crime – News Stories About crime - Page 69

Dec 16, 2007 1:24 PM CST

Atlanta B-baller Carjacked at Gunpoint

Hawks forward plays after robbery; cops nab 2 suspects

(Newser) - Two gunmen carjacked Atlanta Hawks forward Shelden Williams outside his barbershop in Atlanta last night and were later arrested when they tried another burglary, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Williams was unhurt and played two minutes in last night's game against the Charlotte Bobcats. "It's been a long day, but...

UK Bans Samurai Swords

Dec 14, 2007 3:35 PM CST

UK Bans Samurai Swords

Move follows a wave of high-profile attacks in recent years

(Newser) - British authorities are cracking down on a deadly, if unconventional, weapon—the samurai sword. The government banned the sale of the Japanese blades this week following at least 80 serious attacks, including five deaths, in the last few years, the Guardian reports. Collectors and martial arts practitioners will not be...

Mall Shooter Took Gun While Briefly Alone

Dec 13, 2007 12:30 PM CST

Mall Shooter Took Gun While Briefly Alone

Assault gun in Omaha slayings came from ex-stepfather's house

(Newser) - The night before the Omaha mall shootings, Robert Hawkins' mother went Christmas shopping for an hour. In that hour alone in his ex-stepfather's house, reports the Omaha World-Herald, the 19-year-old stole the assault rifle he used to randomly kill eight people the next day. At dinner, Hawkins told his mother...

Colo. Shooter Had Ties to Church

Dec 10, 2007 2:44 PM CST

Colo. Shooter Had Ties to Church

Lone gunman ID'd as ex-mission worker who sent threatening letters

(Newser) - A former mission worker was the shooter in both of yesterday’s Colorado church shootings, CNN reports. The killer, identified as Matthew Murray, worked with Youth With a Mission in Arvada, where the first shooting occurred. The Rocky Mountain News describes Murray as the 24-year-old son of a local neurosurgeon,...

UK Cops
Charge Boater With Fraud

Dec 8, 2007 4:53 PM CST

UK Cops Charge Boater With Fraud

Back-from-dead Darwin hid in family home, using secret passage

(Newser) - UK cops today charged John Darwin, the 57-year-old former teacher who allegedly faked his death in a 2002 canoeing incident, with two counts of fraud—acquiring a money transfer by fraud and lying to get a passport—the BBC reports. Darwin will remain in custody until a court appearance Monday;...

Omaha Shooter Cased Store, Smuggled Gun

Dec 6, 2007 3:52 PM CST

Omaha Shooter Cased Store, Smuggled Gun

Police say he hid an AK-47 inside balled-up sweatshirt

(Newser) - 19-year-old Robert Hawkins briefly looked around the Von Maur department store yesterday before leaving, only to return six minutes later and open fire with a stolen AK-47 in the Omaha rampage that left nine dead. Upon reentry, Hawkins was "concealing something balled up in a hooded sweatshirt," police...

Rodney King Shot While Bicycling

Nov 29, 2007 8:28 PM CST

Rodney King Shot While Bicycling

Man whose beating sparked LA riots has minor injuries

(Newser) - Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by police officers in 1991 led to the LA riots, is recovering from minor wounds after being sprayed with birdshot while on his bicycle, the Los Angeles Times reports. King told police that two people demanded his bike at a street corner in San Bernardino,...

Violent Crime Rate Down in
Several Cities

Nov 29, 2007 10:33 AM CST

Violent Crime Rate Down in Several Cities

Mid-Atlantic region still grappling with rising murder rate

(Newser) - The crime surge of the last two years seems to be petering out, according to a new study by a police research group. The 2005-2006 rise in violent crime rates had been the first sustained jump in over a decade, but the new report shows that the numbers of murders,...

NYC Murder Rate in Free Fall

Nov 23, 2007 11:02 AM CST

NYC Murder Rate in Free Fall

New York City murder rate drops to lowest in more than four decades

(Newser) - The murder rate in New York City hit a new low this year—the lowest it's been in the 44 years reliable statistics have been kept, reports the New York Times. And if early analysis holds up, of the fewer than 500 murders this year, fewer than 100 will have...

Filling Jails Doesn't
Cut Crime

Nov 20, 2007 6:23 AM CST

Filling Jails Doesn't Cut Crime

Study concludes that longer sentences don't make streets safer

(Newser) - Getting tough on criminals through longer prison terms—at an annual cost of tens of billions of US taxpayer dollars—hasn't made a major impact on crime, concludes a study released yesterday. The US prison population has increased 800% since 1970—giving the nation has the world's highest incarceration rate—...

Vick Gets a Jump on Jail

Nov 19, 2007 5:47 PM CST

Vick Gets a Jump on Jail

Disgraced QB reports to prison 3 weeks before dogfighting sentencing

(Newser) - Scandal-dogged quarterback Michael Vick reported to federal custody today, starting his sentence before his Dec. 10 sentencing hearing so he can get out as soon as possible, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. "From the beginning, Mr. Vick has accepted responsibility for his actions and his self surrender further demonstrates that...

Hate Crimes Up; Racial Incidents Dominate

Nov 19, 2007 5:26 PM CST

Hate Crimes Up; Racial Incidents Dominate

FBI figures show 8% jump for 2006

(Newser) - Hate crimes in the US rose 7.8% in 2006, with racially motivated attacks accounting for more than half of 7,722 reported incidents. Religious bias represented one-fifth of hate crimes, and cases of sexual orientation discrimination nearly 16%, the AP reports. Victims of racial bias are overwhelmingly black, according...

Missing Hoop Star's Body Found in Brazil

Nov 19, 2007 1:35 PM CST

Missing Hoop Star's Body Found in Brazil

Police consider suicide, homicide in ex-WSU player's death

(Newser) - The body of a former Washington State University basketball star who had been missing in Brazil was found yesterday, reports the Seattle Times. Tony Harris' death is being investigated as a suicide, but police "are not ruling out homicide," a spokesman told the AP. Harris, 36, was in...

Detroit Named Most Dangerous City in America

Nov 19, 2007 2:50 AM CST

Detroit Named Most Dangerous City in America

But experts blast list for hurting cities and distorting perceptions

(Newser) - Motor City sped away as the nation’s most dangerous metropolis, according to the latest crime statistics examined by a private research firm that named Detroit worst of the worst. But city officials and crime experts slammed the annual ranking as worse than useless. A spokesmen for the FBI, whose...

Peterson Threatened My Life: 2nd Wife

Nov 16, 2007 11:10 AM CST

Peterson Threatened My Life: 2nd Wife

Spouse of 10 years says ex-cop 'had a disease to his ego'

(Newser) - Drew Peterson's second wife says the ex-cop under suspicion in the disappearance of his current wife threatened to kill her and make it look like an accident, the Chicago Tribune reports. Vicki Connolly says of suspicions that Drew Peterson might have killed his foutth wife, Stacy Peterson, "He has...

You'd Better Silence That Spray Paint

Nov 16, 2007 9:11 AM CST

You'd Better Silence That Spray Paint

SoCal city installs sensors that can hear graffiti artists

(Newser) - If you’re going out to tag in Montebello, Calif., consider using a paintbrush. The Los Angeles neighborhood has spent $1 million on an anti-graffiti system that can hear aerosol cans up to 80 feet away. The 25 “tagger traps” employ sound sensors to catch graffiti artists red-(or blue-...

Wire's Architect Begins His
Final Chapter

Oct 15, 2007 8:22 PM CDT

Wire's Architect Begins His Final Chapter

David Simon put whole life, love of Baltimore into HBO's hit drama

(Newser) - The final season of HBO critical darling The Wire lands in January, and will revolve around the newsroom—the last unscripted setting from creator David Simon’s own experience. The show has tackled drug runners, cops, dockworkers, and inner-city schoolchildren “with sociological precision,” reports New Yorker’s Margaret...

Judges Condemn Sentencing Guidelines

Sep 29, 2007 2:18 PM CDT

Judges Condemn Sentencing Guidelines

High court, Mukasey may give them leeway

(Newser) - Judges across the country are condemning federal sentencing guidelines, 1980s-era anti-drug laws that force them to impose “irrational” sentences, the LA Times reports. “When I have to sentence a midlevel drug dealer to more time than a murderer, something is wrong,” said a judge forced to sentence...

'Ghost Ship' a Case of Intrigue on High Seas

Sep 29, 2007 1:33 PM CDT

'Ghost Ship' a Case of Intrigue on High Seas

Charter found near Cuba, crew missing; 2 survivors being held

(Newser) - The sea is telling no secrets about an abandoned charter boat found 30 miles north of Cuba this week, missing the young couple who owned it and two crewmembers. But Newsweek reports that the two men who chartered the boat, found floating miles away in its life raft, are failing...

TV Was Burglary 101 for Robber

Sep 17, 2007 8:08 PM CDT

TV Was Burglary 101 for Robber

(Newser) - Everything he knew, he learned from TV. That's what a slick burglar told police in Richmond, Ky., when he was finally caught for a string of robberies, the AP reports. News of the man's sentencing and guilty plea last week might make Discovery Channel execs think twice before renewing It ...