Odds or Ends

NEW YORK - Two men accused of wheeling their dead buddy's corpse down a busy street and trying to cash his Social Security check are no longer charged in the caper.
One reason: The prosecutor admits he cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt when the man died. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Evelyn LaPorte agreed and dismissed the charges Tuesday.
James O'Hare and David J. Daloia say their roommate, Virgilio Cintron, 66, was alive when they left home bound for a check-cashing store Jan. 8, and that they had standing permission to cash each other's checks when pooling household expenses.
The two were charged with forgery, criminal possession of a forged instrument, attempted petit larceny, and improper disposal of a body.
Their stunt attracted massive attention and plentiful comparisons to the movie "Weekend at Bernie's."
"I was amazed," Daloia said outside court.
Assistant District Attorney Courtney Groves told the judge that an autopsy concluded only that Cintron had been dead for less than 24 hours, and had died of natural causes related to Parkinson's disease.
O'Hare and Daloia were arrested after wheeling Cintron down busy Ninth Avenue in an office chair and trying to cash his $355 Social Security check.
The store's clerk, who knew Cintron, asked the men where he was, and O'Hare told the clerk they would go and get him, police reported. By then, the body had attracted passers-by, including a police detective.
O'Hare and Daloia said they were distraught over the loss of Cintron, their longtime friend

Lakeland, Fl - Eight teenagers have been arrested on charges alleging they beat another teen in an “animalistic attack” so they could make a videotape to post on YouTube.
According to authorities, seven of them remained in juvenile detention while the eighth one, who was charged as an adult, was released on bail.
The teenage victim was attacked on March 30 by six teenage girls when she arrived at a friend’s home, authorities said.
One of the girls struck the 16-year-old victim on the head several times and then slammed her head into a wall, knocking her unconscious, according to an arrest report.
Later, a clip of video that was released by the Polk County sheriff’s office shows the teens blocking a door and hitting the girl.
"It’s absolutely an animalistic attack,” Sheriff Grady Judd said Tuesday on NBC’s “Today.” “They lured her into the home for express purpose of filming the attack and posting it on the Internet.”

The victim’s father stated that the teens intended to post the video on the video-sharing Web site YouTube.
A mother of one of the defendants said her daughter had turned the tape over to police.
The sheriff’s office said that after the attack, three of the teens forced the victim into a vehicle and drove her to another location, where she was told she would be given a worse beating if she contacted police.

All eight suspects were arrested April 2 and charged with battery and false imprisonment. The three teens who took the victim to the second location are also charged with felony kidnapping. The teen victim was treated for a concussion, damage to her left eye and left ear, and numerous bruises, police said.

According to the ASPCA, on Tuesday, February 5, ASPCA Special Agent Debbie Ryan arrested Diana Elias, 52, at her home in New York City, on misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty. Following up on an anonymous complaint, Agent Ryan discovered Elias’s six-year-old miniature poodle, Miss Bea, in a closet, encased in a solid cocoon of matted hair laden with urine, feces and filth. Long-term lack of grooming and exercise had rendered Miss Bea unable to stand or walk; she was also suffering from an ear infection and nails so overgrown that they curled around and pierced the skin on her paw pads. Vets at the ASPCA's Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital (BMAH) removed three pounds of knotted hair—one-third of the dog’s total body weight.

“This was an extreme case of neglect, one that didn’t happen overnight,” says Dr. Robert Reisman, ASPCA Medical Coordinator of Animal Abuse Cases. “The muscles in Miss Bea's front legs had atrophied due to non-use, and her carpal joints—the equivalent of wrists in humans—became extended to compensate for her immobility. It took at least four months for her to reach this state.”

While Elias, charged with one count of misdemeanor animal cruelty, faces up to one year in jail and/or a $2,000 fine, Miss Bea is getting her second chance at life and love. After completing medical treatment, including spay surgery and a thorough grooming, she was made available for adoption. She has been adopted and is now lving with her new family.

If you know of an animal whose health is being compromised by neglect, please report it. You can fo to the ASPCA website for more information. http://www.aspca.org

Source: ASPCA

PHILADELPHIA Monday mornings are hard enough. Imagine finding 50 chickens running loose in your high school.

Workers arriving about 5:30 a.m. to open Northeast High School in Philadelphia found dozens of hens and roosters wandering around the hallways. The birds were apparently brought to the school sometime over the weekend, said school district spokesman Fernando Gallard.

"We don't know where the chickens came from or who they belong to," Gallard said. "I'm pretty sure there is a very upset poultry farmer somewhere who wants them back."

The floors were covered with droppings and chicken feed. Most of the school's 3,600 students were sent home for the day because the school required extensive cleanup, he said.

A farmer was called to round up the birds and bring them to Fox Chase Farm, the district's agricultural school, Gallard said.

Police are checking surveillance tapes to see if they can determine the perpetrator of the fowl prank. The culprit will have to pay a hefty fine, said Gallard.

"It's not going to be chicken scratch," he said.


Source: AP