Buster

A bus passenger was arrested yesterday after cops discovered that his luggage contained 48 Most Sacred Heart of Jesus candles that had methamphetamine mixed in their wax, according to Louisiana cops.

An El Expresso bus bound for Mobile, Alabama was pulled over early Thursday morning in Baton Rouge following a traffic violation. During a subsequent search of the coach’s cargo hold, a drug detection dog alerted to a suitcase.

When members of the Highway Interdiction Unit opened the luggage, they found the 48 religious candles, which contained “methamphetamine mixed in wax, disguised as candles,” according to investigators.

The seized candles are seen in the above Baton Rouge Police Department photo. While the candles weighed in excess of 110 pounds, police did not specify the weight of the meth discovered.  

While none of the bus passengers claimed ownership of the seized bag, cops located a photo of a man inside the suitcase. The image matched that of passenger Jose Antonio Rodriguez-Lara, a 19-year-old Texas resident.

Rodriguez-Lara, seen at left, was arrested on a felony narcotics charge and booked into jail, where he is being held in lieu of $30,000 bond.

There has been another burrito assault.

An Idaho man was arrested Sunday after allegedly throwing the tasty Mexican treat at a worker at an assisted living home, police say.

Travis Micho, 52, tossed the burrito during a dispute with Claressa Tharp, according to a Kootenai County Sheriff's Office report. Micho, deputies reported, “grabbed his burrito from his dinner plate and threw it at Tharp as she was standing across the table from him."

Tharp, 40, who works at Harmony House Assisted Living in Hayden, was struck with “several pieces of the burrito.” The balance of the burrito “was on the wall,” investigators reported.

When questioned by a deputy, Micho (pictured above) copped to throwing the burrito at Tharp. He was arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge and booked into the county jail (from which he was released yesterday after posting $600 bond).

According to a sheriff’s spokesperson, Micho has been arrested 17 times in Kootenai County since 1991. His rap sheet includes multiple drunk driving arrests, as well as weapons, narcotics, battery, and probation violation charges.

Stories about prior burrito attacks can be found here and here.

A drunken college student dressed as a zombie Santa barged into a Minnesota home late Saturday, causing a boy to flee the home, while a teenage girl locked herself in a bathroom, police report.

Brock Quinn Johnson, 21, was arrested for trespassing at the Minneapolis residence, which is a few blocks from the University of St. Thomas, which Johnson attends. Johnson apparently participated Saturday in the tenth annual Zombie Pub Crawl across Minneapolis.

Johnson, pictured above, entered the home around 9:45 PM through an unlocked front door and encountered the boy, who screamed and ran out a rear exit. The girl locked herself in an upstairs bedroom and called her parents, who rushed home.

Cops found Johnson--who had vomited--passed out in the home. When awoken, the collegian was disoriented and unaware of his location. He was cited for trespassing and brought to a detoxification center to sober up.

According to his LinkedIn page, Johnson is scheduled to graduate next year from St. Thomas, a 10,000-student Catholic university. The Minnesota native is studying business administration, not theater arts.

After arresting a local police chief for stalking and assault, Tennessee jailers allowed the man to pose for a booking photo with a cigar in his mouth and holding--not wearing--an orange inmate smock.

Richard Stitts, who heads the Maury City Police Department, was booked Friday at the Crockett County Sheriff's Office, where he posed for two mugs shots. Stitts, 66, was busted for allegedly attacking the mother of his child. He was subsequently released on $2500 and has been suspended from his police post, which he has held for about 18 years.

As seen above, Stitts was not treated like an ordinary defendant when processed by sheriff’s personnel. The mug shot has prompted an internal affairs investigation, according to Sheriff Troy Klyce.

“This behavior is not consistent with the professional culture we have created within the sheriff's department,” Klyce wrote in a Facebook posting. He added that once the investigation is complete, “disciplinary action will be taken.”

Stitts is scheduled for an October 23 appearance in General Sessions court, where cigars are prohibited.

An Ohio inmate is seeking parole, in part, because he wants to “witness in person LeBron James’ pursuit of an NBA championship for my beloved hometown.”

In a letter to Parole Board officials, Jason Goudlock, 39, argues that he is seeking the “opportunity to begin the process of redeeming myself,” adding that he has “begun to develop a plan for helping at-risk youths.”

Goudlock (seen at right) has spent more than 20 years in prison for felony aggravated assault and robbery, crimes committed when the gun-toting Cleveland native was 18. Goudlock, who has appeared before the Parole Board four prior times, is scheduled for a hearing this month.

Goudlock contends that he was sentenced under old laws that have resulted in punishment that has already exceeded what a “new-law prisoner could be made to serve.” He added, “I’ve served even more time than convicted murderers.” According to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction records, Goudlock’s mandatory maximum release date is January 2028.

“I am not a career criminal, and I am ready to be released from prison,” wrote Goudlock in his September 26 letter, which is excerpted here. After requesting that parole officials “retire” his prison number (284-561), Goudlock added, “On the lighter side, I would truly like to witness in person LeBron James’ pursuit of an NBA championship for my beloved hometown.”

Meet Kristopher Davis.

The 32-year-old Utah man was in a Mexican restaurant early yesterday morning when he asked an employee if he could borrow a pen “to get a girl’s phone number.”

But when the Beto’s Restaurant worker declined Davis’s request, a verbal argument ensued inside the Salt Lake City eatery.

During the 2:45 AM dispute, Davis slapped the victim’s finger away from his face, prompting the employee to try and escort Davis from the restaurant. Davis, however, “pulled a knife and stabbed the victim in the leg then again in the abdomen/rib area,” according to a Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office report.

The worker was transported to a local hospital in serious condition.

Davis fled the restaurant, but was later apprehended by police, who reported that he confessed to the stabbing. He is jailed on a felony aggravated assault charge. Davis’s rap sheet includes prior busts for burglary, domestic violence, assault, criminal mischief, and possession of drug paraphernalia.