Riehl World View

Headline Of The Day

Has to be the NY Post on Spitzer. I went to college with one of the by-lined journo's. lol Not what they thought they'd be writing about one day, I suspect.

AND THERE HE HO'S AGAIN

Spitzer In Perspective

Everyone's buzzing about NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer being linked to a prostitution ring - and I do mean everyone. At right - I'm wondering if he was trying to send a message after one of his debates?

Still, credit where credit is due, at least he wasn't hanging out in Parkway rest stops like NJ Gov. McGreevey. What is this, Northeast Dem Governor of big states syndrome? I hope Fast Eddie Rendell of PA has the good sense to stay home at night.

As a law enforcement official, Spitzer is said to have carried a big stick. Sure looks like it might have been the case from here! heh!

Nona Dirksmeyer Murder: Special Prosecutor Appointed

This is something I blogged about awhile back. Apparently there have been some new developments.

Defense team says DNA found on condom wrapper matched to “viable suspect”

More than two years after her murder — and nearly seven months after a Franklin County jury found her longtime boyfriend, Kevin Jones, not guilty of the crime — a special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate the death of Nona Dirksmeyer, according to a press release issued Friday by Dennis C. Sutterfield, administrative judge for the 5th Judicial District.

Street Shoot Out In Georgia

Oh yeah, this is going to leave a mark. Good Lord.

BUFORD, Ga. (AP) - Two off-duty officers from different police departments wounded each other in a gun fight in the middle of a road in an Atlanta suburb, authorities said.

Both officers suffered non-life-threatening wounds, police said. Their conditions were not immediately known on Saturday.

Officer Jay Daily, a five-year veteran of the Duluth Police Department, exchanged multiple gunshots with Fulton County officer Paul Phillips on Friday afternoon, police said.

Paper, Plastic - Or Do You Feel Lucky, Punk?

I guess would be robber Dwain Smith didn't feel lucky at all ... especially after the clerk chambered a round and the perp was packing an empty .380. There's a more detailed account of the confrontation below. Bluffing in poker is risky. Bluffing with a handgun is just freakin' stupid.

Police recovered an unloaded .380-caliber handgun from the suspect and $779 in cash, according to the report.

While the suspect was demanding cash from the workers, the police report states that Merrell pulled his own handgun, pointed it at the robber and ordered him to put down his weapon.

When the suspect hesitated, Merrell racked the slide on his gun to load a round in the chamber, Officer Jason Bockting wrote in the report.

The suspect placed his gun and a bag of cash on the counter, dropping some of the money, police said. The suspect removed his mask and lay on the floor. Merrell held the suspect at gunpoint until officers arrived and took him away in handcuffs.

Via WTHR:

A man police later identified as Dwain Smith reportedly ran into the store wearing a ski mask and yelling.

Cashier Dianna Brooks repeated what she says she heard. "I heard the guy say 'give me all your money' and the next thing I heard was stacy saying 'somebody help me.'" 

Charlie says he responded immediately. "When I heard it I automatically took mine (gun) out." And Charlie says he was ready to act. "If he had raised it (gun) up yes I would have shot him."

According to police reports, Smith jumped over the counter demanding the cash. Charlie pulled his gun and started for the commotion.

"He was turning against the other woman. He didn't actually see me coming up at first and then when he did, he turned around and I yelled at him to put down his weapon," Charile explained.

"(The) next thing I know is Charlie is jumping over the, uh, courtesy booth into the courtesy booth," said Brooks.

Charlie says was face to face with the suspect. "He just stare and looked at me for a minute. I cocked it back and then, all of a sudden, he laid it down on the counter and put all the money down."

The suspect gave up the money and his gun and took off his mask. The people who work at Buck's say the suspect has been casing the place for days.

When police arrived, Charlie had the suspect on the floor. "(I) just held him until the police got there. (I) put my foot in his back and the gun to his head."

Dwain Smith is now in the Marion County Jail facing several charges.

Merry Christmas

Lock and load - ha.

BATON ROUGE, LA - Authorities say a Springfield woman was booked on attempted murder counts for allegedly shooting two men whose dog damaged Christmas decorations at her home. Ethel Shannon McKinney, 28, was booked on two counts of attempted second-degree murder and illegal use of a weapon, Jason Ard, a spokesman for the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Department, said.

If Skinny Little Girls Had Guns

h/t Michelle for this Examiner item on a savage beating of a woman in Baltimore - 9 against 1. Taking a look at the Baltimore Sun's website, one commenter is claiming her comment as to people being able to defend themselves was deleted. See below.

She was “immediately attacked” by nine students — three females and six males — from Robert Poole Middle School. They punched and kicked her at 2:59 p.m. at the intersection of 33rd Street and Chestnut Avenue, according to Maryland Transit Administration police.

Then another commenter weighed in:

Originally Posted by Jaz 
LOL my post saying that people should be allowed to legally defend themselves got deleted. Have to love the liberal mindset running these boards.

Geeez...I'm raging liberal AND a gun owner.
If you don't own a gun in this town, you better have a bullet proof vest.

Must agree with your comment!

Right now, in Baltimore only the criminals (and kids) have guns...and its like the wild wild west.

If skinny little white girls, like me (and possibly Sarah Kreager) started carrying guns, the power balance would suddenly become more even.

Otherwize, we're just little bunnies in the zoo.

A Grenade, A Shooting And The President Visits Omaha

Nine dead, most found in the department store - geez. Shooter reported to be dead, as well.

It's being claimed that the suspect is in custody andmay have been taken while hiding under a bench of some type a 1/4 mile from the Mall. He was in fatigues if that's him in the image below.

Photo of man in handcuffs

Omaha (KPTM) - Police are on the scene of a shooting at Westroads Mall. The mall is currently under lockdown as police search for a suspect.

A customer says that a man with a flag vest, camoflauge and automatic rifle was seen by a customer.

Two stretchers have been seen leaving the South entrance of Von Mauer, and another empty stretcher was taken in.

Our latest information is that as many as 5 people have been shot.

Update: 35-40 shots fired, four carried out on stretchers

Update: Reports of a man in a flag vest and possible self-inflicted gunshot.

What's up with this mall? Breaking from Omaha - a shooting in a mall in Omaha. As many as twenty shots heard fired - reports of at least one fatality, possibly five injured.

There's a report of a grenade being found in the parking lot there last Friday.

Presumably totally unrelated - the President was in Omaha today, I assume he left the state already.

The Tuition Made Me Do It!

It's probably good that one was studying theater, it might have helped him try to pull this one off as regards sentencing. Not only were they busted for robbing the bank, the day before they fired four shots into the glass window of a check cashing business in a failed attempt to rob that. But, it's okay ... the high cost of tuition made them do it. I guess that's no longer an issue, they'll likely get a free ride on all the prison correspondence, or on line courses they can take. How freaking special is that?

CINCINNATI - Two college students say the high cost of tuition led them to rob a bank.

The men pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated robbery and six charges of kidnapping. They face 20 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 27.

Andrew Butler, 20, a theater major at the University of Toledo, told Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steve Martin on Monday that tuition increases outpaced his scholarships and financial aid.

Christopher Avery, 22, who was studying engineering at the University of Cincinnati, said he couldn't pay for summer classes after an internship at a grocery store fell through.

"I was strapped for cash," Avery said. "I thought I had nothing to lose."

An attempt to rob a check-cashing business a day earlier was thwarted when the students couldn't get through the business' security system despite firing four shots at the bullet-resistant glass, Goodyear said.

Transvestite Terror In Tennesee

Three cross dressing Black males have been arrested after an assault on the staff of a Memphis McDonald's. According to reports, after not getting a clerk's attention by tapping on a drive up window, the men took off their earrings and high heels, picked up a tire iron and went inside to confront the employees.

McBrawlers

Three cross-dressing customers who attacked a McDonald's staff late Sunday evening have been, um, dragged off to jail after police captured them yesterday afternoon. (If you somehow managed to miss this Memphis moment, get the details here.)

Dacorian Greer, Danny Mitchell, and Lynn Gillespie, all in their late 20s, were charged with assault and damage of property over $500 after their unladylike behavior, which included smashing the drive-thru window and peeling off accessories to better teach the workers a lesson in customer service.

As any good cross-dressers would, the three began to kick off stiletto boots (to better keep their balance while swinging), remove hoop earrings (no danger of having them yanked out), and take off their jackets (less restriction of movement) in order to deliver a McWhoopin' on the staff.