Daring French Police Raid Smashes Dangerous Contraband Eiffel Tower Operation

French police seize 13 tons of tiny Eiffel Towers


Apr 13 2012

THOMAS ADAMSON, Associated Press and Bizarre Stuff Editors

PARIS (AP) — Paris police say they've seized some rather unusual contraband: around 13 tons of mini Eiffel Towers.

Police official Pierre Coric says a Paris souvenir shop owner, her husband and her son also were arrested in the weighty trinket-seizure Friday.

The three are accused of selling the mini towers at tourist spots including the Louvre and the actual Eiffel Tower without a permit, thus escaping taxes and endangering the public.

The operation, led jointly by French customs, social security, the police transport division, and possibly the French Foreign Legion, followed several months of surveillance of the souvenir shop. Police say the boutique illegally rakes in some ¬1 million ($1.31 million) per year.

More than 8 vans were required to move the 13 tons of loot seized, as compared to the weight of the real Eiffel tower, which weighs 11,100 tons.

Dumb Robber Incriminates Self By Posting Stolen Loot and Picture of Self on Facebook

Police in North Port, Fla., say a man was arrested for robbery after uploading pictures of himself on Facebook posing with the loot and a gun linking him to the crime, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports.

Jovan Cummings, 24, and his girlfriend, Nicole Catherine Eaton, 22, were arrested for allegedly robbing a Dollar General in March of $3,000 after assaulting one store employee and binding him with duct tape.

The newspaper says a detective looking at surveillance video thought the robbers looked like Cummings and Eaton, who had previously had run-ins with the law.

A check of photos on Cumming's Facebook page showed him holding a wad of cash and also wearing what police said was "the exact same hat" as the store robber.

There was also a video of him brandishing a handgun like the one used in the robbery, the newspaper says, quoting police.

Almost in Time For TV

Burglar arrested taking shower after champagne and a meal in burglarized home


Apr 13 2012

Associated Press

JOSHUA TREE, Calif. (AP) — Police say a naked burglar was arrested while taking a shower after he sipped champagne and ate a meal in a Southern California family's home.

San Bernardino County sheriff's Sgt. Steve Wilson says 25-year-old Michael Calvert was arrested at gunpoint by deputies while he lathered up in the shower Thursday night. He offered no resistance other than dropping the soap.

KCDZ radio says that after helping himself to a bottle of champagne and a meal, Calvert decided to take a shower in the Joshua Tree home. The Mojave Desert community is 130 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

The homeowners called 911 after returning home at 8:10 p.m. and hearing someone in the shower.

Calvert was booked for investigation of residential burglary. He's in jail with bail set at $25,000 and was not available for comment.

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Information from: KCDZ-FM, http://www.kcdzfm.com/

Roman Centurions Battle Police At Colosseum

Italian Wannabe Centurions Rebuffed by Cops



Italian men dressed as Roman centurions scuffled with police today outside Rome's Colosseum during a protest over the right to pose for photos with tourists for money.

A British newspaper's Rome correspondent says one man was carried off on a stretcher as about 60 centurions, some waving fake swords, and their supporters blocked tourists from entering the ancient Colosseum.

The Guardian says a crackdown on the centurions followed claims that they were selling fake tours to tourists and pressuring them to hand over a lot of money for a photograph. The newspaper says 30 were arrested last August.

A spokesman for the centurions says a group has met with local authorities and they would like to arrange to get licenses and IDs.

Man With Improbable Name Charged With Sextortion

Man Charged With 'Sextortion' Of Teen Boys

Police Say Man Could Have Hundreds Of Victims

April 9, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indiana man accused of coercing teen boys across the country into sexual activity that he recorded online could have hundreds of victims.

FBI investigators found sexually explicit videos showing hundreds of teenagers on the computer of Richard Leon Finkbiner, 39, of Brazil, Ind., according to court documents.

Finkbiner was arrested Friday at his home on charges he extorted teenage boys in Maryland and Michigan, both 14 years old, by threatening to post sexually explicit videos of them online.

"In both instances, Finkbiner allegedly captured sexually explicit video of the victims online through the use of an anonymous video chat website," according to a news release from the office of Joseph Hogsett, U.S. attorney for Indiana's southern district. "Finkbiner then is alleged to have told both minors that if they did not follow specific instructions, those video clips would be released on the internet and/or would be forwarded to the minor’s friends.

The complaint alleges that as part of this 'sextortion' scheme, Finkbiner then coerced the minor males into recording sexually explicit videos for him."

Finkbiner estimated to FBI agents that he had coerced at least 100 individuals into such videos, investigators said.

"There is much investigation left to be done," Hogsett said. "We are fearful it could involve hundreds of individuals, not only here in Indiana but throughout the country."

Finkbiner faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison on the current charges

Investigators asked any potential victims to contact the Indianapolis Cyber Squad Division of the FBI at 877-542-8979.

Get A Belt Or Get Belted

Ala. judge orders man to jail for sagging pants

Apr 11 2012
Associated Press

Not the actual teenager>>

PRATTVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A central Alabama judge ordered a man to serve three days in jail for contempt of court for wearing so-called saggy pants.

Twenty-year-old LaMarcus D. Ramsey was in Autauga County Circuit Court on Tuesday to enter a plea on a charge of receiving stolen property.

Circuit Judge John Bush told Ramsey his blue jeans were sagging too low and gave him the three-day stint. The judge told Ramsey to buy pants that fit or a belt when he gets out of the county jail.

The judge says he finds it disrespectful and a disruption when people wear pants below their waistline in his chambers.

"To me it's not any different than if someone stood up in court and started cussing everybody out," Bush said. "It's disrespectful conduct and I think as judges we're expected to at least have some degree of control and respect for the courtroom the people have given us charge of."

Calls to Ramsey's public defender were not immediately returned.

The Need To Feed

Debates have flared over where it's okay for women to breastfeed in public, but here's one location that's definitely off-limits -- inside a stranger's home with someone else's baby.

That's what happened in South Dakota where a mom was startled to find a woman she didn't know breastfeeding her child in her Brookings bedroom on Sunday, radio station KJJQ reported.

The mom called 911 after she allegedly found the intruder around 5 a.m. feeding her two-month-old infant, according to the Associated Press.

The mother got her baby back from the rogue lactating lady, but the suspect stayed in the house and lay on the resident's bed until police arrived to arrest her.

Brookings police department officials didn't return calls from The Huffington Post, but news reports said the 24-year-old suspect was charged with unlawful occupancy.

Neither the suspect nor victim was identified.