Free Republic

A Plain Township man was charged Thursday after allegedly stealing several items from a Walmart shopping center and trying to shoot a Canton police officer in the head. Canton police said the officer responded around 1:45 p.m. to the Walmart on Atlantic Boulevard NE for suspected shoplifting. The officer was inside the loss prevention office with Shane Newman, 21, and Katerina Jeffrey, 23, when police say Newman pulled out a handgun. According to police, Newman attempted to shoot the officer but the gun did not fire. A Walmart asset protection associate jumped onto Newman before he could try to shoot...

Angry protests have erupted in Oklahoma this week over the light sentence handed down to an 18-year-old for a string of rape and strangulation charges that left one girl near death. Jesse Mack Butler, a former high-school baseball player, was initially facing ten years behind bars for his crimes but must instead participate in a rehabilitation program and community service. On Monday protestors gathered around a courthouse where Butler was facing a routine probation hearing to call for a tougher sentence. Butler, who comes from an influential sports family in Stillwater, originally pleaded not guilty to ten felony charges, including...

MIDDLETOWN >> They were studying to be doctors and scientists, but police say four Wesleyan University students arrested this week also are known on campus as drug dealers. The four are charged in connection with the distribution of a bad batch of the party drug known as Molly. Authorities said 11 people, including 10 Wesleyan students, some of whom had attended a rave music show Saturday night, went to hospitals for medical attention last weekend. ... Witnesses said several of the victims were hanging out with Kramer during the rave Saturday night at the Eclectic Society, a co-ed social fraternity....