Maine
Man annoyed by noise threw table at car, say police
FARMINGTON, Maine (AP) - Police say a Maine man upset by the sound of a passing car's exhaust threw a table at the vehicle and then punched its teenage driver.
Police tell the Kennebec Journal that 57-year-old Charles Hubbard is charged with assault, terrorizing and criminal mischief. He's due in court Jan. 6. A message left at his home in Farmington was not immediately returned.
Police say a 16-year-old Chesterville boy was driving on Sunday afternoon when a man threw a table into the road at his car, damaging it.
The teenager stopped and got out. Police say Hubbard then punched the teen's face and threatened him.
Officers say Hubbard told them he threw the table because he was upset by the sound of the vehicle's exhaust.
Ohio
Family, police search for stolen Sasquatch statue
CINCINNATI (AP) - A southwest Ohio family is searching for Sasquatch.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the Spence family in Delhi Township, west of Cincinnati, says their 400-pound cement statue of the mythical beast was stolen Saturday.
Sixty-one-year-old Ralph Spence says his two sons bought the statue for him several years ago. They affectionately call it "Squashy."
Though it started out as a practical joke, the statue became part of the family. They even dress it up for holidays.
Delhi Township police are assisting in the search. Lt. Joseph Macaluso says he's seen his share of thefts, but nothing like this.
Spence says he doesn't want to file charges against whoever took the statue, he just wants it back.
He says Squashy is "a legend around here in the neighborhood."
Pennsylvania
Employees used agency email to view, receive porn
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says it has disciplined 11 people for using the agency's email system to forward and receive pornography.
A spokesman said Tuesday the punishment ranged from suspension for the most serious violations to letters of reprimand.
The action was first reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
The turnpike says the pornographic emails were the subject of an investigation by its own compliance department.
Turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo says he's not sure what prompted the investigation or when the discipline was meted out.
The disclosure comes after dozens of current and former employees of the state attorney general's office were disciplined for exchanging emails with explicit content or pornographic images.
A state Supreme Court justice recently retired after his participation became public.
Colorado
Man accused in killing had past abduction arrests
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) - Prosecutors say a man suspected in the killing of a Colorado mother who led a double life as a paid escort has a history of kidnapping women.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Rubenstein recounted Lester Jones' criminal history in court in Grand Junction on Monday, arguing the 63-year-old was a flight risk. A judge agreed to hold him on $2 million bond in the 2007 death of Paige Birgfeld.
The Daily Sentinel reports that Jones said nothing other than acknowledging his legal rights.
Rubenstein says Jones was arrested in January 1999 for forcing a car carrying his wife and another man off the road, putting her in his car and threatening to kill her. Later that month, he was accused of kidnapping a woman and sexually assaulting her.
Oregon
Man gets 7 years for shooting man at his yard sale
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - An Oregon man who shot and wounded a customer who intervened in a fight at his yard sale has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Phillip Bregg pleaded guilty Monday to charges of attempted murder and assault, although he told the judge he didn't clearly recall the violent family fight last September that led to the shooting.
The Eugene Register-Guard reports that the victim was at Bregg's Springfield home to browse a yard sale when he saw a woman with a bloody mouth and tried to intervene.
Prosecutors say Bregg had punched his wife and kicked her and two other women down some stairs. After the victim interfered, police say Bregg went back inside and opened fire from a window, wounding the man in the shoulder and leg.
Florida
Police: Student led high school prostitution ring
VENICE, Fla. (AP) - A 17-year-old recruited fellow high school students for a prostitution ring and coordinated deals on social media, charging $50 to $100 in cash and alcohol, police in Florida said.
The teen is charged with felony human trafficking after a Friday arrest in Venice, near Sarasota on Florida's Gulf Coast. The Associated Press generally doesn't name juveniles accused of crimes.
John Michael Mosher, 21, also was arrested Friday. Police say he paid $40 and a bottle of liquor to have sex with a 15-year-old girl. She did not want to participate in the sex act, according to police.
Mosher is charged with felony sexual battery on a victim older than 12. He's being held without bond and has been ordered to have no contact with the victim or the 17-year-old.
Police Capt. Tom Mattmuller told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that a third arrest is expected Tuesday.
The alleged ring first came to light in October after four students at Venice High School told administrators that the 17-year-old - a student at Sarasota High - and a male student from their school wanted them to join, according to police. About the same time, police looked into reports of a Riverview High School student's involvement with Mosher.
The 17-year-old and at least one other student are said to have come up with a plan over the summer to prostitute other teens for money and alcohol. Police documents indicate that the ring leader arranged for Mosher to have sex with the 15-year-old girl in a community pool shed in August.
Police say no activity took place on school property.
Students told officers that the ring leader coordinated at least three prostitution deals through Facebook private messaging, according to police.
Police said that that they found conversations between potential clients and participants, along with details of how the transactions would be made.
Published: Wed, Nov 26, 2014
