crime

Man Arrested After Popping Zits at McDonald's

Seth Abramovitch · 08/11/11 02:17AM

A Florida man is under arrest after attempting to run away from police who were responding to complaints that he'd been disgusting McDonald's patrons by popping zits on his back.

Love of Wal-Mart Moves Man to Masturbate in Public

Brian Moylan · 08/10/11 04:47PM

A 28 year-old in Louisiana was arrested for driving around a Wal-Mart parking lot with his penis exposed and leering at women entering and exiting the store. When stopped by police and asked about his state of undress, Travis Keen "stated he did have his penis out because of past experiences he had at Wal-Mart. Keen stated when he comes to Wal-Mart he gets aroused."

NYPD 'Social Media Unit' to Facebook Stalk Criminals

Maureen O'Connor · 08/10/11 03:17PM

Steel yourself for what will surely become the most sedentary spin-off Law & Order yet: The NYPD has announced the formation of a new division, the Social Media Unit, which will solve crimes by Facebook stalking people. Assistant Commissioner Kevin O'Connor (no relation) will head up the unit.

News Corp Has a Best Friend in the U.S. Attorney's Office

Hamilton Nolan · 08/10/11 10:52AM

News Corp has a much-anticipated quarterly earnings call today, following yesterday's board meeting. The one (and only) real agenda item is to figure out how to move past the devastating UK phone hacking scandal—which means making sure it doesn't spread to America. Fortunately, News Corp has something going for it: best friends!

Creepy Travel Companion Held in Aruba Vanishing Case

Seth Abramovitch · 08/10/11 02:46AM

Here's some Nancy Grace-nip you'll be hearing a lot more about in the coming weeks: Robyn Gardner is a 35-year-old Maryland woman who took off recently on a vacation to Aruba with a man she barely knew: Gary Giordano, 50, also from Maryland, whom she had met online. Gardner has been missing since last Tuesday, and Giordano — who it turns out has a criminal record and a history of domestic violence—is now in custody.

Man Seizes Woman's Facebook, Demands Nude Pics as Ransom

Max Read · 08/09/11 09:18PM

Hackers are not particularly well-known for having coherent, well thought-out plans, but, man, this one might really take the cake: John Joaquim III has been arrested and accused to taking control of a friend's Facebook and Gmail accounts and demanding that she send him nude photos as ransom.

Internet Dragnet Hunts London Hooligans

Ryan Tate · 08/09/11 07:27PM

Barely a month ago, thousands of rioter pictures were funneled to the Vancouver police via Facebook, Twitter and the broader internet. The internet dragnet seemed novel at the time. But now the same sort of viral manhunt is underway in London.

Warren Jeffs Gets Life Sentence

Maureen O'Connor · 08/09/11 01:03PM

Polygamist leader and statutory rapist Warren Jeffs has been sentenced to life in prison for sexual assaulting a 12- and 14-year-old as part of a "spiritual marriage." A hoax crime tip led to a raid on Jeffs' Texas compound in 2008; the fallout, however, has been very real.

Mississippi Teen: 'I Ran That N—er Over'

Hamilton Nolan · 08/09/11 09:18AM

June 26, James C. Anderson, a 46 year-old auto worker and a black man, was standing in a Jackson, Mississippi motel parking lot. Then, police say, a car full of teenagers pulled up. They beat Anderson. Then ran him over.

Fugitive Machine Gun Crime Spree Stripper Has Philosophical Fiancee

Hamilton Nolan · 08/09/11 08:21AM

What has 26 year-old Lee Grace Dougherty been up to lately? Oh just going on an interstate crime spree with her two brothers (including the one who tried to sexxx up an 11 year-old girl from MySpace) involving shooting up a cop car with an AK-47 and robbing a bank with machine guns and becoming the target of an intense FBI search and also become the most wanted fugitives in the South, because Lee is from Florida, naturally, and also a stripper, not that that matters in this particular case. But she has the most important thing: an extremely calm man.

Pastor Coated Minors in Honey, Taped Them Washing It Off

Seth Abramovitch · 08/09/11 02:05AM

In 2007, a 26-year-old Texas youth pastor named Thomas Jason Fortenberry organized a reality show-style activity for four, hand-selected young parishioners. All were minors, and girls. The game, as he'd devised it, was inspired by Fear Factor and involved drizzling large amounts of honey on them, after which they were instructed to "take a shower and wash the honey" off. No red flags there!

Texas Beauty Queen Arrested For Shoplifting

Seth Abramovitch · 08/08/11 09:06PM

This weekend brought a dark chapter to the Miss El Paso USA history books, as 21-year-old Lorena Tavera — who, as Miss El Paso USA 2008, was just five heartbeats away from the Miss Texas USA crown — was arrested on Friday for shoplifting a $69 blouse from a Dillard's department store.