Crime Spree Blamed on “The Purge”
Every once in a while, the horror community is forced to collectively groan when someone blames a horror movie for their criminal actions. Halloween, Friday the 13th, Child’s Play, they’ve all been scapegoated, and there are those in the media who then ponder if the movies really are to blame, while most horror fans draw a very clear line between real violence and movie violence. As said in Scream (another film that has been blamed for a crime), “Movies don’t create psychos, movies make psychos more creative.” The latest film to get tied into a criminal investigation is The Purge. A 19-year-old man in Indianapolis has been arrested after allegedly going on a four day crime spree that included armed robbery, intimidation, robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, and three murders. In all, seventeen charges have been filed against him. Over the course of those four days, he would repeatedly brag that he had been “Purging”, showing off pictures and videos of the crimes, saying to one acquaintance “I Purge every night now.” He even sent screen shots of news reports covering his crimes to his mother… [JoBlo.com]
“Keep your movements subtle and casual. No store is free of blind spots. Find one and do your concealing there.” These tips for shoplifting in the face of security cameras come courtesy of a so-called Liftblr blog, Liftblr being what Good calls “Tumblr’s notorious shoplifting community,” which has been around since at least 2012. Members of the community, mostly young and female, give themselves names like Unicorn-Lift, Princessklepto, and Lifterslife. They blog about their thievery, posting photos of stolen merchandise, keeping a running tally of how much money they have “saved,” and providing shoplifting pointers and moral support. In trying times, according to Cosmopolitan, they help their comrades work through the experience of being caught and offer advice for how to avoid detection in the future. “It’s really about sharing experiences and helping fellow lifters,” Princessklepto tells Good. The lifters justify their behavior in a variety of ways: “I kind of lift with a Robin Hood philosophy,” says one. While another explains, “I lift because I’m poor.” And among their guiding principles is “Thou shalt not rip off mom-and-pop shops,” per Good. Unicorn-Lift, who is 15, says, “I only lift from stores that are multi-million dollar companies”—think Sephora and Victoria’s Secret… [USA Today]
Six-Year-Old Busts Dad for Running Red Light
A police dispatcher outside Boston got an unexpected call last weekend when a 6-year-old boy dialed 911 to alert them that his father had run a red light on the way to the car wash, according to a recording posted online by the Quincy Police Department. “Daddy went past a red light. My daddy went past a red light,” the boy said in the recording. “It was in a brand-new car, my mommy’s car.” The operator then asked to speak with the father, who seemed unsurprised when he learned of his son’s call, according to the recording and a report in the Boston Globe. The man apologized and the police dispatcher told him not to worry, that he simply wanted to make sure everyone was OK. The Globe on Thursday identified the caller as Robbie Richardson, who told the newspaper he wants to go into police work when he grows up. His father, Michael Richardson, told the newspaper his son had warned him that he had planned to call police. “He’s a smart kid,” the father said. “When he says he’s going to do something, he does it,”Richardson could not be reached for immediate comment… [DunYa News]
She Wasn’t Faking It… He Was
A Michigan man is facing counterfeiting charges after he tried paying for a lap dance using a fake $100 bill, according to police. After Stephen Gidcumb, 32, visited the Déjà Vu strip club in Kochville Township on Friday, employees noticed some funny money and reported it to authorities. “This gentleman went into the local strip club here and one of the dancers took him back to the VIP room, where he was getting private dances. He then paid the worker with a $100 bill.” Lt. Miguel Gomez of Saginaw County Sheriff’s Office told the Daily News.
“He left and came back — and while he was gone, she realized that the $100 was fake.” She called police, who came to the club and arrested him. Aside from the counterfeit, he also had real money in his wallet, Gomez said. Gidcumb lives with his parents, and when police searched their home in a nearby county, they found printing equipment and more fake money. Gomez said that, in total, police found at least $4,000 in fake $100 bills on him, and more in the house. Now, the accused counterfeiter — who is also facing a concealed weapon charge — could be looking at seven years in the clink, according to MLive. Gidcumb entered a not guilty plea Monday and was held on $50,000 bail. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 31… [NYDaily News]
Doctor Heimlich Uses His Maneuver to Save Choking Woman
The 96-year-old retired chest surgeon credited with developing the namesake Heimlich maneuver has used it to save a woman choking on food at his senior living center. Dr. Henry Heimlich was in the dining room at the Deupree House in Cincinnati, where he lives, when an 87-year-old woman sitting next to him began choking Monday night. The dining room maitre d’, Perry Gaines, told The Cincinnati Enquirer that Heimlich dislodged a piece of hamburger from the woman’s airway and she quickly recovered. Heimlich said he was having dinner when he looked over at the woman sitting next to him and could see that her face was growing pink and she was obviously choking. He said he got up behind her and began the technique. “As soon as I did the Heimlich maneuver, a piece of meat with a bone in it immediately popped out,” he said. Choking victim Patty Ris said Friday that she couldn’t breathe and Heimlich rushed over to stand her up and dislodge the food. “I definitely would have died right then and there,” said Ris, who said she felt fine Friday and had no after-effects. “There was no doubt about it.” Ris said that after she regained her breath Heimlich explained to her what he had done. She told him afterward: “God put me in this seat next to you.” Heimlich said in interviews Friday that it was the first time he’d used his maneuver, and his son Phil Heimlich said he believed that was accurate. But the doctor said in at least one previous account, a 2003 interview he did with BBC News Online, that he had applied his emergency technique three years earlier… [Daily Sun]