Through the Looking Glass
December 11, 2000
WE’RE PRETTY SURE HE’S THE RIGHT GUY: Wesley Ridgwell was photographed more than 700 times zipping through Florida toll booths without paying in his snazzy little Honda with the ”JST CRZY” plates. Despite the overwhelming evidence, he denied it at first. (”Someone stole one of my license plates, etc.”) He has since come clean. Ridgwell, 23, who has a dozen convictions on other motor vehicle charges, was fined $7,000 and will not be allowed to drive for three months.
A HONEYMOON TO REMEMBER: Keevis and Tiffanie Holland, 18-year-old newlyweds, started their new life together by beating up a 64-year-old woman and stealing her Cadillac in Texas and then driving to Chicago and points north, living off her stolen credit cards, police said. Their adventure came to an end 15 miles from Buffalo, N.Y., when a major snowstorm forced them to abandon the car. The police searched the vehicle and discovered a business card from a local motel where they found the couple and arrested them.
NOW SHE CAN POSE FOR MUGSHOTS: Katica Crippen earned a little quick cash by posing for nude photos on the Internet while holding a great big handgun. Alas, she is a drug offender out on parole (her electronic ankle bracelet could be seen in some of the pix) and, as a convicted felon, is not allowed to possess guns. The cops saw the pictures, raided her Colorado home, found the weapons and threw her back in jail.
AH, SUNRISE … HEY, I CAN SEE! At age 14, Lisa Reid developed a brain tumor that cost her eyesight. The New Zealand woman was blind for the next 10 years, until last month, that is, when she bent down to kiss her seeing-eye dog good night and accidentally hit her head on the coffee table. When she woke up the next morning, she could see. Doctors have no explanation.
STILL FEEL LIKE LAUGHING, BOYS? A merry band of teenage morons went on a two-month-long vandalism spree, destroying mailboxes, smashing windows and firing paintballs at homes in Waukesha, Wis., all of which — to the delight of police — they videotaped. They also returned to some of the scenes of their crimes to make tapes of victims repairing the damage. They can be heard laughing hysterically on the tapes. Juries tend to interpret this as a lack of remorse when such tapes are played in court.
EARNING IT DIDN’T OCCUR TO THEM: A teenage husband and wife robbed a convenience store in Atkins, Ark., and were arrested only 32 minutes later. They told police that they committed the crime because they didn’t have enough money to go to the movies.