Free Republic

Two women who got into a fight with an airline employee were arrested on Tuesday. A Pennsylvania man was arrested after attempting to bring an explosive device on a flight on Feb. 27. Marc Muffley, 40, was arrested by FBI agents on Monday night after he allegedly attempted to bring an explosive device onto an Allegiant Airlines flight from Lehigh Valley International Airport headed to Orlando Sanford International Airport on Feb. 27. After staff with Allegiant Airlines checked Muffley's bag, TSA agents were alerted to the "presence of suspicious items," an affidavit states. When TSA agents physically inspected the bag,...

DURHAM, North Carolina -- A Durham woman was arrested after throwing lighter fluid on her son's Eno Valley Elementary School kindergarten teacher and threatening to burn the building down, according to an arrest warrant. Durham police said that teacher Megan Jones had arranged a parent-teacher conference with Shequella Sheala Leonard, who became irate at accusations of her son's behavior. About five minutes into the meeting, the school principal told Leonard that she needed to leave the building, and the group, which included Leonard's son, exited into a hallway, police said. Once in the hallway, Jones told police that Leonard pulled...

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office bomb squad was called to Flagler County on Monday morning to dispose of a hand grenade that had been bought at an estate sale, deputies said. Deputies said a woman on San Pablo Court in the Hammock Beach area told them she had purchased the grenade thinking it was a novelty cigarette lighter. She contacted the Sheriff's Office just before 11 a.m., when she determined that it might actually be a grenade, deputies said....

BOSTON - Massachusetts has banned cigarette lighters that look like guns, pens, lobster claws and other objects in an effort to cut down on accidental fires started by children. State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said the lighters are attractive to children because they look like toys. The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Geraldo Alicea. The Charlton Democrat tells The Boston Globe he was urged by fire chiefs in his district to raise the issue.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- U.S. authorities have charged a man with attempting to board a flight from Puerto Rico with weapons including a stun gun, a switchblade knife and four box cutters. ~ snip ~ Pol was scheduled to take a JetBlue flight to Boston when he was arrested on Monday. In addition to the knives agents found pepper spray and a flight simulator program in his luggage.

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DAYTONA BEACH · Dennis Crouch had already slashed himself. And when he refused to drop his knife, Daytona Beach police Officer Betsy Cassidy decided she had no choice. "Taser! Taser!" Cassidy shouted as she sent a two-pronged wire, packing 50,000 volts, at Crouch's chest. What happened next stunned everyone.

“When I struck the lighter, the whole thing just detonated. The whole top blew off. I can't tell you if it blew me out the door or if I jumped out.” John Jenkins MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A man who says he was severely burned when a portable toilet exploded after he sat down and lit a cigarette is suing a general contractor and a coal company. John Jenkins, 53, and his wife, Ramona Jenkins, 35, of Brave, Pa., filed the lawsuit this week in county circuit court, accusing Chisler Inc. and Eastern Associated Coal Corp. of negligence. The lawsuit seeks...

1GLENS FALLS, N.Y. -- A man on house arrest suffered burns on 60 percent of his body Thursday after the tracking device on his ankle caught fire, authorities said. Witnesses said 25-year-old Jason McClaskey was engulfed in flames on his front porch just before 6 a.m. Firefighters found him in his bedroom with most of his clothing burned off, Assistant Chief Ray Ives said. McClaskey had lighter fluid on his leg and although he told officials he was trying to light his grill, that didn't seem likely since there was no charcoal on it, Police Chief Richard Carey said. McClaskey...

Rented a late-model Ford Focus in New Jersey a week ago, and got a VERY unpleasant - and very dangerous ! - surprise. When I pressed in the cigarette lighter, it pushed in (exactly as it should have done), energized, and began to heat up. BUT - As soon as it got red hot, the lighter "popped" completely out of the holder, flew away from the dashboard 6 inches, and bounced off my trouser leg (handle end first fortunately!) and (still glowing red-hot) landed on the floor .... where it began melting the carpet. Before I write a safety complaint...