Buster

A 19-year-old motorist who admitted driving his Honda 120 mph on an Iowa interstate told cops that he floored the vehicle last night “because a good song came on his stereo,” according to a court complaint.

After a witness called 911 to report a reckless driver was speeding and “swerving all over the road” a sheriff’s deputy spotted the suspect vehicle as it flew past him at 100 mph around 9:15 PM.

When the car was subsequently pulled over more than two miles up Interstate 380, driver Nicholas Bernard reportedly “admitted to going 120 mph at one point.” Bernard, seen at right, explained that he reached the top speed “because a good song came on” the stereo in his 2006 Honda Accord EX.

Bernard was only facing a speeding citation when he opened the glovebox to retrieve registration and insurance records. But then a deputy spotted a “large amount of marijuana” in plain view in the compartment. A subsequent search of the vehicle turned up a smoking pipe and other drug paraphernalia, cops report.

Bernard was charged with a pair of misdemeanor drug counts and booked into the Johnson County jail, from which he was released this morning.

As store surveillance cameras recorded his felonious activity, a brazen shoplifter strolled out of a Burlington store in Florida on Black Friday with sacks of stolen goods and an array of purses and handbags that were daisy-chained and dragged out of the business.

As first reported by WPLG, police in Hialeah, a city 10 miles from Miami, are hunting the thief, whose face, forearm tattoo, and vehicle were clearly recorded by store security cameras.

Sergeant Jose Torres said that investigators are “currently in the process of identifying this individual,” though an arrest has yet to be made in connection with the 8 PM heist on November 25.

It is unclear whether the male thief had accomplices.

As he fled the department store with the $5000 in stolen loot, the man passed a sign intended for departing shoppers: “See you soon for your next treasure hunt!”

After being arrested for stealing a wallet that a patron mistakenly left on a Waffle House counter, Kwanita Morton reportedly confessed to the theft and gave cops an explanation for her actions.

“The money was calling to me,” Morton declared.

According to Florida police, the victim paid their Waffle House tab early Monday morning, but “forgot their wallet on the counter.” The wallet contained credit cards and $2286 in cash.

As recorded by a security camera, the 47-year-old Morton “was seen on video looking around, putting her hat on top of the victim’s wallet on the counter.” She then slid the hat and wallet into her hands “with discretion.”

Morton then “quickly leaves the establishment while her husband and child are left inside the restaurant to pay.” Morton, who works at a nursing home, lives about eight miles from the Waffle House in St. Petersburg.

Aided by the security footage, police subsequently identified Morton as the theft suspect. During questioning, police report, Morton admitted to swiping the wallet, claiming, “The money was calling to me.”

Seen above, Morton was arrested on a felony grand theft charge and booked into the county jail. She was released from custody early yesterday after posting $2000 bond.

Morton’s rap sheet includes four separate misdemeanor theft convictions.

For some unexplained reason, a wanted man was covered head-to-toe in black paint when California cops apprehended him last week.

Investigators had been looking to arrest Rufus Barron, 35, on an outstanding warrant when his mother called police to report that her son was asleep in her home in Madera, a city in central California.

When officers arrived at the residence around 1:30 AM on Tuesday, they discovered Barron, seen above, coated in black paint. Barron would not say how he came to be so covered, according to Madera Police Chief Dino Lawson.

A search of Barron turned up a glass smoking pipe containing methamphetamine. Cops suspected that Barron had been on a “meth bender” (which could have prompted the paint application).

Barron is being held in the county jail on multiple charges, including possession of a controlled substance, violating parole, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

10/17 UPDATE: Austin Smith, 20, was arrested Saturday for giving the 10-year-old a permanent tattoo. Charged with endangering the welfare of a child and a second misdemeanor, Smith was released from custody on a desk appearance ticket and is scheduled for a November 3 hearing in Town Court.

A New York woman has been arrested for allowing her 10-year-old son to get a large tattoo across his forearm, artwork that was spotted by a school employee who reported the illegal ink to law enforcement.

Police this month busted Crystal Thomas, 33, for endangering the welfare of a child. She was booked on the misdemeanor charge and released from custody on a Town Court appearance ticket.

Thomas’s son was placed in the custody of child protective services officials.

According to police, the boy was tattooed inside a room at the hotel where Thomas and her two children reside. The Ulster County hotel is about 100 miles north of New York City.

Before inking the boy, police say, the tattoo artist got permission from Thomas. The resulting tattoo--the boy’s name in “full-size block letters”--was inked across the child’s forearm, said Chief James Janso of the Town of Lloyd Police.

The tattoo is large enough that “you would need a sleeve to cover it up,” said Janso.

Officials learned of the tattoo earlier this month when the boy asked the nurse at his middle school to apply Vaseline atop the fresh ink, Janso told TSG.

Janso described the tattoo artist as a “person of interest” who could face charges including tattooing a minor and endangering the welfare of a child. The whereabouts of the male suspect are currently unknown, said Janso.

Thomas is pictured above in a photo from her Facebook page.