Bullets For Life

Robbery suspect shot, killed at South Dallas convenience store

2010-09-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

Robbery suspect shot, killed at South Dallas convenience store

NOAH BUNN / The Dallas Morning News

Posted on September 17, 2010 at 11:32 AM

A clerk at a South Dallas convenience store shot and killed a man he said tried to steal the store's cash register this morning, police said.

Around dawn, the suspect entered the Kwik Stop at 1909 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. near the Interstate 45 overpass, grabbed the store's cash register and ran away, police said.

The clerk grabbed a gun and chased after the robber, who threw the register at the clerk. The suspect kept the cash drawer and ran away.

The clerk caught the man and began to fight to get the cash drawer back. That's when the suspect began hitting the clerk with the drawer.

The clerk fired his gun and killed the suspect, police said.

Walter Washington, a 20-year employee of the Kwik Stop, said he got a call about 8:15 this morning from the store's owner, who said the clerk may have accidentally shot the robber.

"He told me all of the sudden the gun went off," Washington said. "After that ... Dallas police officers had everything surrounded."

Police say they are interviewing the clerk, who has not been named. They say the case will probably be referred to a grand jury.

Burglar fail - via FailBlog

2009-07-08T04:41:00.000-07:00

Armed robbers flee after clerk opens fire

2009-03-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

Armed robbers flee after clerk opens fire

12:17 PM CDT on Friday, March 20, 2009
WFAA-TV Staff

FORT WORTH — Police say two men wearing hooded sweatshirts shot out the glass door at the CC 99 Cent Plus store in the 5700 block of Lovell Avenue Thursday night. The men then demanded money from the store clerk. But the clerk grabbed his own gun and fired several shots at the suspects. The would-be robbers fled. It was not clear if they were hurt in the exchange of gunfire. The clerk was not injured.

Weatherford man shoots intruder attacking his son

2009-03-04T17:11:00.000-08:00

Weatherford man shoots intruder attacking his son

12:10 PM CST on Wednesday, March 4, 2009
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090304_lj_weatherford.1ab7888.html#

By LIZ FORD / The Dallas Morning News

A man shot and killed an intruder who was assaulting his 34-year-old son, Weatherford police said today.

Robert E. Bardwell, 57, entered the home in the 500 block of South Rusk Street and began attacking the son, police said. The dad fired a warning shot into the ceiling, but the attack continued. The dad then fired at Bardwell.

Police arrived at the home shortly after 1 a.m. today. Bardwell, who appeared to have multiple gunshot wounds, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bardwell appears to have been known to the 66-year-old man and his son, authorities said. Police did not provide further details on Bardwell's relationship with the family.

When completed, the investigation will be forwarded to the district attorney's office for review, police said.

Authorities did not release the names of the father and son.

Tough-talking Arlington woman, 65, chases down thief 01:45 PM CST on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas -- Unholstering he

2009-03-04T17:06:00.000-08:00

Tough-talking Arlington woman, 65, chases down thief

01:45 PM CST on Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Associated Press

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090304_lj_fwwoman.1ffd1bd.html

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Unholstering her cell phone from her bra, a tough-talking Texas woman chased down a purse snatcher in her car while calling 911.

"Put it on the hood, now!" Val Renfro is heard yelling on the 911 recording after she got her man. "You give me my purse, right now."

Renfro, 65, from Arlington, had finished shopping Sunday at a Fort Worth office supply store and was getting into her car when a man shoved her twice, grabbed her purse and ran, according to a police report.

That's when she reached for her phone, which she always keeps tucked into her bra, and called 911.

While talking to the operator, Renfro drove after the fleeing man.

At one point, she apparently nudges the man with her car. The man tells her if she rolls down her window, he'll return the purse. "Like hell I will," she yells.

Onlookers eventually cornered the man near a movie theater.

Renfro said she later ran into the suspect at the police station, where he apologized to her. She said she accepted his apology.

"I don't have any animosity toward him," Renfro said. "Who am I to be the judge of him?"

Police identified the suspect as Ricky Lee Sample, 47. He remained in the Tarrant County Jail on Wednesday on a charge of aggravated robbery as well as a parole violation. His bail was set at $20,000.

Store owner opens fire on 3 during Dallas robbery

2008-02-11T04:26:00.000-08:00

05:15 AM CST on Monday, February 11, 2008
From Staff Reports

The owner of a clothing store opened fire Sunday night on three robbers, Dallas police said.

One of them, who was not identified, was taken to a local hospital and was in critical condition, police said.

Police did not release the name of the owner.

The incident began about 6:40 p.m. Sunday when three men, two of whom had guns, came into Stay Fly Urban Wear in the 7800 block of South Loop 12, police said. The owner then opened fire, hitting one of the men. His two accomplices fled in a vehicle that police found abandoned in the 200 block of South Jim Miller Road.

Police said they believed that a second man may have been wounded.

Good Samaritans catch suspected bank robbers

2008-02-10T05:04:00.000-08:00

By MELISSA VARGAS
mvargas@star-telegram.com

FLOWER MOUND -- Two Good Samaritans foiled a bank robbery Saturday morning by chasing down and detaining two brothers who are now in jail, police said.

At about 10:15 a.m., a man entered the Bank of America inside the Albertsons in the 2800 block of Flower Mound Road and handed a teller a note demanding money. The teller complied, and the man left with an undisclosed amount of money, police said.

A bank customer followed the man into the parking lot, where a scuffle ensued. The suspect, later identified as 22-year-old Trevor Burns, shook a 9 mm handgun aggressively at the customer, police said.

The customer successfully detained the suspect.

A suspected accomplice to the robbery, 17-year-old James Burns, fled the scene in a white Volkswagen Jetta as his brother was being arrested, police said. Another Good Samaritan followed him until James Burns crashed in the 2500 block of Magnolia Leaf Lane. The pursuer detained him until police arrived, police said.

Police say they found a 9 mm handgun in the Jetta.

The brothers were arrested and are in the Flower Mound Jail, police said.

Police advise residents not to try and stop a crime in progress.

"It could have very easily gone bad," officer Joe Adcock said. "If you can get the suspect information or vehicle information, that would be great. Don't compromise your safety."

No one was injured in the incident.

If you have information about the robbery or the suspects, police ask that you call 972-874-3307.

MELISSA VARGAS, 817-685-3888

Dallas rape suspect beaten, shot in melee

2008-02-09T04:55:00.000-08:00

Dallas: Police say man was shot, beaten with baseball bat
10:04 PM CST on Friday, February 8, 2008 By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
teiserer@dallasnews.com

A mob turned the tables on a man accused of raping a mother at knifepoint in her Red Bird-area apartment with her children present, authorities said.

The 26-year-old man, who had not been identified, was undergoing surgery Friday afternoon after being beaten with a baseball bat and shot at least twice, apparently once in the head.

"I would have to say this is unusual," Lt. Sally Lannom, commander of the assaults unit for the Dallas police, said of the melee. "It is outside the norm."

The mother, who didn't know her attacker, was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital. Her condition was unknown.

At the apartment complex, only one woman was willing to talk about what happened.

"He got what he deserved," Sharon Ivy said. "You don't go into [a] house ... do things to [a] momma and think it's all right. That was just a community watch."

According to police, the man forced his way into the 22-year-old woman's unlocked apartment in the 1400 block of West Wheatland Road around noon. Five children, some of whom belonged to the woman, were in the apartment at the time, police said.

"The suspect forced her into the bedroom and started tearing her clothes off," Lt. Lannom said. He then sexually assaulted her, police said.

Some of the children fled the apartment as the assault was going on, police said. When the man laid down the knife and began getting dressed, the woman ran out of her apartment to tell her boyfriend, who was in the parking lot with several friends, police said.

"She told him what was going on," Lt. Lannom said. He and his friends confronted the suspect in the apartment and a fight ensued, she said.

Police said the fight spilled out into the parking lot, with an unknown number of people taking part in the melee.

The suspect eventually broke free and ran into another apartment, where he was shot. He did not live in that apartment, but it may belong to a relative, police said.

The melee that followed the assault was under investigation, and it was unclear Friday whether charges would be filed.

Rebecca Lopez of WFAA-TV (Channel 8) contributed to this report.

Slain burglar had garage door opener from previous break-in at business

2007-12-28T04:33:00.000-08:00

Slain burglar had garage door opener from previous break-in at business

08:29 PM CST on Thursday, December 27, 2007

By SCOTT GOLDSTEIN / The Dallas Morning News
sgoldstein@dallasnews.com

Investigators believe a burglar who was fatally shot inside an Old East Dallas business Wednesday night entered with a garage door opener taken during a previous break-in.

Police said Divcon EMS had a history of break-ins, though the owner apparently had not notified police in each case, including one within the past few days, said Sgt. Ray Beaudreault, a homicide supervisor.

The intruder was identified Thursday as Langdon Collins, 45, Sgt. Beaudreault said. He said Mr. Collins had a criminal record, including a robbery conviction from 1999.

The man who shot him, Daniel Moore, 24, is a company employee who was watching the business while the owner was out of town, the sergeant said.

"He was in there protecting the owner's property, which he had every right to do," Sgt. Beaudreault said. Mr. Moore was not arrested, but the case will be referred to a grand jury for review, as is routine.

Mr. Collins entered the garage near the corner of Elm and Alcalde streets and closed the door behind him about 9 p.m., police said.

"He had the garage door opener from that location, so obviously he had been there before and took the garage door opener," Sgt. Beaudreault said.

After apparently hearing the door open, Mr. Moore entered the garage and confronted Mr. Collins, who had loaded a bag with spools of copper wiring, Sgt. Beaudreault said. He said Mr. Moore told the intruder to stop what he was doing, and Mr. Collins walked toward him.

In fear for his life, Mr. Moore "fired several shots at him, striking him three times," Sgt. Beaudreault said.

Mr. Collins was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 9 p.m. A knife was found close to his body, Sgt. Beaudreault said.

Several men who answered the door Thursday afternoon at the brick building, which also contains a residence, refused to comment. The Divcon EMS Web site says the business provides building automation systems, "including HVAC temperature controls, access controls, lighting controls, and Web and IP-enabled CCTV/DVR."

Whataburger store manager tells robber to leave

2007-12-24T09:24:00.000-08:00

WOW! this is my Whataburger where I eat my double burger with onion rings large chocolate shake and a side of scrambled eggs!

Whataburger store manager tells robber to leave

09:52 AM CST on Monday, December 24, 2007

From Staff Reports

A Whataburger store manager told a robber to leave Monday after the robber handed a note threatening he had a weapon and wanted money, Fort Worth police said.
Robber caught on a Conoco station's surveillance video late Sunday.
Robber caught on a Conoco station's surveillance video late Sunday.

A robber walked into the Fort Worth restaurant in the 2400 block of West Berry Street early in the morning and handed a store employee a note, police said. The employee thought the note was a food order, but soon learned the customer wanted money. The employee alerted the store manager who told the robber to leave.

The robber took back his note and left the store without any money saying, “I’m not joking. I will be back.”

About 20 minutes earlier, police said a similar incident took place at a Conoco station in the 2800 block of 8th Avenue.

In that incident, the robber also handed the clerk a demand note, threatening he had a gun and demanding money. “The clerk initially thought the actions were amusing,” Fort Worth police said. But the robber told the clerk he was “serious” and the clerk handed over $700.

No one was hurt in either incident. Police said they believe the two incidents may be related.

The suspect was described as a black man in his 20s, about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds. He had a bandage under his right eye. He wore a white T-shirt under a red, white and blue flannel shirt. He had black pants and white and black tennis shoes.

Anyone with information was asked to call police at 817-392-4370 or Crime Stoppers at 817-469-TIPS.

Woman shot during post-Thanksgiving brawl

2007-11-24T05:25:00.000-08:00

This doesn't qualify for Bullets for Life, but the amount of bungling in this story is good for a laugh.

http://startelegram.typepad.com/crime_time/2007/11/woman-shot-duri.html

Woman shot during post-Thanksgiving brawl

A post-Thanksgiving get-together at a home in south Fort Worth turned violent at about 1:30 a.m. Friday when the ex-boyfriend of a woman who lived there showed up with three friends.

There was a brawl, and then the woman's mother grabbed a handgun, which was wrestled away by one of the the ex-boyfriend's companions, police said.

That man pounded the gun into the back of the mother's head and then tried to shoot her, but the gun's magazine had fallen out of the gun, police said.

He slid the magazine back into the gun, jacked a round into the chamber and shot once, wounding a relative of the mother, police said.

The man may have also shot himself while fumbling with the gun.

Three people were arrested; others went to the hospital.

-- Bill Miller

Woman, 75, hammers home her complaint with Comcast

2007-10-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

Woman, 75, hammers home her complaint with Comcast

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5227180.html

By NEELY TUCKER
Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Sometimes truly American virtues arise in outlaws who — by dint of heroic but questionable endeavors — display the mettle of the national character.

For instance: The Dillinger Gang, robbing banks (and destroying mortgages) when banks were foreclosing on the poor. Stephanie St. Clair, matron of the numbers racket during the Harlem Renaissance, striking a (dubious) blow for both gender and racial equality. Junior Johnson bootlegging liquor during Prohibition (the benefits of which were self-evident).

Fear not, fellow Americans! In these dark days of war, pestilence and Paris Hilton, a new hero has arisen. She is none other than 75-year-old Mona "The Hammer" Shaw, who took the aforementioned implement to her local Comcast office to settle a score, and boy, did she ever.

This was after the company had scheduled installation of its much ballyhooed "Triple Play" service, which combines phone, cable and Internet services, in Shaw's brick home in suburban Bristow, Va. But Shaw said they failed to show up on the appointed day, Monday, Aug. 13. They came two days later but left with the job half done. On Friday morning, they cut off all service.

This was the company that has had consumer service problems serious enough to prompt the trade magazine Advertising Age to editorialize that Comcast and other cable providers should spend less on advertising and more on customer service. And has spawned a blog called ComcastMustDie.com that's filled with posts from angry customers.

So on that Friday, Mona Shaw and her husband, Don, went to the call center office in Manassas, Va., to complain.

Let's pick it up, mid-action, according to Shaw:

Mona demands to speak to a manager. A customer service representative says someone will be right with them. Directs them to a bench, outside. (Remember, it's mid-August.) Mona and Don sit.

Tick, tick, tick, goes the clock. Sit, sit, sit, go Mona and Don.

For. Two. Hours.

And then — this is the best part — the customer rep leans out the door and says the manager has left for the day. Thanks for coming!

Oh, the sputtering outrage!

The insulting idea that, as Shaw puts it, "they thought just because we're old enough to get Social Security that we lack both brains AND backbone."

So, after stewing over it all weekend, on the following Monday, she went downstairs, got Don's claw hammer and said, "C'mon, honey, we're going to Comcast."

Did you try to stop her, Mr. Shaw?

"Oh no, no," he says.

Hammer time: Shaw storms in the company's office. BAM! She whacks the keyboard of the customer service rep. BAM! Down goes the monitor. BAM! She totals the telephone. People scatter, scream, cops show up and what does she do? POW! A parting shot to the phone!

"They cuffed me right then," she says.

Her take on Comcast: "What a bunch of sub-moronic imbeciles."

Being a responsible newspaper, we must note that this is a misdemeanor, a crime, a completely inappropriate way of handling a business dispute.

Noted.

Who among us has not longed for a hammer in this age of incompetent "customer service representatives," of nimrods reading from a script at some 800-number location, of crumbs-in-their-beards plumbing installation people who tell you they'll grace you with their presence between 12 and 3, only never to show? And you'll call and call and finally some outsourced representative slings a dart at a calendar and tells you another guy will come back between 10 and 2 next Thursday? And when this guy comes, pants halfway down his behind, he'll tell you he brought the wrong part?

And there is nothing, nothing you can do.

Until there! On the horizon! It's Hammer Woman, avenger of oppressed cable subscribers everywhere! (Cue galloping "Lone Ranger" theme.)

"I scared the tar out of some people, at least," she says. "It had never occurred to me to take a hammer to a phone company before, but I was just so upset. ... After I hit the keyboard, I turned to this blonde who had been there the previous Friday, the one who told me to wait for the manager, and I said, 'NOW do I have your attention?' "

It wasn't all fun.

"My blood pressure went up around my ears. I started hyperventilating. They had to call the rescue squad and put me on a litter."

By the time it was over, she recalls, there were an ambulance, two police cruisers and a sergeant's car in the parking lot. Shaw received a three-month suspended sentence for disorderly conduct, a $345 fine in restitution and a year-long restraining order barring her from the Comcast office.

"Truly a unique and inappropriate situation," says Beth Bacha, a vice president for Comcast. She says company policy forbids disclosure of clients' records, but did say their files note that the service record wasn't exactly what Shaw has indicated. Besides, "nothing justifies this sort of dangerous behavior."

Bacha noted that Comcast has more than 25 million customers, the overwhelming majority of which are very satisfied with their service.

Manassas police spokesman Sgt. Tim Neumann says there have been other police calls to that Comcast office, but he doesn't know what prompted them.

Bob Garfield, who runs ComcastMustDie, wrote last week he was happy the site had become an outlet for "so much deep-seated rage," but hoped customers would "keep the hammer assaults down to a bare minimum."

From what we can tell, Mona Shaw is not, actually, a raving lunatic armed with construction tools.

She is a nice lady who lives in a nice house. She and Don are both retired from the Air Force (she was a registered nurse). They have been married 45 years. She is secretary of the local AARP, secretary of a square-dancing club and takes in strays for the local animal shelter (they have seven dogs at the moment). She has a heart condition. She lifts weights at a local gym. The couple attend a Unitarian Universalist church.

Police gave her the hammer back, though she swears she's content to ride off into the sunset of True Crime Stories in America, never again to go Com-smash-tic on her local cable provider.

She does, however, finally, have phone service.

With Verizon.

West Dallas business owner kills 2 suspected burglars in 3 weeks

2007-10-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

[ below is video of the interview with Walton. The news woman was fired after the interview.]

09:32 PM CDT on Sunday, October 14, 2007

By MARISSA ALANIS / The Dallas Morning News
malanis@dallasnews.com

A Ledbetter-area business owner fatally shot a suspected burglar Sunday morning – the second time in three weeks that he killed an intruder, Dallas police said.

James Walton, owner of Able Walton Machine & Welding in the 2000 block of Chalk Hill Road in West Dallas, was alerted to the intruder when his motion sensor system activated about 9 a.m. Sunday, police said.

Mr. Walton, who also lives at his business, went downstairs with a shotgun and fired at a man who had broken in. The intruder was later identified by police as Jimmy Gannon of Ferris.

Police said Mr. Walton also noticed another man outside Sunday. Mr. Walton shot and wounded that man. He escaped, but a witness eventually led police to him. The man, whom police did not immediately identify, was questioned by officers Sunday afternoon.

Mr. Gannon, 37, was taken to Methodist Dallas Medical Center, where he died.

Police said Mr. Walton is allowed to protect his property. No charges were filed against him Sunday, though the case will be referred to a grand jury, police said.

"He's got a right to defend his property. What gives a stranger the right to go in and vandalize or burglarize his business?" said Dallas police Sgt. Gene Reyes. "He's within every legal right to do this."

Mr. Walton could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Dallas police Sgt. Andrew Harvey said he doesn't believe anything was stolen from Mr. Walton's business on Sunday.

On Sept. 22, Mr. Walton shot and killed a man he saw climbing through a pried-open window of his business, police said. The intruder was later identified as Raul Laureles. That incident also was referred to a grand jury.

Couple at Joe's Cleaners team to foil, kill robber

2007-10-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

Far East Dallas: Wife produces 9mm and husband opens fire

12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 9, 2007

By STEVE THOMPSON / The Dallas Morning News
stevethompson@dallasnews.com

Customers picking up pants and shirts pulled up beside a large bloodstain Monday in the parking lot of Joe's Cleaners.

Asked to describe his lethal encounter with a robber a few hours earlier, owner Joseph Baggett apologized for saying little.

"I've still got work in there I've got to finish," he said.

But in between filling out police reports, pressing clothes and answering phone calls, the 53-year-old retired Army warrant officer gave his account.

A man smelling of alcohol came into his store in the 1500 block of John West Road in Far East Dallas and then just left, Mr. Baggett said.

A few minutes later, he returned, this time barging in holding a gun.

"The money's over there; go get it," Mr. Baggett recalled saying as he backed away from the counter and motioned toward the register.

His wife ducked around a corner.

The robber ignored him. "Turn around; we're going to the back," he said. He grabbed Mr. Baggett by the wrist and held the gun to the back of his head. "Where's the lady at?"

As they were headed for the back of the store, Mr. Baggett's wife emerged from behind them.

She was holding Mr. Baggett's 9 mm handgun.

"Stop it or I'll shoot you," she told the robber.

Mr. Baggett said he felt the robber's pistol come off the back of his head, so he spun around and grabbed it.

"I don't think he was expecting that."

The pair struggled a moment until Mr. Baggett pushed the robber away.

Mr. Baggett's wife handed him the 9 mm, and he fired three times. A bullet hit the robber in the face.

The man stumbled out the front door and fell in the parking lot, still holding his gun. Emergency workers tried to revive him, but he was soon dead.

Police didn't identify the robber Monday, pending notification of his next of kin. They said Mr. Baggett appears to have acted in self-defense, but the facts, as is routine, will be given to a grand jury.

It was evening before Mr. Baggett found a chance to drag a hose around to the front of his store. In shorts and a cutoff shirt, he washed down the bloodstain before closing up shop.

Convenience store turns tables on robber

2007-08-09T06:30:00.000-07:00

Convenience store turns tables on robber

Thu Aug 9, 5:18 AM ET

A robber's clumsy pursuit of cash left him staring at the barrel of his own shotgun after he set it on the convenience store counter and the clerk snatched it up, officials said.

A surveillance video captured the man in sunglasses and a hooded sweat shirt, stuffing money from the register into his pockets and leaving his gun unattended early Tuesday.

That's when Quail Street News clerk Hafiz Alam grabbed the weapon by the barrel, quickly turned it around and pointed it at the man, who dashed out.

Seconds later, the robber rushed back into the store and leaped over the counter. Alam and the suspect, 22-year-old Justin Walker, struggled over the gun off-camera, authorities said.

The gun went off, but neither man was injured.

The robber drove off, but not before a truck driver took down his license plate number.

Police said they tracked the suspect to an Albany apartment, where they launched tear gas inside and got him to surrender. He was arrested and charged with robbery.

Employees foil bank robber

2007-07-27T06:13:00.001-07:00

Employees foil bank robber

By BRETT HOFFMAN
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Employees of a southwest Fort Worth bank wrestled a would-be robber to the ground Thursday afternoon and held him until officers arrived, police reported.

The man walked up to a teller at Southwest Bank, 3700 S.W. Loop 820, about 3:40 p.m. and handed over a note demanding money and saying he had a weapon, said Lt. Dean Sullivan, a police spokesman.

Another employee approached and tried to talk to the robber, which led to a scuffle. Other employees rushed to wrestle the robber down, Sullivan said.

The employees said he looked like a man who held up the bank two weeks ago, he said.

"They deserve credit," Sullivan said. "They took action to prevent their bank from being robbed again." No weapon was found, he said.

Officers arrested a 42-year-old Arlington man, but Sullivan declined to give his name. Investigators are comparing evidence from other bank robberies, he said.

According to a Star-Telegram report, the bank was robbed July 12 by a man who was described as black, between 30 and 40 years old and about 5 feet 9 inches tall.

Police: Clerk Wrestles, Fatally Shoots Armed Robber

2007-06-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

This from nbc5i.com

Police: Clerk Wrestles, Fatally Shoots Armed Robber

POSTED: 9:06 am CDT June 14, 2007

UPDATED: 9:30 am CDT June 14, 2007

BALCH SPRINGS, Texas -- A convenience store clerk wrestled a shotgun away from a would-be robber and then shot and killed him, police said.

Balch Springs police said the attempted robbery took place at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Big 5 grocery store on the 1400 block of Peachtree Road near Bruton Road.

Police said an armed man walked into the store but was soon wrestling with the clerk. During the struggle, the clerk shot and killed the armed robber, police said.

The identity of the suspected robber has not been revealed.

Police said the investigation into the shooting will continue but that they do not expect to file any charges against the clerk.

Citizens Foil Alleged Dallas Child Abduction

2007-04-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

Apr 25, 2007 6:45 pm US/Central
Citizens Foil Alleged Dallas Child Abduction

J.D. Miles
Reporting

(CBS 11 News) DALLAS Dallas police call it an attempted child abduction foiled by citizens. Police say neighbors took action when a man tried to pull an 8-year-old boy into his car.

It happened while the boy was walking home from school in Northeast Dallas.

Police say they still don't know what motive Edward Stenger, 46, had for trying to take Quavon Washington, but he now faces criminal charges.

Meanwhile the Washington's' family is thanking citizen's who took action and prevented a possible abduction.

Young Quavon is back home with his family after a frightening day. The elementary school student was walking home from school, near Walnut Hill and Skillman, when passing motorists saw Stenger trying to pull the boy into his car.

"I noticed the man was white and the child was black which is what caught my eye in the first place," says passing motorist Dedra Puckett. "I slowed just in time to see him pull the child's arm, and the child try to pull away from him."

Puckett and three other motorists blocked the man's car with their vehicles and called police.

"As I walked up he said the child was, 'lost' and the boy was shaking his head no, no, no," Puckett said. The observant driver says she thinks she acted appropriately. "I definitely feel like I did the right thing. In my mind that man was trying to take that child."

Quavon's mother is convinced her son would have been abducted. "I am so grateful. I hugged one lady - the lady that was in the Jeep directly behind him," D'Avalon Henderson said.

Police say Stenger was taken into custody by child exploitation officers and will be charged with unlawful restraint.

When CBS 11 News contacted Dallas police we we're told Stenger is free on a $1,500 bond and was only charged with unlawful restraint because police he allegedly never actually took the child.

Man camps out at work, busts burglars

2007-04-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

From: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070331/ap_on_fe_st/do_it_yourself_cop;_ylt=Ath1hyRvxgYA6VsdBj7QaEIsQE4F

Man camps out at work, busts burglars
Fri Mar 30, 9:18 PM ET

Steve Bauer had had enough after two nights of someone breaking into his business and stealing antiques. So he armed himself with a cola bottle and a .44-caliber Magnum and spent the night at work. Soon, Bauer had his man. And a woman.
Bauer, owner of Steve Bauer Properties, was fed up after burglars hit his business twice. So he spent the night at his realty office on Wednesday.
Bauer, 51, had the gun for protection, and he propped the plastic bottle at the back door so it would make a noise if someone opened it.
"I fell asleep sometime after 11," he said. "I woke up when I heard the bottle fall. I could hear papers shuffling in my office."
Bauer peeked into his office and saw a woman with a flashlight looking through his desk. He asked what she was doing, and the woman called him by name and replied she was looking for a house to rent.
"I said, 'Ma'am, it's midnight, and you have a flashlight. I don't believe so. I believe you need to lay down on the ground.'"
Bauer called Athens police, and he heard someone outside while he was on the phone. The woman's boyfriend was in a pickup truck.
"I ordered him to get out and put his hands on the truck," Bauer said. "I told him I had a gun and was on the phone with police, but he cranked the truck and took off."
Bauer shot at the truck's back tires, but a bullet ricocheted off the road and hit the window of another business.
An officer arrived and handcuffed the woman, who remained on the floor, while others searched for the pickup.
"A .44 Magnum's a big gun," Bauer said. "It probably looked like a cannon to her. I think it scared her into staying put."
Police spotted the truck and tried to stop the driver, but he kept going and went to his home, where officers arrested the man.
Police charged Daniel Stubbs, 46, with driving under the influence, drug possession, burglary, attempting to elude, driving with a suspended license and having an open container of alcohol. Stubbs was released from the Limestone County Jail on $8,000 bond.
Police charged his girlfriend, 43-year-old Daphne Watkins, with two counts of burglary. She was out of jail on $4,000 bond, and Bauer said police have recovered most of his antiques, such as Tiffany lamps, cuckoo clocks and jewelry.
Bauer suspects his office was targeted because the two have attended some of the same auctions.
"I don't think they've ever come into my office for business, but they probably recognized me from those auctions and realized I had antiques," he said.
___
Information from: The Decatur Daily, http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/index.shtml

Police: Retired U.S. Tourist in Costa Rica Kills Mugger With Bare Hands

2007-04-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

From http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,253959,00.html

Police: Retired U.S. Tourist in Costa Rica Kills Mugger With Bare Hands
Friday , February 23, 2007

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — An American senior citizen killed an alleged mugger with his bare hands, and his traveling companions aboard a tour bus fended off two other assailants in the Atlantic coast city of Limon, police said.
A retired member of the U.S. military aged about 70 put suspect Warner Segura in a head lock and broke his clavicle after the 20-year-old and two other men armed with a knife and gun held up their tour bus, Luis Hernandez, the police chief of Limon, 80 miles east of San Jose, said Thursday. Segura was later declared dead, apparently from asphyxiation.
The two other men fled when the 12 senior citizens started defending themselves during the Wednesday attack. Afterward, the tourists drove Segura to the Red Cross where he was declared dead. The Red Cross also treated one of the tourists for an anxiety attack, Hernandez said.
The tourists left on their Carnival cruise ship after the incident and Hernandez said authorities do not plan to press any charges against them.
"They were in their right to defend themselves after being held up," he said.
Hernandez said Segura had previous charges against him for assaults.
In a media statement, Miami, Fla.-based Carnival Cruise Lines said the Wednesday incident occurred during an outing at a Limon beach which a group of a dozen passengers had arranged on their own.
"According to witnesses, while sightseeing at a local beach, the group of guests were approached by three assailants, one of whom was armed," the statement said.
"The victims struggled with the armed perpetrator, and were able to disarm him. During this process, the gunman's two accomplices fled the scene. In the course of disarming and restraining the assailant, he died from apparent asphyxiation."
Neither the Costa Rican police nor Carnival identified the man involved in the struggle with the mugger.
The cruise line said the guests were questioned by local law enforcement and then returned to the ship. The ship's departure from Limon was slightly delayed to await their return.
"All of the guests involved, who had booked the cruise together as a group, have opted to continue with their vacation plans. Carnival is providing full support and assistance to the guests," according to the statement.
The ship, The Carnival Liberty, continued on its scheduled itinerary, with a port call scheduled in Colon, Panama.

Bullets For Life

2007-03-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

I read the strange news, news of the weird and the police blotter regularly. There are crazy people in this world. They do crazy things and get caught doing crazy things. This blog is an attempt to honor those who stand up against injustice despite immeasurable odds. The 60 year old grandma who thwarts the mugger. The retired tourist who beats a thief. The man who camps out in his store to catch the robbers. These are their stories.

Those who are against the evil doers, well, they get bullets for life.