Stupid people of the week

Firing Upheld for LAPD Officers Playing Pokémon Go Instead of Responding to Robbery

A California appellate court has ruled that two Los Angeles police officers were properly fired for playing Pokémon Go instead of responding to a robbery.

The court ruled on Friday that the LAPD was justified in firing Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell for misconduct in 2017, the Sacramento Bee reported Monday.

On April 15, 2017, a video system in their patrol car captured the officers discussing how to catch a Snorlax and trying to capture the rare Tegetic in the game while ignoring a report of several people who were in the process of robbing a Macy’s in the Crenshaw area, according to the ruling.

A police captain who arrived at the scene saw another patrol car parked nearby and wondered why the officers hadn’t responded and answered it himself, court documents said.

The officers claimed they hadn’t heard the radio request for backup but on the patrol car recordings, they were heard discussing whether to respond and Lozano could be heard saying, “Ah, screw it,” according to the court filings.

The officers are then heard for the next 20 minutes discussing the GPS-based Pokémon augmented reality cellphone game and driving to various locations to “capture” virtual creatures, the filings said.

They were fired after a police board of rights unanimously ruled that the two officers committed misconduct that was “unprofessional and embarrassing” and violated the public’s trust.

The officers asked a court to overturn their firings, arguing among other things that the recordings of their private conversations were improperly used as evidence but the Superior Court judge denied their petition. The appeals court upheld that decision.

Source; NBC Los Angeles

Video shows a man had to be rescued after he got stuck in a chimney of the house he was suspected of trying to rob

A man suspected of burglarizing a house in Maryland got stuck in the chimney and had to be rescued, WTOP News reported.

Officers responded to a call about an attempted robbery at a home in Montgomery County during the early hours of Saturday morning, a police spokesperson said.

WTOP reported that the man, who has not yet been publicly identified, became trapped in the home’s chimney during the attempted break-in.

The man was “not authorized” to be there, said Pete Piringer, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, in a series of tweets.

Montgomery County police spokesperson Shiera Goff told WTOP News that the man was attempting to rob the home when he ended up lodged in the chimney.

Two dozen firefighters were called to assist police in removing the would-be burglar, Piringer added. It took them an hour and a half to free him, per WTOP.

The extrication process involved removing bricks individually and peeling away the wall, photos and videos show.

The man suffered minor injuries, according to WTOP.

He traveled by ambulance to the hospital with a police escort, authorities said.

Source; Insider

Mom put teenage son with COVID in trunk for drive-thru testing, Texas officials say

A 13-year-old boy was found in the trunk of his mom’s car when she took him to get a COVID-19 test at a drive-thru site in Texas, authorities said.

The woman had taken her son, who had recently tested positive for COVID-19, to the site at Ken Pridgeon Stadium in Houston on Monday, Jan. 3, according to a probable cause statement from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Ken Pridgeon Stadium is a Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District facility.

While in line, the mom told the school district’s health service director that she drove to the stadium with her son in the trunk as she didn’t want to be exposed to the coronavirus while taking him to get additional testing, according to the statement. The director working the line then asked to see the child, and the mom unlatched the trunk. The teenager was found “lying down in the trunk.”

The health service director told the mother that her child would not be tested until he was placed in the back seat of the vehicle, records show. The director then left to call police, and when she returned the son was in the back seat.

In a statement provided to McClatchy News, the Cypress-Fairbanks school district said its police department conducted an investigation after being alerted to the child in the trunk.

A review of school security surveillance cameras captured the moment the teen moved from the trunk to the back seat, according to the probable cause statement.

Police have since issued a warrant for the woman’s arrest, according to the district.

“Thankfully, the child was not harmed,” the district said.

The district attorney’s office says the woman faces a felony charge of endangering a child.

Source; Yahoo!

Community rallies around Houston-area teacher who allegedly put son in trunk because he had COVID-19

The Houston-area teacher accused of putting her son in the trunk because he had COVID-19 is getting support from the community.

Sarah Beam, a teacher at Cypress Falls High School in the Cy-Fair Independent School District, was charged with endangering a child and arrested last week.

According to court documents, Beam took her 13-year-old son to a drive-thru COVID testing site at Pridgeon Stadium on Monday, Jan. 3, for additional testing.

A CFISD employee who was gathering information from people in line said Beam told her the boy was in the trunk because she didn’t want to be exposed to the virus.

The employee alerted Cy-Fair ISD police and provided the woman’s license plate number and other information used to identify her.

The boy wasn’t hurt but the Texas Department of Public Safety officials said he could have been if there’d been an accident since he wasn’t protected by a seat belt, as required by law.

The story has gone viral, but not everyone agrees with the decision to charge Beam.

Several colorful signs showing support for the teacher are now posted outside her home. Students call her “the best teacher ever” and “a teacher with a heart of gold” and they assure her they “have her back.”

There are also several letters posted on Beam’s front door.

Beam has worked for CFISD since 2011 and is currently a teacher at Cy-Falls. She has been placed on administrative leave, the district confirmed.

She was released on bond over the weekend.

Source; WFAA

If you ask me, people with a “heart of gold” don’t shove their own children in trunks of cars. She has no business being anywhere near children if you ask me.

Personal trainer, 64, sues luxury health club where he worked for age discrimination because they refuse to play any music that is more than 18 months old

An internationally-renowned personal trainer sued the luxury health club where he worked for age discrimination – because they refused to play music that was recorded more than 18 months ago.

Fitzroy Gaynes, 64, started working part-time as a personal trainer at London health club chain Third Space in April 2001 having enjoyed a ‘long and successful’ career with an ‘international reputation’ in fitness, an employment tribunal heard.

His employers were described as a ‘cutting edge’ and ‘modern’ organisation for whom image and presentation had become an ‘increasing priority’.

The central London hearing was told this was emphasised by its Music Brand Standards Policy which stipulated that any music played in the club must have been produced and released in the last 18 months.

There was no bar on playing ‘old’ music, as long as it was a recent recording or a recent remix, the hearing was told.

Mr Gaynes, who said he does not listen to Radio One or go clubbing, complained that the gym’s policy put him at a disadvantage, claiming that he was being discriminated against by his employers’ refusal to play older music.

But his claim was thrown out by an employment tribunal on December 20 last year after the club – where membership costs more than £200 a month – argued that tracks recorded ‘years ago’ just don’t sound as good when played through their sound systems.

There’s more at the source. Check the guy out though, because we should all look that good at 64.

Source; Daily Mail

Probation For Man Who Violated Stuffed Unicorn, “Frozen” Doll Inside Target Store

A man who engaged in sexual conduct with a pair of “large stuffed animal toys” at a Target store in Florida was sentenced today to six months probation after pleading no contest to indecent exposure and criminal mischief charges.

Cody Meader, 22, entered his misdemeanor plea before a Circuit Court judge who also ordered the St. Petersburg man to pay $725 in court costs and fines, according to court records.

Meader, seen at right, was arrested in late-2019 after “willfully and maliciously” damaging Target goods “by ejaculating on the merchandise.”

Meader, cops reported, initially took a stuffed unicorn to the children’s bedding department, exposed himself, and then “took the unicorn and placed it against his penis and began a sexual motion like the subject was trying to have sex with the unicorn.”

Wearing shorts and a Star Wars t-shirt, Meader then proceeded to the front of the store and “picked up an Olaf snowman stuffed animal” from a display featuring characters from the Disney film “Frozen” and “began having sex with this stuffed animal and it was all on video,” according to a Target loss prevention officer interviewed by police. “The subject finished having sex with the stuffed animal and ejaculated on it and then wiped it off.”

When confronted, cops say, Meader admitted to “doing ‘stupid stuff’ and admitted that he had ‘nutted’ on the Olaf stuffed animal.” As seen above, a store surveillance camera recorded Meader engaged with the Olaf doll, which he returned in its soiled state to a pile of other stuffed animals.

The two stuffed dolls violated by Meader are pictured in the below police photos.

The police photos of the defiled toys. Cops did them dirty just photographing them laying on the concrete like dirty whores.

Source; The Smoking Gun

Alleged Drunk Driver Backed Into Police Car, Poured Out Alcohol While Being Questioned

Awoman pulled over for several traffic violations in Troy, Michigan, was questioned by the police about the liquid in a plastic cup in her car. She reportedly told officers it was an alcoholic beverage before spilling it out on the ground.

Local station WDIV-TV reported that officers pulled the woman over at 10:22 p.m. on January 3. The 35-year-old woman came to a stop in her SUV, but put it in reverse and hit the bumper of the police squad car.

Officials said that when responding officers spoke with the woman, who did not have a driver’s license with her, they noticed she spoke quickly, her speech was slurred and she had difficulty concentrating when she spoke with the officers.

Police said there was a plastic cup with a blue liquid in the cupholder. When asked what the liquid was, the woman said it was her Smirnoff drink. She then allegedly poured it out on the ground.

After performing field sobriety tests, the outlet reported that the woman took a breath test, which displayed a .107 percent blood-alcohol content.

Police arrested the woman and she took a chemical breath test. Officials said the second test showed results of .10 percent.

According to WDIV-TV, the woman was charged with operating under the influence of alcohol, no operator’s license on person and open intoxicant.

Newsweek reached out to Troy Police Department for additional information but did not hear back by press time.

Source; MSN

NYC suspects pose as cops during Bronx home invasion, but real NYPD officers not fooled

Three suspects in New York City allegedly dressed up as cops to perform a home invasion and steal $160,000 in drug money before real NYPD officers stopped them in their tracks.

Federal prosecutors say Rashiem Council, Paris Fulton and Terrence McKee were all dressed as NYPD officers and pretended to be law enforcement when they forced their way into the Bronx apartment of Michael Garcia, while Garcia’s partner and their two children were also inside.

The three men, all from Connecticut, handcuffed Garcia and held him at gunpoint, demanding to know where he kept his drug money, according to the criminal complaint. Prosecutors say the three men stole approximately $160,000 in narcotics proceeds and approximately three kilograms of cocaine from Garcia.

At some point during the ordeal, someone inside the building dialed 911 to report the home invasion.

NYPD officers had already arrived at the building and were entering the lobby when the elevator door opened to reveal Council, Fulton and McKee leading out Garcia in handcuffs.

They tried to avoid the officers and walked toward the door, according to the complaint.

The officers asked Council, Fulton and McKee what unit they were with, and the three men insisted their sergeant was waiting for them outside. Once they exited the doors of the building, Garcia took off running, and the NYPD officers pursued all four men.

Officers first caught up with Council, McKee and Garcia. At some point during the short pursuit, an officer witnessed one of the defendants throw a firearm into the street. Officers found two other firearms near the building. NYPD soon found and arrested Fulton near his car parked by the building.

Police said they searched Fulton’s car with his consent and found a fourth firearm inside a backpack.

“Such brazen and dangerous conduct will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Wednesday. “Thanks to the work of the NYPD and federal law enforcement, these defendants face significant federal charges for their alleged crimes.”

“Today’s criminal complaint once again highlights the NYPD’s swift work to neutralize the most violent elements of an alleged narcotics enterprise,” newly sworn-in NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a statement. “Our covenant with New Yorkers is to always answer their calls for help and to work with our partners to ensure justice and I commend the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York for their work with our officers in this important case.”

Prosecutors charged 33-year-old Council, 29-year-old Fulton and 33-year-old McKee each with one count of narcotics conspiracy and one count of brandishing firearms in connection to the narcotics conspiracy. Garcia, 36, is also facing one count of possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams and more of cocaine in connection to the incident.

Source; FOX News

Category: "Teh Stoopid", Crime, Police, WTF?