Daily archives: July 12th, 2010

‘Barefoot Bandit’ Lucky He Was Caught Alive

Yes, the dude is young, and cute.

But he’s lucky to be alive. The games he was playing were all-too-real.

And cute doesn’t make a difference, at all.

From AOL News, Mom speaks:

More than two years on the run, Colton Harris-Moore, aka the "Barefoot Bandit," was finally captured in the Bahamas, taken into custody after a high-speed boat chase. The 19-year-old suspect with a huge Internet fan club was led away — shackled and shoeless.

"I’m glad it’s over and they brought him in safe," Harris-Moore’s mother, Pam Kohler, told AOL News following his arrest. "I was afraid he would get shot if it kept going."

Harris-Moore’s arrest came just before dawn in northern Eleuthera, The Associated Press reported.

Apparently, a boat captain realized something was wrong when he saw a boat take off at 2 a.m. Sunday with no lights. He and another resident alerted the Bahamian Police, and a chase ensued.

"As we approached him, he started saying things like, ‘I’m not going back to jail; I’m going to kill myself," Jordan Sackett, a Harbour Island resident who witnessed the ordeal, told WPTV News Channel 5.

Dude, you don’t need to do that. Serve your time. Life is wonderful. It’s all we have.

You’ll probably be out sooner than you think.

You’re lucky you were caught. Life is wonderful. It’s all we have.


Mokena Loses $25,000 on Election-Day Faux Pas

Mokena loses $25,000 on an election faux pas.

Well, that’s my take.

If the dude was more than 100 feet from the entrance to the polling place, well, then you lose.

From the Sun-Times:

A Will County arbitration panel agreed Thursday with Mokena resident Tino Lettieri that the village violated his civil rights on Election Day in November 2008 by not allowing him to pass out election materials in the village hall parking lot.

The panel of three attorneys awarded Lettieri $25,000 in damages.

"All I wanted was a public apology," Lettieri said. "They admitted to no guilt."

Jim Harvey, attorney for the village, said he was "disappointed" in the decision.

"I did not think it merited $25,000," he said. "There was no physical damage."

Each side will have 30 days to decide whether to reject the decision. If either does, the case would go to trial.

Harvey said the village will have to consult with its insurance firm to decide, because insurance would pay the damages.

Kudos to the Will County arbitration panel. This would most likely be upheld in court. This is more than a faux pas. On election day, best to err on the side of caution.


Why Does Gary Montino, Convicted Felon, Get To Keep His Pension From Melrose Park?

Vito Scavo (left) and Gary Montino arrive at court in May.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Two crooked Melrose Park cops — the chief and his deputy — got convicted of the same crime.

One got his pension yanked this week.

But the other will keep on receiving more than $5,600 a month in benefits, in a highly unusual decision by the Melrose Park Police Pension Board.

Both former Police Chief Vito Scavo, 62, and his right-hand man, Deputy Chief Gary Montino, 54, were convicted of racketeering conspiracy in 2009 for their roles in a scheme to muscle local businesses into hiring the two security firms Scavo illegally ran out of the police department.

By law, a police officer can’t get a pension if he’s been convicted of a felony related to his job.

Scavo oversaw and profited from the two security firms which used on-duty police officers and police equipment for private jobs.

His deputy, Montino, was heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the firms while working at the police department, according to government filings.

What an odd decision.

Look, this is a tough one to post. I have a great deal of respect for our men and women in blue.

But, really, why the split decision? To what extent were personal feelings an issue here?