Why We Should Never Pick Up Hitchhikers!

Eeeeek! Frightnin'! Not a very safe hitchhiker to pick up!

Cop Impersonator On The Loose In Kansas

There's a creep in a four door white pick-up truck driving around in Marshall County, Kansas, with a red light on on top, and he's impersonating a police officer. So far, at least three people have been harassed by this guy, and he is still on the loose. He even told one woman that he had a search warrant for her vehicle and demanded that she open her trunk! Fortunately, she didn't do this...there have been too many kidnapping victims found in trunks. At this writing, there is only cursory description of the truck, white pick-up with four doors; and the creep, six feet tall with brown hair and a dark mustache; but hopefully his image will be caught on cell phone or Ipod camera if he, himself, is not caught soon. So far, there have not been any injuries or worse, but it's not a crime to verify the ID of an officer or ask to see a badge when pulled over.

From the Marysville Advocate:"A man impersonating a police officer is pulling drivers over near Marysville and asking to search the vehicles. Please be cautious as you are driving and do not get out of your car if you are stopped and can not identify the officer. If this occurs, please call 911 immediately. If you have any additional information, please contact the Marysville Police Department at 562-2343 or Marshall County Sheriff at 562-3141."

Frisbee Golf, Anyone?

While on the subject of abuses of law enforcement, and unlawful search and seizure, here's some cell phone footage from Ankeny, Iowa. A cop was simply not satisfied with a routine traffic stop and expressed an unrequited desire to unlawfully search the car he had pulled over. The driver declined the offer, and eventually left, but not without recording the incident. Now the police in Iowa want everyone to know that they are terribly sorry about the whole thing, and that it is just a small, isolated incident. Once again, the advice is worth reiteration: always record interactions with police.

Private Message

Look, Laura! It's a self driving Googlemobile! Coming to a treeless lawn like yours! Complete with a camera on the top! Isn't Freedom of the Press a wonderful thing?

Another Missing Child

I was hoping that two year old Sky Metalwala, Bellevue, Washington would be found by now, but he has been missing for six days. His mom, Julia Biryukova, has given the police a story that is either unverifiable, unbelievable, or untrue. She states that she was en route to the hospital with little Sky, because he was sick, when she ran out of gas. She states further that at that point, she took her older child, Sky's four year old sister, and walked for longer than an hour to a gas station. Hmm........a child is sick enough to require an emergency trip to the hospital, yet we leave him alone in a car during cold weather for longer than an hour? Nope. That does not sound like me, or any other mom I know. There's a problem....just with that. But every time I read something about all this, the story gets weirder and weirder. I will throw in this bit of info: Sky had been left in the car all alone on at least one other occasion. Both of his parents went shopping at Target for almost an hour, and just left him by himself in the car! This is not ever, ever recommended anywhere!

Day Six. I hope this little boy is found safe. Sadly, it does not look good. Here are two pics I found of him.

The FBI is now involved, so if you think you have seen him, please call local law enforcement.