SMT 911!
Camouflage Can’t Hide the Truth
Boston, MA – If you claim to be a veteran collecting holiday donations for military families, be careful not to run into any real veterans. And try to get your rank and uniform right, too. A former Army Ranger who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan thought there was something suspicious about a man seeking holiday donations for military families in front of a Shop n’ Stop. The 44-year-old man received money from passing customers, but the Army Ranger wasn’t fooled. Noticing that the man wore outdated woodland camouflage fatigues and that the rank on his sleeve, corporal, didn’t fit with his age, he began to investigate. The Army Ranger looked up some information on the sign the panhandler was holding: “MILITARY FAMILY’S FOR THE HOLIDAYS,” and discovered that the man had no connection with the national foundation, a Los Angeles-based organization that does not solicit in person. This, of course, infuriated the 23-year-old Purple Heart recipient and he contacted authorities. On Christmas Eve the counterfeit veteran was arrested on charges that he posed as a representative of a national veterans organization and pocketed the money for himself. (The police confiscated the $150.27 he had collected that day). His criminal history includes 22 convictions, including several on larceny and stolen-property charges, and the use of multiple aliases. His court-appointed lawyer asked for his client to be released that afternoon so he could take medication he missed while spending Christmas in police custody. Hopefully the medication is to keep him from pretending to be someone he is not.
Come Backs Come Back To Get You
Denver, CO – If you get caught speeding and the cop gives you a ticket, he’s probably going to catch you when you go to his house and torch his pickup truck as well. Two teenage boys have been arrested on arson charges after police say they torched a truck belonging to a Boulder police officer who had issued a ticket to one of the boys last month. No one was hurt in the fire, which was set about 11:45 p.m. outside of the home of the officer in retaliation for a ticket he had issued to one of the17-year-old boys. The officer and his family awoke to find their 2006 Ford F150 truck on fire. Seeing the juveniles outside, the officer chased them through yards and over fences until the suspects were finally caught. Originally the youths had been ticketed for speeding, failure to provide proof of insurance, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Yet their retaliation has only made matters worse. Both boys were booked into juvenile detention and face felony charges, including second-degree arson and retaliating against a witness.
One Way Ticket to Jail
Chicago, IL – It’s never a good idea to drive the wrong way down a one-way street…especially with six pounds of marijuana in the car. A South Side man has been charged with drug possession after Chicago police stopped the 27-year-old for driving his 2004 Pontiac sedan the wrong way down a one-way street. The man must have been high because he didn’t even take the time to hide the incriminating evidence in the front of his car. Officers noticed two clear plastic bags with cannabis in a cup holder and then found additional large shopping bags in the front passenger seat. Each bag contained clear plastic bags filled with cannabis with a street value near $18,000.
