Buster

A woman who was carrying a bottle filled with her own urine is facing a drug possession charge after the liquid tested positive for methamphetamine, according to cops who surmised that the suspect was planning to extract traces of the drug from the bodily waste.

Cops confronted Cindy Wingo, 33, last Wednesday after spotting her and a male acquaintance loitering outside a vacant South Carolina home. During a subsequent investigation, Wingo consented to an examination of her purse.

According to a Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office report, deputies found drug paraphernalia items during the search. Wingo, an investigator noted, “has in the past used illicit substances (i.e., methamphetamine).”

Deputies also discovered a pill bottle filled with urine. Wingo said that while the container belonged to her daughter, “it was her urine that was in the bottle,” reported Deputy Chaney Brown. Asked about the urine, Brown added, “Cindy was evasive with her answer, and would not give me a straight answer.”

Brown, who has been trained in “methamphetamine and clandestine lab assessment,” reported that, “it is not an uncommon practice for Methamphetamine users to not discard their urine, due to the fact that a portion of the Methamphetamine is excreted out through the urination process.” Users, Bown added, can then “extract the Methamphetamine from the urine or give it to someone who knows how to do this in exchange for more Methamphetamine.”

“Having this in mind, I field tested the liquid in the prescription bottle,” Brown wrote. “It field tested positive for Methamphetamine.”

Wingo, seen at left, was subsequently arrested for drug possession and booked into the county jail. She was released from custody after posting $5000 bond and is scheduled for a September 25 court appearance.

This morning's audacious Brooklyn Bridge capture-and-replace-the-flag operation was, at the least, a two-person job that apparently was launched some time after 3 AM.

Based on recordings from a webcam pointed at the span, the flag bearers first reached the bridge’s eastern tower (which is closer to Brooklyn) around 3:35, when spotlights illuminating the flag were either shut or somehow doused. Seven minutes later, at 3:42, the flag atop the bridge’s western tower--nearest to Manhattan--also went dark.

The spotlights illuminating each flag do not appear to go back on during the hours before dawn, according to the EarthCam recordings. This morning, motorists and pedestrians began reporting that the two American flags had been replaced with white flags usually associated with surrender.  

The distance between the two towers, as well as the time it takes to walk up a narrow cable catwalk leading to the individual towers, makes it impossible for a single person to have pulled off the stunt.

The above images show the flag closest to Manhattan lit up, and then, seconds later, shrouded in darkness at 3:42 AM.

During a press conference late this afternoon, New York Police Department officials said they they are investigating the stunt and pledged to identify and prosecute those responsible. NYPD Deputy Intelligence Commissioner John Miller said that cops do not consider the flag operation art, but rather a matter of criminal trespass. Miller added that investigators are analyzing the seized flags, which each measure 20-foot-by-11-foot.

A woman who allegedly tried to steal a vibrator from the “love section” of a Spencer’s gift shop in South Carolina was foiled when a store employee spotted her stashing the device behind her child, who was seated in a stroller, police report.

Misty Ann Lee, 38, was nabbed Friday afternoon inside the WestGate Mall in Spartanburg, according to a police report. She was cited for shoplifting and booked into the county jail (from which she was released late Friday evening).

A Spencer’s manager told cops that she saw Lee “select a vibrator from the love unit” and then move to the “t-shirt cube,” where she allegedly slid the item “behind a yoiung child in the stroller.” Lee then departed the store, worker Dawn Hamilton told investigators.

After Lee departed the business, she was stopped by Hamilton, who demanded the vibrator. “Ms. Hamilton stated Ms. Lee looked like she didn't know what she was talking about and then she retrieved the merchandise from the stroller,” according to a Spartanburg Police Department report. With vibrator in hand, Hamilton appeared content to let Lee skate. But when Lee subsequently sought to reenter Spencer’s, Hamilton decided to notify police.

Lee, seen in the above mug shot, is free on a $2000 personal recognizance bond. The police report does not include the make, model, or retail price of the vibrator.

An upstate New York man was arrested last night for flying a drone outside the examination room windows of a medical facility where patients were being treated, police report.

David Beesmer, 49, was charged with a felony unlawful surveillance count for piloting the drone about 10 to 15 feet from the facility in Ulster, a town 90 miles north of New York City. Beesmer’s drone was recording video, which was seized as evidence by New York State Police troopers.

A police spokesperson declined to describe the footage shot by Beesmer, who is seen in the above mug shot. The video was shot outside the Mid Hudson Medical Group building, which opened Monday.

According to cops, the drone hovered outside the windows of several examination rooms, where patients and medical staff “observed the contraption.”

In a statement posted to his Facebook page this morning, Beesmer, a drone enthusiast, described the filming as a “huge error in judgement.” He stated that he had taken his mother to a doctor’s appointment in the new building and later “took my drone up in the air to capture some very brief footage” of the facility.  Beesmer said that the drone’s camera did not record anyone inside the building due to its tinted windows.

“I truly realize that I should have asked first but did not think it would be an issue….only to discover that it sure is,” wrote Beesmer, who appears unbowed by his arrest. “I will not stop droning....this is the wave of the future...and I WILL be a part of it,” he declared.

Beesmer’s Facebook page also includes photos of his beloved $1300 drone, which can be seen below.

A Massachusetts man’s displeasure with the customer service he received during a weekend Taco Bell run ended with him allegedly being shot with a BB gun by an employee of the fast food chain.

According to Springfield police, officers responding to a call about a possible holdup early Saturday morning discovered a 26-year-old man banging on the restaurant’s door. The man told cops he went to the drive-thru to “get some tacos,” but after waiting a long time for service, he “banged on the window and yelled but nobody would help him.”

The customer, according to police, then “became angry (cause he was hungry)” and headed from his car to the eatery to complain about the poor service. He was met at the locked front door by Taco Bell employee Steven Noska.

According to the victim, Noska, 26, shoved him and then went to his car and got a BB gun. The man told cops Noska, pictured above, then shot him “several times” and also struck him with the weapon before returning to the restaurant.

Noska, who “had bite marks on his arm” allegedly caused by the hungry customer, was hit with multiple counts of assault and battery. He was arraigned yesterday in District Court and released from custody after posting $250 bail. He is due back in court on August 28.

A man named Shelby Mustang GT500 Miller was arrested early yesterday following a drunken confrontation at an Iowa bar, police report.

Miller, 26, tussled with patrons at the Cheap Seats Sports Bar in Des Moines, according to cops. After departing the bar around 1 AM, he allegedly returned with a hatchet under his shirt, according to a Des Moines Police Department report.

Witness Brian Bates turned the hatchet over to police, saying, “He just dumped this in the bathroom when he came in. He had it under his shirt.” When cops questioned Miller about the hatchet, he became aggravated and yelled at Bates, “You snitch motherfucker, I know you, I’m going to get you.”

While not denying ownership of the hatchet, Miller insisted that police “had the wrong guy,” alleging that Bates “had punched him and that he was a victim.” Despite that defense, Miller was arrested for public intoxication and going armed with intent. Miller, who was also hit with a probation violation charge, is locked up in lieu of $10,000 bond.

The police report does not indicate whether Miller was born with the “Mustang GT500” middle name (or if the Ford tribute was added at a later date).