Friday, July 17, 2009

Man tries to fix airbed, blows up apartment

BERLIN (Reuters) – A German who tried to fix his leaky air mattress blew up his apartment instead, the fire brigade in the western city of Duesseldorf said on Wednesday.

The 45-year-old man used tyre repair solvent to plug a hole in his airbed and left it overnight.

But it blew up when he went to inflate it the next day." A spark from the electric air pump ignited it," a fire brigade spokesman said.

The blast pushed his living room wall into the building's stairwell and caused extensive damage to walls, windows and furniture.

Fire fighters evacuated the 12-apartment building and a neighbouring housing block while they checked for structural damage.

The man suffered burns on his arms, while a three-year-old girl suffered first degree burns.

via Yahoo News

Friday, July 3, 2009

Fort Collins woman accused of sex with "Furry" teen

via denverpost.com

Richael Michels A 45-year-old Fort Collins mother is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old boy who also was part of a group that enjoys dressing up as animals.

Richael L. Michels faces sexual assault on a child charges, according to the arrest affidavit the Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper posted on its website. Her husband notified the Colorado Department of Human Services in May that his wife might be having an improper online relationship with a teen-aged boy, the affidavit says.

He also told investigators she had "recently become involved with a group known as 'Furries,' who dress up like animals and have social gatherings online and in person."

Members of the group gave statements to police after the woman's affectionate, sometimes intimate behavior with the teenager at Furries gatherings, called "furmeets."

According to the arrest affadavit, Michels is friends with the boy's mother. The boy told investigators Michels "even made a comment about the irony of (his) mom trusting her as a mentor ... and the whole time she was having sex with him."

The boy told police that he and Michels had sex several times, according to the affidavit.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Flight diverted after passenger undresses in seat

via Yahoo News

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A passenger stripped naked during a US Airways flight and resisted a flight attendant's efforts to cover him with a blanket before two off-duty law enforcement officers on board subdued and handcuffed him, authorities said Wednesday.

Keith Wright, 50, of the Bronx in New York, was taken into custody after he disrobed while sitting in his seat in the back of Flight 705 on Tuesday evening, authorities said. The plane was carrying about 148 passengers from Charlotte to Los Angeles, the airline said.

Wright was unresponsive when a flight attendant asked him to put his clothes back on, said Dan Jiron, a spokesman for the Albuquerque airport. 'She asked him on more than one occasion to put on his clothes. She covered him with a blanket and he took that off,' Jiron said.

Wright punched and kicked the flight attendant, who asked two off-duty law officers for help, according to a criminal complaint. A Los Angeles police officer and sheriff's deputy helped the flight attendant subdue and handcuff Wright before the flight landed, Jiron said.

The flight attendants also were dealing with an unrelated onboard medical emergency at the same time, which exacerbated the situation, the FBI said. The aircraft was diverted because of the medical emergency, and Wright's actions were a secondary reason for the unplanned landing, the complaint said.

Roger Finzel, an assistant federal public defender representing Wright, said he has not yet met with his client and had no information about the case other than what was in the complaint.

Wright told the FBI he is suffering from a bipolar disorder and had not taken his prescribed medication before leaving New York that morning, the criminal complaint said. Wright told the FBI he recalled nothing about the flight or his behavior, it said.

Wright had been seen dancing in a crowded boarding area before the flight, but when approached by Flight Service Supervisor Claudia Kearney, he told her he had drunk one beer. Kearney told the FBI she did not smell alcohol on him and determined he was well enough to travel, the complaint said.

US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder could not confirm that Kearney worked for the airline.

Passenger Ginny Keegan of Detroit was sitting in the front of the plane, when there was commotion coming from the back. The people on the flight were notified of a violent passenger as the plane began to approach Albuquerque, but Keegan said no one was fearful.

'No one was really panicking. The flight attendants seemed to handle it very well,' she said. Keegan said the man was 'completely naked' as he was taken in handcuffs off the plane.

As the plane took off again, Keegan said the usual announcement to please fasten your seat belts came over the loudspeakers with a twist. The message included 'a reminder to everybody to please keep your clothing on. It got a couple chuckles,' Keegan said.

Wright is in federal custody on a federal charge of interfering with flight crew members and attendants. He is expected to appear in federal court in Albuquerque on Thursday."