I recently wrote an article in The Prosecutor on the subject of whether a frog was a deadly weapon. And then I look in today's paper and see that a pumpkin is one:

NEW BRAUNFELS

Teens charged in pumpkin assault


Two New Braunfels teenagers have been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon: a pumpkin.

Justin Cooke, 17, and Christopher McGreevy, 18, are accused of dropping pumpkins Oct. 2 from the Watson Lane bridge onto northbound traffic on Interstate 35.

The pumpkins seriously damaged several vehicles and injured a Killeen woman, Detective Mike Weddel of the Comal County sheriff's office said in a story in today's New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung. Weddel said telephone tips led to Cooke and McGreevy.

Weddel has filed two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against the teenagers and expects to file eight counts against each, the newspaper reported.

What have you seen is an unusual deadly weapon?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JB,

In a country where they can't have guns, rat poison is the deadly weapon of choice.

At a Texas school, a student's Inhaler was a potential deadly weapon: read the story.

Customers Rattled When Man Throws Snake Into Crowded Bar

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho -- An Idaho man has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly throwing a rattlesnake into a crowded bar.

Police say Rodger Hunter, 28, walked into an Idaho Falls bar Monday, pulled a 3.5 -foot-long rattler from his pocket and threw it into a crowd.

Bar patrons used a crutch to sweep the angry snake to a cleared area, and then wrapped a T-shirt around its head before picking it up and dropping it into a bucket. No one was hurt.

If convicted, Hunter could face up to five years in prison.

Those are some big pockets!

July 2, 2004, 10:59PM


Suspected senders of deadly cake, soda land behind bars
By DAVID TWIDDY
Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For more than four years, Stephanie Eickhoff wouldn't let her children play in the front yard for fear a couple down the street would hurt them.

But on Friday, the couple were behind bars, accused of trying to kill the Eickhoffs by sending them poisoned cakes and soda in the mail. And the Eickhoff children were playing in the yard once more.

The alleged murder attempt was the culmination of a long feud between the neighbors.

"It would make an interesting horror movie," said Eickhoff, the mayor of Edwardsville, Kan., a Kansas City suburb. "Everyone can relate to a grumpy neighbor, but I don't think they can relate to someone actively trying to kill you."

Prosecutors have charged the Eickhoffs' neighbors, Ralph Trout and Donna Ozuna-Trout, with attempted murder.

The couple's lawyer, Kevin Baldwin, did not immediately return calls Friday. But Baldwin told The Kansas City Star that the evidence was "circumstantial" and that his clients' arrests were racially motivated because Ozuna-Trout is a minority married to a white man.

Eickhoff denied that and said the arrest came after years of harassment from Ozuna-Trout and a series of restraining orders, visits from social service and code enforcement investigators, and the police.

In April, Eickhoff said, a package arrived at her home containing a two-liter bottle of root beer and an assortment of cakes and doughnuts. There also was a card wishing Eickhoff luck in her mayoral term.

But Eickhoff had been elected mayor of the town of 4,500 a year earlier. The soda had a dark green tint. And the baked goods looked "roughed up."

"Thank God I was home, because I know my kids would have eaten it," she said.

Eickhoff suspected it was Ozuna-Trout.

The snacks were found to contain lethal doses of antifreeze and lye, according to District Attorney Nick Tomasic. The discovery led police to recommend the Eickhoffs leave their home. They stayed on the move for six weeks, staying with friends for a week at a time.

"I was terrified," she said. While her children stayed in school, they did not go out for recess and had someone waiting with them after class.

Tired of running, the Eickhoffs returned earlier this month. "If someone really wanted to get me, I'd rather die at home," she said.

The Trouts were arrested Thursday, after investigators searched their home and their garbage.

And a bat (the baseball kind, not the flying kind)

The Link

Police Say Dead Snake Used As Assault Weapon
August 24, 2004

CEDARVILLE, N.J. -- In this case, police say the dead snake was more dangerous than the live one.

A Cumberland County, N.J., man, who police say reacted with drunken rage when his 6-foot black snake was stepped on and killed, used the dead reptile to whip its killer.

Kenneth Davis, 42, was charged with simple assault, Port Norris State Police Sgt. Sean Day told The Press of Atlantic City.

The dispute started when Davis tried to let his snake into a house on Sunday, and the resident's father stomped on it and hit it with a piece of wood, police said.

An irate Davis pushed the father, whose name was not immediately available, then whipped resident Michael File, 26, with the dead reptile. Police said File, who was shirtless during the attack, sustained small cuts and lacerations on his back.

File then grabbed a baseball bat and took aim at Davis' head, police said. Davis was treated for head lacerations by the Cederville Rescue Squad.

Day said charges against File are likely.

Police said it was not clear how Davis and File knew each other or why Davis released the snake in the first place.

Man Decapitated During Ride With Friend

MARIETTA, Ga. � A drunken driver ran off the road and sideswiped a telephone-pole support wire, decapitating his best friend, who was hanging out the passenger window, police say.


John Kemper Hutcherson, 21, then drove 12 miles back to his suburban Atlanta home early Sunday and went to sleep in his bloody clothes, leaving the headless body in the truck, police said.


A neighbor walking with his baby daughter Sunday discovered 23-year-old Francis Daniel Brohm's headless corpse in the parked truck and called authorities. The head was found in the bushes near the pole.


Hutcherson was charged with vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and other offenses. He was jailed Monday on $100,000 bail.


It was not immediately known whether he had hired a lawyer.


Police said Hutcherson and Brohm � best friends since high school � were drinking at a bar Saturday night and left after Brohm said he felt sick.


Brohm had been hanging his head out the window when Hutcherson swerved off the road. Police do not know how fast Hutcherson was driving when he hit the nearly vertical support wire. A broken sideview mirror was the only noticeable damage to the truck, authorities said.


Officers said Hutcherson appeared remorseful after they found him sleeping inside his home Sunday morning, covered in blood and visibly drunk.


Hutcherson was jailed in 2001 on a number of traffic charges, including driving under the influence. He pleaded guilty to underage possession, and the other charges were dismissed.

Man gets 6 months for swinging alligator
By Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. � A man who swung an alligator at his girlfriend during an argument was sentenced to six months in jail.

David Havenner, 41, of Port Orange, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of battery and possession of an alligator, said Linda Pruitt, spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office. He changed his earlier plea of not guilty, she said Wednesday.

He was sentenced to six month in jail with 48 days credit for time served during the Sept. 1 hearing, according to court records.

Sheriff's officials said Havenner was keeping the 3-foot gator in his bathtub and swung it at his girlfriend, Nancy Monico, 39, during an argument on July 16.

Monico told investigators that Havenner beat her with his fists, then grabbed the gator and swung it at her as she tried to escape. The gator struck Monico at least once, after which time Havenner threw empty beer bottles at her and then kicked her out of their mobile home, she told investigators.

Havenner told investigators that Monico bit his hand because she was upset that they had run out of alcohol.

The alligator was later released into the St. Johns River, wildlife commission officials said.

[As reported in the Longview News Journal: Florida Man Pleads Guilty To Assaulting Girlfriend With Alligator]

Man Finds Nail in Skull Six Days Later

By ERIN GARTNER
Associated Press Write
LITTLETON, Colo. ? A dentist found the source of the toothache Patrick Lawler was complaining about on the roof of his mouth: a four-inch nail the construction worker had unknowingly embedded in his skull six days earlier.

A nail gun backfired on Lawler, 23, on Jan. 6 while working in Breckenridge, a ski resort town in the central Colorado mountains. The tool sent a nail into a piece of wood nearby, but Lawler didn't realize a second nail had shot through his mouth, said his sister, Lisa Metcalse.

Following the accident, Lawler had what he thought was a minor toothache and blurry vision. On Wednesday, after painkillers and ice didn't ease the pain, he went to a dental office where his wife, Katerina, works.

"We all are friends, so I thought the (dentists) were joking ... then the doctor came out and said 'There's really a nail,'" Katerina Lawler said. "Patrick just broke down. I mean, he had been eating ice cream to help the swelling."

He was taken to a suburban Denver hospital, where he underwent a four-hour surgery. The nail had plunged 1 1/2 inches into his brain, barely missing his right eye, Metcalse said.

"This is the second one we've seen in this hospital where the person was injured by the nail gun and didn't actually realize the nail had been imbedded in their skull," neurosurgeon Sean Markey told KUSA-TV in Denver. "But it's a pretty rare injury."

Lawler was recovering Sunday in the hospital, where he was expected to spend several more days.

Despite his lack of medical insurance and hospital bills between $80,000 and $100,000, Katerina Lawler said her husband is in good spirits.

"The doctors said, 'If you're going to have a nail in the brain, that's the way you want it to be,'" she said. "He's the luckiest guy, ever."
[This message was edited by John Bradley on 01-18-05 at .]

[This message was edited by John Bradley on 01-18-05 at .]

I saw the nailee on tv this morning. It is hard to believe that he couldn't have known he had a nail imbedded in his mouth/head, through the roof of the mouth. He said that he thought the back of the nail gun had struck his mouth, not the front of the nail gun. I didn't hear the whole description of the chain of events that led to the nailing, but having some limited experience using a nail gun in home remodeling, it just seems so hard to believe that having a nail that big in your head could be missed for even an hour. Oh well...

As an aside, I had a case a few years ago where a probationer tried to kill himself by shooting himself in the head several times with a nail gun. He failed miserably, and the resultant brain damage left him disabled on one side of his body. I did some research at the time on the net, and found that suicide attempts by nail gun are not that uncommon, and that those who attempt this often survive nails imbedded in the brain.

Although our observations at work of the things we see in cases may lead us to believe that we have seen it all, I must admit I am still capable of being surprised at humans and their behavior, as with this incident.

Unclear procedures cited in death


Federal investigators say poorly worded procedures contributed to the death of a contract worker who was doused with a corrosive chemical at a plastics plant.

Salvador Barba Sr., 57, died June 18 at the Bayer Material Sciences manufacturing facility.

According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration documents obtained by The Baytown Sun, Barba was bathing in a decontamination shower when a pressure build-up caused a gasket above the shower to fail, releasing phenol, also known as carbolic acid.

Barba tried to wash off the phenol in a safety shower, and other workers wearing protective gear moved him to another safety shower, documents from OSHA's investigation said. Despite these and other steps, Barba died while being flown to a Houston hospital.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006
An airplane mechanic was killed Monday morning after he was sucked into a jet's engine while passengers were boarding from the tarmac, officials said.

"A mechanic walked in front of the engine and was pulled into the engine," National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Lauren Peduzzi said.

She said she didn't know if any passengers saw the incident as they boarded Continental Airlines Flight 1515 to Houston. A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said the worker was sucked into the right engine of the 737-500.

The mechanic's identity wasn't released, but Continental identified him as an employee of oneits suppliers. There were 114 passengers and five crew members boarding the plane.

Peduzzi said there had been an earlier problem with the No. 2 engine, so the engine's metal covering was open at the time of the accident.

The NTSB was investigating.

6 dead, 2 hurt in Texas 21 wreck


Six people died and two others were injured when their sport-utility vehicle veered off an East Texas highway and crashed into a tree, officials said.

The crash occurred Sunday on Texas 21, about seven miles southeast of Nacogdoches, Department of Public Safety officials said.

The accident killed driver Norma Ocon, 35; Victoria Carrera, 62; Claudia Ocon, 22; David Ocon, 2; Olga Ocon, 30; and Perla Ochoa, 13. Two other children were taken to Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital, officials said.

All eight victims were Nacogdoches residents, officials said.

Effort to avoid deer turns fatal


Anna Hernandez Valdez, 48, of Pflugerville died Saturday night when the car she was riding in flipped after the driver tried to avoid a deer in the road, said Frank Galvan of the Texas Department of Public Safety in Kerrville.

The accident happened about 9:35 p.m. as the 1999 Mercury sport-utility vehicle was traveling east on Texas 29 about 12 miles west of Llano. Valdez was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, Adam Brian Valdez, 25, of Cedar Park, and a passenger, Justin Valdez, 11, of Pflugerville, had minor injuries and were taken to Llano Memorial Hospital. Another passenger, Dustin Valdez, 9, also of Pflugerville, was taken to Brackenridge Hospital in critical condition with head trauma.

Galvan said the car flipped three times and hit a utility pole after skidding when Adam Valdez tried to avoid the deer. Galvan said he did not know if the occupants were related.

Falling television injures boy


A 5-year-old boy was seriously injured Wednesday when a television set fell on him in a home in the 1100 block of Vanderbilt Circle, Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services spokesman Warren Hassinger said.

The boy was taken by STAR Flight to Children's Hospital of Austin with critical injuries.

quote:

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Originally posted by Woody Halstead:
Customers Rattled When Man Throws Snake Into Crowded Bar

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho -- An Idaho man has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly throwing a rattlesnake into a crowded bar.

Police say Rodger Hunter, 28, walked into an Idaho Falls bar Monday, _pulled a 3.5 -foot-long rattler from his pocket_ and threw it into a crowd.

Bar patrons used a crutch to sweep the angry snake to a cleared area, and then wrapped a T-shirt around its head before picking it up and dropping it into a bucket. No one was hurt.

If convicted, Hunter could face up to five years in prison.

Those are some big pockets!

---

USED A CRUTCH!!! WRAPPED IT'S HEAD!!! DROPPED IN BUCKET!!!??? I know this is an old post but just now saw this - Why was this thing not BEAT with a Crutch? How about the Crutch as a Deadly weapon ON THE SNAKE....ooops. Just saw this wasn't around here. Sorry. Got a little worked up at this

TxDOT employee killed by machinery
Veteran inspector first TxDOT fatality since 2001.
By Jennifer Barrios
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, January 16, 2006

A veteran Texas Department of Transportation worker was killed Sunday after he apparently walked into the path of a road construction machine.

Sean Hayes, 49, of Cedar Park was hit about noon by a pneumatic roller at a road construction site on West Whitestone Boulevard (RM 1431) and Bagdad Road in Cedar Park, according to John Hurt, a spokesman for the department. Hayes died instantly, Hurt said.

The Transportation Department was still investigating. Witnesses said Hayes appeared to have stepped in front of the 25-ton roller, which travels at about three to five miles per hour, as it was backing up. A pneumatic roller allows workers to compact pavement.

Cedar Park police say there is nothing to indicate Hayes' death was anything other than an accident.

Hayes was the construction inspector on the project.

"He was a very experienced man, and for some inexplicable reason, he walked out in front of one of those rollers," Hurt said. "We're stunned."

Antonio Garcia, a 37-year-old Round Rock resident, was driving the equipment. Garcia is an employee of Austin Road & Bridge, a subcontractor working on the project.

Woman Sent to Prison Over Poison Milkshakes
From Times Wire Reports

A woman accused of poisoning her husband and son by lacing their milkshakes with prescription drugs was sentenced to prison.
Mary Cannon, 47, of Troy pleaded no contest but mentally ill to two counts of attempted murder. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.

Oakland County Circuit Judge Mark Goldsmith sentenced Cannon to a minimum of 11 years and three months and a maximum of 30 years. By pleading to being mentally ill, Cannon is eligible for treatment while in prison, prosecutors said.

THE KEYS
Accused of trying to kill with Visine
By JENNIFER BABSON
jbabson@MiamiHerald.com

KEY WEST - As murder attempts go, it wasn't the most clear-eyed plot.

Police say Morning Star Vaber, 24, put Visine drops in a co-worker's tea in an attempt to kill her.

But a sharp-eyed witness foiled the plan: A fellow worker who reportedly saw Vaber's actions poured out the tea before the woman could drink it, police said.

Vaber, a Homestead resident, was arrested Wednesday by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, more than a month after the alleged poisoning attempt at the real-estate office where she worked.

Police say Vaber put Visine in the woman's drink on Dec. 8 in a real-estate office at the private Ocean Reef Club in North Key Largo.

The witness who allegedly poured out the poisoned tea told a Monroe County Sheriff's Office detective that Vaber said she was tired of the woman ''sticking her nose into her business'' and said she hoped the woman, who is 73, would get ``sick and die in diarrhea.''

Police did not release the victim's name.

Police say the witness later told the woman, who reported it to their employer.

The employer confronted Vaber and later fired her after she admitted she put Visine in the tea, police said. When the employer spotted Vaber on Ocean Reef property two weeks later, she called police and reported the alleged Dec. 8 incident. Vaber was charged with poisoning food or water with intent to kill or injure.

According to the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, ingesting Visine can cause cardiac problems, a decreased level of consciousness, low blood pressure and severe diarrhea.

Nosy coworker? We've got a Visine for that!