Free Republic

JENNINGS COUNTY, Ind. -- A southern Indiana woman was seriously injured in an accident police said was caused by car surfing. Investigators said 20-year-old Emily Jackson and a 19-year-old woman were car surfing on the roof of a Subaru station wagon that another 19-year-old was driving. It happened just after 11 p.m. Wednesday at Muscatatuck County Park in North Vernon, Ind. Jackson was flown to an Indianapolis hospital with a serious head injury. The crash is under investigation and police said it will be forwarded to the Jennings County prosecutor’s office for review.

ABBEVILLE, La. — The narrow, brick chimney of a Louisiana bank became his tomb for 27 years and now Joseph Schexnider will be laid to rest Sunday in a proper grave with a proper farewell by his family. Still, his brother Robert wonders, how did he wind up in that chimney? Didn't anyone hear any cries for help? Was it a robbery attempt gone awry, an accident or something more sinister?... [snip] "Everybody has an opinion," said Lt. David Hardy, chief of investigations for the Abbeville Police Department. "But no one has evidence to say one way or another." If...

<p>A Welsh animal lover was blinded in one eye after a seabird he tried to rescue pecked his eyeball out of its socket.</p> <p>Michael Buckland, 38, was walking with his girlfriend on a beach in Gower, South Wales, when the couple spotted a gannet that seemed unable to walk or fly...</p>

Keith Carmickle and his friends had already caught three balls during Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby Monday night and wanted more. He nearly got a lot more: a headfirst fall to a pool deck about 20 feet below. Chasing a home run hit by Milwaukee's Prince Fielder, Carmickle was saved from a long fall when his brother and a friend grabbed him around the legs and arms, then pulled him back as he dangled above the deck area behind the pool in right field at Chase Field.

Darwin Award of the WeekA valuable lesson was learned by a Darwin Award candidate this week. An unidentified Colorado teen had the bright (and explosive) idea to combine a pile of small fireworks into a big one by shredding them up in a coffee grinder. He should be receiving his award after he is released from the hospital. The Fire Marshal postulates that the electric coffee grinder probably caused enough friction to cause the explosion. Comments

ONONDAGA, N.Y. (AP) — Police say a motorcyclist participating in a protest ride against helmet laws in upstate New York died after he flipped over the bike's handlebars and hit his head on the pavement.

A Russian man died after burying himself alive in a friend's garden in the eastern city of Blagoveshchensk in an endurance test that went wrong. "According to his friend, the man, 35, wanted to test his endurance and insistently asked his friend to help him spend the night buried," said Alexei Lubinsky, a senior aide to the region's chief investigator. The two men dug a hole in the garden and put inside an improvised coffin with holes for air pipes. The man also took a blanket, a bottle of water and a cell phone. The victim's friend told investigators he...

A man who was thrown from a skateboard while "hot-boarding" near Santa Clarita has died, sheriff's officials say. Edward Culhane, 35, was cruising along on his skateboard while holding onto a vehicle along Cedarfalls Drive near Urbandale Avenue Saturday evening when he lost his grip and hit his head on the ground. The driver, 33-year-old Ryan Howell, is suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Los Angeles County sheriff's said. Howell was arrested and booked for felony DUI. 'Hot-boarding' is a dangerous stunt involving a skateboarder being towed behind a moving vehicle. A San Diego County man...

Nato has denied claims that its naval units left dozens of migrants to die aboard another boat in distress. It said it was unaware of the plight of the boat, which reportedly was adrift for more than two weeks. The Guardian newspaper said 61 of the 72 people on board the boat died of hunger or thirst, despite being spotted by a military helicopter and Nato ship.

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Police arrested a 41-year-old man last week after he called 911 and told officers that he was not given the correct change after buying crack cocaine from a drug dealer.

The government turned down a U.S. offer of technical help to cool overheating nuclear reactors in Fukushima Prefecture soon after last week's massive earthquake because it believed the offer was "premature," The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. The reactors have since been hit by several explosions and radiation has leaked out. Some observers believe this could have been prevented if the government had accepted the U.S. offer.

SAN YSIDRO, Calif. -- A pedestrian struck by a car and killed just north of the international border was identified Friday as a 31-year-old Tijuana woman. Alma Luz Alfaro Gonzalez was crossing the street in a crosswalk at Paseo de las Americas at Siempre Viva Road when she was hit by a tractor-trailer rig making a right turn just after 6 p.m. Thursday, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. San Diego police Officer David Stafford said the woman was talking on her cell phone and ignored a red light. Witnesses gave aid to the woman and called...

After breaking into an Oregon residence last night, Timothy Chapek, 24, barricaded himself in a bathroom after the owner unexpectedly arrived home. Chapek, you see, was worried that Hilary Mackenzie might be armed (or that her barking German Shepherds could prove problematic). So he called 911 seeking help. “I just broke into a house and the owner came home,” Chapek told a police operator. “You broke into a house?” the surprised operator responded. “I think she’s got guns,” Chapek added. Simultaneously, Mackenzie called police to report that there was an intruder in her Portland home (she told an operator that...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Authorities say an Alaska-based soldier told police a fellow soldier asked for a bullet to put in a gun's empty chamber before he fatally shot himself during a drunken game of Russian roulette. Jacob Brouch is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 26-year-old Army friend -- Michael McCloskey of Beverly, N.J. -- following the early Sunday shooting at Brouch's home in Eagle River, an Anchorage suburb.

"The driver of the SUV, Stella Thomas, 42, of Graham, attempted to enter a curve on North Ireland Street near Virginia Avenue when the mattresses became unstable and slid off the roof, police said. Walker then fell off the roof, striking his head on the roadway, police said."

EARLIMART, Calif. — A Lamont man was killed earlier this week by a chicken. Jose Luis Ochoa, 35, was stabbed by a knife attached to the leg of a fighting rooster, the Kern County coroner's office said Friday.

Alleged Bank Robber Takes Hostage - Shot By Police After Slipping And Falling On Ice Updated: Friday, 28 Jan 2011, 10:18 AM EST Published : Friday, 28 Jan 2011, 9:53 AM EST by MYFOXDC TAKOMA PARK, Md. - Dramatic video shows an alleged bank robber being taken down by police after slipping and falling on ice. WARNING – GRAPHIC VIDEO The incident happened at the Capital One Bank in Takoma Park, Md. around 9:00 a.m. on Friday. Police had the bank surrounded when the alleged robber came out of the front door with what looked like a gun to the...

MARION COUNTY, Fla. -- A man who deputies said was breaking into a Marion County home died after a family pet scared him away. Butler suffered cuts from glass shards and collapsed in a neighbor's yard. He later died, according to deputies. "I'm very grateful to my dog for protecting my house," homeowner Angela Wilcox said. "I wish he would not have broken into my home." Wilcox said Butler lived in the neighborhood. She said Butler's girlfriend told her he was hallucinating from drugs at the time he broke in. Deputies said Butler did not steal anything from the home....

SCOTTS VALLEY -- Melissa Martinez, the 17-year-old from Scotts Valley who perished in a warehouse fire in New Orleans on Tuesday morning, could have returned home, but her soft heart led her to stay with friends instead, according to her mother Rebecca Snook. "She compassionately made a choice to join her new friends in their discomfort in the bitter cold," her mother said in a statement from New Orleans, sharing the story with her daughter's friends in Scotts Valley. "In her characteristically powerful way, she was respecting and supporting their lifestyle choice. She was enjoying their company purely for what...

A University Park man who killed a neighbor whose dog urinated on his lawn was sentenced today to four years probation. "This is not justice," said Gail Williams, the slain man's aunt. Charles Clements, 69, a great-grandfather, former Marine and retired truck driver who took great pride in his lawn's appearance, could have been sentenced to as much as 20 years. In declining to send Clements to jail, Will County Judge Daniel Rozak noted the episode was Clements' first contact with the legal system in his 69 years. He also said the slaying wasn't about a dog urinating on a...