Florida woman busted for trying to kiss strangers at bar, calling 911 about social distancing
A Florida woman was busted after repeatedly trying to kiss strangers at a bar and also calling 911 five times to complain patrons were not remaining socially distant inside the establishment, according to a report.
Audra Adams, 32, wound up getting arrested for trespassing after she refused to leave Monkey Bar and Grille in Indialantic, reported WKMG ClickOrlando, citing arrest records.
Cops showed up after Adams’ fourth 911 call. Before then, customers at the bar complained to the owner that she tried to kiss several people, according to the report.
At the owner’s request, she reluctantly left the bar, which is serving booze and food under phase one of Florida’s reopening plan. But she refused to leave the parking lot.
“I’ll sit in the parking lot all night,” Adams allegedly told cops who warned her she was trespassing.
She was charged with trespassing after warning, disorderly conduct, resisting an officer without violence and misuse of a 911 system, the report said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/18/florida-woman-busted-for-trying-to-kiss-strangers-at-bar/
Photo Credit: Brevard County Sheriff’s Office
Virginia family finds bags stuffed with $1M in cash lying on road
A Virginia family reportedly stumbled upon nearly $1 million in cold hard cash lying in the middle of the road.
Emily Schantz, of Caroline County, told a local CBS affiliate that she was driving with her family Saturday when she ran over what they initially thought to be bags of trash on the road.
The family stopped and threw the bag — along with another one about 15 feet away — into the back of their pickup truck.
It wasn’t until closer inspection at home did the family realize they had motored away with the incredible amount of cash in tow.
“Inside of the bag, there were plastic baggies and they were addressed with something that said ‘cash vault,’” Schantz said.
The family said they rang the local deputies after making their discovery.
“For someone so honest and willing to give that almost a million dollars back, it’s exceptional on their part,” Maj. Scott Moser told the outlet.
It’s not clear how all that cash ended up on the road. Authorities are still investigating, but the deputies believe the mailbags full of cash belonged to the postal service and were intended to be dropped off at a bank.
Schantz said she was simply doing what was right.
“Do the right thing and return it,” she said. “Because it didn’t belong to us.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/19/virginia-family-finds-bags-stuffed-with-1m-lying-on-road/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
82-year-old charged with killing lover in violent sex game gone wrong
An 82-year-old Texas man has been charged with killing his secret male lover in a sadomasochistic sex game gone terribly wrong, according to court documents.
Alan Bischof was busted for felony aggravated assault over the death of lover Craig LaMell, 65, who died almost a month after claiming he had been jumped by several strangers near his home in Houston.
The octogenarian was only found out four months later when he was fired from work at Chevron — and his manager found a confession on his work computer, according to an affidavit.
In emails and documents, Bischof went into “great detail” about their “sexual relationship,” which they appear to have hidden, according to the papers.
He wrote about how “they engaged in sadomasochistic behavior” — and that “LaMell had requested Bischof to assault him,” according to the court records.
Bischof described his lover as a “helpless baby” during the attack — and even took a photo of him lying on the ground bloodied with injuries to his face, upper body and arms, the papers say.
The pair agreed on the “mutual plan” of claiming it was a mugging — yet LaMell also gave conflicting excuses to friends, even claiming he was battered by the jealous husband of a woman he was seeing.
Despite initially being discharged from Houston’s Methodist Hospital — including almost a week in the ICU — LaMell died on Dec. 2 after being readmitted for emergency surgery for bleeding on the brain. His death was ruled a homicide from blunt force head trauma, the papers say.
Bischof’s alleged confessionals only came to light on April 29 — almost five months after his lover’s death — when his former manager found them on his work computer after he was fired from Chevron, the papers say.
During his employment, Bischof had signed away any right to privacy on the computer and it was “company policy to monitor soon-to-be terminated employee’s computer activity,” the papers say.
It included a document titled “Confession” — in which Bischof said he planned to kill himself over the accidental death of his lover, the court docs say, with suicide notes to his family also on the computer.
During police interviews, he said that “everything in the letter was correct” — and that they had mutually planned the brutal beating “for several weeks” beforehand.
Bischof, who was 81 at the time of the attack, told officers that “while the blows were hard, they were not as hard as he could possibly punch someone,” the documents state.
Bischof was charged with aggravated assault of a family member because of their relationship. He was released on $50,000 bond.
“I don’t have anything to say right now,” he told KPRC2 on his doorstep Tuesday.
An attorney listed for him, Mike Russo, did not immediately respond to messages Wednesday.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/20/82-year-old-charged-with-killing-lover-in-sex-game-gone-wrong/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Magic Johnson will provide $100 million to fund loans for minority-owned businesses struggling amid pandemic
Lakers legend Magic Johnson may no longer be playing in the NBA, but the Hall of Fame member is still making valuable assists.
Johnson announced that EquiTrust Life Insurance Co., of which he owns a majority, is providing $100 million in capital to fund federal loans for minority and women business owners who have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
EquiTrust will work with MBE Capital Partners, a lender that specializes in asset-based loans for minority-owned small businesses, to distribute the loans through the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program.
The loans are aimed at supporting people of color and women who operate businesses in underserved communities, according to a news release.
The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
“These are incredible businesses, small businesses, that have been the pillar of our community that also employ a lot of black and brown people in our community,” Johnson said Sunday on MSNBC. “… We wanted to make sure that minority-owned businesses got small business loans through the PPP program.”
Concerns about people of color accessing loans
The partnership was borne out of a concern that women and people of color were having difficulty accessing the loans offered by the Small Business Administration’s emergency coronavirus relief program — part of the federal government’s massive stimulus package.
“Johnson’s EquiTrust is providing critical financial support to underserved communities and businesses that have been traditionally neglected,” EquiTrust and MBE Capital Partners said in a joint news release. “These small and diverse businesses often have difficulty developing strong lending relationships with big banks.”
The goal is to help 100,000 businesses secure resources that will sustain them through the pandemic, MBE Capital CEO Rafael Martinez said on MSNBC.
SBA program has come under criticism
The Paycheck Protection Program has been plagued by technical hiccups and questions about whether lenders were prioritizing the businesses that needed the money most after several deep-pocketed companies received loans, including the Los Angeles Lakers — the storied NBA franchise that Johnson was long affiliated with. The team returned the money.
After the initial $349 billion Congress allocated to the program ran dry, lawmakers replenished the fund with an additional $310 billion. Still, there have been concerns that money earmarked for smaller lenders is running low.
Advocacy organizations say businesses owned by people of color are inherently at a disadvantage. The funds are accessed through banks and participating SBA lenders — relationships that people of color are less likely to have.
The Center for Responsible Lending estimated in April that approximately 95% of black-owned businesses, 91% of Latino-owned businesses, 91% of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander-owned businesses and 75% of Asian-owned businesses were unlikely to receive a PPP loan through a mainstream bank or credit union.
The federal CARES Act, which created the Paycheck Protection Program, instructed the SBA to prioritize underserved and rural markets. But a recent inspector general report found that the agency had not communicated this priority to lenders.
The report also found that the SBA did not require demographic data to identify borrowers of the program in underserved markets, making it hard to determine how much funding was going towards the intended communities.
Photo Credit: ktla.com
South Carolina mom accused of setting car on fire with 14-month-old son inside
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Police said a South Carolina woman tried to kill her 14-month-old son by setting her car on fire.
Columbia Police arrested 23-year-old Caylin Watson on Sunday, charging her with attempted murder, arson and child abuse.
The son was taken to a burn center in Augusta, Georgia, where he was hospitalized Sunday in critical condition with extensive burns, police said.
Watson was parked on Interstate 126 on Sunday afternoon when she lit the vehicle on fire, police said.
Four people passing by stopped to help, including some who sought to retrieve the child. Firefighters extinguished the flames, and police said they arrested Watson after finding evidence suggesting the fire was intentionally set.
Watson, an Elgin resident, remained jailed in Richland County on Monday. It’s unclear whether she’s seen a judge or has a lawyer representing her.
Photo Credit: Richmond County Sheriff’s Department
12-year-old boy shot to death in front of his twin brother; police searching for a suspect
(Meredith) – A Chicago family is devastated after someone shot and killed a 12-year-old boy in front of his twin brother as they rode in a car.
Demetrius Townsel Jr. was pronounced dead Saturday night following the shooting in Gary, Indiana, about 35 minutes outside of his Chicago neighborhood.
Police said someone fired shots at a car and struck the 12-year-old boy, who was sitting next to his twin brother, Darius.
Community activist Andrew Holmes told WGN-TV that Darius held his brother “all the way to the hospital” and tried to save his life by applying pressure to the gunshot wound.
“I miss my brother,” Darius said during a memorial on Monday. “He was the funniest dude I’ve ever known. Picked everybody up, made them laugh.”
Gary detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying the shooter who killed Demetrius, and his family is also demanding justice.
“Why would y’all take my baby’s life?” his father, Demetrius Townsel Sr., said.
“I can’t hold my baby anymore. Please turn yourself in,” the boy’s mother, Catherine Brown, added.
Gary Police Cmdr. Jack Hamady said detectives have no updates to offer the public yet, but more information will be forthcoming later in the week.
Anyone with information on this case can call 1-800-U-TELL-US (1-800-883-5587).
Photo Credit: Demetrius Townsel’s family
Carole Baskin of ‘Tiger King’ fame is selling leopard print face masks
(CNN) — Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin is bringing together the two necessities that are helping us get through this pandemic — masks and of course, “Tiger King.”
Baskin, who was featured in the immensely popular Netflix docuseries “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” is officially selling cat-themed face masks.
They come in two styles — one black and one leopard print — but both feature a whiskered cat smile and Baskin’s tagline, “Hey all you cool cats and kittens.”
The masks, available on tread365.com, cost $11 each. A portion of the proceeds will go to support big cats, obviously, but also, first responders, according to the product description.
Big Cat Rescue, Baskin’s animal sanctuary in Tampa, Florida, has been closed to the public due to the pandemic. But that hasn’t stopped her from providing daily updates to her fans on the sanctuary’s Facebook page — and pushing back against some of the drama.
“There are not words for how disappointing it is to see that the series… had the sole goal of being as salacious and sensational as possible to draw viewers,” Baskin wrote in a blog post titled “Refuting Netflix Tiger King.”
With 64 million member households worldwide viewing “Tiger King,” according to Netflix, Etsy creators and other online retailers have been cashing in on the trend by selling face masks that feature Joe Exotic and the iconic smile of his ex-husband, John Finlay.
Now, fans can get one produced by one of the show’s subjects.
Photo Credit: Tread 365
Man allegedly wrapped ex-girlfriend’s head in foil after decapitating her
A jilted ex-boyfriend is accused of decapitating his 17-year-old lover — then wrapping her head in tin foil as a twisted keepsake — because she dumped him, according to a new report.
Tishko Ahmed Shabaz has been charged in the murder of 17-year-old Wilma Andersson, who went missing in Uddevalla, Sweden, last November, the Daily Mail reported.
Shabaz, 23, allegedly went berserk after Andersson dumped him and went to his house to pick up her things, family members said. Hundreds of volunteers searched for Andersson — but her severed head was found days later, prompting the arrest of Shabaz.
The Iraq-born man, who became a Swedish citizen in 2014, has been in custody since and was charged last week.
He allegedly wrapped Andersson’s head in tape and aluminum foil and kept it in a bag. Police found blood on his apartment floor and “traces of Wilma” on a kitchen knife, according to local media reports.
The teen’s coat and purse were also hanging in his closet.
“The suspect has retained a body part for an unknown reason and got rid of the rest of the body,” the police chief said.
Andersson’s body was never found.
Shabaz goes on trial May 26.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/19/man-wrapped-ex-girlfriends-head-in-tin-foil-after-decapitating-her/
Photo Credit: CEN
Man gouges neighbor’s eyes out over loud rooster
A West Virginia man allegedly gouged out his neighbor’s eyes after an argument over a loud rooster, authorities said.
Richard Wayne Ellison, 47, of the town Rock, has been charged with murder after police said he admitted to killing the rooster and its owner, 72-year-old Benny Foutch, saying “Lucifer made me do it,” according to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.
Ellison was reportedly irritated by the noise of the crowing rooster so he stormed onto Foutch’s property Sunday, leading to an argument between the neighbors, police told the outlet.
Police believe Ellison at some point killed the rooster before turning on Foutch and gouging out his eyes.
EMS responders arrived at the scene to find Foutch dead on his porch with “blood coming from his orbital sockets,” according to a criminal complaint filed by Detective-Corporal M.S. Horn of the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office.
Ellison allegedly took the dead rooster back home and instructed his son to dispose of it before officers at the sheriff’s office arrived and arrested him later Sunday, according to Horn’s complaint.
“I asked [Ellison] what happened with him and Benny, he then made the hand motion of pressing his thumbs to his eyes,” Horn said. “He advised he went up there to kill the rooster because of a movie he had watched and because it was crowing.
“[Ellison] later explained that he pressed his thumbs into Benny’s eyes, he advised that he stayed there until he knew Benny was dead,” the criminal complaint continued.
“He made the statement that he killed him, referring to the incident with Benny. He made a reference that Lucifer made him do it. He kept asking me to shoot him, that he deserved it. He then talked about getting somebody in the jail to kill him.”
Ellison was arraigned and a judge set a $200,000 cash-only bond.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/19/man-gouges-neighbors-eyes-out-over-loud-rooster-sheriff/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
101-year-old coronavirus survivor blows kisses as she leaves hospital
ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. (KMOV.com) — At 101-years young, June Dieckmann was joyous as she was discharged from Christian Hospital after surviving the coronavirus. She blew kisses to the staff members who took care of her.
June was admitted to the hospital in mid-April.
June grew up in St. Louis and currently lives alone at an assisted living facility. She was married to her husband for 73 years. She has two children and has volunteered in the community for over 50 years.
She was too young to remember the influenza pandemic of 1918, but she grew up riding the streetcar to school.
June will celebrate her next birthday this coming October.
Photo Credit: Tim Mudrovic