News – Page 3 – Truth is Reason

Woman shoots hatchet-wielding carjacker

Police said a woman shot a man who allegedly threatened her with a hatchet outside of a store…. Police arrived at the scene and located a man on the ground with an obvious gunshot wound…. Investigators said the woman was leaving a store…. She entered her vehicle and as she attempted to close the door the man approached her and demanded her car keys while holding a hatchet…. The woman retrieved a handgun and told the man to leave. As the man raised the hatchet, she shot him, police said. She was able to keep the man from leaving the scene until officers arrived…..

Young mother’s gun causes home invader to flee

Keri Reeves… a wife and mother of two… told WHNS-TV … that she was laying down in bed just before 2 p.m. when her dog Trigger began barking — and Reeves saw [Ralph Jake Goss Jr.] out of the corner of her eye standing in her dining room…. “I start yelling you need to leave,” she told the station. “You need to get out of my house. I need you to go.” Reeves told WHNS that Goss ran into her bedroom “and he’s standing between me and my door.”

Reeves said she and her husband the night before decided to move his gun from the dresser to a spot near the headboard when they installed a new TV…. “I grabbed it, just kind of tossed the holster across the room,” Reeves added to WHNS. “When I pulled it back to load and aim, that’s when he finally realized he needed to go.”

Reeves told the station she chased Goss outside her home and watched him go through the woods in her backyard before she called 911….

Deputies said they found Goss walking out of the woods Wednesday with items belonging to the victim, the station reported, adding that he was arrested and charged with burglary second degree, petit larceny and possession of burglary tools….

Synthetic pot causing bleeding from eyes, ears and elsewhere

Emergency rooms in Illinois are noticing a spike in synthetic pot users suffering from “severe bleeding,” and state health officials are warning the public to remain vigilant.

The Illinois Department of Health (IDPH) issued a statement on Wednesday announcing that at least six people in northeastern Illinois had been hospitalized after using the man-made substance — also known as “fake weed,” “K2” or “spice.” On Friday, the number of cases climbed to 32, the health department reported….

“Despite the perception that synthetic cannabinoids are safe and a legal alternative to marijuana, many are illegal and can cause severe illness,” IDPH Director Nirav D. Shah said in a statement earlier this week. “The recent cases of severe bleeding are evidence of the harm synthetic cannabinoids can cause.”

…Users have reported a wide range of symptoms, from bleeding gums and bloody noses to blood in the urine. Women who are menstruating have also experienced a higher than average flow. Bleeding from the eyes and ears is also possible after use, IDPH said.

Home invader cracks homeowner’s skull but doesn’t live to tell about it

… a home … was targeted for a Wednesday night home invasion robbery that turned fatal for one of the alleged robbers….

Homeowner Brent Bishop, 43, was away from his residence when two strange men entered through a rear door and struck his wife in the face. Moments later, Bishop arrived and noticed that the rear door was open. When he entered the kitchen, Bishop was struck on the head with a blunt object. He was ordered to open his gun safe and the robbers removed three long guns and a pistol. As this was occurring, Bishop’s wife fled to a neighbor’s house. The two robbers then left with the guns.

Bishop, unsure where his wife was, went to another room in the house and retrieved a pistol. He was outside looking for his wife when he encountered the robbers. During the ensuing altercation, Bishop fired on them, fatally wounding Adams. The second robber dropped the long guns and the pistol that had been taken from the safe and ran away. He remains at large.

Continue reading “Home invader cracks homeowner’s skull but doesn’t live to tell about it”

Woman trades sex with her children for drugs

A Wisconsin woman is accused of allowing men to sexually assault two children in exchange for drugs, alcohol and cash.

Michelle Mayer, 39, of Eau Claire faces two counts of repeated sexual assault of a child, party to a crime.

According to a criminal complaint, Mayer was trafficking the children for at least 6 and a half years, using her mother’s house.

Mayer reportedly would allow men to photograph and have sex with the children in exchange for money or specifically meth and cocaine. A confidential informant told police sometimes the children would be injected with meth to keep them awake.

Intoxicated man robs 7-11 and breaks into home

Troopers responded to a residence in Randolph [New York] for a report of a break-in. Investigation revealed that in an intoxicated condition, Waite had entered the victim’s home without invitation and refused to leave peacefully. After being locked out, Waite then broke the victim’s window and urinated on his porch. Waite was still on scene upon the Troopers’ arrival and physically resisted being arrested. After being successfully taken into custody by the Troopers, Waite was searched and beef jerky was located on his person, later determined to be stolen from 7-11 in Randolph just prior to the break-in call.

From New York State Police News

School shootings less common than in the past

From News @ Northeastern, a publication of Northeastern University

The deadly school shooting this month in Parkland, Florida, has ignited national outrage and calls for action on gun reform. But while certain policies may help decrease gun violence in general, it’s unlikely that any of them will prevent mass school shootings, according to James Alan Fox, the Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law, and Public Policy at Northeastern….

Fox used data collected by USA Today, the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Report, Congressional Research Service, Gun Violence Archive, Stanford Geospatial Center and Stanford Libraries, Mother Jones, Everytown for Gun Safety, and a NYPD report on active shooters.

Four times the number of children were killed in schools in the early 1990s than today, Fox said. “There is not an epidemic of school shootings,” he said, adding that more kids are killed each year from pool drownings or bicycle accidents. There are around 55 million school children in the United States, and on average over the past 25 years, about 10 students per year were killed by gunfire at school, according to Fox and Fridel’s research….

Knife-wielding drug-toting intruder stopped by armed homeowner

… Deputies say a homeowner shot a man who broke into a … home with a knife Monday night…. a little after 10 p.m. … Upon arrival and an initial investigation, deputies determined that 30-year-old James Michael Smith Jr. was attempting to enter the residence through a window when the homeowner verbally warned the intruder, then shot at him at least once…. On Tuesday, deputies said Smith had been charged with burglary and possession of marijuana….

Good Samaritan shoots robber who shot store owner

A good guy with a gun helped stop a bad guy with a gun … Friday afternoon, according to the Aurora Police Department. A shooting at the Village East Grocery Store in the area of East Mississippi Avenue and South Peoria Street led police to the crime scene at around 2:09 p.m., where they found a woman [the grocery store owner] suffering from a gunshot wound in the parking lot of the grocery store…. The woman was taken to a hospital where she currently remains in serious, but stable condition….

Officers determined that a Good Samaritan confronted the robbery suspect outside of the grocery store and shot him. The suspect then fled the area. James Sagere, who works at the barber shop next to the grocery store, said the Good Samaritan is a fellow barber in the shop who wanted to help their friend next door…. Sagere said the Good Samaritan barber has a concealed carry license.

A short time later, officers found a man suffering from a gunshot wound in the area of South Joliet Street and East Garden Drive…. The man was taken into custody and taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Former officer of the year arrested for drugs and child neglect

A decorated Brevard County [Florida] deputy — who was recognized as the “Law Enforcement Officer of the Year” in 2016 — was arrested … after authorities said they found drugs and bullet holes in the home he shared with his girlfriend and their 2-year-old child….

Inside the home, which Goodyear described as “deplorable and unsanitary,” deputies found cocaine, marijuana, sex toys, spent shell casings and bullet holes, he said. Worthy, Trexler and their 2-year-old child were unharmed.

Trexler and Worthy were arrested on charges of child neglect, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia….

Worthy, who was with the Sheriff’s Office since 2012, has been fired, Goodyear said.