Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts

Monday, June 15, 2009

The Would-Be Car Thief with Terrible B.O.

The stench left behind by Joshua Graden, who police say they found naked in a Bradenton woman’s car, was almost too much for the owner to bear.

The 35-year-old woman said she got her Chevrolet detailed the day after officers found Graden, 21, of Osprey, nude in the vehicle parked in her driveway.

“I got it sprayed down because it smelled terrible,” the victim told the Bradenton Herald. “I have never seen him in my life. It is kind of creepy.”

At around 2 a.m., Monday, Bradenton police responded to a call for service in the victim’s neighborhood, in the 4900 block of 34th Avenue West. Another resident in the neighborhood had called police after a man he did not recognize was banging on his door demanding to come inside, according to a police report.

When officers arrived, the man had moved on, but police found clothes in the middle of the street, according to the victim.

“The person who first called lives across the street from me, and I guess the police found clothes in the road,” she said.

An officer then noticed a man sitting in the driver’s seat of the Chevrolet across the street from where the call originated. The victim said her Chevrolet had been locked.

“I always lock the car because my kids are always in it,” she said.

The officer confronted Graden in the Chevrolet, who repeated over and over “he didn’t know where he was, or what was going on,” the police report stated.

When the officer asked Graden his name, he began to swear. The owner of the vehicle said an irate Graden threw an umbrella, as well as towelettes and snacks for her two infant children, from the Chevrolet all over her yard.

Police reports say Graden resisted being handcuffed, but officers eventually arrested him on charges of felony burglary of a conveyance and resisting arrest without violence. He has since been released from the Manatee County jail on supervised release on $1,000 bond.

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Sunday, June 7, 2009

Boy, 6, takes the wheel after dad passes out

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. - Police say a 6-year-old boy grabbed the wheel of their pickup after his dad passed out from low blood sugar and kept them from crashing until a North Platte police officer could bring the truck to a halt.

Tustin Mains was in the back seat with his 3-year-old brother when he noticed that his dad, Phillip Mains, slumped down on Sunday evening while they were driving home from a restaurant.

"I remember getting up to about the mall — that was about 6:45," Phillip Mains told The North Platte Telegraph. "The next thing I remember was waking up to the officer and paramedics, and it was 8:15."

Tustin hopped up from the back seat to his father's lap so he could steer and see out the windshield.

His dad's foot had slipped off the accelerator, but even at idle the Chevrolet Avalanche was going an estimated 10-15 mph.

Other drivers noticed the boy driving the truck. Some maneuvered their vehicles in front or behind the pickup and turned on their emergency blinkers.

Tustin remained at the wheel for several blocks, even turning around when he got into a neighborhood he didn't recognize.

He was then spotted by North Platte officer Roger Freeze.

Freeze maneuvered his car near enough that he could stop, get out and run up to the pickup. The driver's side window was down, so Freeze reached in, grabbed the gearshift and rammed it into park.

North Platte Police Chief Martin Gutschenritter praised his officer and young Tustin.

"I will be issuing him a departmental citation for his quick, professional action on this case. That is also a very special young man. He was able to take quick action when his dad was incapacitated, and we are very proud of him, too," Gutschenritter said.

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