Man Arrested After Demanding $180 Ransom For Cell Phone

He should have just taken the $100 while he had the chance.

That's really not a bad offer at all.

FRANKLIN — A 26-year-old Franklin man was arrested after police say he attempted to extort a man of $180 in ransom money for the return of a stolen cell phone.

Bradley Vaughn is accused of taking a cell phone accidentally left on a shelf at Walmart on Mallory Lane.

The phone's owner realized he had left his phone when he got to the checkout area. After going back and seeing that the phone had been picked up, he used a Walmart employee's phone to send a text message to his missing phone, offering a $100 reward for its return.

That’s when, police say, Vaughn demanded a ransom of $180 for the return of the phone.

Franklin police said that Vaughn instructed the man to leave the cash under a glass of ice on the bar at the Chili’s restaurant in Cool Springs, and that’s exactly what the phone's owner did — but not before calling police.

A waiting plain-clothes officer saw Vaughan come into the restaurant and head for the restroom before picking up the money left by the victim, police said.

Vaughan, who fought with officers in the bar, was charged with resisting arrest and felony theft.

Officers found the victim’s cell phone hidden in the Chili’s men’s room and have returned it to its rightful owner.

h/t: WilliamsonAM. Cross-posted.

Feel-Good Second Amendment Story of the Day

Let's hear it for concealed carry permits. A shame every state doesn't have them.

A bank robber in Palm Bay couldn't get away from a bank Thursday, because a customer of the Space Coast Credit Union on Malabar Road had a gun and a concealed weapon permit. The customer used his gun to stop the robber.

Police identified the suspect as 23-year-old Floyd Francis. He's facing robbery charges.

The man who stopped him, Ruben Torres, actually had his gun in his car in the parking lot. He had enough time to go out to his car, get his gun and then go back in and hold Francis for police.

"Me, being from New York, I’m always on alert," Torres explained.

Of course had this robbery taken place in New York, Torres would have been at the mercy of the criminal.

Torres went to the Space Coast Credit Union to pick up some cash for a cruise this weekend and was on his way out when he noticed a man walk in, give him a weird look, pull out a Walmart bag and put it on his head. It was the first sign it wasn't going to be just any visit to the bank.

"It's not Halloween. You don't walk in and put a bag over your head unless you’re going to do something," Torres said.

Torres, a trained, professional security guard with a concealed weapons permit said he didn't even think twice about what he was about to do. He went to his car, grabbed his handgun and went back inside.

Francis was sitting, waiting for the cash he was trying to steal. Another teller confirmed for Torres that Francis was trying to rob the bank and, when Torres saw an opportunity, he drew his weapon.

"As he was walking out, I put him down with the gun in the back of his back," Torres said.

The Palm Bay man said Francis didn't fight back or try to run. Torres said he was never scared, just a little nervous, and was surprised to hear what Francis had to say.

"He apologized to me and I said, 'That doesn't matter now,'" Torres described.

Palm Bay police arrived moments later. Police said, while they don't encourage people to take matters into their own hands, they said what he did was appreciated and courageous.

Dumb Crook From Minnesota Not Named Al Franken

Just too funny to pass on. According to this guy's own admission he robs for a living. He must be living in a cardboard box under an underpass then.

According to police reports, he then produced a roll of duct tape and ordered one employee to tie up the other. Then he ordered the bound employee to tie up the other. After the employees explained how that would be impossible, he tied up the second employee himself.

O'Neill said Kassa then led the two employees out the back door of the store, apparently overlooking the store's actual safe, which was unlatched at the time. He tried to destroy the store's security camera system; however, the cameras were linked to a central system outside the store.

Finally, the three exited through the back door, which automatically locked behind them.

And that is some of the smarter things this mental midget did.

Who says everything you read on a blog has to be serious?