(AP, 9/15/08, HERO!)
ROVER, CALL ME AN AMBULANCE — DOG CALLS 911
PHOENIX, Arizona – “Man’s best friend” doesn’t go far enough for Buddy — a German shepherd who remembered his training and saved his owner’s life by calling 911 when the man had a seizure.
And it’s not the first time Buddy has been there for owner Joe Stainaker, a police officer said Sunday.
On a recording of the 911 call Wednesday, Buddy is heard whimpering and barking after the dispatcher answers and repeatedly asks if the caller needs help.
“Hello, this is 911…Can you hear me? Is there somebody there you can give the phone to?” says the dispatcher, Chris Trott.
Police were sent to Stainaker’s home, and after about three minutes Buddy is heard barking loudly when the officers arrived.
Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said Stainaker spent two days in a hospital and recovered from the seizure.
“It’s pretty incredible,” Clark said. “Even the veteran dispatchers–they haven’t heard of anything like this.”
Clark said police are dispatched whenever 911 is called, but that Stainaker’s address was flagged in Scottsdale’s system with a notification that trained assistance dog could call 911 when the owner was incapacitated.
Clark said Stainaker adopted Buddy at the age of 8 weeks from Michigan-based PAWS WITH A CAUSE, which trains assistance dogs, and trained him to get the phone if (his owner) began to have seizure symptoms. Buddy, now 18 months old, is able to press programmed buttons until a 911 operator is on the line, Clark said.
Clark said Buddy has made two other 911 calls when Stainaker was having seizures.
He said Stainaker’s seizures are the result of a head injury he suffered about 10 years ago during a military training exercise.
Stainaker was not listed in the phone book, and he did not immediately respond through police for an interview.
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(AP, 9/15/08, ZERO!)
MOM ALLEGEDLY USES DAUGHTER’S ID TO BE CHEERLEADER
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin – A 33-year-old woman stole her daughter’s identity to attend high school and join the cheerleading squad, according to a criminal complaint filed against the woman.
Wendy Brown, of Green Bay, faces a felony identity theft charge after enrolling in Ashwaubenon High School as her 15-year-old daughter, who lives in Nevada with Brown’s mother.
According to the complaint, Brown wanted to get her high school degree and become a cheerleader because she didn’t have a childhood and wanted to regain a part of her life that she’d missed.
Brown allegedly attended cheerleading practices before school started, received a cheerleader’s locker and went to a pool party at the cheerleading coach’s house.
The $134.50 check Brown gave to the cheerleading coach for her uniform bounced, the complaint said.
A high school employee, Kim Demeny, told authorities that the woman, posing as a teen, seemed very timid. Demeny said she told her she was not good at math and even cried when she talked about moving from Pahrump Valley High School in Nevada. Demeny said she looked older than a student but had the demeanor of a high school girl.
A school liason officer started investigating after Brown only attended the first day of clases last week, the complaint said.
Assistant Principal Dirk Ribbins later learned Brown’s daughter was enrolled at Pahrump Valley HighSchool. Ribbins also spoke with Brown’s mother, who told him she had custody of the girl. She said Brown has a history of identity theft crimes, the complaint said.
Brown made her first court appearance Friday by video conference. The judge set bond at $8,000.
If convicted, she could face up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
There was no attorney listed in Brown’s online court records. her home number could not be found.
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(AP, 9/15/08, HERO? or ZERO?)
DAD CHASES NUDE BOY FROM DAUGHTER’S ROOM WITH PIPE
DELTONA, Florida – An angry Deltona father whacked his teenage daughter’s boyfriend with a metal pipe after finding the boy naked in his daughter’s room. Authorities say the father didn’t even know his daughter had a boyfriend or that the youngster had been sneaking into the home for more than a year.
When he heard noises coming from his daughter’s bedroom Thursday morning and saw a stranger standing naked on the girl’s bed, she swung a metal pipe. He then chased the teen out the front door and called police.
The boy was taken to the hospital where doctors closed a head wound with staples.
The father was charged with aggravated battery on a child and bonded out on $10,000.
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(AP, 9/19/08, HERO!)
TEEN ‘DETECTIVE’ LEADS POLICE TO STOLEN BIKE
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Plice in suburban Westchester County said a 13-year-old’s detective work led them to a 17-year-old accused of stealing a $2,275 mountain bike. Scarsdale Police said the bike was stolen while its 13-year-old owner was inside a vilalge deli.
The boy searched the Internet and found abike that fit the description of his for sale on eBay. he gave the information to investigators.
A detective posing as a potential buyer arranged to meet the bike’s seller in White Plains. Police arrested the 17-year-old on charges of felony criminal possession of stolen property.
The 17-year-old wasfreed without bail to his parents and is due in City Court on October 1st. There was no telephone listing for the teen’s address.
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(AP, 9/19/08, ZERO!)
MEN CHARGED WITH STEALING 82-YEAR-OLD CHURCH BELL
MERIDEN, Iowa – Two northwest Iowa men have been arrested and charged with stealing an 82-year-old bronze bell from a church. Authorities say the men stole the bell from the Oakdale Evangelical Free Church in Meriden on Sunday night.
The bell was sold at a salvage yard in Lakefield, Minnesota, and was recovered by authorities. it will be returned to the church.
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office says both men have been charged with third-degree theft. They are currently being held in the Cherokee County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bond.
The bell has been with the congregation since it was forged in 1926.
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(AP, 9/19/08, HERO!)
NO BULL: POLICE LASSO BULL ON NYC’s STREETS
NEW YORK – It looked like an urban rodeo on the streets of New York City.
Police say a young bull made a dash for freedom through the streets of Queens on Wednesday night but suddenly died before he could be taken to an animal sanctuary.
Police cars tried to steer the bull off the crowded roadways but the several-hundred-pound animal hit and damaged a squad car. An NYPD officer with urban cowboy skills lassoed the bull and it was tranquilized.
New York Center for Animal Care and Control spokesman Richard Gentles says the bull died less than an hour after it was brought in. he says veterinarieans found no signs of what had caused the bull’s death.
An NYPD spokesman says it’s not known where the bull had been kept.
