Watercooler Stories

Judge catches runaway teen

LISBON, Ohio, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- An Ohio judge who caught a teenager who had escaped from his courtroom says he may have to recuse himself from the case.

The 17-year-old ran from the Columbiana County juvenile court building Tuesday in handcuffs and without his shoes, the Youngstown Vindicator reported. The boy had been brought back to the county for a hearing after he allegedly assaulted a sheriff's deputy and a member of the staff at a juvenile detention facility in Canton, Ohio.

Judge Thomas Baronzzi changed into a hunting outfit and joined the pursuit after the teen took off.

Baronzzi said the first time he caught up with the teenager he told him he had no place to go. The boy refused to get into the judge's car, taking off again.

The second time, the teen went with the judge, who drove him back to the court building.

"When we got there, he got out and thanked me," Baronzzi said.

The teen was found to be on the verge of hypothermia after running through creeks in his stocking feet on a day when the temperature was about 20 degrees.

Baronzzi said he may have to remove himself from any further proceedings. The teen faces an additional escape charge.

'Whacked out' couple make trouble at mass

UPPER DARBY, Pa., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Police in Pennsylvania said they arrested a "whacked out" couple after a midnight mass that featured the pair fondling each other and flushing drugs.

Upper Darby Police said Alexander Pirone, 21, and Catherine McGrath, 24, entered St. Charles Borromeo Church in Drexel Hill shortly after the start of midnight mass Christmas Eve and officer Samuel Sproull, who was on duty at the event, described the pair as "whacked out," the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

"At one point in time, they were fondling one another in the pew to the point where a couple of the churchgoers had to tell them to stop acting like morons," Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said.

Chitwood said Sproull found the couple in the church's basement after the Mass. He said the officer inspected the bathroom after McGrath flushed a toilet and found four plastic bags of the type typically used to transport heroin.

Investigators said they believe the pair planned to hide out in the basement and burgle the church once everyone left the facility.

McGrath and Pirone were arrested and charged with narcotics violations and public drunkenness.

12-year-old's tablet pre-loaded with porn

MARION, Ill., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- An Illinois couple said their 12-year-old daughter was shocked to find the tablet PC she received for Christmas was pre-loaded with pornographic applications.

Jay Hardin of Marion said he and his wife bought a pair of Coby Kyros pads, tablet computers similar to the Apple iPad, for their daughters, ages 12 and 15, and the younger girl quickly discovered her computer was pre-loaded with two applications called "Boobs! Butts! Babes!" and "Undress Me," WSIL-TV, Harrisburg, Ill., reported.

Hardin said the Kyros, which his daughter has nicknamed the "PervPad," still bore its original package seals when he purchased it.

Coby officials said the computers should not have come pre-loaded with any applications.

"There is nothing pre-programmed from Coby," Senior Product Manager Michael Paladino said in a written statement. "Like any other internet device with an open platform, a wide range of content is available which may require parental oversight. Coby is always looking for ways to improve our offerings."

Managers at the store where the item was bought said there have been no other reports of problems with the tablet computers.

Weather leads to $900 cab ride

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A New York family said they had to take a $900 cab ride home from an airport after discovering the bus they planned to take wasn't running due to the weather.

The family said their Delta flight from Orlando, Fla., to New York was canceled due to harsh weather following their Walt Disney World vacation, so they booked a Jet Blue flight from Orlando to Buffalo, N.Y., about 400 miles from the city, WFTV, Orlando, reported.

The family members, whose names were not released by WFTV, said they had planned to take a bus home to New York, but they arrived in Buffalo to discover the buses weren't running and they then decided to take a taxi.

"What the airport taxi are charging to take people to New York is $1,100. He decided to waive $200 so he charged me $900," a family member said.

The New Yorkers said the ride home was slowed by the weather conditions, doubling the usual travel time to more than 13 hours.