Stupid Is As Stupid Does

[G-CPTN]

Sounds like something from the dark ages - or the Spanish Inquisition.

[PHXPhlyer]

I like Mel's version...



PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Tourist who etched his and partner's name on Colosseum says he didn't know it was ancient in apology letter
“I admit with deepest embarrassment that it was only after what regrettably happened that I learned of the antiquity of the monument,” Ivan Danailov Dimitrov wrote in a letter to Rome officials on July 4.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tour ... -rcna92825

A tourist who was caught on video defacing the wall of the Colosseum in Rome last month by carving a love note into it claims in a letter of apology that he was unaware the nearly 2,000-year-old amphitheater was ancient.

The man, identified by his lawyer as 27-year-old Ivan Danailov Dimitrov, used a key to carve “Ivan+Hayley 23” onto a brick wall of the structure on June 23 in a move that drew outrage on social media and from Italian officials.

In a letter dated July 4 and shared with NBC News by his attorney, Dimitrov wrote: “I admit with deepest embarrassment that it was only after what regrettably happened that I learned of the antiquity of the monument.”

The letter was addressed to the mayor of Rome, the City Council and city magistrates.

Dimitrov said he is “aware of the gravity of the act committed” and extended “my heartfelt apologies to the Italians and to the whole world for the damage done to an asset that is, in fact, the heritage of all humanity.”

Though Dimitrov has not been publicly identified by Italian officials, the nation’s police, the Carabinieri, said on June 29 that they are investigating and that the suspect and his partner live in England.

“I am also aware that similar conduct in my country would have resulted in much more serious consequences,” Dimitrov wrote. “For this reason I accept all responsibility and will make sincere and concrete efforts to redeem myself and make up for the mistake I have made.”

Dimitrov said there’s no “justification” for the "incivility, superficiality and levity" of his actions. He closed the letter saying he's "hoping" his apology will be accepted.

His attorney, Alexandro Maria Tirelli, told NBC News exclusively: “We have already made a plea bargain request, the boy will certainly take advantage of the suspended sentence."

Tirelli described the defacing act was heinous “but not serious.” He said the letter was mailed Tuesday.

NBC News has reached out to Rome's prosecutor's office for comment. The mayor of Rome’s office said Thursday that it had not receive any letter.

Vandalizing the Colosseum is an act that carries fines up up to $15,000 and five years in prison, according to The Associated Press.

Italy’s culture minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, on June 26 tweeted video of the incident, calling it a “very serious, unworthy and a sign of great incivility.” He added that he hoped the perpetrator would be “sanctioned according to our laws.”

This isn’t the first time the Colosseum has been vandalized by tourists.

In 2014, a Russian tourist was fined about $25,000 and received a four-year suspended sentence after writing the letter “K” on the wall of the Colosseum, The AP reported. One year later, two American tourists were cited for aggravated damage after they carved their names in the Colosseum.

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Burglar falls from bank drive-thru ceiling into recycling bin, right in front of 2 Ohio officers

https://www.abc15.com/news/national/bur ... o-officers

HURON, OH — A 27-year-old man was arrested early Thursday morning after police officers in Ohio responded to a burglar alarm and watched him fall out of an access panel and into a recycling bin placed underneath.

It happened around 2 a.m. at the bank in Huron, about an hour west of Cleveland.

Police responded to the alarm and searched the area but didn't see anyone. Moments later, officers heard noises coming from inside the awning over the drive-thru. Body camera footage shows a hatch open on the underside of the awning, and the man drops out and lands inside a blue recycling bin.

Police immediately took the man into custody. He's been charged with breaking and entering and possession of criminal tools, both fifth-degree felonies. He's also charged with safecracking, a fourth-degree felony.

The man is currently being held in the Huron County Jail in lieu of a $50,000 bond.

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Florida mom accused of trying to hire hitman to kill her 3-year-old son
A second person has also been charged in the alleged plot that officials say happened on a parody website, rentahitman.com.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fl ... rcna102653

Two people have been charged in an alleged murder plot after a mother tried to hire a hitman online to kill her 3-year-old son using a parody website, according to court records from Florida.

Jazmin Paez, 18, was arrested July 18 after she submitted a request on rentahitman.com to kill her son, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

While she was trying to hire a hitman, Paez submitted an address and a picture of her son, the affidavit says. She also provided a safe word for the potential contracted killer, which was “Put me in coach,” the affidavit says.

The website's creator contacted Miami-Dade police last month, and an investigation was launched immediately, the affidavit said.

A police officer posed as the potential hitman during a text exchange and agreed to be paid $3,000 for the job, according to the affidavit.

Paez is charged with first-degree solicitation of murder and unlawful use of a communications device, the affidavit says. Her attorney could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Gamaliel Soza, 18, was arrested Monday and is accused of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and unlawful use of a communications device.

He was in touch with Paez by text and wrote about the potential plot to kill Paez’s toddler son, according to an arrest affidavit.

“The kid is the problem. I hope you see that all I ever wanted, was to free you. I told you about the kid. You won’t do anything,” the affidavit says.

In another text exchange between Paez and Soza, Soza allegedly wrote, “You do it, and I’ll think about coming back.”

Soza’s lawyer declined to comment Wednesday.

According to NBC South Florida, bond for Soza was set at $15,000. A judge ordered him not to have contact with the toddler or anyone younger than 18 without supervision, the station reported.

The parody website has garnered national headlines before.

In April, an Air National Guardsman was charged with applying to be a hitman. Josiah Ernesto Garcia applied on the website and submitted identification and a résumé, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.

The website was created in 2005 to advertise a cybersecurity startup. But when it failed, it would get inquiries for hitman services. It was then converted to a parody site with false testimonials from users, according to a criminal complaint in Garcia’s case.

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

A suspected drunken driver accidentally called 911 on himself

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/04/us/drunk ... index.html

A suspected drunken driver accidentally called Nebraska law enforcement on himself, leading to his arrest.

The man called 911 to report another driver who he thought was driving on the wrong side of the highway, according to a Facebook post from the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office on Thursday released a video of the March incident along with audio from the driver’s 911 call.

When authorities arrived, it became clear the caller himself was the one driving on the wrong side of the road – and he was intoxicated.

“I’m on Highway 77 going north and there is somebody that is on the wrong side of the road,” the driver says in a recording of the 911 call. He added that the other driver “almost ran me off the road.”

“That was gnarly,” he said. “That was like, a lot.”

The video then shows the unidentified driver being pulled over by a police officer.

“Do you know why I stopped you?” asks the officer.

“Yeah, because I was on the wrong side of the road,” admits the driver.

When asked if there was a reason he was driving on the wrong side, he replied he “must have missed an exit.” The driver also confirmed he was the same person who had previously called 911.

The driver had a blood alcohol content over twice the legal limit, according to the sheriff’s office. “Thankfully a Lancaster County Sheriff’s deputy was able to arrest this driver before anyone was seriously hurt,” reads the Facebook post.

The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN.

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Taking the designated driver concept a little to far?

Man arrested after allegedly letting 10-year-old son drive truck on Loop 101 in Scottsdale

https://www.azfamily.com/2023/09/03/man ... cottsdale/

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - A father is in custody after reportedly letting his 10-year-old son drive his truck on a freeway in Scottsdale on Saturday afternoon. Around 3:30 p.m., the Arizona Department of Public Safety responded to a 911 call about a boy seen driving a red truck on the Loop 101. The caller said the truck was weaving and speeding, heading west near Scottsdale Road.

A DPS trooper found the truck and tried to stop it after seeing the driver changing lanes unsafely. The driver failed to stop, and DPS began chasing the truck, which eventually pulled over in the emergency lane of the 7th Street off-ramp.

The DPS trooper confirmed that the boy was driving and his father, 49-year-old Alvaro Ovando Alvarez, was in the passenger seat. Ovando Alvarez was arrested for endangerment, having an open container of alcohol, and unlawfully permitting a minor to drive. DPS says the child is not facing any charges.

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Florida man tried to travel to London by crossing Atlantic Ocean in hamster wheel: Coast Guard

Florida, Of course it's Florida!

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/flori ... oast-guard#

ORLANDO, Fla. - A Florida man is facing federal criminal charges after he attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean to get to England in a human-sized hamster wheel contraption, officials said.

Ray "Reza" Baluchi was charged with obstruction of a boarding and violation of a captain of the port order, according to a criminal complaint.

On Aug. 26, US Coast Guard officers stopped Baluchi after spotting him on his homemade vessel approximately 70 nautical miles east of Tybee Island, Georgia. It was then that he told officials he was headed to London, court documents said.

Officers deemed his hamster wheel – which was afloat as a result of wiring and buoys – was unsafe for the voyage and ordered him to get into their boat.

Authorities said Baluchi said he was armed with a 12-inch knife and would attempt to kill himself if officers tried to remove him from the wheel.

For days, Coast Guard officers tried to get Baluchi into their boat. At one point, officials said he displayed two knives and threatened to use a bomb to blow himself up, along with the wheel.

The Flagler County Sheriff's Office said a strange vessel washed ashore on Saturday morning. It turned out to be a Central Florida man who was ‘walking on water’ for charity.

Officers believed his threat was valid because Baluchi was reportedly holding wires in his hand. He later told officers the bomb was not real.

On Aug. 29, officers were able to safely get Baluchi off the hamster wheel. He was brought to ashore at the US Coast Guard base in Miami Beach.

This recent incident was not the first time he attempted to travel the ocean by running in what he calls his bubble.

Back in 2014, he had to be rescued from a Hydro bubble near St. Augustine. His second attempt was in 2016 where he had to be rescued from a Hydro pod off the coast of Jupiter.

In the summer of 2021, Baluchi was encountered by Flagler County deputies when his hamster wheel washed ashore farther north in Saint Augustine.

At the time, he claimed he was raising money for charity, and was making his way to New York.

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Protester glues feet to floor, delaying U.S. Open match for 49 minutes before Coco Gauff wins to seal place in final
The U.S. Tennis Association said there were four protesters in all, including one who “affixed their bare feet to the floor of the seating bowl."

Hoping that they pulled him up and left the soles of his feet still in place.
Would serve him right.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/dis ... rcna103997

Play between Coco Gauff and Karolína Muchová at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York was stopped Thursday after an environmental protester "glued his feet to the cement floor," an announcer and a tournament official said.

The match between Gauff, of the U.S., and Muchová, of Czechia, was delayed for 49 minutes, the U.S. Tennis Association said. Gauff would go on to win and seal a place in the final on home soil, though fellow American Madison Keys later lost her semifinal.

Thursday's disruption — claimed by the group Extinction Rebellion — follows several protests by environmental activists from other groups, including one that recently blocked the route to the Burning Man festival in Nevada and others that have targeted famed works of art.

A group of environmental protesters was in an upper area, Stacey Allaster, the tournament director, said in an interview during coverage of the tournament.

“When security got there, they found that one of the protesters had physically glued themselves in their bare feet to the cement floor,” Allaster said.

The U.S. Tennis Association said there were four protesters in all, three of whom were escorted out of the stadium. The fourth "affixed their bare feet to the floor of the seating bowl," it said in a statement.

Extinction Rebellion claimed credit for the protest. It used the slogan “no tennis on a dead planet” to call for an end to fossil fuels.

“Tennis-as-usual won’t be possible on a planet in which humanity fails to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. If activists don’t disrupt these games, the climate will,” the group said in a statement.

U.S. Open protesters charged with criminal trespass after disrupting match
Extinction Rebellion, also known as XR, has carried out a number of civil disobedience-style demonstrations over environmental concerns, starting in 2018, when it shut down bridges in central London.

Thursday's protest is the latest public display from climate activists.

The Seven Circles Alliance recently blocked the sole route in and out of Burning Man in protest of consumerism. In June, activists with a different group threw paint at a painting by Claude Monet at Sweden’s National Museum and then glued themselves to the frame. And last year, Last Generation Austria activists threw a black oily substance on a famous Gustav Klimt painting in Berlin.
Two males were taken into custody Thursday, a New York police spokesperson said. Charges are pending, and their names were not released.

One of them had glued himself to the floor, and personnel assigned to the police department's Emergency Service Unit were able to free him, the spokesperson said.

An announcer described it as a protest in the “far reaches” of the stadium.

Gauff and Muchová took their seats during the delay. The protester was eventually removed, and play resumed.

“We know in these large events environmental protesters use the platform,” said Allaster, the tournament director. “Certainly, security will be resuming, along with NYPD, to see what else we can do to prevent it in the future.”

The semifinal match was held at Arthur Ashe Stadium, which has 24,000 seats.

Gauff beat Muchová to advance to the final, which is Saturday.

She will face Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who beat Madison Keys of the United States in a match that began shortly after Gauff’s victory and ended at nearly 1 a.m.

PP

[Boac]

Why not cut out a 4x4ft square of concrete where he stands and let him walk home?

[Hydromet]

Protester glues feet to floor, delaying U.S. Open match for 49 minutes before Coco Gauff wins to seal place in final
The U.S. Tennis Association said there were four protesters in all, including one who “affixed their bare feet to the floor of the seating bowl."

Hoping that they pulled him up and left the soles of his feet still in place.
Would serve him right.

PP

Surely they could have dissolved the glue with acetone? Would have cured his athletes foot, too.

[PHXPhlyer]

'I did the right thing,' Jan. 6 rioter says before being sentenced to 2½ years in prison

How much more time would they have got if they did "the wrong thing"?

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Man with ‘traumatic injury’ rescued after friends left him alone in Grand Canyon
They successfully called for aid before deciding to continue backpacking

https://www.azfamily.com/2023/09/17/man ... nd-canyon/

GRAND CANYON, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — A 63-year-old hiker was rescued Friday night at the Grand Canyon after his four friends called for help and continued backpacking without him. Rescuers say the man had a “traumatic injury to his shoulder that needed emergency medical attention and evacuation.”

The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said the man fell and injured his shoulder around 2 p.m., four hours before the office received a call for help. The sheriff’s search and rescue team, along with a Department of Public Safety helicopter out of Kingman, arrived about a quarter mile from the injured hiker’s location while it was extremely dark and hard to see. He was found along Kanab Creek on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

Rescue crews made their way through a creek and boulders to the injured hiker, stabilized him, took him back to the helicopter and flew him to a hospital in Flagstaff. Rescuers learned from the man that he was part of a group of five friends. The man told rescuers that he and his friends were backpacking through the canyon for 3 to 4 days and had another 3 to 4 days left. One of the man’s friends called for aid. However, it’s unknown when the first attempt to call for help was made, as the four friends took the phone when they decided to leave their injured friend alone after 6 p.m.

“It was fortunate that the helicopter was able to rescue this injured hiker,” the sheriff’s office said. “It would have taken an extended period of time for ground crews to reach his location. Search and Rescue encourage everyone never to leave someone behind alone and, whenever possible, to stay with them and ensure they are rescued before continuing on their journey.”

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[PHXPhlyer]

Woman gets stuck in Michigan outhouse trying to get Apple Watch, police remind public not to climb into toilets
“The toilet was removed, and a strap was used to hoist the woman out to safety," Michigan State Police said about the incident at an outhouse bathroom at Dixon Lake.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wo ... rcna108067

A woman in Michigan was rescued on Tuesday after getting stuck in an outhouse while trying to retrieve her Apple Watch, forcing police to remind people not to climb inside of toilets.

The incident happened about 11 a.m. inside an outhouse bathroom at Dixon Lake, Michigan State Police said Wednesday in a statement.


“The woman was heard yelling for help and told first responders she had dropped her Apple Watch in the toilet. She then lowered herself inside the toilet to retrieve it and could not get out,” state police said.

Conservation officers from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, troopers with the state police Gaylord Post and emergency medical personnel with Otsego County responded to the incident, state police said.

“The toilet was removed, and a strap was used to hoist the woman out to safety,” state police said.

The agency added that venturing inside an outhouse toilet is usually not a good idea and warned against it.

“If you lose an item in an outhouse toilet, do not attempt to venture inside the containment area. Serious injury may occur,” state police said.

PP

[Hydromet]

A new twist on the old song...
"Oh, dear, what a calamity, one young lady trapped in a lavatory..."

[PHXPhlyer]

Man officiating a wedding in Nebraska accidentally shot his 12-year-old grandson during the ceremony, police say

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/04/us/weddi ... index.html

Hopefully Jim has a better technique for getting everyone's attention.
G~Man seems to deal with smaller gatherings so maybe not as much of a problem.

A grandfather who was officiating a wedding in Nebraska is facing charges after accidentally shooting his 12-year-old grandson during the ceremony, officials said.

Michael Gardner, 62, was officiating the festivities at Hillcrest Events in Denton around 5 p.m. on Saturday when he attempted to shoot a Pietta Model 1860 Snub Nose revolver loaded with a blank into the air to gain the attention of the wedding guests, according to Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Ben Houchin.

Gardner “decided to gain everybody’s attention and start the wedding with a bang,” Houchin said during a news conference Monday.

“When he decided to cock back the hammer of this revolver, it slipped and it shot his grandson into the left shoulder causing an injury,” Houchin said.

The 45 COLT ammunition was a blank, but Gardener “put black powder into the casing and then glued it,” the chief deputy added. “And what we believe, is the glue is what injured the child,” he said.

The boy’s injuries were non-life-threatening, and he was taken to a local hospital before being transferred to Omaha for further treatment, Houchin said.

He was shot in the face at 17 years old. Now, he teaches a controversial class
Gardner turned himself in to authorities on Monday and was arrested on a charge of child abuse for neglectable firing of a firearm and injuring someone, Houchin said, noting the use of a firearm and the seriousness of the injuries led to the charge.

CNN was unable to determine whether Houchin has legal representation.

“We do not believe Michael intended to hurt his grandchild, but the act was not very smart,” Houchin said, adding that deputies don’t believe alcohol was involved in the incident.

Denton is located about 10 miles southwest of Lincoln.

PP

[Hydromet]

Gardner “decided to gain everybody’s attention and start the wedding with a bang,” Houchin said during a news conference Monday.

I don't know about starting the wedding with a bang, but I've heard of honeymoons that start that way...and the second bang is the door closing.

[OFSO]

ITV's "Tipping Point" just now.
Q: Which was the American President when the Berlin Wall fell?
A (contestant Anu): Abraham Lincoln

[Boac]

Yes, that's stupid - he had been shot.

[G~Man]

G~Man seems to deal with smaller gatherings so maybe not as much of a problem.

A grandfather who was officiating a wedding in Nebraska is facing charges after accidentally shooting his 12-year-old grandson during the ceremony, officials said.
Gardener “put black powder into the casing and then glued it,”

Ha, what a dumbass.....

Luckily mine do not involve fire arms, but if the did, I would use my cannon.....