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Jail sentences were handed down today to an Irish family, who had netted tens of millions of pounds worth of goods in a series of burglaries dating back 20 years.Yesterday, after a crime spree that spanned 20 years and targeted the homes of the rich and famous, five members of a notorious Irish gypsy gang were finally locked away. The Johnsons, famed for stealing antiques worth tens of millions of pounds from stately homes, were known to reside on caravan sites across the south-west of England. It was from these poor man's homes that they meticulously researched and planned their...

The Coast's law enforcement community reacted with shock and disbelief Sunday to the news that Frederick Gaston, a longtime, respected lawman and former police chief of Moss Point, was gunned down and killed in a would-be robbery in North Carolina over the weekend. North Carolina officials said Gaston, who most recently was an investigator for the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, had just checked into a motel in the city of Gastonia when he was killed in a parking lot about midnight Saturday. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said Gaston, who was also an Air Force Reserve officer, had stopped in...

PORTLAND, Ore., July 30 (UPI) -- A Portland, Ore., WWII veteran helped chase off a gun-carrying robber with his cane, say police -- who nevertheless don't encourage the tactic. Art Iwasaki. 88, awoke from a nap Monday afternoon to find a masked man with a gun demanding money next to him. With help from his daughter, Stephanie Sakauye, 55, he managed to drive off the young robber and assist in a police search, the Portland Oregonian reported Wednesday.

Hijackers steal British passport stash LONDON (AFP) - Hijackers made off with boxes of blank British passports worth a fortune on the black market in a raid on a delivery van, police said Tuesday, in the latest blow to the government's record on security. Detectives said the 24 boxes of about 3,000 passports and visa documents, destined for British embassies around the world, were worth some 2.5 million pounds (five million dollars, 3.2 million euros). A hijacker sped off with the vehicle Monday when the driver stopped to buy a newspaper in the Manchester suburb of Oldham in northwest England....

TACOMA, Wash. – Diners at Pacific Grill, an upscale downtown Tacoma restaurant, were confronted by a man who was dining alone Monday evening. According to Tacoma Police, the man sat down and ordered beer, then got up, went into a private dining area and demanded money from the diners. He told them this was a robbery and demanded their wallets. "He comes in the room and says, 'I want your wallet and your cash'," recalled Dr. Charles Weatherbee who was seated with fellow doctors and drug reps. Another doctor handed over his wallet, but when he only found credit cards,...

Pie-in-the-sky plans to rob a Texas pizza shop reportedly came crashing to earth after a clerk decided to fight back.

The Detroit campaign office of Presidential hopeful Barack Obama was targeted by thieves.

ROBINSON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) -- A frustrated gun shop owner in Ottawa County has been robbed again - the third time in three years. On the evening of the Fourth of July, or sometime the next morning, Felix's Gun Shop in Robinson Township was broken into, say authorities. Eighty-two guns were stolen - including handguns, antiques, military style rifles, and pellet guns.

Family Of Subway Robbery Suspect Says Customer Shouldn't Have Pulled Trigger POSTED: 10:30 am EDT June 29, 2007 PLANTATION, Fla. -- The family of one of the men who was shot by a retired United States Marine while they attempted to rob a Subway sandwich shop said the customer shouldn't have pulled the trigger. According to Plantation police, two armed men barged into the Subway at 1949 Pine Island Road shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday, demanding money...

An employee of a Virginia Beach pizza restaurant shot and killed a masked robber who had come in the back of the shop to rob it Saturday night, police said.

Pakistan has been fleecing the US with exaggerated and sometimes fabricated expenses for its role in the war on terror, American auditors have reported, just hours after the Bush administration forked out $ 523 million in the latest payout to its ally. Washington has paid more than $5 billion to reimburse Pakistan for counter-terrorism expenses of which the administration could not account for as much as $ 2 billion, according to a Government Accounting Office (GAO) audit presented before a Congressional committee on Tuesday. The GAO report spoke of auditors uncovering an array of dodgy costs, including millions "spent" on...

Crime, I don’t condone it, but sometimes you do feel sorry for the perp. Take for instance this story of an animal lover looking to provide for his pets. ( TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese animal-lover on welfare went to extremes to provide for his many pets by robbing convenience stores while wearing the mask of a dog, police said Monday. Takaharu Kawata — branded by Japanese media as “The Dogman” — was caught on a surveillance camera wearing an oversized black-and-white canine mask while brandishing a knife.) OK…I feel I need to step in here. Please take a look...

A pizza delivery driver fought back at a group of suspects who tried to rob him, pulling out a gun and wounding one of them. Greenville Police say the incident happened early Monday morning at 1105 A Masters Lane when the Chanellos Pizza driver said three suspects began hitting him as he was delivering the pizzas. Police say the delivery driver then pulled out a gun and began to fire. One of the three robbery suspects was struck. Elvis Deans Junior, a 17 year-old student at South Central High School, is listed in stable but critical condition. He'll be charged...

A police spokesman says Oakland Raiders wide receiver Javon Walker was found unconscious on a Las Vegas street after apparently being the victim of a robbery. Police spokesman Bill Cassell said in a statement that Walker was taken to a hospital with "significant injuries" after being found early Monday on a street off the Las Vegas Strip. Cassell said Walker was in fair condition at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. A Raiders spokesman said the team was "in the process of gathering information" and had no further comment. Walker, 29, played the past two seasons for Denver after four seasons...

Using a crumpled-up newspaper as a fake gun, Carlos Marin, 20, walked into a South Beach Dunkin' Donuts Monday morning with a shirt half wrapped around his face, police say. ''You know what this is! Give me your register,'' he said. (snip) Marin ran off, but not before he asked: ``How you gonna describe me?''

Bank Robber Holds Gun Backward During Crime   POSTED: 5:58 pm EDT June 2, 2008 UPDATED: 6:35 pm EDT June 2, 2008  ORLANDO, Fla. -- Surveillance video of a bank robbery surprised detectives when it showed the bandit holding a gun in a strange manner, even backward during the holdup. "(The robber) is holding it in a manner that he's probably not familiar with handguns and was afraid it was going to go off," Orange County sheriff's Detective Jason Sams said. "If that was a fake gun, he would be holding it normally because he wouldn't care." Investigators said...

Brightly colored women's thong underwear disguised the identities of two men during the robbery of an Arvada Diamond Shamrock earlier this month. Arvada police believe two Latinos entered the gas station at 6802 Wadsworth Blvd. just before 5 a.m. on May 16, donning the underwear over their faces and demanding cash from the clerk on duty. The suspects fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of money and cigarettes.

Gardena, CA (AP) -- A videotape of a store owner pleading for her life as she is shot repeatedly by a masked gunman was released by authorities who say they have no leads in the killing. A surveillance camera recorded the murder of Hae Sook Roh, 51, of Harbor City. She was gunned down in her T-shirt store around 6:45 p.m. Monday by a man who got away with only a small amount of cash, authorities said Thursday. The security video showed a left-handed man with a bandanna over his face running into the store, demanding money, shooting the woman...

ALICE- has learned that an Alice police officer was shot in the leg Thursday morning during a chase for a suspected bank robber. The robbery happened at the Wells Fargo Bank around 10:30 a.m. Alice police have confirmed that one suspect is dead, another is in custody, and officers are now searching for another suspect near FM 665. Preliminary reports have the bank robber as a Hispanic male with a long goatee. He was last seen wearing a camouflage jacket, blue jeans and a navy baseball cap and is said to be armed and dangerous. Online Reporter: Roxanne Carrillo

A grand jury will decide whether a Houston convenience store owner was justified when he fatally shot one of two men who tried to rob his business late Thursday night, authorities said today. Peter Quang Dan fired at two men as they fled his store in southeast Houston, hitting one in the head, Houston Police said. The man's name has not been released. Police said he and another man entered the Colony Express Market at 2525 Broadway about 11 p.m. and robbed Dan, who was behind the cash register. Dan, 50, told investigators one of the men pistol-whipped him after...

A pizza delivery driver who shot an alleged armed robber in Des Moines last week said he's receiving support from the community. James Spiers III fired multiple shots at a man who allegedly put a gun to his head after Spiers delivered a pizza to an apartment complex. The suspect, Kenneth Jimmerson, was arrested after he called for help. Jimmerson, who suffered at least three gunshot wounds, is charged with first-degree robbery. His finance, Melanie Stout, who police believe called in the pizza order, is charged with conspiracy. Spiers, who works for Pizza Hut, has a valid handgun permit. He...

An Iowa state senator has vowed to stop buying Pizza Hut products if the chain fires a Des Moines delivery man who shot a teen who tried to rob him last week.

By T.J. Pignataro - News Staff Reporter 03/26/08 A public alert was issued early this evening by Buffalo Police, warning that a gang could be staging rear-end collisions tonight on area roadways and then attacking drivers as part of an initiation ritual. Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson called an emergency news conference at police headquarters just before 6:30 p.m. to make the announcement. He said police received "credible information" late this afternoon suggesting that the initiation ritual could involve gang member recruits intentionally causing rear-end collisions and then robbing or assaulting the other driver. Gipson suggested motorists be aware of their...

(ROBBERY TEAMS ARE TARGETING LONE ASIAN WOMEN) Watch out for The Rippers. The Rippers are watching for you. The Rippers are what San Jose police are dubbing packs of purse snatchers who have been targeting Asian women in recent months as they stroll through parking lots with purses fat with cash. The dangerous and unprecedented epidemic includes 21 recent robberies, according to San Jose detective John McElvy, many of them carried out brazenly in crowded and well-lit lots. Despite four arrests of the robbers, the crime wave continues. On Tuesday, a woman was robbed of her purse at 7:20 p.m...

(CNN) -- Two masked and machete-wielding men who barged into a club in Sydney, Australia, couldn't have picked a worse night for their robbery -- a monthly meeting of bikers. About 50 burly bikers fought back with tables and chairs -- pretty much anything that wasn't bolted down. One would-be robber was tied up; the other in the hospital. Police arrested both. "These guys were absolutely dumb as bricks," Jerry Vancornewal, leader of the bikers, told CNN Thursday. "I can't believe they saw all the bikes parked up front and they were so stupid that they walked past in." Vancornewal...

ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) - Armed robbers stole paintings by Cezanne, Degas, van Gogh and Monet worth $163.2 million from a Zurich museum, police said Monday, calling it a "spectacular art robbery." Police in the Swiss financial center said the robbery of the four paintings from the E.G. Buehrle Collection, one of Europe's finest private museums for Impressionist and post-Impressionist art, occurred Sunday. Three masked men who entered the building with pistols are still at large.

TINLEY PARK, Ill. (CBS) Five people were shot Saturday morning at a Lane Bryant clothing store in a strip mall in Tinley Park Saturday morning. Police were sent to the mall at 7264 W. 191st St. around 11 a.m., according to a Tinley Park police dispatcher. WBBM Newsradio 780 reported that Tinley Park's mayor said five people were shot inside the Lane Bryant store. The conditions of the victims were not immediately available. Will County coroner's office investigators were sent to the scene, but a representative could not say whether anyone was dead. Unconfirmed reports said the shooting included at...

MELBOURNE, Australia - Two Australian robbers thought they were hauling away a big sack of cash from the Cuckoo Restaurant, but it turned out to be bread rolls —and one of them accidentally shot the other in the buttocks during the heist.

KOKOMO, Ind. -- Police said a Kokomo man accidentally shot himself in the genitals while robbing a convenience store early Tuesday.

CINCINNATI -- A grand jury indicted three people in connection with the armed robbery last month of Boy Scouts at a Christmas tree sale. Prosecutors said Friday that Kenneth Hodge, 19, David Keeling, 19, and Nashon Wallace, 20, would face charges in the Dec. 3 robbery outside Tom’s Drive-Thru in North College Hill. The Boy Scouts, ages 13 and 11 years old, said they were selling Christmas trees in the parking lot along West Galbraith Road shortly before closing when three men approached, with one carrying a sawed-off shotgun. The boys said they thought the men were joking until one...

Friday, December 14, 2007 'heartless, absolutely heartless' Invader Burns 2 Women At Lake Wales Business Police Say Robber Threw Gasoline onto Employees, Who Are in Critical Condition By Bill Bair The Ledger LAKE WALES | Two women were severely burned and a man who came to their aid was shot in the nose during a robbery at a Lake Wales insurance office Thursday afternoon. Wales Police Report on the Attack Women, Baby Still Struggling to Live After Attack Police said the robber threw gasoline on the women and set a fire inside the Nationwide Insurance office, injuring Juanita Luciano, 23,...

72-year-old fights off man who trashed Christmas decorations BY RICHARD WEIR and DAVE GOLDINER DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Thursday, November 29th 2007, 4:00 AM A grinch-like robber was nabbed after he attacked a 72-year-old Westbury man as he strung Christmas lights in his front yard, cops said Wednesday. Santos Zelaya, 21, followed Reinaldo Herrera inside his house on Fifth Ave., put a BB gun to his head and trashed his living room tree and biblical figurines, police say. "Jesus, Mary and the wise men all fell to the ground," said Detective Lt. Raymond Cote. "He smashed up the Nativity scene."...

DUBLIN, Ireland — Ireland's national police force has arrested two men in connection with an audacious robbery last week on the landmark Guinness Brewery in Dublin - but said Thursday they were still looking others involved in the beer banditry.

DUTCH police have made their first arrest of an online thief - a 17-year-old accused of stealing virtual furniture from rooms in the Habbo Hotel - a popular teenager networking website. An Amsterdam police spokeswoman confirmed a report that the teenager was accused of stealing 4,000 euros ($A6,550) worth of virtual furniture by hacking into the accounts of other users.

Wasilla women indicted on Halloween theft charges HALLOWEEN CRIME: Eight children who were robbed testify. By ANDREW WELLNER PALMER -- Eight children whose candy was taken from them at gunpoint by two women on Halloween in Talkeetna, according to Alaska State Troopers, testified Thursday before a grand jury. Two women -- Kendra Grace Butts, 18, and Amber Marie Martin, 20, both of Wasilla -- were indicted Friday on seven counts of robbery, one of attempted robbery and eight of assault. If convicted, they face a maximum of 180 years each in prison. The minimum sentence for robbery with a gun...

Two men and a woman who used an ordinary cardboard box to break into over 200 Toronto area fast-food joints were caught by lucky timing, police said on Friday. The trio arrived at their target with an oversized cardboard box, which they propped up against the restaurant's front door. One person hid in the box and used specialized tools to break into the restaurant, while the others stood guard with a police scanner and two-way radios. "They were able to, by experience, literally remove the glass from the pane of the door and then set the glass aside," said Detective...

PARIS: The human population is living far beyond its means and inflicting damage on the environment that could pass points of no return, according to a major report issued Thursday by the United Nations. Climate change, the rate of extinction of species and the challenge of feeding a growing population are among the threats putting humanity at risk, the UN Environment Program said in its fourth Global Environmental Outlook since 1997. "The human population is now so large that the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available at current consumption patterns," Achim Steiner, the executive director...

EL RODEO, Mexico — For years, millions of Mexican migrants working in the United States have sent money back home to villages like this one, money that allows families to pay medical bills and school fees, build houses and buy clothes or, if they save enough, maybe start a tiny business. But after years of strong increases, the amount of migrant money flowing to Mexico has stagnated. From 2000 to 2006, remittances grew to nearly $24 billion a year from $6.6 billion, rising more than 20 percent some years. In 2007, the increase so far has been less than 2...

LAS VEGAS - Two co-defendants pleaded guilty to reduced charges Tuesday in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery case, agreeing to testify against Simpson and three others in the alleged hotel room theft of sports collectibles from two memorabilia dealers. "Guilty, sir," said Walter Alexander, who pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to commit robbery. Charles Cashmore pleaded guilty to felony accessory to robbery during a separate arraignment minutes later before Clark County District Court Hearing Master Kevin Williams.

HIDDENITE -- A teller was robbed at gunpoint at a Hiddenite bank Tuesday afternoon. The suspect was dressed from head to toe. The robbery happened around 3:40 p.m. at People’s Bank on N.C. 90 East, five miles outside of Taylorsville. No one was injured. No one has been arrested. Alexander County sheriff’s deputies and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents are investigating the robbery. Deputies say the robber entered the bank, approached the teller and demanded money. The robber pointed a small handgun at the teller. The suspect (deputies have not released the gender) gave the teller a black plastic bag...

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee pizza delivery driver managed to fight off two would-be robbers, but was surprised when he ran into one of his alleged attackers at the hospital. Police said a gunman tried to hold up the Pizza Hut driver while he was out on a delivery near 23rd Street and Verona Court just after 7 o'clock Wednesday night. While the driver was fighting with the suspect, a second man attacked him. That's when police said the pizza man grabbed the gun and began pistol whipping the first attacker. The pizza driver went to St. Francis Hospital to get...

PHILADELPHIA — Police in Philadelphia were searching Thursday for a man who killed two armored car guards servicing an ATM outside a bank early Thursday, authorities said. "This person had no regard for human life at all," said Philadelphia police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson. One man fatally shot the Loomis guards shortly after 8 a.m. outside a Wachovia bank in Northeast Philadelphia, Johnson said. Police initially said they were looking for four suspects, but Johnson said it appeared there was only one robber. Police had no explanation for the discrepancy. The gunman shot one guard as he was removing cash...

MARLBOROUGH – Police are looking for help in solving a convenience store robbery Monday in which two men used distraction techniques and what the clerk described as "psychic powers" to "get into his mind" and somehow make off with a large amount of cash. Marlborough Detective Steven E. LaMears said the clerk didn't realize until yesterday that he had been robbed by the two men. "He was embarrassed to come forward at first," LaMears said. "As he described it to me, he said it reminded him of when he would go overseas to his home in India and see the...

Vass — Three teens were charged with murder Monday night in connection with the slaying of a 12-year-old girl in her Moore County home last week. Authorities arrested Van Roger Smith Jr., 16, and Sherrod Nicholas Harrison, 19, Monday afternoon. After a search, the Moore County Sheriff's Office took Michael Graham Currie, 18, into custody Monday night. . . Twelve-year-old Emily Elizabeth Haddock was shot to death Friday in her home on Marks Road outside of Vass, authorities said. The girl had stayed home from school with strep throat and was alone

LAS VEGAS (AP) - O.J. Simpson was arrested Sunday and faces multiple felony charges in an alleged armed robbery of collectors involving the former football great's sports memorabilia, authorities said.

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FORT WORTH -- Police said three suspects wearing yellow bandanas robbed customers and cashiers in an Albertson's grocery store in southwest Fort Worth around 11:30 Tuesday night. The husband of an employee was waiting in the parking lot for her when another employee called him from inside the store to tell him the store was being robbed. The husband entered the store with a handgun and confronted one of the robbers, witnesses said. The suspect allegedly pointed his gun at the husband and the husband opened fire. Police said the husband had a concealed handgun permit. All three suspects fled...

FORT WORTH -- One teen-ager is in custody Wednesday and two suspects are being sought in connection with a robbery at a supermarket where the husband of an employee waiting outside confronted the suspects and opened fire, according to reports.The 17-year-old showed up at Huguley Memorial Medical Center in south Fort Worth where doctors called police as the teen was treated for gunshot wounds to his backside and foot , KRLD reported.The robbery occurred at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday when three suspects with yellow bandanas robbed customers and workers at an Albertsons at 3525 Sycamore School Road in south Fort...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Monday morning police are looking for one of the teens involved in a botched robbery. Three teenagers plotted to rob a home of a 16-year-old peer and his mother. According to police, one of the teenagers asked to stay the night with the victims, saying that he was having problems at home. The mother and her son agreed to let the young man spend the night. Once invited into the home the teen left the front door unlocked, and in the middle of the night two other teens barged in with guns. They were armed with a...