Curses, foiled again
Police investigating a burglary in Lake Worth, Fla., identified Derek Codd, 19, as their suspect because he left his cellphone at the scene, and his mother called. Investigators answered and asked the woman whose phone it was. They then arrested Codd and Kristen Rynearson, 19, with the stolen goods. (South Florida Sun Sentinel) Authorities in Jonesboro, Ark., thwarted Larry Barnett’s plan to have a former employee murdered because the intended victim overheard the plot for himself when Barnett, 68, butt-dialed him while talking to a third party about burning down the man’s house “with him in it.” The call lasted 90 minutes, giving the target time to alert police, who found his gas stove had been tampered with. (Jonesboro’s KAIT-TV)
Sunny daze
Utility companies in Georgia, Arizona, California and Idaho, fearing the loss of revenue from customers who install rooftop solar panels, are proposing to charge solar customers extra or to roll back programs that allow those customers to trade the solar power they generate for power from the grid that they need when the sun isn’t shining. Georgia Power, for example, wants owners of basic home solar systems to pay an extra $22 a month. (Associated Press) Most solar panels are facing the wrong way, according to a study by the Pecan Street Research Institute. Instead of pointing south as most do to get the maximum benefit, panels pointed west produce 49 percent more electricity during peak demand time. (Treehugger.com)
Slightest provocation
Adrian Laroze Briskey, 28, shot and killed a fellow University of Alabama football fan, according to police in Hoover, Ala., because she didn’t think the victim seemed sufficiently upset when rival Auburn beat the Crimson Tide. “She said we weren’t real Alabama fans because it didn’t bother us that they lost,” the victim’s sister, Nekesa Shepherd, said, adding that Briskey flew into a rage. “And then she started shooting.” (Associated Press) Daniel Pirtie, 46, shot a Wal-Mart assistant manager at a store in Anchorage, Alaska, who asked him to leave after he wouldn’t put his service dog on a leash inside the store. After wounding Jason Mahi, 33, Pirtie, a double amputee, tried to flee in a motorized shopping cart, but police arrived and stopped him at the door. (Anchorage Daily News) Alex Rossi attacked his father at a home in Lyman, S.C., after the father confronted him about cheese packets missing from a box of macaroni and cheese. The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office arrest report said that Rossi chased after the victim and then punched him in the face and head. (Greenville’s WSPA-TV) James L. Cothran, 70, told sheriff’s deputies in Culleoka, Tenn., that he shot his wife to death after she threatened him with a kitchen knife because he refused to take off the shoes he was wearing. The shoes had belonged to the victim’s father, who died 30 years ago, according to the police report, which said the two argued for about 30 minutes until Cothran fired his .22 magnum revolver at his wife, claiming that she “had a crazy look in her eyes.” (Columbia’s The Daily Herald)
Compiled from mainstream news sources by Roland Sweet. Authentication on demand.
