Man Drinks 5.5 oz. of Tobasco Sauce to Set World Record
Nov 15, 4:08 PM (ET)
TEA, S.D. (AP) - A South Dakotan may be new world-record holder when it comes to swallowing Tabasco sauce. Levi Johnson of Tea drank 5.5 ounces of the hot sauce, or nearly 3 bottles, in 30 seconds at a sports bar in that community.
The Guinness Book of World Records lists the previous record at 5.07 ounces. Johnson's feat must be verified by Guinness publishers before it is considered official.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Nov 15, 4:08 PM (ET)
FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) - When the Rev. Fidelis Obdike opened his eyes after a prayer, the setting wasn't the same. Gone were his laptop computer and the man with whom he was praying. Police arrested Carl Hagy, 41, on Wednesday on a theft charge after he allegedly pawned the computer.
Police responded to a call at Destiny Global Ministries on Friday, where Obidike told officers he had bought a laptop computer from Hagy two weeks before. He said Hagy returned to the church on Friday and asked to pray. Obdike said he was praying with Hagy inside the church, but when he opened his eyes, Hagy and the computer were gone, police said.
Hagy was booked into the Sebastian County Jail, where he was freed on $1,500 bond.
Restaurant with World's Most Pricey Dessert is Closed Due to Filth
Nov 15, 3:17 PM (ET)
NEW YORK (AP) - While serendipity may be the art of finding pleasant things by chance, what health inspectors found at celebrated eatery Serendipity 3 was not very agreeable.
Officials closed the restaurant Wednesday night after it failed its second inspection in a month. An inspector spotted a live mouse and mouse droppings, fruit flies, house flies and more than 100 live cockroaches.
"Both inspections revealed rodent and fly infestation and conditions conducive to pest infestation, including stagnant water in the basement," the department said.
People stand in line for hours outside the Manhattan restaurant, known for its extravagant and expensive desserts. Its $25,000 Frrrozen Haute Chocolate features top-grade cocoa, edible gold and shavings of a luxury truffle and was declared the most expensive dessert in the world by Guinness World Records. The eatery also offers a $1,000 sundae named Golden Opulence requiring 48-hour advance notice.
Woman Drives Into Shop, Keeps Appointment
Nov 15, 5:03 PM (ET)
SOLDOTNA, Alaska (AP) - It was a hair-raising situation when a woman's car plowed into a hair salon. One customer of Tina's Hair Pros was knocked six feet across the room when a car driven by 73-year-old Della Miller crashed into the salon's windows Wednesday, Soldotna police officer Marvin Towle said. The parking area in front of the salon was snow-covered.
The customer was taken to a hospital for an examination.
Miranda Nelson, a stylist, said she was in the back room when she heard the crash.
"I thought a bomb had gone off," Nelson said.
Two large plate-glass windows were destroyed, walls were damaged, and the stonework front outside the salon was smashed, police said.
Towle estimated damage to the building to be at least $15,000, with the car suffering another $2,500 in damage.
Miller was not cited for the crash on private property.
Miller, who was not injured, proceeded with her hair appointment.
Law Enforcement: This Week's Crooked Cops Stories
No shortage of stories this week. These are a few that we chose:
NDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - An undercover Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer was arrested on a drunken driving charge early Thursday after a Greenfield police sergeant pulled him over after observing him cross the white line divider, police said.
Officer Gary Riggs was pulled over on U.S. 40 in Greenfield just after midnight, according to an IMPD press release. The Greenfield police investigation determined Riggs was operating his vehicle with a blood alcohol content higher than .20, the release said, and Riggs was arrested on a charge of operating a moving vehicle under the influence.
The state’s legal limit for adult drivers is .08.
Riggs, who police said had been attending the funeral of a close family member earlier in the evening, requested that the department move forward with the disciplinary process and to do whatever is necessary to return to his duties as a police officer as soon possible, the press release said. Department guidelines for discipline of first-time DUI offenses by IMPD members is a 10-day suspension, in addition to the loss of his take-home car privileges for a one-year period.
Riggs, a 12-year veteran, has received citations that include the Medal of Valor and the Medal of Bravery, IMPD said.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - A man who participated in a murder ordered by a former Chicago police officer has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.
John Brown was convicted of first-degree murder last month in the 2004 killing of a former limousine dispatcher at a South Side funeral home.
Prosecutors alleged Edward Leak hired Brown and Alfred Marley to ambush Fred Hamilton, who was shot when he stopped to change a flat tire in February 2004.
Hamilton was a driver for Leak’s family’s funeral home business. Authorities said months before his death, Hamilton made an anonymous call to police to report that Leak was involved in insurance fraud.
Prosecutors say Leak, who was also convicted of first-degree murder last month, ordered the murder of Hamilton, a business partner, to collect on a $500,000 insurance policy.
TUXEDO PARK, NEW YORK — A former Tuxedo Park cop admitted today in Orange County Court that he parked cars during private parties in the posh village while he was on the taxpayers’ nickel.
Louis Hock, 37, of Greenville, had tears in his eyes as he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of official misconduct. In return for his plea, prosecutors will make no recommendation to Judge Jeffrey Berry about the sentence that Hock should serve.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - Former Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne got off easier than he should have when he was sentenced today to a year and a day in prison, the federal prosecutor’s office said.
“Today, another high-ranking public official who misused his office and breached the public trust has been sentenced to jail,” said U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta in a statement e-mailed to media. “We believe that a higher sentence would have been more appropriate… If as a community, we believe that public corruption and white collar crimes cause as much harm as violent crime, we must insist on significant terms of imprisonment for public and corporate criminals.”
Jenne, 60, who pleaded guilty in September to charges of mail fraud conspiracy and tax evasion, showed no visible reaction when U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas handed down the sentence.
Jenne removed his leather belt after marshals asked him. He removed his tie and his watch, handing them to his attorney, David Bogenschutz. He was not allowed any contact with his wife, Caroline, who was in the courtroom. Instead he hugged both his lawyers, Bogenschutz and former federal prosecutor Tom Scott, and was taken into custody at 12:19 p.m.
Broward’s former top cop pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud conspiracy and three counts of income tax evasion in September. In the plea agreement he reached with prosecutors, Jenne admitted he accepted more than $151,625 in improper payments, income and other benefits from Sheriff’s Office contractors, including money funneled through his secretaries and payments on a Mercedes convertible from his former law firm, Conrad, Scherer & Jenne.
DANE COUNTY, WISCONSIN - A former Dane County sheriff’s deputy who resigned after being charged with possession of child pornography denies that he has a sexual interest in children.
Mark Rasmussen, 38, said in a lengthy letter to the judge who sentenced him Thursday that he was not specifically looking for child pornography. Rather, he said he stumbled upon it looking for other pornography, and he did not turn over the child porn to other law enforcement officers because to do so he would have had to admit that he was into Internet porn.
Rasmussen, a seven-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, was arrested after a search warrant of his home revealed he had numerous videos of child pornography on his computer. He eventually entered a guilty plea to two counts of possession of child pornography, and he was fined $10,000 Thursday by Dane County Circuit Judge Steven Ebert and sent to jail for at least 30 days. Rasmussen also must pay a $2,500 surcharge as mandated by state law for possessing the child pornography.
Ebert imposed a 12-month jail term for Rasmussen but stayed six months of that. After serving an initial month in jail, Rasmussen will spend five months of home detention on electronic monitoring.
In fashioning the sentence, Ebert leaned heavily on a report prepared by Dr. Roger Northway, which concluded Rasmussen was not a pedophile and was not likely to be a danger to society in the future.
GEORGETOWN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA - A Georgetown County deputy was fired and is charged with breach of peace after an alleged incident at the Hot Fish Club in Murrells Inlet early Sunday morning. John Godwin III, 61, who has worked courthouse security for the Sheriff’s Office for about a year, was off duty when he was at the club about 1 a.m. Sunday, according to an incident report.
Two employees said they were approached by patrons who said Godwin was “flashing his gun stating he was an off-duty law enforcement officer,” the report states.
When one of the workers approached Godwin to ask why he had a gun inside the building, he reportedly said he was an off-duty deputy and was allowed to come in and drink. When Godwin was asked by the worker to leave the bar, he allegedly got mad and used “foul” and “threatening” language towards the employee and other patrons. He reportedly told the worker he would “rip his head off.”When deputies arrived on the scene, Godwin was escorted outside and they saw the gun was on his waist underneath his shirt.
When the officers arrived they apparently did not recognize him as a co-worker and asked Godwin for some identification, he “became rude and started using profanities towards the officers,” the report states. He was told to place his hands behind his back and Godwin then “assumed a fighting stance in an attempt to fight” one of the officers. Another deputy then placed Godwin in handcuffs.Godwin “seemed very intoxicated and smelt of beer (and) had a hard time walking at times,” the report states. Although no one at the club wanted to press charges, Godwin was issued a courtesy summons for breach of peace and was driven home by a deputy.”He was fired on the spot,” Assistant Sheriff Carter Weaver said. “He had conduct unbecoming of a deputy sheriff.”
TINLEY PARK, ILLINOIS - The owner of a Tinley Park pizza joint is seeking $2 million in damages from the village and a Tinley Park police officer who allegedly Tasered him this summer, sending the restaurant owner into convulsions and causing him to bite off a piece of his tongue.
Alexander Mendez, who with his wife owns Guardi’s Pizza and Catering, 16711 S. 80th Ave., filed a lawsuit Thursday in the federal court. The couple said Officer Joseph Vega shot Mendez in the head and shoulders with a Taser gun as part of a failed prank last June.
Police Chief Michael O’Connell referred questions about the incident to village administration. Mayor Ed Zabrocki said the Taser shot was an accident and all Taser guns were recalled after the incident.
Vega was disciplined for taking the Taser gun out of his holster, Zabrocki said. Zabrocki said attorneys advised him not to provide any more details.
According to the lawsuit, about 9 p.m. June 15, Vega came to Guardi’s and ordered pasta salad. When Mendez walked into the cooler to get the food, Vega asked Mendez’s wife if she wanted to see Vega scare her husband. She said “no,” according to court documents.
Then, Vega allegedly pointed the gun at Mendez’s head and fired, causing the prongs to stick to Mendez’s right temple and collarbone. Mendez went into convulsions and later became unconscious. He also bit off a piece of his tongue, the lawsuit said.
Vega is accused of immediately removing the Taser prongs, which caused Mendez to bleed profusely. Vega then called for back-up, and a supervisor and two detectives showed up and confiscated bloody towels, Mendez’s bloody glasses, the Taser prongs and the video surveillance equipment in the restaurant, the lawsuit claims.
Reading a prepared statement, Zabrocki said Vega was conducting a routine check on the business when he noticed his Taser safety deactivated. While resecuring it, the Taser accidentally discharged, striking Mendez in the head and chest and knocking him to the ground, Zabrocki said.
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