Can A Person Get Arrested For Masturbating In Their Own Car?

At least one guy did.

Police in Mandeville, Louisiana, arrested a local man Monday, June 15th, for allegedly masturbating in his car in public.

The incident occurred in the Northlake Shopping Center, police said.

Just after 6:30 p.m. – still in daylight hours – police received a call concerning public obscenity in the parking lot, located in the 1800 block of North Causeway Approach, writes nola.com.

Officers allegedly found the man there in his charcoal gray 2006 Nissan Altima, according to a Mandeville Police report.

When officers arrived, the report said, they found the man “seated in the vehicle and still actively ‘perpetrating his crime,'” according to the press release.

The man was arrested and charged with one count of public obscenity. The charge carries a fine of between $1,000 and $2,000, and jail time of between six months and three years, police said.

The man was booked into the St. Tammany Parish jail, according to police.

(Updated article)

http://www.kplctv.com/story/29331717/police-officer-catches-man-in-the-act-in-north-shore-parking-lot

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/06/caught_in_the_act_mandeville_p.html

FIFA Officials Arrested On Corruption Charges

CNN

Acting on an indictment by the U.S. Justice Department, Swiss police arrested several top FIFA officials on charges of corruption.

The officials were allegedly arrested Wednesday morning in Zurich.  They were accused of widespread corruption dating to the 1990s.

The New York Times reports that Sepp Blatter, a Swiss national, “has ruled FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, for the past 17 years with no term limit, no external oversight, no passion for business ethics, no appetite for reform and, apparently, no shame over the rampant scandals, corruption and match-fixing that have sullied the beautiful game.”

FIFA is a multibillion-dollar organization that governs soccer but has been plagued by accusations of bribery for decades, writes the New York Times.

What About Sepp Blatter?  A FIFA spokesman said that Blatter remains serene despite the arrests of officials on corruption charges and that a leadership vote will go ahead on Friday.

Mr. Blatter was not charged. Still he remains wildly unpopular, except among his “enablers,” writes the New York Times – corporate sponsors like Coca-Cola, Adidas and Visa, and docile national soccer federations.

Mr. Blatter, 79, is expected to win a fifth term as FIFA’s president on Friday, but he presides over an organization with a reputation in tatters.  Sepp Blatter became president of FIFA in 1998. He has held other jobs with the organization.In FIFA Politics, Blatter Is the “consummate player,” writes the New York Times.

(Updated article)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/27/top-fifa-officials-arrested-in-international-soccer-corruption-investigation-according-to-reports/

Man Arrested For ‘Stolen Valor’ Under Questionable Circumstances

A man faces extradition from Puerto Rico after he was accused in Texas of pretending to be an elite Navy SEAL.  It is reportedly a case of “stolen valor.”

Carlos Luna-Gonzalez served in the Navy as an apprentice, but he aroused suspicion in Texas last year after allegedly dressing in a Navy lieutenant junior grade uniform with a Purple Heart, SEAL trident and jump wings, officials said.

Acting on a tip, Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler – who is also a veteran – found military records showing Luna-Gonzalez never served as a SEAL, so Fowler worked with local gun shop owner Joey Blanton for an elaborate sting operation to apparently “frame” Luna-Gonzalez.

So, in a time when America has the highest prison population (as a percentage) in the world – more than any other country – the Parker county Sheriff decided it was worth it to create a sting operation to put this man in jail.

“We were going to award him with a firearm for his service,” Blanton said.

Luna-Gonzalez allegedly accepted an expensive assault rifle as a gift, and was arrested.

But police say he jumped bail, fleeing to Puerto Rico.  He was taken into custody Monday and has not entered a plea.

In 2013, President Barack Obama signed into law The American Legion-backed Stolen Valor Act of 2013, which made it a “federal crime for an individual to fraudulently hold oneself out to be a recipient of any of several specified military decorations or medals with the intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit,” according to the website http://www.legion.org.

The question in the Luna-Gonzalez situation would be:  did he do it “with the intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit.”  In other words, did he dress up and claim he was a Navy SEAL in order to obtain the “expensive assault rifle” as a gift?

The real question would be if this was police entrapment.

The website lectlaw.com states, “A person is ‘entrapped’ when he is induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers or their agents to commit a crime that he had no previous intent to commit…”

“The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the original Stolen Valor Act of 2005, saying it was unconstitutional because it was too broad in scope and violated the right of free speech,” according to http://www.legion.org.

More:

http://www.legion.org/legislative/215862/stolen-valor-act-2013-signed-law#sthash.tDdUmkWL.dpuf

(Updated article)

Indiana Woman Charged With Felony And Arrested After Pulling Into Nearby Parking Lot

A resident of the town of Portage, Indiana, said she did not immediately pull over for the flashing lights behind her because, as a 52-year-old woman traveling alone at 11:21 p.m. on a dark county road, she was concerned for her safety.  This happened at the end of March.

She assumed the car behind her was a police officer, and DelRea Good said she slowed her vehicle, put on her emergency flashers, and waved her arm out the window to acknowledge the pursing car.

Ms. Good continued for less than a mile where she pulled over into the lighted parking lot at a Kohl’s department store.

The decision not to immediately stop resulted in her being handcuffed and taken to jail by Porter County Sheriff’s Department Patrolman William Marshall on a felony charge of resisting arrest, states nwitimes.com.

It may also cost her her job, because a nurse cannot work after being convicted of a felony, she said.

“I felt I didn’t do anything wrong,” Good said. “I got to a safe place and I told him that.”

According to nwitimes.com, Porter County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Larry LaFlower said, “The sheriff’s office supports our officer’s decision in this matter.”

He cited state law requiring motorists to yield to emergency vehicles and said Marshall was driving a fully marked squad car and used the lights and siren.

Pakistan Authorities Arrest Taliban Militants Involved In School Massacre, Give Credit To Afghanistan For Help

A Pakistani army spokesperson said Thursday that 12 local Taliban militants have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the deadly school attack last year that killed at least 148 people.

The militants were part of what is believed to be a 27-member cell, of which nine others have been killed, according to jurist.org.

Pakistan credited the cooperation of Afghanistan, where six of the militants were arrested.

The spokesperson said that Pakistan has been working closely with the Afghan government to search for the Pakistani Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, who allegedly ordered the school attack and assigned commanders.

The Pakistani Taliban have a history of fighting against the Pakistani government and have tried to overthrow the authorities and impose Sharia. Since it is the main place of operations of the Taliban, Pakistan has been a focal point of global anti-terrorism efforts.

The Washington Post states that NATO played a role:  “At a news conference on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, the chief spokesman for the Pakistani military announced that six Taliban militants were arrested recently during a joint mission by NATO and Afghan troops in eastern Afghanistan.”

More:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/02/12/u-s-forces-afghan-troops-arrest-taliban-militants-wanted-for-school-massacre/

Euronews: Mafia Ring Busted

euronews

According to euronews, police in Rome recently have broken up a mafia drug ring arresting 26 people and seizing more than 600kg of cocaine and hashish. Those arrested were members of the infamous Ndrangheta mob group.

Anti-mafia magistrate Michele Prestipino says the Rome marketplace is strategic and helps mafia clans to accumulate criminal, political, and economic power.

9-Year-Old Arrested Over Stolen Chewing Gum

The Post Falls, Idaho, Chief of Police says he was very surprised when an arrest warrant landed on his desk earlier this week. The warrant was for a “failure to appear,” not uncommon. But the perpetrator was a nine-year old boy.

TYT Network

St. Louis Driver Hits Protestors With Car And Waves Gun

 

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a man was arrested Wednesday evening in St. Louis after he drove through the crowd and later waved a gun at protesters.

A protest leader said four protesters were hit. A police spokeswoman said nobody was seriously hurt.

According to the Post-Dispatch, protesters then chased and surrounded the minivan, and the driver waved a black handgun at them. At one point, protesters broke out the van’s back window. The van was dented, and police recovered a rock from the back seat. Police took the driver, a 57-year-old man, into custody.

Photos:

TYT video.

More:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/motorist-hits-crowd-members-pulls-gun-at-central-west-end/article_d9ccebc6-258d-5b58-9f43-a9f45b2ab84e.html