107.9 The River » criminal activity

13 Signs Your Car Will Be Stolen

Danny Gallagher — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:40:47 +0000

Car thefts have been one of those crimes that seem to exist whether the economy is bad or good. Automobiles are relatively easy to break into, attract little to no attention whether they are equipped with alarms and can be sold in part or whole for big, quick cash. It’s so widespread and hard to [...]

Judge Punishes Teen By Having Her Ponytail Chopped Off – Is It Fair?

Jeremy Taylor — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 22:00:42 +0000

You’ve certainly heard of “an eye for an eye,” but what about a ponytail for a ponytail? In a strange criminal trial that was recently adjudicated in Utah, 13-year-old Kaytlen Lopan stood accused of the confusing crime of befriending a 3-year-old she met at a McDonald’s and then cutting off her ponytail right then and there. Kaytlen admitted [...]

Serial Flasher Claims He's Trying to Overcome a Phobia

Shauna Wright — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:35:01 +0000

Lots of shrinks say that if you have a fear, the best way to get rid of it is to do exactly what it is you’re afraid of — Unless your fear is public nudity. Probably best not to use immersion therapy on that one.

Candy Thief Steals $600 Worth of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Don Deane — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:43:44 +0000

We love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as much as the next guy, but a robber in Ohio has taken his love of candy to a whole new thieving level by stealing between $400-$600 worth of Reese’s over the past few months. The “Peanut Butter Cup Bandit” has been targeting a Sunoco in the town of [...]

What Cities Are People Most Likely to Have Their Cars Stolen?

Mike Adams — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:21:01 +0000

Your vehicle might be a little bit safer this year against auto theft than it has been in the past, but according to a new report, you might just want to hang on to that security system and full coverage insurance for awhile.

Identity Theft's Newest Victims? Kids

Shauna Wright — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:00:00 +0000

If you think protecting your credit is something only adults need to worry about, think again. Experts say one in 10 children is now the victim of identity theft. Identity thieves ferret out kids’ social security numbers on tax forms accessed by hacking home computers, and they also target hospitals, child-welfare agencies and schools. Overall, [...]

Walmart Robber Seriously Injured by His Own Getaway Vehicle

Mike Adams — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:47:45 +0000

It never seems to fail — where there’s a twinge of desperation, a nearby Walmart, and just enough faith in a reckless gamble to go over the wall, the derelict sideshow and dumb circus is there. Apparently, one man from New York does not intend to change that. According to a police report, a 24-year-old [...]

Sweet! Maple Syrup Counterfeiter Busted By Federal Government

Mike Adams — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:03:25 +0000

We are pleased to report that in the wake of a near societal meltdown, America is officially a safer place to live now that there is one less maple syrup counterfeiter on the streets. Federal prosecutors say that a Rhode Island man sold and profited from the sale of an impostor brand of Vermont maple [...]

Police Catch Reckless Driver Thanks to 'Zombie' License Plate

Danny Gallagher — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 01:00:42 +0000

Having a license plate that reads “ZOMBIE” may not make people think that you’re going to eat their brains or other parts of their various anatomy. It will stick in their minds in another way. A woman in Allentown, Pennsylvania learned that lesson when she allegedly tried to flee the scene of a hit-and-run accident [...]

Owning A-Team Replica Van Does Not Mean You Can Ram Into Cop Cars

Amy Sciarretto — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:00:42 +0000

If you own a replica of The A-Team van and happen to be, you know, sane, it does not mean you are an innate badass like B.A. Baracus. Nor does it give you licenses to ram said imitation vehicle into a cop car when the po-po pulls you over for a moving violation. However, if you are a bit of a whack job, you may think the opposite is true.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Sentenced to 14 Years in Federal Prison

Shauna Wright — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:00:42 +0000

Rod Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois, was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years in federal prison for political corruption that includes an attempt to sell the US Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama. The well-coiffed Blagojevich, whose 55th birthday is Saturday, must report to prison by February 16 and is required to [...]

Conman Tricks iPad Buyer Into Purchasing Bag of iSpuds

Danny Gallagher — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:00:50 +0000

A man in Batley, England who thought he was buying an iPad ended up with a dirty sack of potatoes instead. If we had a nickel for every time we’ve fallen for that old trick… The Yorkshire Evening Post reported that an unidentified 31-year-old man gave the purported conman 200 pounds for the transaction. The [...]

Thief Makes Very Slow Getaway in Motorized Wheelchair [VIDEO]

Don Deane — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:10:58 +0000

In New Martinsville, West Virginia, surveillance video captured a thief robbing a local store, then fleeing the scene on — get this — a motorized wheelchair. The alleged thief, Timothy Parker, was later arrested and charged with breaking and entering. All the stolen merchandise was recovered and the wheelchair was towed away as evidence. Lesson [...]

Florida Mom Leaves Kids in the Car to Go Shoplifting

Danny Gallagher — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:00:53 +0000

A woman from Kissimmee, FL is facing both theft and child neglect charges for allegedly leaving two children in a car in the parking lot of a store where she was shoplifting. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Stacey Armstrong after employees of the store caught her shoplifting $100 of candy and some cosmetics. As she was being [...]

Grandma Raided in NASA Sting For Trying to Sell Moon Rock

Danny Gallagher — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:28:44 +0000

NASA officials recovered a tiny piece of a moon rock in a raid targeting a 74-year-old woman who tried to sell it at a California Denny’s restaurant.

The raid was the result of a five month investigation into the missing lunar material that netted a “speck of lunar dust smaller than a grain of rice.”

87-Year-Old Man Caught With 104 Bricks of Cocaine [VIDEO]

Kathy Landin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:10:43 +0000

Police in Michigan pulled an elderly man over during a routine traffic stop, and when he refused a search of his pickup truck, a drug sniffing dog found almost 228 pounds of cocaine in the back.

Police then arrested 87-year-old Leo Sharp for possession of the drug.

Police in Germany Arrest Man Who Burned More Than 100 Cars

Kathy Landin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:29:05 +0000

Police in Berlin have finally arrested a man who was responsible for the burning of more than 100 cars in Germany over the last four months. Officials say the 27-year-old man claimed that being out of work and in debt caused him to set fire to 67 vehicles, which then burned an additional 34 cars, [...]

Pantie-Headed Bandit Strikes in Dallas [VIDEO]

Jeremy Taylor — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:08:03 +0000

In what appears to be a combination of crime and fetish fantasy, a man in Dallas, Texas robbed an Exxon TigerMart while wearing a floral dress, white boots and with a pair of panties obscuring his face. The man, who either has a gun or is pretending to have a gun by covering his pointed [...]

Thieves Steal 21 Tons of Ketchup and Mustard

Shauna Wright — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:41:15 +0000

Thieves who made off with a semitrailer near Vienna, Austria better have a lot of hot dogs. The trailer, parked in a lot and stolen over the weekend, contained 21 tons of ketchup and mustard. Police believe the trailer itself was the target since it was worth at least $22,000, but there’s no word on [...]

Are Violent Video Games Contributing To the Declining Crime Rate?

Jeremy Taylor — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:14:11 +0000

A new academic paper suggests that the proliferation of violent videos games over the past 20 years has contributed to the more than 50 percent decrease in violent crime over that time period.

The paper’s authors analyzed published studies on the topic of violence and video games, and were able to conclude that “though there is evidence that violent video games cause aggression in a laboratory setting, there is no evidence that violent video games cause violence or crime.”