Free Republic

A local man is free on bond after his arrest Friday on charges he pulled out a chainsaw and shouted racial slurs during a road rage incident in Farmington on May 6. Michael Salafia, 30, of 64 Whitewood Drive, allegedly got out of his car with a chainsaw while at a red light and approached another driver, Farmington police said. As Salafia was advancing on the other driver, who was a black male, Salafia started the chainsaw and began yelling racial slurs, reports said. The other pulled out a gun, which he was carrying legally, police said, to stop Salafia...

CHICAGO – An inmate who escaped from a high-rise federal jail in Chicago has an unusual theory on who's to blame: He says the government was negligent in enabling the breakout, so he sued for $10 million for damages. The 7th U.S. Court of Appeals said in a Friday ruling that Jose Banks "gets credit for chutzpah." But a three-judge panel at the Chicago-based court tossed his 2014 lawsuit. "No one has a personal right to be better guarded or more securely restrained, so as to be unable to commit a crime," the ruling said.

Mario Miramontes figured during the traffic stop that he could conceal his arrest warrant by giving the police officer the name of his cousin – a 25-year-old husband and father who he believed had no scrapes with the law. After all, he had used the name before when in a legal bind. But Miramontes' plan backfired badly when it turned out the cousin also had a warrant – on charges that he had fondled an underage relative. Still, Miramontes, 22, of Dallas, felt that the error would be discovered when his fingerprints were run at the jail. His parole violation...

A rural Bloomfield man who went to the drive-through window of the Eastern Heights branch of the Bloomfield State Bank early Friday morning, and tried to cash a check for one million dollars, didn't drive off with any cash. Later the same day, Lt. Bryan Woodall of the Greene County Sheriff's Department gave the man a ride to the county jail.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Note to convicted felons: if you plan to commit another crime while out on parole you might want to ensure you aren’t wearing a GPS unit when you do it.

Salinas, Calif. (AP) -- The Monterey County Sheriff's Office says authorities are on the lookout for a man posing as a law enforcement officer who pulled over an off-duty sheriff's deputy. . . . The deputy identified himself and showed that he was armed. The man turned and fled in his vehicle, a white Mercedes.

An elaborate jewelry heist went off without a hitch until the getaway. The would-be robber just couldn’t outrun the law. After he was captured, panting and out of breath, the Kirkland man told police he has only one lung. Edmonds police found Steven Kyle surrounded by good Samaritans not far from Cline Custom Jewelers.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Police in Connecticut say they had ample warning of a bank robbery because the two suspects called the bank ahead of time and told an employee to get a bag of money ready. Police arrested 27-year-old Albert Bailey and an unidentified 16-year-old boy on robbery and threatening charges Tuesday afternoon at a People's United Bank branch in Fairfield. Sgt. James Perez says the two Bridgeport residents showed up about 10 minutes after making the call and were met by police in the parking lot. Perez told the Connecticut Post the suspects were "not too bright." [...]

U.S. marshals captured a Lockport man Wednesday in Terre Haute, Ind., after Lockport Police learned his whereabouts via his Facebook and MySpace pages. “Without criminals like him, we wouldn’t have found him,” Capt. Richard Podgers said. Christopher Crego, 39, formerly of 4617 Sunset Drive, was wanted for second- and third-degree assault charges from Nov. 22, 2008, and fled the state just before his sentencing date last fall, police said. Less than a year later, Lockport police charged Crego again with driving while intoxicated and unlawful possession of marijuana on Aug. 8. Podgers said through Crego’s Facebook and MySpace pages, police...

UPDATE: Police arrest man for robbing 2 Little Rock fireworks stands Last Update: 9:41 am Police have arrested a man in connection with two LIttle Rock firework stand robberies. Authorities say Courtland Dwayne Ray was arrested after bragging to his friends about the robberies. Pulaski County deputies say Ray and another suspect walked into the tent at 24 hour Fireworks World on Kanis Road at 3am Saturday morning but they didn't buy anything. Then deputies say the suspects came back a few hours later with at least five other people, pulled guns on the guardsmen and workers and demanded cash....

A cell phone dropped during a Pinole house burglary led authorities to a man wanted on suspicion of three East Bay killings — after he dialed his own number to find it, police said. "One of the officers hears a phone ringing over by the broken window. He finds it, and answers it," Pinole police Chief Paul Clancy said. "The voice says, 'Hey, did you find my phone?'"‰" The officers had been summoned to the scene after an Alice Way resident interrupted a burglary at the home about 9:30 p.m. May 23. The burglar apparently entered by breaking a window...

Suspect busted with stolen car, Shih TzuA tip to criminals: If you're driving a stolen car, with a stolen pooch sitting on your right and a marijuana cigarette in the center console, you might want to obey the speed limit. Ralph Bias, 18, of New Orleans was arrested in Kenner on Tuesday after a police officer stopped him traveling 53 mph in the 2000 block of Vintage Drive, a zone marked for 35 mph, according to Bias' arrest report. Bias wasn't wearing a seat belt and was driving on a suspended license, the report said. A handrolled marijuana cigarette was...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A regular customer at a San Francisco bank was arrested after he allegedly robbed the branch and left his ATM card behind, police said today. . . . Investigators also had no problems identifying him because he left the ATM card behind, police said. Officers arrested him shortly after the holdup.

A bank robber solved his own crime for authorities last week, leaving a pay stub with his name and address at the scene, according to the Chicago office of the FBI. Thomas Infante, 40, was arrested after the Fifth Third Bank at 4017 West Lawrence was robbed on Friday. Infante walked into the bank and handed a teller a threatening note demanding cash, according to an FBI news release. What the FBI said they noticed but Infante failed to consider was that the note was written on the back of his own pay stub. When he fled the bank, Infante...

Note to criminals: Do not lie to police about your name when your surname is tattooed on your neck. Darnell L. Frazier, 25, did just that ... uh, well, he tried to do just that early Thursday on St. Paul's East Side. According to the police report, an officer stopped two men walking in the street at Forest Street and Minnehaha Avenue. One was "evasive" about his identification, telling the officer he had never had a photo ID. He said his name was Darnell Lewis, spokesman Peter Panos said. The officer, however, noticed that the man had "Frazier" tattooed on...

APPLETON (WFRV) - A 'sticky' situation was averted when police arrested an Appleton man early Wednesday morning for burglary. Shortly after 4:30am, Appleton police were dispatched to a home in the 1600 block of N. Wilmer Avenue for a report of a burglary in progress. The homeowners told officers they were awakened after hearing a person whistling in their basement. The homeowner, armed with a shotgun, held 37-year-old Aaron Maurice at bay until authorities arrived. Maurice was taken into custody without incident. Asked why he was in the house, Maurice said he was on the run from the government. When...

Police officers in Blue Mound didn’t think much of cookies dropped off at their station Monday night — until they got a whiff of them. Overpowering the chocolate chips was the rich scent of marijuana. “It reeked of it,” said Lt. Thomas Cane, a Blue Mound police spokesman. “It wasn’t hard to tell. Anyone that’s been around marijuana before would have known.” Christian Phillips, 18, Watauga, who was serving court-appointed community service for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, dropped off the cookies in a wicker basket about 6:30 p.m. Monday, Lt. Cane said. A card from MADD was attached.

Maryland State Police have a strange case to solve: A man walked into a Frederick County 7-11 Wednesday morning and tried to rob it. His weapon of choice? A banana. The 7-11 on Fingerboard Road in Monrovia has been robbed before, but never like this. At 12:45 a.m., a masked man walked up to the counter and grabbed--a banana. He aimed it at the clerk and demanded cash. "What's he think he's going to do with a banana?! Ain't much you can do with a banana! Throw the peel down and hope he slips on it," said resident Michael Benton....

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office called him stupid Tuesday. But Frank Singleton could almost write the book on how to turn a misdemeanor into a felony without ever leaving the jail's parking lot. "This is one of the stupid criminals," Sheriff's Office spokesman Paul Miller said. Singleton, 21, of West Palm Beach, got released from the county lockup Tuesday after being arrested on a misdemeanor trespassing charge. He immediately ran out into the visitor's parking lot and, in an apparent effort to get away as quickly as possible, tried to carjack a 2006 Nissan 350Z, Miller said. The...

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — A man arrested for an indoor marijuana growing operation after a county worker smelled the illegal plant on a tax payment has been sentenced to 16 months in prison.