State News
Mark Williams, known as the “Petoskey Batman,” was arrested Saturday, Sept. 29 for resisting arrest and obstructing police in an investigation. Williams refused to leave the scene of a car accident, while dressed up in a Batman suit. Petoskey Police said that he was interfering because a canine unit was on scene. The dog could have gotten confused by Williams’ scent. In May 2011, Williams was charged with possession of concealed weapons and felony trespassing. He sold his suit on eBay for more than $150 to gather funds to pay his legal fees. In September 2011 he pleaded guilty to attempted resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer. As part of his sentence, he was not to wear any costumes for a six-month probation period.
National News
A border patrol agent from Provo, Utah was shot and killed on the Mexican border on Tuesday, Oct. 2 near Naco, Ariz., while another agent was shot and wounded. Nicholas Ivie, 30, and the injured victim, who was not identified, were responding to someone illegally crossing the border at 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning when they were shot. There was an additional agent with them who remained uninjured in the shooting. The site of the attack was particularly close to the area where, in 2010, agent Brian Terry was murdered. Operation Fast and Furious, in which border patrollers turned a blind eye to illegal weapons in an attempt to better identify potential criminals, led to the death of Terry. The location and nature of Tuesday’s shooting has raised criticism about the federal government’s strategies on the border.
International News
Within hours of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday, Sept. 11, intelligence reports were received in Washington implicating a terrorist attack with ties to al-Qaida. The Obama administration stressed the role of an anti-Muslim video posted online as leading to the attack. It was not until Friday, Sept. 28 when the office of the Director of National Intelligence released a public statement acknowledging the attacks were “deliberate” and “carried out by extremists.” Republicans are blaming the Obama administration for putting emphasis on the video rather than a terrorist attack until recently, claiming it was a political move protecting the Obama administration’s claim of hurting al-Qaida’s ability to plan and carry out attacks. However, some officials said U.S. intelligence agencies wanted to avoid making premature assessments about the attack, taking time to thoroughly analyze all information. The Obama administration defended its account of what occurred and stated its understanding evolved as more data was received.
Weirds News
A Michigan car chase came to a steamy conclusion Wednesday, Oct. 3 as authorities captured a runaway suspect hiding in a backyard hot tub. The chase began as a routine traffic stop of a pickup truck for defective plates by a Van Buren County deputy. The driver took off on a chase that ended in Almena, Mich., where the driver lost control of the pickup and overturned. A Kalamazoo police dog was called in to track the suspect, leading authorities to the man’s hiding spot in a backyard hot tub with a cover on top. The suspect, a 28-year-old man, was arrested on charges including fleeing police, resisting arrest, driving with a suspended license and operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs.
