Friday, August 20, 2010

Jailhouse follies

After posting the "Junk in the Trunk" story, I thought I should keep trying to lighten things up, as all things from the crime beat aren't depressing. Here are a couple of recent amusing items from the daily police blotter I compile for the newspaper:

A University of Georgia student tried to buy his way out of an arrest with a song early Wednesday.

An officer saw the 19-year-old kicking a car in the parking lot of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 247 Pulaski St., about 2:30 a.m., so he went to check it out, Athens-Clarke police said.
First, the student tried to hide behind a car, then he ran and tried to get into a door of the fraternity house. As the officer closed in, the student took off and tried to climb a wrought-iron fence, police said.
His foot somehow got caught, and the officer helped him down from what he described as a "dangling" position, according to police.
The student explained that he ran because he'd been drinking, police said. He'd scratched his ankle on the fence and asked the officer to call for an ambulance. As they waited for it to arrive, the student tried to bargain, saying he would do anything to stay out of jail, even sing for the cop, police said.
The student was charged with underage drinking and obstruction, police said.


Man charged with stealing from club
Athens Banner-Herald
Published Thursday, August 19, 2010


An ex-con was arrested at a downtown strip club early Wednesday after a bouncer caught him swiping money from a cash register and tip jar, Athens-Clarke police said.
Frederick Kenya "Po Pimp" Cannon was at Toppers International Showbar, 100 Jackson St., about 1:15 a.m. when a bouncer flagged down an officer to report he caught Cannon stealing from the club, police said.
Cannon insisted he had done nothing wrong, and said he'd just been released from prison and only had 50 cents because the strip club "cleaned him out," according to police.
Surveillance video showed Cannon strike up a conversation with a woman working at a counter, and when she was distracted, he swiped money from the register, police said. A patron also saw him steal money from a tip jar, police said.
Cannon, who did prison time for robbery and drug possession, was charged with misdemeanor theft because the amount of money he tried to steal was about $15, police said.

Call to Ma helps police ID burglar
By Staff Reports - Athens Banner-Herald
Published Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Investigators are looking for an Athens man who broke into the Howard B. Stroud Elementary School on Monday night, but left behind his cell phone, Athens-Clarke police said.
Officers responded to an 11:25 p.m. burglar alarm and saw a man in the school's cafeteria, but he ran through a back door, police said.
He dropped his cell phone, which had a programmed number for "ma," police said. When an officer called the number, he spoke with the suspect's mother who said she didn't let him live with her anymore because he always steals, according to police.
The woman told officers her son stays with his grandfather in Colbert, and that he was supposed to appear in Madison County Superior Court on a burglary charge Monday, but he didn't show up, police said.