Leech Convicts Australian Robber

Posted by Miss Cellania in Animal, Crime & Law, Odd News on October 20, 2009 at 11:08 pm

Police found a leech at the scene of a robbery in Tasmania eight years ago. They took a sample of the blood the leech had consumed. In 2008, Peter Alec Cannon was arrested on an unrelated drug charge. The DNA from his blood matched the blood from the leech!

Cannon would probably have got away with the crime had he not been charged with drug offences late last year, and asked to give a DNA sample – which matched that from the crime scene.

Detective Inspector Mick Johnston, who was involved in the police investigation from the start, said Cannon’s conviction validated the use of DNA technology.

“It’s a testament to DNA evidence and the legislation that allows us to keep such evidence in relation to unsolved crimes – this is a fantastic result,” he said.

Link -via Boing Boing

(image credit: BBC)

 
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N.Y. Store Owner Gives Would-Be Thief Lecture, $40, Bread

Posted by Queuebot in Crime & Law on June 11, 2009 at 11:40 am

Most people put their hands up or hand over valuables in a robbery. However, this N.Y. store owner foiled an attempted robbery with a lecture, $40 and a loaf of bread.

Mohammad Sohail, a Long Island convenience store owner confronted by a bat-wielding would-be robber said Tuesday he decided to show mercy on the man after he collapsed in tears claiming he was only committing the crime to support his starving family.

Instead of getting loot from a stickup, the store owner provided the man with $40 and a loaf of bread, but only if he promised never to rob again.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by dradell.

 
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Man Robs Store with Banana, Eats Evidence

Posted by Miss Cellania in Crime & Law on May 17, 2009 at 8:10 am

John Steven Szwalla was arrested for attempted armed robbery of a computer cafe in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He approached the store owner, Bobby Ray Mabe while pointing something that was under his shirt. Mabe and a store customer jumped on Szwalla, held him down, and called police. The “weapon” turned out to be a banana! Szwalla ate the banana before the police arrived.

“And the deputy said, ‘Ah hah! He ate the evidence,’” Mabe said. “But we had the banana peel and they took a picture of it.”

John Steven Szwalla, 17, was charged with one count of attempted armed robbery. Warrants and records with the sheriff’s office list different addresses for him, with a most recent address in Clemmons.

Deputies joked about charging him with destroying evidence, said Major Brad Stanley, a spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s office.

Szwalla is in the Forsyth County Jail with bond set at $50,000.

Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: Flickr user Jason Gulledge)

 
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Blonde, Black Miniskirt and a Sticky Situation ...

Posted by Alex in Crime & Law on November 28, 2008 at 3:42 pm

When Anadel Carrizales pulled over to help a blonde in a black miniskirt whose car appeared to have broken down on a Mexican highway, he thought that he was his lucky day … but all he got was a super sticky situation:

Once he had stopped, the woman walked up and told him an accomplice was pointing a gun at him, said David Perales, a spokesman for state investigators.

She then tied him up with packing tape, super-glued his hands to the steering wheel of his truck and demanded money. Carrizales didn’t have any cash, but the woman took his credit cards and fled.

"He probably thought it was his lucky day when he saw the woman in the miniskirt, but was surprised when she tied him up," Perales said.

With his motor still running and his hands still glued to the wheel, Carrizales managed to drive a few miles (kilometers) down the road until he found a police officer to help him.

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