In The Spotlite: November 2009

Monday, November 23, 2009

Pittsburgh Steelers Fan Beats and Kicks Pitbull Puppy to Death Before Game

A Pittsburgh Steelers fan was so upset at his pit bull puppy not behaving that he beat and kicked the poor animal to death right at the start of a Steelers game.

22-year-old William Woodson is being held in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail, pending a preliminary hearing on animal cruelty next Monday. Mr. Woodson and his live-in girl friend, Christine Gielarowski, who appears to have purchased the dog without consulting Woodson, have argued more than once recently about the dog.

It seems that Woodson did not particularly like the 13-week-old pitbull name Flip. When the dog caused problems for him before the Steelers-Kansas City Chiefs game last Sunday, Woodson allegedly picked the puppy up and threw it down quite hard on the pavement in the street.

A witness told Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, police they saw Woodson kicking Flip down the street shortly after 1 p.m., which is when the Steelers game began. Police said Woodson was supposed to be walking the dog, but apparently he was angry that he was missing the start of the Steelers game on TV.

The witness said that Woodson kicked the dog so hard that he launched Flip into the air and the dog skipped on the pavement. The witness tried to help Flip, but it died in his arms.

"It needs to be told that stuff like this will not be tolerated, whether it's in Bridgeville or whatever community," said Bridgeville police Officer James Lancia. "It's not going to be put up with. You can't just run around abusing animals."

The maximum penalty for cruelty to animals is five years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

The following is an Associated Press report of the incident:

Perhaps the pit bull puppy was not enough of a Steelers fan for Woodson. If this is how angry Woodson gets before the game, imagine how he must get after a Steelers' loss.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Toddler Left Stranded Alone at Train Station by Broken Train Door

A 3-year-old boy was left stranded all alone on a commuter train platform when a door on a train malfunctioned, separating the toddler from his dad, who was already on the train.

At that point the train promptly left the station leaving the bewildered child on the platform and what most probably was a frantic father stuck on the train with no way to get back quickly to his son.

Fortunately for the child, a good Samaritan stayed right with the boy waiting until the father found his way back to the platform.

A story that might have had a tragic ending turned out well for all involved.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Dad Executes Own Son for Molesting 3-year-old Sister

A Michigan 37-year-old father has been arrested for executing his own 15-year-old son for molesting his three-year-old half sister. Jamar Pinkney, Sr., was arraigned today for first degree murder for allegedly shooting his own son, Jamar Pinkney, Jr., in the head after the son confessed to improper sexual contact with his sister.

Jamar, Sr., allegedly first pistol whipped his son in the living room of the home where Jamar, Jr., lived with his mother, Lazette Cherry, in Highland Park, Michigan. Then Jamar, Sr., forced his son to strip naked, after which Sr. marched his son outside forcing him to a nearby vacant lot over the protests of Cherry.

Jamar, Jr., apparently painfully aware of what his father was about to do, fell to his knees and cried out, begging for his life, "No, daddy, no!" At that point Jamar, Sr., pulled the trigger on his pistol, placing a bullet, execution style, into the head of his own son.

Lazette Cherry, the boy's mother, told the Detroit Free Press that her son confessed he had improper sexual contact with the three-year-old girl. "I called and told his father. This isn't something you sweep under the rug," she said.

“I hope he rots in jail,” Cherry said of her ex. “He did not deserve that,” she said speaking of her son. “There wasn’t nothing that my son wouldn’t do for his father. He loved his father so much."

"There's no justification for what he did, you know, downright shoot your child," she said. "He didn't rape her or anything. So why did you have to come and take matters into your hands? We said we were going to get him help."

Corbett O'Meara, Pinkney, Sr.'s, lawyer, called the event a "devastating tragedy."

"My client is in shock and in mourning, but is hopeful that his family will be able to come out of this in as whole a state as possible," O'Meara said.

O'Meara said Pinkney Sr. turned himself into authorities and had no previous criminal history. He also said Pinkney had worked "for years" as a letter carrier for the United States Post Office.

Authorities filed a first-degree murder charge Wednesday against Pinkney, Sr., in the Monday shooting death of Jamar Pinkney Jr.

O'Meara said prosecutors should consider evidence of the father's state of mind because of the sex abuse report.

"If something were to happen that would cause a reasonable person to lose control of himself, that is something the prosecution would have to take into account," O'Meara told reporters outside Highland Park District Court.

Judge Brigette Officer entered a not guilty plea for Pinkney, who is also charged with assault. The judge ordered Pinkney jailed without bond until a preliminary examination on December 1st.

After the arraignment, Police Chief Ted Caldwell said, "This is something that's hard to deal with for all the parties concerned, including the police. Highland Park is a small city. These are people who have been members of the community for years."

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Shocking Story - Cop Tasers 10-year-old

Pardon the pun but this one's a bit of a shocker! Believe it or not but an Ozark, Arkansas, police officer tasered a 10-year-old girl because she would not take a shower.

It's a story making news worldwide. Officer Dustin Bradshaw was called to the home by the girl's mother because of a domestic disturbance. Upon arrival Bradshaw found the girl curled up on the floor, screaming. In his police report Bradshaw stated that the girl screamed, kicked and resisted when her mother tried to get her into the shower before bed.

"Her mother told me to tase her if I needed to," Bradshaw continued.

Bradshaw tried to take the 10-year-old into custody, however, the girl's behavior quickly changed and she soon was "violently kicking and verbally combative." He further stated that the girl kicked him in the groin.

That was when he tased her. Bradshaw said in his report that he delivered "a very brief drive stun to her back."

Ozark Mayor Vernon McDaniel said that the girl was not injured, and she is now residing at the Western Arkansas Youth Shelter in Cecil, Arkansas.

However, McDanial isn't sure if Officer Bradshaw acted appropriately. McDaniel asked the Arkansas State Police to investigate the incident, but they have declined to do so. Now McDaniel has asked the FBI to do so.

"People here feel like that he made a mistake in using a Taser, and maybe he did, but we will not know until we get an impartial investigation," said McDaniel.

Ozark Police Chief Jim Noggle, who said that Bradshaw is not facing disciplinary action, also claimed that Tasers are safe.

"We didn't use the Taser to punish the child — just to bring the child under control so she wouldn't hurt herself or somebody else," said Noggle.

Noggle said the officer might have accidentally broken the child's arm or leg if he had forcibly tried to handcuff her. Chief Noggle actually managed to say that with a straight face.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has reported that the girl's father, Anthony Medlock, said the girl has emotional problems but she was not armed and should not have been tasered.

"My daughter does not deserve to be tased and be treated like an animal," said Medlock. He and the girl's mother are divorced and the mother has sole custody.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

St Paul Somali Gang Films Assaults of Pedestrians and Posts on YouTube

A group or perhaps even an organized gang of Somali men from St Paul and Minneapolis have been filming assaults they made against people unknown to them. The gang assaulted passersby, runners, bicyclists and even children, apparently solely for the purpose of filming the assaults.

Once they had accumulated a sufficient number of assaults on film, they then made a video out of the film and posted it on YouTube. They even filmed themselves, identifying themselves in the process and bragged that more videos were to come.

St Paul police have already identified all of the gang's members, but now they need the victims to come forward to press charges in order to prosecute any of the Somali perpetrators. At this point none of the victims are known to the police.

The first video is the local FOX affiliate's report of the assaults:

The second video is the actual video posted on YouTube by the Somali gang:

The quality of the group's film making leaves much to be desired.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Britney Spears Twitter Account Professes Love for Satan

Britney Spears Twitter account was hacked early this morning and the hacker posted words professing Britney's love for Satan. Here is what Britney's account said this morning:

Glory be to Satan? Not very original but hackers are supposed to be good at getting into web sites illegally, not at penning memorable words of love. The hacker also papered her Twitter account with "dark and twisty images of the Illuminati" according to E online.

In addition the hacker reportedly wrote "I hope that the new world order will arrive as soon as possible! —Britney."

Once Twitter management was informed, the offensive words were taken down and Britney's account was back to normal with the following apology posted on her site:

What do you want to bet that Britney slept through the entire incident?

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Giant Mountain Rock Slide Caught on Video

A Mountain rock slide caught on video on Tuesday has closed an East Tennessee highway with giant boulders, many of which are larger than cars, blocking the road. Officials had already been on the scene because of one rock slide discovered by a motorist at 5:30 AM when a second slide was caught on video.

Besides the giant boulders, many full size pine trees slid down the mountain covering US Highway 64 which runs through the Ocoee Gorge in Eastern Tennessee.

"It's pretty common to get rocks coming down, but it's the size and magnitude of this one," said Don Longworth, operations chief for West Polk Fire and Rescue. It requires very large bulldozer type equipment to clear the road of such huge boulders and trees.

Crews had cleared a single lane through the rocks from the first slide, but around 1 PM the mountain rumbled and the second slide tumbled down the mountain recovering the roadway.

Julie Oaks, Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said geologists have not yet been able to assess conditions in the slide area. "The problem is it is still raining and there is concern about the stability of the slope," she said. "We will have to wait until the rain subsides before we can get in there to make an assessment."

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Drunk Woman Falls in Front of Train, Narrowly Escapes Death - Video

An apparently inebriated 26-year-old woman narrowly escaped death Friday in the Boston MBTA subway as she fell into the path of an oncoming train. The heroic train driver somehow managed to stop the train just as the very tip of the front of the first car passed over the woman who by this time was lying on the tracks and possibly fearing the worst.

The woman had attempted to stomp out her cigarette and watch for the train at the same time as the train approached, and that is when she stumbled and fell directly onto the tracks. During the whole process she also somehow managed not to touch the electrified third rail, which also might have meant death for the woman.

After the woman fell onto the tracks, other commuters frantically attempted to alert the train driver that someone was on the tracks by waving their arms at the train's driver.

MBTA train operator Charice Lewis saw the passengers at North Station flailing their arms as the train approached the station. At approximately the same time, she heard her radio frantically warn her to pull the emergency brake because someone had fallen onto the tracks.

“It was so close, I thought it was not good,’’ said the 27-year-old Lewis, a train operator from Mattapan. “Afterward she came up with a big smile on her face and I’m like ‘Oh my God, you really scared me,’ ’’ Lewis said. “The most exciting part for me is she crawled out from under (the train).’’

Lewis received a called from the governor after the incident and also was honored as a hero yesterday by Secretary of Transportation Jeffrey Mullan.

The woman on the tracks has not been identified; however, she had scraped her knees but was otherwise was reported to be okay. According to police she had been drinking for several hours before the event. The woman was treated and evaluated at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Lawrence Taylor Mug Shot

Former NFL great for the New York Giants, Lawrence Taylor, considered by some to be the best linebacker ever, was arrested in Miami for leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, which is a second-degree misdemeanor.

Naturally we have provided you Taylor's mug shot from his hit-and-run accident. Taylor was released on $500 bond, an amount that tells you this was not a high profile incident; however celebrity mug shots are high profile incidents regardless of the bond amount. Now LT's mug has been forever added to the mix.

A Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson said that Taylor was involved in a hit-and-run accident on Sunday in Hialeah, Florida. CBS News Crimesider has reported that Taylor told the cops that he thought he hit a guard rail. State troopers reportedly did not conduct a sobriety test.

LT will be one of the first to tell you that he was one of the greatest linebackers of all time, and he was inducted into the NFL football Hall of Fame in 1999. He had also recently been featured on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."