Category Archives: Crime & Courts

Guilty Pleasure #237: Drunk Karens cuffed and arrested

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After paying for the ad-free YouTube I found myself watching more videos…and more different types of videos. I quickly discovered a fondness (addiction?) for videos I came to think of as “guilty pleasures.”

Early on it was videos of third-world truck drivers crawling along mountain roads or muddy jungle trails. Next came high-speed chases captured on police dash cams. Which led me to videos of assholes being dragged off commercial flights (necessitating all passengers de-planing). From there it was a shot hop to body-cam video of “sovereign citizens” refusing to provide ID when stopped by police or troopers. The guiltiest pleasure of all is from police body-cams of officers dealing with spoiled, entitled, drunk white women. I’ve seen the term “Karen Cam” used to describe these.

Several take-aways from these videos: a) most police offers/deputies/troopers have a vast reservoir of patience. (Cursed, spat on, kicked and scratched) b) it is insanely difficult to handcuff someone who is resisting. Even for half a dozen big strong officers, it’s all they can do to get the woman’s hands cuffed behind her back… her legs hobbled… then put her in the police vehicle. Where she kicks and screams all the way to jail.

No idea why I find these videos so… addictive. Perhaps it’s as simple as seeing these spoiled, never-told-no princesses suffering a consequence. And it pleases me to know these humiliating videos are out there for the world to see.

Bleak, Crime Infested Towns In the (Missouri) Bootheel

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There is a seemingly endless variety of genres on YouTube, and one that has been showing up in my feed more frequently of late is what I call the “driving tour of small town America” videos. During my many years, on the road in the Midwest, I had occasion to drive through lots and lots of small rural towns, so I’ve found this series interesting.

The video above offers a rather depressing look at four towns in southeast Missouri: Caruthersville, Hayti, Kennett, and Cardwell. Some of the demographic statistics were almost as bleak and shocking as the images.

Citizen’s Instructional Academy

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Our local sheriffs department has a community outreach program called the Cole County Citizen’s Instructional Academy (CIA). Every Tuesday night for the next seven weeks, we meet for four hours (!).

“The course includes lectures, discussions, and in-person visits to various Sheriff’s Office divisions. Participants have the opportunity to ride-along with patrol officers to see the challenges officers face as they patrol the county. They also get a taste of the training involved in law enforcement to include vehicle stop scenarios and even a (firing) range day.”

First half of tonight’s presentation was a little dry, but probably necessary. The second half was fascinating. It included a very interesting presentation from the “Crisis Negotiator Team” but the highlight of the evening was a tour of the facility. (A few years back, the previous sheriff, Greg White, gave George and I a tour of the old jail)

The next session focuses on the sheriffs patrol division (Investigations/Detectives, Narcotics, SWAT, K-9, Animal Control)

Trump Privately Frets He Could Be Headed to Prison

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(Rolling Stone) “Privately, three sources familiar with his comments say, he’s been asking lawyers and other people close to him what a prison sentence would look like. Would he be sent to a ‘club fed’ style prison—a place that’s relatively comfortable, as far these things go—or a ‘bad’ prison? Would he serve out a sentence in a plush home confinement? Would government officials try to strip him of his lifetime Secret Service protections? What would they make him wear, if his enemies actually did ever get him in a cell?”



I believe the images above were created by some of the new AI technology that just gets better and better by the day. If I never get to see Trump in a prison jump suit, I’ll always have these.

Should the day come when Trump realizes he is going to spend time behind bars, I suspect he’ll hop on a jet and flee to Saudi Arabia or some country without extradition. But Melania won’t go, no will his children. So in his final days he would be alone, the ultimate loser.

Visiting Day at Fulton County Jail

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I’ve long nursed the fantasy of visiting The Orange One in jail. I’m still pretty skeptical he’ll ever be behind bars but it’s fun to imagine so I headed to the Fulton County Jail website to see what I could learn about visiting day.

The Fulton County Jail offers inmates a video conferencing system that will allow residents to speak to an inmate using their computer, phone, or other devices that have internet. The Fulton County Jail also offers a central area where residents without internet access can visit with an inmate using the video conferencing system.

This sounds like visits are online. But the website also has an interesting list of items that are now allowed so maybe we would get to chat through the plexiglass on those old-timey phones.

  • See through garments or clothing that shows body parts.
  • Tight fitting clothing such as spandex, leggings, yoga pants, etc.
  • Clothing that have holes or rips whether man-made or designer
  • Shorts that are above the knee
  • Miniskirts, short dresses, or sagging pants
  • Tank tops, sleeveless shirts, or visible white under garment t-shirts
  • Head coverings such as scarves, bandannas, hats, ball caps, etc.
  • Sleepwear such as pajama pants, nightgowns, house shoes, etc.
  • Sunglasses, shades
  • No handbags or purses.
  • Clothing or garments with illegal, offensive, or obscene graphics
  • Shoes that are determined to be slip hazardous such as flip flops, shoes without a back strap, heels and toes out, etc.
  • Outerwear such as jackets, sweaters, coats, hoodies, etc. (These items must be removed before entering the Fulton County Jail)
  • Under garments are required, but should not be seen while conducting business at the Fulton County Jail.

Proud Boy “wanted to see what would happen”

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(CNN) A leader of the Proud Boys who led the far-right organization’s infamous march to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison – among the longest sentences handed down yet for a convicted rioter. Joe Biggs was convicted by a Washington, DC jury of several charges including seditious conspiracy for attempting to forcibly prevent the peaceful transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

Was Joe proud and defiant to the end? Did he raise a clinched fist and shout “Live free or die!”

In a passionate appeal to the judge, Biggs, clad in an orange prison jumpsuit, said that “I know that I have to be punished and I understand,” but added “please give me the chance, I beg you, to take my daughter to school and pick her up. I know that I messed up that day, but I am not a terrorist,” he said through tears. Biggs said that he was “seduced” by the mob and “just moved forward.”

I’m picturing Joe explaining to his cellmate how he wound up in a federal prison.

“I wanted to see what would happen. My curiosity got the best of me.”

For all their media attention, I realized I didn’t know much about the Proud Boys so I headed over to Wikipedia where there’s a really long entry. Here’s my favorite part:

The Proud Boys say they have an initiation process that has four stages and includes hazing. The first stage is a loyalty oath, on the order of “I’m a proud Western chauvinist, I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world”; the second is getting punched until the person recites pop culture trivia, such as the names of five breakfast cereals; the third is getting a tattoo and agreeing to not masturbate; and the fourth is getting into a major fight “for the cause”. The masturbation policy was later modified to read: “no heterosexual brother of the Fraternity shall masturbate more than one time in any calendar month” and “all members shall abstain from pornography”.

I assume this means Proud Boys make a calendar entry when they spank the monkey. But it gets better. In 2018 The Daily Beast reported that the Proud Boys amended their rules to prohibit cargo shorts and the use of opioids and crystal meth. However, the same article mentioned that no restrictions were placed on cocaine.

High tech car theft: Relay attack

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A friend of mine had had his truck stolen recently while on a business trip to Dallas. He parked his truck in the parking area of the motel where he was staying. When he came out the next morning, his truck was gone. Obviously stolen. Here’s what the police told him probably happened.

One of the thieves stays close to the vehicle to be stolen with an electronic device that connects to the electronic ignition system. The other thief –armed with a different electronic gizmo– walks up and down the hallways of the hotel, sending out a signal that connects to the electronic key fob of the truck. A signal is then sent to the device in the parking lot, unlocking the truck and starting the ignition. It’s called a “relay attack” and here’s some video of a car being stolen from the owner’s driveway.

The key was probably on a table near the front door so the thief didn’t have to get any closer than the front porch.

My friend asked the investigating officer what could be done to prevent this kind of theft and was told his best bet was a Faraday pouch. Amazon has hundreds of them.

“Detective Agency”

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The classified ad below ran in the Daily Dunklin Democrat in 1960. This would be like Mayberry or Petticoat Junction having a detective agency. Kennett would have had a population of about 10,000 and everybody knew everybody’s business. Sure would love to go back in time and meet what had to be the town’s only private dick.

Two Kennett pals have come up with a little more information. The “Detective Agency” was a guy named Dick Graeges. According to long-time Dunklin County Sheriff, Raymond Scott, Graeges was a criminal and con man responsible for a bomb that blew up the sheriff’s car outside the county jail. Sheriff Scott tells the story in this 1989 interview on the local access channel in Kennett. (runs about 12 minutes)

I recall my father telling me a couple of guys were killed while in Sheriff Scott’s custody. The following is from a Facebook book post by Frank Stoner:

“Many of you have heard me mention the connection between Buford (Pusser) and Dunklin County Missouri Sheriff Raymond Scott. Sheriff Scott was the one who notified Buford of the large illegal liquor shipments coming out of Pemiscot County Missouri. He was also the one Buford traveled to see and ask his advice on how to protect himself after the August 12th ambush. Sheriff Scott was the target of several assassination attempts himself. Including a gunfight in the sheriff’s office in the Dunklin County jail and a bomb blowing up his car outside of the jail. Both of which he mentions in this interview. (Part 1 of 2)