Free Republic

     Connecticut Is For Lovers – And Murderers April 10, 2008 In a game of one-upmanship, Connecticut has decided that it is a state for both lovers and murderers.  But, please, hate crimes need not apply. Connecticut and its Democrat controlled Judiciary Committee, which “has been at the helm for 22 years and...has written all the laws governing crime and punishment” never saw a hate crime bill they didn’t love. The Democrats have seen to it that if someone even “intends to intimidate or harass a person...because of their actual or perceived race, religion, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity...

HICKORY, N.C. - Police say two suspects are dead after an attempted home invasion. Catawba County sheriff’s deputies say two men dressed in black and carrying pistols forced their way into a home on 33rd Avenue in Hickory around 11:00 last night. According to a sheriff’s official, the homeowner was armed with his own gun, and shot the suspects. Both suspects were pronounced dead at the scene. Major Coy Reid with the sheriff’s office said both men were wearing masks and latex gloves. At this time, no arrests have been made.

Close Slideshow SimpleViewer requires Macromedia Flash. Get Macromedia Flash. If you have Flash installed, click to view gallery. Image 1 of 2 | Click for more Dawn Weiss was hit at close range by five bullets. One grazed her kidney and spleen, and another fractured two vertebrae and damaged her spinal cord. (Rich-Joseph Facun/The Virginian-Pilot) Audio Slide Show: The peace of Dawn 2 more teens sentenced in shooting that paralyzed young mother By Michelle WashingtonThe Virginian-Pilot© December 16, 2007 Each move to or from the wheelchair begins with a ritual.One, two, three.Dawn Weiss counts off, each numeral propelling her...

Authorities say a grandfather -- who was trying to protect his grandson -- shot and killed a home invasion suspect on Saturday. A spokesperson for The Knox County Sheriff's Office says Tilvis Coffey kicked his way into a home on Copeland Road in North Knox County just after 12 o'clock. A 14-year old was home alone at the time of the invasion. The boy told deputies he called 911 and his mother, while his mother called her father, Harry Smith. Authorities say Smith and his wife drove to the home and confronted Coffey. Smith told detectives Coffey started running toward...

BATON ROUGE, La. — Two students were found shot to death in a home invasion at a Louisiana State University apartment, and officials decided to keep the campus open Friday while police searched for three suspects. The victims, Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam, both doctorate students from India, were found inside an apartment at the Edward Gay complex late Thursday night after authorities received an emergency call. Police patrols were increased on the 30,000-student campus Friday and students were told to be cautious, but the university was not locked down. Students were taking the last of their final...

The police on Saturday said it was looking for three or four "young black males" in connection with the murder of two Indian doctoral students in Louisiana State University campus at Baton Rouge on Thursday night. Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma (31) and Krian Kumar Allam (33) were found shot dead in the apartment of Allam, the police said. Sgt Don Kelly of Baton Rouge police department said the police are looking for "three black males" who were seen hurriedly leaving the vicinity of the apartment where the murders occurred. "The men got into a small to mid-size four-door car, possibly occupied...

CNN) -- Two graduate students were found shot to death Thursday night in an apartment on the edge of the Louisiana State University campus, a spokeswoman for the school said. No suspects have been identified in what police are investigating as a double homicide, LSU spokeswoman Kristine Calongne said. The bodies of Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam, both Ph.D. candidates from India, were found inside an apartment of the Edward Gay Complex. The complex is near the LSU band's practice field, Calongne said. -snip- The Associated Press reported that Allam's pregnant wife found the bodies and called 911....

A southwest Harris County homeowner shot and killed a man he discovered climbing into a window of his house at about 2:15 a.m. today, investigators said. Steven Dunbar, 44, died in the window of the home in the 3400 block of Cascadia, Harris County sheriff's homicide Det. Rolf Nelson said. Nelson declined to name the homeowner but said the man, 32, was asleep in the house with his wife, a son, 6, and an infant daughter when he heard a loud noise. "The homeowner says he heard a loud noise, possibly a gunshot, that startled him out of bed," Nelson...

A 31-year-old east Coachella Valley resident was killed early Monday morning when he was shot in what Indio police are calling a home invasion attempt on Hamilton Court in Indian Palms Country Club in Indio. He was shot by the owner of the home. Genaro Chavez Munoz, 31, died of gunshot wounds at about 1:46 a.m. Monday at a home in the 82600 block of Hamilton Court, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department coroner. Police found the body lying partially in the front window of the residence. Police say Munoz was from Indio, his family say he lived in...

LAKEPORT, Calif. — Three young black men break into a white man's home in rural Northern California. The homeowner shoots two of them to death — but it's the surviving black man who is charged with murder. In a case that has brought cries of racism from civil rights groups, Renato Hughes Jr., 22, was charged by prosecutors in this overwhelmingly white county under a rarely invoked legal doctrine that could make him responsible for the bloodshed.

San Francisco (AP) -- Three young black men break into a white man's home in rural Northern California. The homeowner admits to fatally shooting two of them — but it's the surviving black man who's facing murder charges in a trial that begins Thursday in Lake County Superior Court. With an explosive mixture of race, death and a rarely used legal doctrine, the case of Renato Hughes Jr. has brought unprecedented attention to remote Lake County, where wine country aspirations overlay a long farming tradition. The case has taken on racial overtones in part because of the sparsely populated county's...

GATLINBURG — Sevier County sheriff’s officers charged two men who allegedly impersonated police officers and wore camouflage clothing during a home invasion attempt that prompted a gun battle with a homeowner, according to authorities. Robert Joel Hawkins, 21, and Isaiah Ray Kemp, 22, both of Sevierville, were charged with attempted aggravated burglary, aggravated assault and six counts each of reckless endangerment, according to a release from Sevier County Sheriff Ron Seals. The pair are accused of attempting to enter the home at 429 King Branch Road. Authorities were alerted at 11:13 p.m. Tuesday of the incident, Seals said in the...

Vass — Three teens were charged with murder Monday night in connection with the slaying of a 12-year-old girl in her Moore County home last week. Authorities arrested Van Roger Smith Jr., 16, and Sherrod Nicholas Harrison, 19, Monday afternoon. After a search, the Moore County Sheriff's Office took Michael Graham Currie, 18, into custody Monday night. . . Twelve-year-old Emily Elizabeth Haddock was shot to death Friday in her home on Marks Road outside of Vass, authorities said. The girl had stayed home from school with strep throat and was alone

The woman killed in a horrific home invasion Monday in Cheshire was strangled and her daughters died of smoke inhalation, the state medical examiner's office said tonight. Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and her daughters, Hayley, 17 and Michaela, 11, were killed in the attack. Their deaths were ruled homicides. A fourth family member, Dr. William A. Petit Jr., was beaten but survived, stumbling to safety as the home was consumed by a fire allegedly set by the suspects. Two recent parolees who apparently met at a halfway house for nonviolent offenders were arraigned Tuesday. Joshua Komisarjevsky, 26, of 840 North Brooksvale...

A Wayne County homeowner shot an killed one of three people who broke into his home early Friday, authorities said. Three armed men broke into the home at 2546 Old Mount Olive Highway at about 12:30 a.m. while the family slept inside. The intruders held two adults and four children, ages 4, 5 and 8, at gunpoint and ransacked the house, authorities said. During the robbery, one of the suspects fired a shot, prompting the man who lives in the house to grab a gun and shoot back, authorities said. Antione Logan Chestnut, 19, of 109 Evelyn Circle in Dudley,...

Two killed in New Orleans home invasion NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- The slaying of two members of a family and wounding of another five is the latest in a spike in home invasion attacks in New Orleans. Seven relatives had been meeting at a home in the city's Village de l'Est neighborhood Friday when gunmen forced their way inside, robbed them and then opened fire without warning, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Sunday. A man in his late 20s and a woman in her late 30s sustained fatal wounds, making the incident the second double-homicide in the area...

<p>Resident reports 14-year-old with gun kicked in door, opened fire, and homowner shot back.</p> <p>PINE BLUFF — A 14-year-old boy was shot and killed Thursday night by a man who told police the teenager broke into his home and started shooting.</p>

CHESHIRE - Police have identified a 26-year-old Cheshire man and a 44-year-old Winsted man, both with long criminal histories, as suspects in a horrific home invasion in which a mother and her two daughters died Monday.

No guns please, we're liberals . . . As soon as today's "Good Morning America" began to tease an upcoming how-to segment on protecting against home invasion, I immediately suspected the show wouldn't discuss one obvious measure: obtaining fireams and learning how to use them. And sure enough . . . GMA ran the segment in the wake of the horrific home-invasion in Connecticut in which the the wife and two daughters of a prominent doctor were killed and the man badly beaten. An expert was brought in to discuss various measures, and Chris Cuomo added some suggestions of his...

CHESHIRE, Conn. — Three people were killed after thieves broke into their home, held them hostage for several hours and ultimately set the house ablaze before being nabbed by police while trying to flee the scene.. Connecticut State Police said in a statement issued Monday that officers went to the residence after bank officials notified them of a "suspicious withdrawal."

Woman finds intruder on her toilet July 13, 2007 - 10:40PM An elderly American woman who stepped out to buy a newspaper returned home to find an intruder had made himself comfortable - on her toilet. The man apparently cut a screen and unlocked a door after the woman, in her 80s, went out, police said. She had noticed the man outside when she went out, they said. On her return, she noticed the bathroom door was closed. When she opened the door, she saw him perched on the toilet. "How long are you going to be?" she asked. When...

HAGERSTOWN - A 32-year-old Hagerstown man is dead and a 21-year-old man faces 18 charges after an apparent attempted robbery early Sunday at Youngstoun Court turned violent, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff's deputies were called to an apartment on Youngstoun Court shortly after 3:30 a.m. Sunday for a report of a shooting, according to a news release. Deputies found James Michael Conely, of 329 Central Ave., dead in a bedroom, allegedly shot and stabbed by one of the apartment's residents during a struggle. Michael John Watkins, of 42 East Ave., has been charged with first-, third- and...

Cop Holding Baby Kills Home Invader June 22, 2007 HAYWARD – An off-duty police officer was holding his infant son when he shot and killed a man who forced his way into his parents' home, authorities said. The rookie San Leandro officer was at his parents' house in Hayward when a man fleeing police knocked on the door Wednesday afternoon. The suspect, accompanied by a woman, stormed into the home and got into a fight with the officer. Holding his 7-month-old baby, the officer shot the man, who later was pronounced dead at a hospital. The baby suffered bruises. The...

Chef held at gunpoint in employment dispute NZPA| Wednesday, 13 June 2007 Police are hunting for at least four people, after a man was kidnapped at gunpoint and held in an Auckland home over an employment dispute. The man is hospital with two broken ankles after falling from a balcony in a bid to escape his 11-hour ordeal, The New Zealand Herald reported today. The injured man was reported to be one of two men allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint from their Whangaparaoa home by a group of up to eight men on Sunday night. That evening the two alleged victims...

LA CIENEGA, N.M. -- Santa Fe County Sheriff's deputies are looking for two men who forced their way into a home. Deputies said the men showed up at the front door of a home in La Cienega on Monday afternoon, Action 7 News reported. Witnesses told deputies that the men only spoke Spanish and asked if there was any money in the house. Deputies told Action 7 News the men then forced their way into the home occupied by two 13-year-old girls and a 20-year-old woman. Deputies said the men tied all three up while they searched the house. At...

A draft bill allowing landlords to attack, even kill, intruders passes first reading in Knesset, causing split between opponents and supporters Tsvika Brot Published: 02.15.07, 14:21 / Israel News A new draft bill proposing that landlords who take physical action against intruders onto their property be acquitted of prosecution under the pretext of self-defense passed a first reading in the Knesset on Wednesday. Inspired by the ordeal of a southern farmer who shot and killed a burglar he caught on his farm last month, former Agriculture Minister and Likud MK Yisrael Katz described his draft bill as "revolutionary." "This is...

NASHVILLE - A woman who is nine months pregnant was robbed and attacked in a violent home invasion Sunday night. Officials said three armed robbers surprised the woman and several other victims outside a home near McGavock Pike and Lebanon Pike in Donelson. Police said Sunday night a few of the victims were bringing in groceries. Three armed masked men forced their way into the home. They took more than $1,000 and raped a woman who was several months pregnant at gunpoint. "We're very concerned about the violence involved in this case. We're very concerned about the sexual assault," Metro...

On Monday, prosecutors charged a 24-year-old man with the shooting deaths of a father and son during a home invasion in Waseca, Minn. early Saturday morning. Michael S. Zabawa, 24, was charged in Waseca County District Court with two counts of second-degree intentional murder. Bail was set at $2 million. Zabawa is accused of breaking into the home of Tracy and Hilary Kruger early Saturday morning and killing Tracy Kruger, 40, and his son, Alec, 13. Hilary Kruger, 41, was wounded in the upper torso. According to a criminal complaint, Zabawa told police that Tracy Kruger confronted him with a...

February 4, 2007 -- A Long Island man was shot to death while struggling with a trio of masked home invaders but not before firing off a few bullets from the thugs' gun - fatally wounding one and leaving another with severe injuries, Suffolk County police said yesterday. Dane Aulak, 22, was at his Medford home with his parents and teenage brother and sister when the men broke in around 11 p.m. Friday. The bandits demanded cash and drugs and Aulak - who had been studying mixed martial arts - tried to fight them off. He grabbed the gun long...

Colin Jenkins’ girlfriend was already in bed Tuesday night, and he was just about to join her when the doorbell started to ring incessantly. When Jenkins opened the door, a man forced his way inside the rural Springfield home. Within minutes, one robbery suspect was dead and another critically wounded. Jenkins’ girlfriend had shot them both. Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly called the late-night home invasion "an apparent horrible attack on innocent victims." He said that although the case will be presented to a grand jury, he expects no charges against the shooter, 19-year-old Megan Stapleton. "There is no reason...

Along with higher temperatures, summer also brings a higher number of home burglaries. Today, The Dayton Daily News reported that: “More residential burglaries occur in July and August than at any other time of the year, according to the FBI. That's why the New York City-based Insurance Information Institute suggests that everyone protect against "a physical or virtual break-in" during this crucial time… The institute suggested the following tips to prevent residential burglaries: • Keep exterior lights on at night and put indoor lights on a timer. • Don't make it easy for crooks to break in. Slow down burglars...

CHAMBLEE, Ga. (AP) -- DeKalb County police say an off-duty officer shot and killed an intruder who broke into his apartment at Chamblee while he was sleeping.Police believe three men broke into the man's home at Lake Louise apartments about 2 am and say the officer was inside. His eight-year-old son also was sleeping in the apartment.Police spokesman Herschel Grangent says the officer awoke, saw the men and saw one of them pointing a gun at him. The officer shot and killed the man. Grangent says the officer was defending himself.The man's son was not injured.The officer is on...

(CBS 13) SACRAMENTO A Sacramento homeowner shot a female home invasion suspect while she was trying to break into his home, police say. A man was sitting in his home on the 8400 block of Sacramento Thursday evening when he says he heard some people trying to get inside. He got his gun and shot one of the people; the other fled. When paramedics arrived, they found the woman sitting in a green Mazda MX-3 parked near the house with a gunshot wound, say police. They took the woman to the hospital where she is being treated for her injury...

A suspected robber was fatally shot inside a Hazel Park home, early Friday morning. Police learned the victim and the shooter were acquaintances. Around 1 a.m., the homeowner called police saying he’d shot an intruder. When investigators arrived they found 22-year-old Michael Wycoff dead upstairs. The homeowner claimed his house had been ransacked and a window was broken, so he grabbed his gun and found Wycoff in an upstairs closet. Police said there was a confrontation and the homeowner fired. According to authorities, the homeowner knew the Wycoff’s sister and all three were together at her home earlier in the...

The day I signed the contract to write Home Invasion just so happened to be the day that six teenagers and I set out in our 15-passenger van on a 2,000 mile vacation. We always take other kids along with our own three when we go on our legendary Hagelin road trips. This time we were heading south from Virginia to visit Disney World and the beautiful Florida Gulf Coast beaches. (I always wonder at such moments why my wonderful and wise husband, Andy, can't ever quite make it for the "road" part of the trip-he always has to fly...

THE EASTER STORY On Easter morning they got up early for Mass at Christ the King. I’ll call them Joseph and Mary. Joseph is 36, Mary is 31 and the baby is 20 months. They live in Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester. An old suburb with beautiful homes and salt-of-the-Earth families and an uncomfortable proximity to the city. But, like I said, on Easter morning they went to church. Then they went to Grama’s house. To Mary’s family’s house, in another Rochester suburb. And then they went to the other Grama’s house. To Joseph’s family’s house, a little more than...

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff | April 13, 2006 It was a story that touched the hearts of Minnesotans. But now it has taken a surprising turn, in Boston. A homeless, 22-year-old, undocumented immigrant from Mexico was found secretly living inside a Twin Cities high school last year, using the showers and foraging for cafeteria food. Francisco Javier Serrano's story captivated the news media there and moved a wealthy developer to provide him with money, an immigration attorney, and a rent-free apartment overlooking downtown Minneapolis. But immigration officials ordered Serrano back to Mexico. Officials believed that he boarded a plane...

The saga of a young illegal immigrant found living in Apple Valley High School continues, as he is now charged in a violent home invasion – in Boston. Francisco Serrano agreed to return to his native Mexico after a judge denied his attorney’s request to allow him to stay in the United States. Serrano was thought to have boarded a plane bound for Mexico City, but his mother told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that he had not returned. American Airlines confirmed Serrano's ticket had not been used. A Boston woman said Serrano kicked in her apartment door and threatened to attack...

A would-be burglar is recovering from a head injury in custody Friday morning, after he was driven off by a baseball bat-wielding homeowner. The attempted burglary happened about 1:30 a.m. in the 100 block of Vassar Lane near Olmos Park. Police said the female homeowner woke up to find a man in her house, so fearing for the safety of her toddler daughter, she grabbed a baseball bat. Officers said the suspect tried to calm the woman down, but she cracked him over the head with the bat. The suspect fled the scene, but was soon caught. The suspect is...

A friend of mine took these pictures of a cougar.  He lives right outside of Yellowstone, and the cougar apparently wanted to get inside of his house. Walking into the back porch through a fenced area - 1. Walking into the back porch through a fenced area - 2. On the back porch and showing its fangs. Peering into the house through the glass door.

Police: 7 Teens Invaded Homes For 'Adrenaline Rush'   POSTED: 12:09 pm EST March 6, 2006 UPDATED: 4:29 pm EST March 6, 2006   Police in Palm Bay, Fla., arrested seven teens in the last several days wanted in connection with a series of home break-ins that were apparently committed because the group wanted an "adrenaline rush," according to a police report. David Deluna, 18, Matt Rivera, 19, and a 16-year-old were charged with grand theft and burglary charges Monday. Another four suspects were taken into custody and charged on Friday, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported. "When...

Whitehaven, TN - Three teenagers, and the father of two of them are out of jail tonight, after they admitted roughing up a DeSoto County Sheriff's Deputy. That, every body agrees on. But how it came about... and where... is the subject of lots of talk and plenty of debate. "He pulled his pistol twice on me." Ricky Brown still can't make sense of what happened, but he knows it brought dozens of officers from two states to his doorstep. He says he and his sons were sitting at home Tuesday night, when a man walked into his home claiming...

NORTH BELLMORE, Long Island There was another home invasion on Long Island. This time a North Bellmore, Long Island man who was about to step into the shower heard his front door open downstairs. Bart Salamone says he opened the bathroom door a crack and saw a stranger walking around. Salamone says he called 9-1-1 from a cordless phone in the bathroom -- but the intruder apparently heard him and kicked in the bathroom door. Salamone says he and the intruder struggled, and the thug was able to run out. Salamone says about an hour later after as he was...

Businessman charged with secret taping By EMILY C. DOOLEY STAFF WRITER SANDWICH - Police arrested the owner of a massage parlor Sunday on wiretapping charges after they discovered he had installed video cameras to spy on a woman living next door to the business. Patrick M. Dwyer, 40, of 3 Fuller Drive in Plymouth, was being held at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility. Dwyer is scheduled for arraignment in Barnstable District Court today on six counts of wiretapping, three felony counts of breaking and entering a building in the daytime and one count of possession of marijuana. The alleged victim...

SNOWFLAKE - A Snowflake woman received praise from police for her poise under pressure.       At 4:25 a.m. Oct. 1, the woman called 911 to report an intruder was in her house. She said she thought the man was drunk and simply in the wrong house but her husband was holding him at gun point.       Officers were told the front door was open and the caller's husband was in plain view from the outside. She told dispatchers she just wanted the man removed from her house.       An officer responded, took the man into temporary custody and put him into his cruiser....

Intruder said he was Boulder cop The woman wielded a bat and her husband used the stranger's knife during "a very violent fight." Boulder County - A man claiming to be a Boulder police officer pounded on the front door and demanded that it be opened. But when Becci Starr, 59, opened it, she immediately realized her mistake. A man wearing a mask made out of a T-shirt with slits for eyes pushed his way past her and demanded to know how many people were in the house. Starr fought back with a baseball bat, and her husband joined the...

EDWARDS - Eagle County Sheriff's deputies were called to the Singletree subdivision Friday night in response to a report of a person dressed as Batman entering a home. According to Kim Andree, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office, the individual is a 14-year-old boy who adapted the guise of the fictional crime fighter. "He believes he's on a mission to help people get off drugs," Andree said. "He really believes he's helping. I think the family is working on getting him some assistance." Andree said deputies responded to a complaint around 11 p.m. Friday. According to police reports, the boy entered...

Victim in trouble after reporting stolen pot Web Posted: 07/25/2005 11:09 AM CDT Marvin Hurst KENS 5 Eyewitness News He was the victim of a home invasion, but he's the one who's in trouble with the law this morning. That's because of the marijuana that the robbery suspects were after last night in the 3900 block of Fredericksburg Road. Police say the victim and his girlfriend waited 30 to 40 minutes before calling police about their stolen pot. According to police, the invaders knocked on the front door. When the victim opened it, they pulled a gun and started demanding...

BADGER BURGLAR COLLARED A badger broke into a house and woke up the neighbours by smashing a window during its bungled escape. A police spokeswoman said: "It is believed the badger entered the house via a cat flap and made its way up the stairs to a bedroom. "Once there it tried to jump through the window, causing the window to smash, and injuring itself." The 78-year-old woman who lived in the house, in Swindon, Wiltshire, was alerted to the break-in by a neighbour who was disturbed by the sound of smashing glass at about 1.30am. The neighbour told police...

This is a robbery!" someone hollered. Colton, Calif., liquor store owner Dan Lee grabbed for a pistol that was beneath the cash register, but in an instant he found himself staring down the barrel of a robber's gun. At the same JB time, he noticed another man climbing over the counter toward his mother. Lee grabbed his gun and shot them both. "He pretty much made the decision for me when he came over the counter at my mother and threatened her life," Lee said. After three recent robberies and three slayings of business owners and clerks in the San...