Morning Request Breakfast Radio Show 03/11/11

A Colorado man was charged this week with felony criminal mischief for allegedly causing more than 250 thousand dollars damages to a neighbor’s property because of an $80 debt.  According to Gazette.com, 63-year-old Jack Herbst is accused of going on a rampage on his neighbor’s property with a front-end loader, destroying a brick garage, a two-bedroom addition to a home, six cars, two campers, farm equipment and six mature elm trees.  Authorities say Herbst also ripped out electric and phone lines and destroyed a propane tank.  Investigators say Herbst was upset because the neighbor had purchased a trailer from him for $400, but only paid $320.  The report says Herbst called his neighbor earlier this week, saying, “I want my $80 or I’m going to flatten everything.”  The neighbor, Ron Morphis, discovered the damage when he returned home from work on Wednesday.

An Indiana man has been accused of attacking his mother-in-law during an argument over him belching in the backseat of her car.  According to the HeraldTimesOnline.com, the mother-in-law told police her son-in-law, 33-year-Joseph Cunningham, “spat out a sour belch” with a foul odor while she was driving her car.  The mother-in-law told police when she complained about the smell, Cunningham said he couldn’t help it and announced he wanted to get out of the car.  The woman says before she could pull over, Cunningham, who was seated behind her, put his hands around her neck and began choking her. She managed to free herself and stop the car, but Cunningham hopped out and punched her once in the face before running off.  The mother-in-law was not seriously hurt. The son-in-law is charged with battery, intimidation and strangulation.

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock showed the perils of eating nothing but McDonald’s food in his 2004 documentary Super Size Me, but Joe D’Amico apparently never saw the movie because he’s been eating Mickey D’s three times a day as part of his training for running a marathon.  The Chicago Sun-Times reports D’Amico is set to run in the Los Angeles Marathon on March 20th after spending 30 days eating nothing but McMuffins, McNuggets and other McDonald’s menu items.  D’Amico tells the newspaper, “My wife told me I was crazy, but I love McDonald’s and I love running, and this was a great way to combine the two.”  D’Amico eats breakfast, lunch and dinner at McDonald’s, but hasn’t gained any weight because he runs 100 miles a week.  Filmmaker Spurlock gained 24 pounds by eating nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days and watched his health decline.

Police in Fort Pierce, Florida say an intoxicated man was arrested Wednesday for throwing a TV remote at his “extremely intoxicated” girlfriend.  According to TCPalm.com, the girlfriend told police Edward Watts, her boyfriend of 14 years, threw the TV remote, striking her in the head, because he suspected she had “broken the cable for the television.”  In his defense, the 42-year-old Watts said his girlfriend was “very intoxicated” and kept following him around their home, bothering him.  Watts told investigators he became upset and tossed the remote, “accidentally” striking the victim in the head.  Police say she suffered a small cut on her forehead.  Watts is charged with misdemeanor.

An Italian fugitive who’s been on the lam for more than a decade was nabbed by police Tuesday, thanks in part to his wife’s lasagna.  Authorities say Giancarlo Sabatini went into hiding in 2000 after being sentenced in a cocaine trafficking case, but acting on a tip, police staked out his wife’s house near Rome and spotted his daughter leaving for her home with a tray of lasagna.  Police burst into the daughter’s residence and found Sabatini enjoying his wife’s cooking.  Police say lasagna is traditionally served for lunch on the last day before the start of Lent, and Sabatini, who had been hiding out in Belgium, returned to Italy so he could enjoy the tradition with his family.

Stubbing your big toe may be painful for a few moments, but most people would agree it doesn’t warrant a 911 call and an ambulance ride to a hospital.  A 52-year-old woman in Allentown, Pennsylvania is apparently not like most people.  The Morning Call reports the woman dialed 911 late Tuesday night demanding an ambulance come to her home and transport her to a hospital for treatment of a stubbed toe.  When no ambulance was dispatched, the woman called 911 again, demanding assistance.  This time an ambulance was sent, with an EMS worker radioing ahead to alert the hospital, “We’re bringing in a stubbed toe.”

A New York City woman is facing smuggling charges after she was caught allegedly trying to sneak into the United States with nearly 170 thousand dollars in cash stuffed in her underwear.  According to the New York Daily News, U.S. Customs officials testified this week that Claire Abdeldaim arrived at JFK International Airport last June from Sudan, where she had sold a tract of land owned by her late husband.  Prosecutors say Abdeldaim sewed 1,699 $100 bills from the transaction into her underwear to avoid paying taxes on upon her return to the U.S.   The 64-year-old Abdeldaim faces up to 21 months in prison if convicted.