NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Authorities are hailing the arrests of 149 people in one of New Jersey’s most dangerous cities, which Conan O’Brien mocked on NBC’s “Tonight Show.” Mayor Cory Booker announced the arrests Wednesday outside the notorious Academy Spires apartment complex in Newark, just west of New York City. Twenty-eight arrests Wednesday morning capped a six-month drug investigation focusing on the complex. Seven guns, $15,000 in cash and $25,000 worth of drugs were seized. Undercover officers made numerous drug buys at the complex. Booker says police will stay there “for as long as it takes.” Booker has tried to clean up Newark, which has been blighted by unemployment and shocking violence such as the execution-style slayings of three college-bound students in 2007. O’Brien donated $100,000 last September after joking Booker’s health care program consisted of a bus ticket out.
March 18, 2010 | Posted in
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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa City police arrested a woman who allegedly attacked her sister with the lid of a toilet tank. Nitasha Johnson, of Iowa City, was arrested early Sunday and was charged with domestic abuse assault causing injury and interference with official acts. According to police, Johnson removed the lid and hit her sister during a fight. Authorities said the sister suffered an injured foot and finger. Johnson was taken to the Johnson County jail. She remained in jail on Monday on a $1,500 bond. Jail officials did not know if she had hired an attorney. — Information from: Iowa City Press-Citizen, http://www.press-citizen.com/
March 15, 2010 | Posted in
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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Police in Iowa City accused a 77-year-old man they arrested on traffic charges earlier this year of swallowing his hidden marijuana stash while seated in a squad car. Authorities served an arrest warrant on misdemeanor marijuana charges Thursday on Howard Switzer, and later released him on his own recognizance. Police said they observed Switzer making an illegal left turn on Jan. 31 and arrested him for driving with a revoked license. They say that while Switzer was in the back of the squad car, he reached into a coat pocket, pulled out a plastic tube containing marijuana and swallowed most of the contents. They said he also dropped the tube and a glass marijuana pipe on the floor of the car. Authorities said Switzer has two previous marijuana convictions. — Information from: Iowa City Press-Citizen, http://www.press-citizen.com/
March 12, 2010 | Posted in
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PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — Authorities said a 30-year-old-man showed up so drunk for his sentencing for drunken driving that he missed his hearing and now faces even more time behind bars. Authorities said Jason Botos was driven to the Papillion courthouse on Thursday by his father, who needed help from deputies to get his son out of the vehicle. Prosecutor Ben Perlman said Botos was so drunk he couldn’t attend the hearing, so the judge issued a warrant. Deputies arrested Botos in the parking lot. Another hearing is set for Tuesday. A jail spokeswoman said Botos remained in custody Friday. Botos’ attorney didn’t immediately return a call. Botos had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drunken driving in a September 2009 collision with five other vehicles. — Information from: KETV-TV, http://www.ketv.com
March 12, 2010 | Posted in
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The cost of Internet fraud doubled in 2009 to about $560 million, the FBI said Friday. The most common type of frauds reported were scams from people falsely claiming to be from the FBI. Individual complaints of Internet scams grew more than 20 percent last year, according to a report issued by the FBI in partnership with a private fraud-fighting group, the Internet Crime Complaint Center. The amounts taken by individual frauds ranged from less than $30 to more than $100,000, officials said. The most frequently reported scams were those that falsely used the FBI’s name, accounting for 16 percent of the more than 300,000 complaints received last year. Some of those frauds have even featured e-mails purporting to be from FBI Director Robert Mueller, though the e-mail addresses of the senders often betray the con, authorities said. Peter Trahon, head of the FBI’s cyber division, said people should evaluate the e-mail pitches they receive “with a healthy skepticism – if something seems to good to be true, it likely is.” For example, one popular scam last year involved a phone pitch made by someone who sounded a lot like President Barack Obama. The recorded message told people to visit a Web site to get government stimulus money. When victims who visited the site entered personal information and paid $28 in fees, they were promised a big stimulus check, but got nothing. — On the Net: Internet Crime Report: http://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2009-IC3Report.pdf
March 12, 2010 | Posted in
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A coroner’s official says authorities have recovered four prescription drug bottles bearing the name of actor Corey Haim but found nothing illegal while investigating his death. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter declined Friday to identify the drugs. Haim was battling flulike symptoms in the days before his death. Winter says an autopsy was done Thursday, but his office is awaiting the results of toxicology tests that could take two months before determining a cause of death. Haim died Wednesday in Burbank after collapsing at his mother’s apartment. The 38-year-old battled drug addiction for years. He earned fame for roles in the 1980s films “Lucas” and “The Lost Boys.” He recently completed several film projects. (This version CORRECTS spelling of Corey. )
March 12, 2010 | Posted in
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THERMAL, Calif. (AP) — They say crime doesn’t pay. For one robber in California, it did – but not much. Authorities in Riverside County say a woman with a gun robbed 11 customers at a market and got away with $6. A Sheriff’s Department statement says the woman was armed with a semi-automatic pistol when she went to La Chicanita Market in the town of Thermal on Tuesday afternoon. Deputy Herlinda Valenzuela says the woman confronted 10 customers in the store and also demanded money from one person who was entering the market. She then fled in an old car. Nobody was hurt. — Information from: The Press-Enterprise, http://www.pe.com
March 10, 2010 | Posted in
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NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities say D’Angelo was caught in New York City trying to pay $40 for sex with an undercover cop posing as a prostitute. Police said Monday that the 36-year-old R&B singer was arrested early Saturday while behind the wheel of his Range Rover. D’Angelo’s real name is Michael Archer. He says in a statement that he pleaded not guilty and plans to fight the charge. The statement says the singer hopes the public will “allow the American justice system to resolve the matter before jumping to any conclusions.”
March 8, 2010 | Posted in
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BARTOW, Fla. (AP) — A Winter Haven man was arrested after authorities said he took a winning scratch-off ticket back to the store he had stolen it from a day earlier. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported that a 22-year-old man stole $70 worth of scratch-off lottery tickets from a Circle K store on Sunday. One of the tickets revealed a $50 prize. When the man went back to the store on Monday to claim the money, a clerk who was aware of the theft asked the man for his driver’s license and wrote down the information. The clerk called the authorities, and deputies went to arrest the man. He was charged with retail theft and later released on $250 bail. — Information from: News Chief, http://www.polkonline.com
March 7, 2010 | Posted in
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Las Cruces police said a woman has been arrested for allegedly stabbing her ex-husband. Police said a 27-year-old woman was charged with three counts of aggravated battery against a household member and one count of battery. She was being held on $15,000 bond at the Dona Ana County Detention Center. The woman’s ex-husband was taken to a hospital for treatment of his wounds after the Thursday night altercation. According to police, Shaw and her 29-year-old ex-husband were at her home late Thursday when she became upset after looking through his cell phone’s call history. Detectives said Shaw pulled out a knife and started swinging at her ex-spouse, striking him at least three times. Authorities said his injuries were not life-threatening. The victim left the home and got a ride to the Las Cruces Police Department where he was interviewed by officers. — Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com
March 7, 2010 | Posted in
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