21-year-old says girlfriend's mother gave him the money
Fort Worth Star-Telegram May 1, 08 2:39 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
A 21-year-old Texas man has been busted for attempting to deposit a $360 billion check, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports, stolen from his girlfriend's mother for, he claimed, the purpose of starting his own record label. Suspicious of the sum, the bank called the check’s owner. Arriving police found pot and an unlicensed weapon on the man, rounding out the fraud charge. Bail, fortunately, was more modest: $3,750.
More »
Crooks claim to have kids; terrified
parents pay up
New York Times Apr 29, 08 6:02 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Mexican crooks are putting a new twist on an old crime with "virtual kidnapping," the New York Times reports. The criminals are cashing in on the widespread fear of kidnapping by calling families and pretending to have snatched a loved one—usually a child—for ransom. Many panicked parents pay up before they realize that their loved one is safe.
More »
Woman who wouldn't stop talking during show now in hospital
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Apr 25, 08 3:15 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
A Seattle woman allegedly attacked an acquaintance who refused to stop talking loudly over an airing of America's Next Top Model , the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The ensuing scuffle got bloody when the upset attacker pulled a paring knife from an apple and stabbed the 42-year-old victim in the chest and neck, police say. The suspect remains at large.
More »
12 murders this week prompt SWAT teams
to take to the streets
Chicago Tribune Apr 25, 08 12:26 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
An explosion of violence in Chicago last weekend—three dozen shootings that resulted in seven deaths—and a quintuple homicide on Wednesday have local police struggling for an explanation, as well as a response. Crime usually jumps later in the year, the Chicago Tribune notes, when both the weather and gang activity heat up.
More »
Notorious right-wing ad man will portray Democrat as soft on crime, terror
Time Apr 22, 08 3:42 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The right-wing activist who derailed Michael Dukakis' presidential bid with the infamous 1988 Willie Horton ad has set his sights on Barack Obama. Floyd Brown’s first anti-Obama spot highlights the senator’s opposition to expanding death penalty use against gang criminals—in a year when inner-city violence raged in Chicago. The ad will run in North Carolina before the primary; Brown has set up several front groups to depict Obama as soft on crime and terrorism.
More »
But questions arise over genetic privacy of innocent relatives
Washington Post Apr 21, 08 12:51 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Law-enforcement agencies are using DNA of family members—often without their consent—to identify and convict criminals, the Washington Post reports. Privacy advocates object that it turns family members into unwitting informants, and subjects innocent relatives to “lifelong genetic surveillance” because someone in their family committed a crime. But investigators say it could increase DNA-solved cases by as much as 40%.
More »
Dozens of sailors charged with wedding foreigners for profit
CNN Apr 18, 08 9:25 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Dozens of US sailors and Eastern European women have been arrested for their part in a purported mass-marriage fraud ring, CNN reports. Sailors allegedly tied the knot with women they barely knew, netting the wives green cards and the sailors marriage benefits totaling roughly $500,000. “What we see are small pockets of friends forming this conspiracy,” said the investigating agent.
More »
Will take samples from illegal immigrants, felony arrestees
Washington Post Apr 16, 08 9:27 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The US plans to significantly widen its law-enforcement database by taking DNA samples from illegal immigrants picked up by federal authorities and from all people arrested for federal offenses, the Washington Post reports. The feds currently collect genetic information only from those convicted of federal crimes. The expanded policy follows the lead of 13 states.
More »
Sharpe James sold cheap city land to
his mistress
Star-Ledger Apr 16, 08 11:30 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Sharpe James, who was the mayor of Newark, NJ, for two decades, has been convicted of fraud by a federal jury. James conspired to sell city lots on the cheap to his mistress, who then sold them for hundreds of thousands in profit, reports the Star-Ledger . James and the former mistress, Tamika Riley, were both found guilty on all counts, and could spend several years behind bars.
More »
Man hired cousin to kill girlfriend and make it look like a mugging
New York Times Apr 16, 08 10:38 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
The shooting death of an 18-year-old mom and wounding of her boyfriend as they sat with their baby son in a car was set up by the beau, cops now say. The boyfriend initially insisted the two had been shot by a robber in the Bronx, but now he and his cousin have been charged with murder, reports the New York Times reports.
More »
Navy argues blind eye not best policy
Times (UK) Apr 13, 08 10:37 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
In an odd new take on piracy, the British Royal Navy has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates—or they may seek asylum to escape death sentences in their home countries. It's not a strategy roundly hailed. “These people commit horrendous offenses. It’s a pathetic indictment of what our legal system has come to," complained one politician.
More »
They'll be tried as adults on kidnapping, battery charges
CNN Apr 11, 08 11:41 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
The eight Florida teens who videotaped a half-hour beating of a classmate will be tried as adults and could face life behind bars if convicted, CNN reports. The suspects face felony kidnapping charges, and three also face witness tampering raps. They seemed remorseless, a sheriff said. “They were joking: ‘I guess we won’t get to go to the beach during spring break,'" he said.
More »
Chauncey Bailey Project delves into Muslim bakery linked to Oakland killing
Los Angeles Times Apr 7, 08 2:52 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Last summer's murder of a California journalist has prompted dozens of colleagues to join in finishing what he started, the Los Angeles Times reports. Chauncey Bailey was shot in August, police believe, over his investigation of an Oakland black Muslim bakery. "You have to let the community know you can't kill a story by killing a reporter," one member of the Chauncey Bailey Project said.
More »