Birdsong often trolls the wire services for weird, but true, criminal law stories in the news. Here are a few more – enjoy:
St. Petersburg, FL: Police Detective William Burris was recently suspended from the force for 45 days. Why? He was suspended after often filing for overtime after his regular shift. During the overtime he sat around the office viewing porn on a city owned computer.
He probably couldn’t get his viewing done during his regular eight hours, huh?
Mississippi: Death by idiocy.
A Mississippi man, Robert Davis, was fatally burned after breaking into a bar. While in the bar he attempted to cook himself some food but set the building on fire. He sustained severe burns in the fire and died two days later.
Davis should have stuck with the bar’s cold cuts.
Milwaukee, WI: He really needed to cut his lawn. Keith Walendowski was so furious when his lawn mower would not start that he took a gun and shot it. Walendowski was charged with felony possession of an unlicensed rifle. In his defense he said, “It’s my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want.” A witness told police Walendowski was most definitely intoxicated.
Yep, reeeeeal intoxicated!
Wales, UK: A painter, Gordon Williams is fuming after being fined $60 for smoking in his “workplace” – after he lit up in his van. The Welsh decorator was stopped by police after he lit a cigarette while driving. Williams said, “I was told that, because my van is my place of work, I had broken the smoking laws. It’s not my place of work. I decorate house, not vans.”
Smoking is not good for you anyway.
The Netherlands: A green-thumbed Dutch man thought his begonias smelled funny. The 73 year old man was shocked when police told him that his lovingly tended blooms were growing next to a marijuana crop. Police think the illegal plants were placed beside the flowers by local teens.
Or…maybe the old man was just in love with Mary Jane.
