MaxRedline

When It Absolutely, Positively HAS To Be There

UPS to the rescue!

A group of United Parcel Service (UPS) employees are accused of smuggling shipments of drugs and counterfeit vaping oils from Mexico and distributing the illicit products around the U.S. for at least a decade.

Authorities arrested 11 people, including four UPS drivers and supervisors, in Tucson, Ariz., for their roles in the alleged smuggling ring, the Department of Homeland Security said. Investigators say the suspects moved thousands of pounds of marijuana and other drugs into the U.S. from Mexico each week using the company's standard cardboard boxes, bypassing security measures.

Raul Garcia Cordova, 47, faces more than a dozen charges. A police raid at his home turned up 50,000 counterfeit vaping pens, a Chevrolet Corvette and a Range Rover.

Obviously, crime paid somewhat more than the standard UPS job.

Right up until it didn't....

 

No Sympathy

For the first time in New Jersey, a Monmouth County jury on Friday found a woman guilty of vehicular homicide for texting while driving.

Prosecutors said Alexandra Mansonet, 50, was distracted by a text about dinner plans when she rear-ended another car, causing it to strike 39-year-old Yuwen Wang as she was crossing the street in September 2016. Wang died five days later. Wang, who had gone for a walk while on a break from her job, flew into the air after she was hit. Her head bounced off the pavement “like a basketball,” witness Joseph Matich testified at the trial. She suffered severe brain trauma and died on Oct. 3, 2016.

Mansonet faces as much as ten years in prison, and it's about time that folks started taking cell phone driving seriously; it's not as though hands-free options aren't widely available and inexpensive.

I've had to dodge those folks before -especially memorable was encountering an SUV "driving" woman in a parking lot: she had a phone in her left hand and a drink and ciggie in her right. She must have been trying to steer with her knees. Came close to a head-on wreck on that occasion.

I've heard that there are jammers that can block cell signals. They might be worth the investment.

 

Police Biz

It was just a matter of time...breathalyzer technology similar to those in use for alcohol detection are now coming out to detect THC in breath and are expected to soon be ready for law enforcement deployment. When that occurs, potheads can entertain the concept of free, supervised rides to the pokey just like any other person busted for DUII.

Unlike currently available tests, these can be performed immediately, at the roadside.

 

In other enforcement news, an "animal rights" loon went all vigilante on a complete stranger, having evidently mistaken her victim's fake fur boots for actual fur:

An animal rights activist is facing attempted murder charges for allegedly stabbing a woman inside an Ohio church. The incident happened Wednesday night, just before children’s choir practice at Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights.

Bodycam footage shows the moment officers arrived on the scene after receiving a call indicating someone had been attacked. A churchgoer can be seen pinning 35-year-old Meredith Lowell to the floor before officers rush in and arrest her.

Lowell the loon's in jail on $1 million bond. Her victim is expected to recover from her injuries.

 

Finally, a ferret-throwing fool's in King County jail:

The Seattle Police Department arrested a ferret of "undetermined age" and a 29-year-old man Wednesday after the latter was suspected of robbing a hardware store in North Seattle. The ferret wasn't actually arrested, just placed in custody with the Lynnwood man suspected of stealing power tool batteries from the store in the 11600 block of Aurora Avenue North, the Seattle Police Department said in a statement. He was booked into King County Jail, while the ferret was turned over to the Seattle Animal Shelter.

 

 

Thanks, Obama.

An illegal immigrant alien fled to Mexico after he was arrested for his involvement in a fatal car accident. Alejandro Maldonado-Hernandez was street-racing when he crashed into an Oregon couple’s car, killing an older woman and severely injuring her husband. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is now blaming the Washington County Sheriff’s office for not honoring an immigrant detainer request.

No safer place for illegal immigrants than Portland, Oregon?

 

Frivolity

A bunch of vegans are suing Burger King because they want to have their Impossible Burgers their way ... pristine, without any meat residue on the grill.

Phillip Williams just filed a class-action lawsuit, claiming the burger giant advertises the Impossible Burger as a vegan alternative to its meat burgers, yet they're all cooked on the same grill.

Williams says his burger was contaminated by meat byproducts.

I am a second-hand vegetarian. The animals eat the grass, and I eat the animals.

 

We Will, We Will Watch You

A man who removed a secretly installed GPS tracking device from his SUV is making his case to the Indiana Supreme Court. Justices last week heard the case of Derek Heuring, who had a warrant-authorized tracker placed on his 1999 Ford Expedition by the Warrick County Sheriff's Office on July 11, 2018.

Heuring removed the unmarked box from his vehicle and left it in the family barn. Police eventually became suspicious that the GPS location readings were showing the car as always being parked in the same location. Then the device went dark. Detectives went to the barn to retrieve the tracking device from the car, but it was no longer attached. Based upon this, police applied for warrants to search Heuring's home and that of his parents to find the missing GPS tracker. The warrant application asserted that Heuring had committed "theft" by removing the unidentified, magnetically attached six inch by four inch black box from his car.

Seems a bit over the top, searching two homes in an effort to find their surreptitiously placed tracking device and charging the guy with theft for finding and removing it. Could've been an explosive device, for all anybody knew at the time. Other than the cops, that is. The judges seem to agree.

If they can stick a tracker onto a vehicle, the owner of said vehicle should be free to remove it.

 

 

 

Fridays With Florida Man

Last week was full of surprises down there, as guys vied to see who gains the weekly Florida Man crown:

Already on probation? No problem.

Latravia McGill, 37, was arrested about 1:50 a.m. Monday morning and accused of breaking into the probation office at 665 Beville Road. He was being held without bail at the Volusia County Branch Jail. First, what's there to steal in a probation office? And second, why are these folks attracted to dumb-ass names. Third, the demographic makes up 13% of the U.S. population, their unemployment rates are at historic lows, yet they account for roughly 80% of the population behind bars. Do they have some bizarre attraction to criminal activity, or what?

Anyway...

A Florida woman allegedly bit her boyfriend’s penis and threatened him with a knife after she accused him of wanting to have sex with another woman, a report said.

Maybe she's trying to establish a Florida Woman category. But hey - she's single, guys!

This guy told cops he was speeding home because he'd been cheating on his wife. Jon Earl Pickard was doing 90 in a 55 trying to get home in time to keep his wife from suspecting anything, and police found $50 of crack in his pocket.

And this guy was just hungry, but apparently didn't want to make a mess:

“He came in with pants on but he rode off on his bike without pants. I’m not sure if he took his pants with him but we still don't know where his pants are.”

 

There's A Riot Goin' On

Iranians have taken to the streets after their government suddenly introduced rationing and jacked up fuel prices there by reducing the subsidies; at least two people have died and a number of injuries are reported.

Under the new measures, each motorist is allowed to buy 60 litres (13 gallons) of petrol a month at 15,000 rials ($0.13; £0.10) a litre. Each additional litre then costs 30,000 rials.

Previously, drivers were allowed up to 250 litres at 10,000 rials per litre, AP reports.

In other words, Iranians are up in arms because they now have to pay 52 cents per U.S. gallon for their first 13 gallons of gas. Purchases beyond that will run them $1.04 a gallon. As a result, protests and violence have erupted in nearly a dozen cities across the country. Their police have been involved in efforts to bring the rioters under control.

 

At least he doesn't work on the vice squad.

A 31-year veteran Seattle Police Department captain was arrested by his fellow officers during a vice sting late Wednesday, in an investigation of sexual exploitation. According to several sources, 53-year-old veteran Seattle police captain Randal Woolery offered $40 to an undercover officer who was posing as a prostitute, and he was arrested on the spot. Sources within the department told KIRO-7 Woolery was highly regarded as a role-model of professionalism and was honored recently with an award for being an inspirational leader.

Woolery works in SPD's Professional Standards Bureau, where he reviews officers' use of force.

He might do well to familiarize himself with some of the other aspects of Professional Standards.

 

Florida Man, Again

FORT PIERCE — A 37-year-old man had an unusual explanation for a bag of cocaine that Fort Pierce police reported finding in his car.

“(He) stated that the police or the wind must have placed it there,” an arrest affidavit states. The affidavit did not list the wind speed or other meteorological conditions at the time.

For some reason, the guy's in jail now. Police must not have bought his story.