or otherwise prove she owned it.

Maryann said it had been a 10th-anniversary gift from her contractor-husband.

Police have been trying to track down the ring thief, but the woman paid cash for her purchases, leaving no paper trail.

Yesterday, they released a blurry security photo of the woman, and asked anyone with information to call (800) 220-TIPS. There is a $5,000 re ward.

"The ring meant a lot to me," she said. "My husband worked hard to buy me that ring. No mat ter what the circumstances, it's not hers. The insurance company paid me, but I don't want the money, I want the ring back."

Cops Say Philadelphia Man Blared Porn to Keep Children Away

Man arrested for corruption of minors charge

Published: Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Updated June 23, 2009

By DENNIS J. WRIGHT
Phoenixville News

PHOENIXVILLE — A Phoenixville man was arrested Saturday on corruption of minors charges after he allegedly played a pornographic movie over his stereo system in the direction of children playing near his residence.

Michael W. Buck, 27, of the 2000 block of Mallard Circle, Phoenixville, is charged with multiple counts of corruption of minors and disseminate explicit sexual material to a minor; and one count of disorderly conduct.

According to court documents, Cpl. Mike Barrett said he was dispatched to the 2000 block of Mallard Circle for a report of a male playing a pornographic movie over his stereo system around 7:31 p.m. May 31.

Upon arrival, Barrett said he was met by seven parents who were standing in front of Buck's residence.

"The parents stated that there has been an ongoing problem with (Buck)," said Barrett. "Buck, who has no children, has issues with the neighborhood children playing and riding their bikes in the cul-de-sac. On this day, there were eight children playing around (the area)."

Barrett said the ages of the children ranged from two-and-a-half to 14 years of age.

Parents informed police that around 7:10 p.m., they began to hear what was "a woman vocalizing her pleasure during sexual intercourse."

"This was being played over a stereo system," said Barrett. "The parents stated that Buck had positioned his stereo speakers so that they were pointed out the front window of his house towards the street. One parent stated that they were one-and-a-half blocks away and could hear the woman having sex.

"The pornographic movie/recording continued approximately 15 minutes until the parents took all of their children inside their homes. Once all of the children were taken inside, Buck turned off the recording."

During his investigation, Barrett said he approached Buck's residence, and knocked on the front door.

"I observed Buck sitting on his couch," he said. "When I knocked, he partially sat up, look over at me, and then sat back down. I continued to knock and ring the doorbell, but he refused to come to the door.

"I then went to the rear door of the residence where he was sitting. I knocked on the door and he came to the door. He was highly agitated but would not open the door. He asked what I wanted, and I said I was there about the pornography that was being played. He stated 'Do you hear it anymore?'"

Barrett said he asked Buck again to open the door to talk to him, but Buck refused and walked away.

"It was at that point that I left the residence and continued my follow-up with the parents and children," he said.

Buck was transported to West Chester Saturday, where he was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Chester Darlington.

He was released after posting $5,000 cash bail.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday, June 18, at 9 a.m. in Phoenixville District Court.

County's crime rate at 20 year low after family jailed

A county's crime rate has fallen to a 20-year low after a crimimal family was jailed, a chief constable has reported.

 

By Richard Savill
Published: 6:46PM BST 24 Jun 2009

Ricky Johnson who was jailed along with other members of his family Photo: INS

Telegraph UK --Five members of the Johnson gipsy family were each jailed for up to 11 years for a string of raids on stately homes, including Britain's biggest domestic burglary, which netted them up to 80 million pounds.

Another 10 members of the gang received sentences for raids on business premises in Thames Valley, the Midlands and Gloucestershire.

Since their arrest, Gloucestershire Police said the county's crime rates have fallen to a level last seen in the 1980s.

Figures show there were 44,136 recorded crimes in Gloucestershire in 2008/09 compared to 45,685 in 2007/08, representing a three per cent drop.

This followed a significant drop of about 16 per cent from the 2006/07 figures, when 52,388 crimes were recorded.

The Gloucestershire chief constable, Timothy Brain, said the jailing of the Johnsons had disrupted a major crime network in the county.

Of the Johnsons, he added: "What that operation showed is that no-one is untouchable."

The gang, who were sentenced last year, broke into stately homes wearing balaclavas, scoured rooms, and escaped in stolen cars while leaving little or no trace.

Their attacks included Ramsbury Manor, the 17th Century Wiltshire home of Harry Hyams, a reclusive property tycoon and art collector. Burglars seized items worth about pounds 30 million in February 2006, in Britain;s biggest private house burglary.

Other victims included the Formula One motor racing advertising tycoon Paddy McNally and the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire Sir Philip Wroughton.

Detectives believe the Johnson family plagued the south of England for 20 years. The family was based at a static caravan park in Evesham, Worcs, where they plotted the raids.

Published June 23, 2009 04:42 pm - A man under arrest for driving under the influence had an additional charge added after he attempted to bribe two Athens police officers to “go away,” according to Capt. Marty Bruce.

Man charged with bribing police: 'I will give you $100 to go away'


By Kelly Kazek
Athens News-Courier

A man under arrest for driving under the influence had an additional charge added after he attempted to bribe two Athens police officers to “go away,” according to Capt. Marty Bruce.

Hector Gonzalez Matos, 29, of 420 N. Clinton Street was charged Monday with DUI and bribery of a public servant after officers Josh Garlen and Cortny Barksdale responded to a call about a fight at 704 N. Marion Street, Bruce said.

Bribery of a public servant is a class C felony.

The officers discovered Matos and another individual had been involved in the fight. Bruce said the report does not say what the fight was about.

After resolving the dispute, Garlen and Barksdale advised Matos to walk home because he was too intoxicated to drive.

As the officers were getting ready to leave, Garlen noticed Matos in his vehicle backing onto the street and stopped him, Bruce said.

Before the officers arrested Matos for driving under the influence, Matos said, “I will give you $20 to go away.”

When officers refused the offer, Matos said: “OK, I will give you $100 to go away.”

Matos was transferred to the Limestone County Jail.

'I do' becomes 'I didn't' . . . marry her, that is

Henry Pierson Curtis 

Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer

June 23, 2009

A year later, lawyers argue over the wreckage of love. The groom's request for an immediate annulment was denied by Circuit Judge Jeffrey M. Fleming.

At issue now is how the couple should part.

Details of this rare union comes from Osceola County Courthouse files. Just how rare it is remains unknown. Although about 150,000 marriages are conducted yearly in Florida, no one tracks how many involve bogus licenses or how often the state's 400,000 notary publics commit fraud.

Ditzel, 30, remains steadfast the marriage never happened.

Bowser, 31, counters that her husband agreed all along to a proxy marriage.

She says he wants an annulment merely to avoid divorce fees and sharing joint property from their 10-year love affair.

Those assets include a $1,500 "promise" ring and a $9,000 engagement ring.

The couple decided to get hitched last year in March. That's when they picked up their marriage license. To be valid, it had to be signed within 60 days and returned to the same courthouse where their lawyers do battle.

Far from amicable, the case has produced an order for protection and two arrests.

On July 3, Ditzel accused Bowser of domestic violence. A temporary protection order was granted but dismissed weeks later. Then, on Oct. 10, Ditzel called Osceola County Sheriff's Office to report he had been married without his knowledge, arrest records show.

The notary, Veronica Gonzalez, lost her job at Wyndham Resorts in Orlando and lost her state notary commission for falsely certifying that she married the pair. Reached at home last week, she declined to comment on all marital matters.

Gonzalez pleaded no contest April 30 to false acknowledgment by a notary public, a misdemeanor, and received a year's probation.

She was ordered to pay $7,500 in restitution to the victim of her notarized fraud.

The victim's identity is sealed in court records.

Bowser lost her job as well at Wyndham Resorts, where she earned $36,500 a year as a title assistant.

She, too, was arrested and awaits trial on three fraud-related felony charges.

Ditzel's lawyer, Thomas E. Rhodes, says there's no reason to discuss divorce when a legal marriage never happened.

"Our premise is it never took place," Rhodes said. "It never met the statutory requirement. That's the bottom line."

Fleming might agree. But court notes of the most recent hearing indicate a trial most likely will be needed to resolve the case.

That's what the bride wants, a trial.

Nina DeFlora, Bowser's lawyer, did not return telephone messages.

Court notes show she already alerted the court, "They have witnesses to state that Mr. Ditzel made announcement that they were married, there is a celebratory dinner, announcements made about rings, and they consummated like bunnies."

The case continues.

The Divorce Cake