Lawn & order
A Florida inmate who was mowing grass on a work detail is accused of trying to escape on a lawn mower.
Officials said Richard Williams, 43, sped off on the riding mower after his supervisor’s back was turned.
A Volusia County sheriff’s deputy spotted Williams 10 minutes later about a half-mile away, still riding the mower.
Williams was charged with escape.
Son of the year
A Seattle man who lives next to his parents took the law into his own hands to foil a break-in by blocking the getaway vehicle and taking a gun from the bad guy.
Jens Beeder was driving home one night last week when he noticed a man loading stuff from his parents’ house into a Land Rover.
Beeder charged in while the man was face-to-face with Beeder’s mother. Beeder grabbed the man in a bear-hug and slammed him against the bathroom sink.
The intruder reached for his gun, yelling, ” ‘In the name of Jesus, let me go before someone gets killed!’ ” Beeder told reporters.
Beeder grabbed the handgun and the bad guy ran to his sport utility vehicle, pulled out a rifle and pointed it at Beeder. But he couldn’t drive away because Beeder had blocked the driveway with his girlfriend’s car.
Desperately, the suspect yelled, “Will you please move your car?”
By then, police arrived and arrested the man.
Wasted away again in Marijuanaville
A Florida Keys teen was arrested after deputies say he left his MySpace page called up on a computer at a home that had been burglarized.
Sheriff’s deputies said a caretaker for the home was removing hurricane shutters and saw an intruder sitting on the living room couch.
Deputies found no one inside, but they did find an empty soda and snack containers, and some marijuana on a coffee table.
The deputies also found a computer turned on and logged into the MySpace account of an 18-year-old.
The teen was found walking around the neighborhood. He told a deputy he had been in the house because it was cold outside, authorities said.
Did she have a concealed weapons permit?
Police in Illinois say a woman attacked an officer with a sex toy.
Police say Carolee Bildsten, 56, first ran out on a bill at Joe’s Crab Shack, something she had done in the past. When a police officer went to Bildsten’s home, he was attacked — according to the police report — with “a rigid feminine pleasure device.”
Bildsten was charged with aggravated assault and theft of labor or services.
Fertile turtle or food stamp fraud?
A Maine woman is accused of fraudulently obtaining food stamps by claiming she was pregnant over a 40-month period.
Prosecutors said Leah L. Wright, 34, was paid more than $4,000 in benefits by forging letters from doctors. Two notes from separate offices show one pregnancy followed another by a day.
“You can’t continue food stamps benefits forever unless there is a reason you can’t work,” said Maine Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin.
– Scott McCabe
