tv Caught on Camera MSNBC December 20, 2014 1:00pm-2:01pm PST
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extraordinary and scary situations officers face on a daily basis. i'm contessa brewer. that's all for this edition of "caught on camera." come on! >> caught on camera, a mother cheers on her teenage daughter in an after-school fight. >> i was appalled. a mcdonald's customer loses her cool over chicken mcnuggets. >> i've never experienced an assault over fast food. this woman puts a couple's cat in the trash. >> when i saw the video, i was shocked first. a donkey sent soaring through the sky on a parasail. and violence erupts at a tow yard. >> he came here to kill
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everybody. he was on a death mission. fights that are bold. >> she wasn't going to stand back this time. thieves who are brazen. >> he was going to town on those things. and unbelievable scenes that couldn't be more bizarre. it's all "caught on camera." >> "caught on camera: bold, brazen and bizarre." hello, i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." with security cameras, cell phone cameras, and surveillance cameras working 24/7, it seems like every experience these days is captured by someone somewhere. in this hour, we'll show you situations that are a little unusual, off the beaten path,
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or, as we like to call them, "bold, brazen, and bizarre." you may ask yourself more than once in the next hour "what were they thinking?" if you do, don't worry. we thought the same thing. two teenage girls go at each other in an after-school brawl while dozens of classmates stand by cheering, recording it all on their cell phones. >> at first, i had to ask, is this real? did they stage it? >> but this school fight is real. in the end, a strange twist. a mother would be arrested and charged with third-degree child abuse for egging on her daughter and failing to stop the vicious fight. >> we were appalled. it becomes that much more shocking when you see the parent of one of the children involved in this right there.
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>> less than an hour south of tampa is palmetto, florida. it's the afternoon of september 17, 2010. not far from her home, tanya bernam is driving on 48th avenue when she says a teenage driver comes up behind her at a very high speed. >> i stop my van. i got out, walked back to the gentleman that was driving the vehicle. i told him that he needed to slow down before someone got hurt or before i called manatee county sheriff's department. and he said, yes, ma'am. i got back in my van, started to pull away when he cut through one of the pieces of property. >> bernam says four teens from palmetto high school zoomed by her house. at the cross street of 17th avenue, she can see their cars parked on both sides of the roadway. she has an uneasy feeling. >> i told the manatee county to get someone out here immediately, that whatever was going on down there wasn't good.
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>> bernam's house is just a couple of minutes away. even though she can't see the fight, she's still worried. she calls the police again. >> come on, sarah. >> five minutes after the fight begins, police arrive and the crowd breaks up. >> yeah! whoo! yeah. >> come on, sarah. >> come on, sarah. >> within an hour of the scuffle, videos are uploaded on youtube. bernam can't believe her eyes. the video shows the teenage crowd cheering on the fight and doing nothing to stop it. >> and they were encouraging the fight. and i was appalled. i was shocked of the behavior of these children. >> and if that isn't enough, she is even more distressed when she finds out who else is caught on camera in the crowd of spectators. >> there were three different videos that were up on youtube.
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i saw the little girl that was on the bottom, her mom encouraging the fight, hollering at her daughter. >> good stuff. >> dave bristow is the spokesman for the manatee county sheriff's office. >> they were fighting about an ex-boyfriend, and this fight was planned. it's disturbing that you have a large group of teenagers that are involved in something like this. and then when you throw in the parent, it just makes it that much more disturbing. >> police say they've obtained additional footage, which shows the parent, 39-year-old april newcomb, cheering on her daughter, doing nothing to stop the brawl. >> actually walking up to the fight with her daughter. unbelievable. and then egging her daughter on during this fight. she certainly wasn't doing what she should have been doing, which would have been to stop the fight. >> according to bristow, the mother of the other girl in the
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fight is also there, but she shows up late to the scene and is not to blame. >> we didn't charge her because we felt she went there with the intention of stopping the fight. she certainly didn't encourage the fight. >> come on, sarah. >> a situation that could have turned tragic in a matter of minutes thankfully doesn't. the teens walk away without reports of injury. april newcomb is arrested and charged with child abuse. her attorney asks in a written statement, is it a crime for a parent to be present at a brawl between two kids and not stop it or encourage it as alleged? if it's a crime to witness wrestling, as it was shown on youtube, then parents need to steer clear of youth football, lacrosse, and boxing matches for fear of getting arrested for yelling at their child to "go get 'em." for exchange of pleading no contest to some charges, some
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are dropped. she is sentenced to community service. another mother in trouble with the law. a police officer pulls over a driver. >> get them out of the back. >> and orders her to take not one, not two, but three young children out of the trunk of her car. the bizarre tale begins june 4, 2005, a 90-degree day in frederick, maryland. sergeant shawn tyler has just spotted the three kids climbing into the trunk of the woman's volvo. he follows close behind and pulls her over. 37-year-old lenora lucas steps out of the car to open the trunk, and out pops her 9-year-old son, her 3-year-old daughter, and an 8-year-old friend. then she places a box that was taking up room in the back seat in the trunk.
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sergeant tyler is mystified. >> why would you let the kids ride in the trunk? >> they wanted to be in the trunk. >> the entire scenario is strange enough, but it's this next exchange that astonishes the officer. >> i see you have a "b" license. what do you do for a living? >> school bus. >> you drive a school bus. >> officials in frederick county says at the time of the incident, lucas hadn't driven for the school system for two years. lenora lucas later tells a frederick county judge she let the kids ride in the trunk because she wanted to be a cool mom. lucas is convicted of reckless endangerment and sentenced to 18 months of probation and community service.
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mcnuggets rage sparks a tantrum at this drive-through. >> she punched her in the face. plus, a woman dumps their cat in the trash. >> she could have died in there and no one would have found her. when "caught on camera: bold, brazen and bizarre" continues. a vengeful man opens fire at a tow yard. >> you could hear him say "i'm going to kill them all." >> just kept going and going and going. i was wondering, is somebody going to take him out? >> it's the start of the day, just after 9:00 a.m. on october 22, 2008, a lake park towing owner cathy gadori is faced with a disgruntled customer who insists on getting to his car that's been towed. >> when he came in, he wanted to get in the car.
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no problem. have your paperwork. he didn't have the proper paperwork, so we couldn't let him in the vehicle. >> i don't care! >> dealing with unhappy customers is nothing unusual when you're in the business of towing cars. but 51-year-old edward bolt had already broken through the locked gate, claiming his daughter was dying of a blood disease and her medication was in the car. >> she's going to die in three days if it doesn't -- >> we're very sorry about that. >> there was no medication in the car at all. we told him that. he didn't believe us. he got angry so i called cbso and told them we had a disgruntled person here and explained the situation. >> the palm beach county sheriff's office said they'd send someone out. meanwhile, voltz walks outside and gadori is relieved because she thinks he's gone. >> and then he came back in and asked again, can i get into my vehicle? >> i'm not even going that far. that's it. i gave you a chance. >> but then, seconds after leaving the second time --
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>> boom, boom, boom, started shooting. >> he returns from the parking lot, this time with a gun. he starts firing from outside the building. accounting manager michelle witt is on her way into the building and can't believe what she sees. >> i took off running, and i hid. and i heard the dispatcher outside the building there. i look around the corner and seen her and another gentleman that was here. so i grabbed them both and pulled them back there with me. >> with bullets flying overhead, gadori and the others immediately drop to the floor. gadori calls the palm beach county sheriff's office again. >> i got it, 911! i said, we're being shot at. of course, as he's shooting, when it starts coming through the wall and the window, i duck under the desk. if i hadn't moved my head when i did, i would have gotten it in my head when it came through the wall and the window. i got hit in the back instead. >> he keeps firing until he empties out his ak-47, 33 rounds in all. he then pulls out a pistol and fires.
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>> am i going to die today? that's actually what i thought because i didn't know where he was. i know his intentions were to kill everybody after how long it was going on. so i thought, if he's going to walk up in the yard, i don't know where i'm going to go so he's definitely going to finding me. he came here to kill everybody and himself. he was on a death mission. >> next, voltz walks into the office and shoots the secretary in the elbow. now two employees shot. >> i'm praying, god protect us all, that nobody gets killed. i said, lord, you've got to protect us. >> officer william vidala arrived at the scene just as voltz is exiting the building. he thinks he's responding to a complaint about an irate customer. he has no idea that customer has shot two people. >> when i showed up, i seen a white individual coming out from the business with two guns. one was an ak-47. the other was a handgun. i immediately drew my weapon. i told him numerous times to drop his weapons.
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he ignored me. i approached him with my gun drawn. he started to lean into the back of his vehicle. i pulled him out of his vehicle. as i pulled him out, he raised his ak-47 at me. at that time, i shot him. >> back inside, not knowing help has arrived, employee alan newhouse grabs a 9 millimeter pistol from the back of the office. >> i always kept it in a locked box. he knew it was in the area back there. only him and i knew the code to the gun. >> he runs to the door and fires the pistol at the suspect. deputy vidala shoots voltz twice in the stomach, but the gun battle continues. >> we were shooting back and forth. i was in the front of the vehicle. he was in the rear. >> finally, voltz falls to the ground and the gunfire stops. voltz is shot six times. witt comes out of hiding and tries to brace herself for what she thinks she'll see when she walks into the office. >> as long as the shooting went on, i really thought i would
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have to walk in there and find everybody just blown to pieces. because that many shots will blow you to pieces. and nobody was. i was so thankful. >> voltz is charged with attempted murder on a police officer and three other counts of attempted murder, convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison. deputy vidala is recognized by the national association of police officers for his extraordinary heroism in the line of duty. when gadori looks at the security camera video, she says she's sure of one thing. >> god was in control that day. it's just amazing how wonderful god is for protection. nobody got killed. everybody survived. coming up -- a dramatic prison escape and car chase through city streets. inmates in an all-out brawl. >> your adrenaline is flowing,, and you don't know what you're going to see. a fit of rage at a mcdonald's drive-through.
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a fugitive on the run in sao paulo, brazil, wreaks havoc in the city streets as he attempts to outrun police. a local television crew captures the scene from above, following the suspect in the black car as he weaves in and out of traffic. the chase begins after the driver stopped for a minor traffic violation. after officers run a check on the car, not only do they find out it's stolen, but they identify this reckless driver as prison escapee welington goncalves dos santos, previously convicted of burglary and theft. goncales comes past several cars, but soon runs into a jam. he's boxed in. what to do.
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unbelievably, he slams the car in reverse, taking out several motorcycle cops on his way. police fire shots at him just as he takes off again. other drivers flee for cover after dos santos is trapped between cars. the convict is arrested again. now another run-in with police to add to the list. back in the united states, another confrontation with a convict. an inmate violently attacks a lone deputy working behind his desk. seconds later, other inmates rush in to try to save the struggling man. >> i just was stunned. i didn't know what to say or what to think. it's just not what i expected.
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>> it's november 2, 2009, orient road jail in tampa, florida. this is pod 7 delta, a medical and mental health unit for detainees. it's an open cell area with one deputy supervising 72 inmates who roam about the pod. colonel jim previtera oversees all jails and courts in hillsborough county. >> it sounds a little scary at first when you think about it, but we found it to be a highly successful management tool. if you violate the rules, you're moved to a higher level of confinement. >> it's 12:45 p.m., and inmates in pod 7 had just finished their lunch. out of nowhere, 24-year-old douglas burden charges detective moon and strangles him. >> he went into what's called rear naked choke. you cut the blood supply off to the brain. when it's supplied right and locked in, it's usually very few seconds before the person loses consciousness. >> three inmates from the same pod are on the scene, and at
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first look it seems like a recipe for disaster, one deputy outnumbered by a group of inmates. prevatera isn't in the area during the attack but later sees the unbelievable video. >> literally within a matter of a few seconds, maybe three to five seconds, dieguez comes into the picture. >> jerry diegues delivers that knockout punch to the inmate choking the guard. >> he delivers that strike with all his momentum behind him and they all go down to the floor in a heap. when they got to the ground his grip was still pretty strong around the deputy's neck. >> terrell carswell, another inmate, runs to the brawl. >> i heard somebody screaming. i jumped up and ran down. i wasn't thinking. when i got to him, moon's face was a whole other color. >> carswell tries to keep the 165-pound burden pinned down. but it's not easy.
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>> when he got up off the ground, i sat on him like this. he kept doing like this and twisting. i said, hold still, man, hold still. be still. >> cars decembwell and the othe stopped burden from choking moon. another inmate grabs the radio and calls for help. >> you see them on the camera pick up the radio and say, 7 delta we need help. 7 delta we need help. which is really at that point the first alert to the rest of the staff that there's trouble in 7 delta. >> deputy lori garcia hears the distress call as she's going about her daily routine. >> it was transmission unlike what a deputy would transmit over the radio. so we knew that something wasn't right. we knew it had to have been an inmate. >> less than a minute later, deputy garcia and a group of officers reach pod 7 delta. >> your adrenaline is flowing, and you walk in or run in, basically, and you don't know what you're going to see. >> they see a pod of utter
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confusion and commotion. inmates are scattered with some behind the deputy's desk. >> there were inmates, which is unusual. why would inmates be behind the desk like that? >> while carswell restrains burden, deputies handcuff him and thank the inmate. >> tapped me on the back and told me good work. you all right, carswell? are you okay? >> the jail's medical unit treats deputy moon. he has a few bumps and scratches and is clearly shaken. douglas burden is found mentally incompetent to stand trial on the charges for which he was originally jailed and on battery on jail staff. he is moved immediately to a
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detention facility staff. burden's reason for the attack isn't certain. >> there was some reports that earlier in the day moon had disciplined burden and that he corrected something he was doing and told him not to do it again. but that happens every day in jail. it's not an unusual event. this is jail, and there are dangerous people in this jail. >> but this time these inmates, some accused of violent crimes, did something good. letters pour in for them from all over the world. >> you never seen inmates run to save an officer's life. we're in jail, committed a crime at one time or another. you know, we do have a heart, too. >> deputy moon has since retired. terrell carswell says he was well liked by everyone around the jail. >> moon was like a father to me. he helped us inmates. he could deal with anybody. >> they respected this guy, and it's human nature to protect someone that you respect and care about. if it weren't for the fact that dieguez got there when he did and took the action that he did, this might have had a really really bad ending for us.
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>> instead, he says he has seen a positive change in the inmates around pod 7. >> you can see that they're holding their chests a little higher, they're walking a little taller. coming up, desperation at a mcdonald's drive-through window. a granny fights back. and tossing a cat in the trash? who would do such a thing? signature, for r you could drive home for the holidays in a german-engineered volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta... and the 2015 motor trend car of the year all-new golf. if you're wishing for a new volkswagen this season... just about all you need is a finely tuned... pen. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on select new volkswagen models. ring ring!... progresso! it's ok that your soup tastes like my homemade. it's our slow simmered vegetables and tender white meat chicken. apology accepted. i'm watching you soup people.
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hi there. i'm frances rivera. raul castro has thanked president obama for a quote new chapter. but he's demanding that the u.s. respects cuba's communist rule. the prosecutor who presented the michael brown shooting case to the grand jury said some witnesses clearly lied. he said he doesn't regret presenting those witnesses and isn't planning to charge any witnesses who didn't tell the truth. now we take you back to "caught
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on camera." welcome back to "caught on camera." i'm contessa brewer. so far we've seen all types of bold, brazen, and bizarre activity. but in our next story, police were scratching their heads. this was the case of an angry customer who wasn't demanding money or better service. she wanted chicken mcnuggets, and she was prepared to fight to get them. a furious young woman takes out her frustration on a mcdonald's drive-through window, punching it out when she can't get her hands on an order of chicken mcnuggets. >> i can't tell you how many homicides i've been to, but i've never seen an assault over fast food. >> after leaving a new year's party, 24-year-old melody dushane and a neighbor arrive at the golden arches drive-through with a mcnugget craving.
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captain ray carroll is a 26-year veteran of the toledo police department. >> she asked through the speaker for chicken mcnuggets at 6:30 in the morning, and the lady explained to her that they're serving the breakfast menu. >> mcdonald's stop serving chicken mcnuggets at 2:30 in the morning. dushane is four hours late. and this is no happy meal she's after. >> so she drove up and tried to explain her case a little bit more strongly. >> at the pick-up window, dushane continues to argue about the mcnuggets. and even though the clerk tells her several times there are no mcnuggets, dushane doesn't want to hear it. >> subsequently got out and assaulted the mcdonald's employee. she had the window open. she punched her in the face. >> as the manager hurries over to slide the window shut, dushane decks her one the second she arrives. this is the second person she punches, but the manager fights back, grabbing the customer's
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long hair. >> she tried dragging the suspect through the drive-through window. i don't know what she was going to do with her once she got her in there. nonetheless, she was deterred by other employees, saying, let her go, let her go. and she did. >> co-workers push the window shut on dushane, leaving her knuckles badly cut and bleeding. the drive-through drama looks over when she gets into her car. but it's not. >> and then the suspect got out of her vehicle and hit the window with a bottle. she maybe had consumed most of it. and shattered it. >> here you can see dushane's friend attempting to intervene. >> he was trying to coax her back into the car, trying to say, come on, let's just go. get an egg mcmuffin or something. come on, there's no more mcnuggets. >> after a super-sized tantrum, dushane drives off. officers soon get their first call of the day. >> the dispatcher sent us to a call of an assault and damaging to the drive-through window at mcdonald's.
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>> the white female, blonde in a pink hoodie, that was the description, in a white car, that she was quite intoxicated. >> the cops track down dushane at the hospital where she's getting stitches on her hands, and they notice she's a little off balance. >> her speech was slurred. when she did stand up, she was very unsteady on her feet. >> the young man that was with her told us that she had been drinking 151 rum all night. if you asked her, she thought she just had a few drinks. >> police say she's upset, distraught, and has no recollection of the incident. dushane is arrested and charged with felony vandalism and assault. she pleads guilty to the charges and is sentenced to 60 days in jail with a side order of $1,500 in restitution. dushane's lawyer, who says she had no previous record, is ready to move on with her life. but unfortunately for her the video seems to have a life of its own. >> once in a while something comes along that just really
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because of the absurdity of it or desired actions, things stand out in my mind. and this was one of those instances. they say seeing is believing. and in this strange crime, that certainly applies. here a robber shatters store display cases full of fancy eyeglasses. >> he was just going to town on those things until the glass would smash, went from one tower to the other. >> it was pretty dynamic to watch it. >> kenwood, ohio, an upscale suburb outside cincinnati. it's august 27, 2010, at 1:30 in the morning. a man is caught on the security camera outside the thoma and sutton eye care store. >> outside the store, you could see an individual walking along the sidewalk, and he was carrying what looked like a bucket in one hand and a board in the other, walking up and down the sidewalk. >> seconds later, he knocks out
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the front door with a heavy rock and enters underneath the center bar. >> he was in a hurry. the alarm was going off, and he knew he had just a very few moments to get in, get what he wanted, and get back out. >> the intruder takes the four-foot piece of wood and uses all his might to smash the display case. >> sets the bucket down, and, with this board, he starts swinging it like you would swing a baseball bat. >> the thief knows exactly what he's after, according to the store's president and ceo, lance snarr. >> the frames that we put in the towers are generally those that are of higher value, things such as the pradas, the fendis, the guccis the diors and so forth. >> the next morning, snarr takes a look at the video and can't believe the spectacle at his eyeglass store.
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the damage amounts to almost $25,000. >> i was somewhat in a daze, and it was somewhat unbelievable the extent of the violence of this break-in. i don't quite even get why it was necessary on the part of the perpetrator. >> but earlier in the week a similar crime occurs at the store. security cameras are immediately installed, and they catch this second robbery on camera. snarr believes it's the same suspect. >> it's my opinion that that first crime was more of a casing to test the alarm system. >> in october of 2010, police arrest 39-year-old adrian irby on charges of breaking and entering and vandalism. two months later, irby pleads guilty. he's sentenced to three years in prison. it's all thanks to the 20/20 lens of the surveillance camera. >> it's not that expensive when you get the payback or the
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reward. when you catch them like this on film, it can go a long ways in helping to solve a crime. coming up, a granny fights back against a store robber. a thief ends up with more than an ipad. a woman casually throws a cat in the trash. and a donkey goes on a wild ride through the sky. it lets yok twice, once when you buy and again as you pay. it's cash back. then cash back again. and that's a cash back win-win . the citi double cash card. the only card that lets you earn cash back twice on every purchase with 1% when you buy and 1% as you pay. with two ways to earn, it makes a lot of other cards seem one-sided.
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new always discreet underwear. now bladder leaks can feel like no big deal. because, hey, pee happens. a 75-year-old woman, caught on the store's security camera, proves she's one tough cookie, as she fights back with the price scanner against a robber. >> the first original viewing of the video was quite amazing. we were all viewing it and couldn't believe the acts of granny. >> police call her the granny.
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but don't make any assumptions based on that nickname. this granny has an old score to settle. >> she indicated that she was a victim of this type of crime approximately 40 years prior, and, when this one occurred, she wasn't going to stand back this time. >> it's approximately 1:00 a.m. on february 8, 2010, in walden, massachusetts. police officers are called to a robbery at a 7-eleven convenience store. mark gatum is the detective at the malden police department. >> we realize there was a witness that attempted to get involved, so to speak. >> the witness, granny, is having a casual conversation with the clerk, but that soon comes to a halt when a tall man walks in and goes straight for the cashier. >> when the suspect went behind the counter, she obviously observed that something was going awry and came to the defense of her friend, the clerk. >> looking for the closest defense weapon, granny grabs the price scanner and strikes the
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suspect repeatedly, trying to deter him from getting into the cash register. >> i'm not sure if it worked, but in her eyes it worked. she was doing something to attempt to defend her friend's honor as well as herself. >> while all of this is going on, another customer is in the store. >> the woman had no idea what was occurring when the individual attempted to rob the store and granny coming to the clerk's rescue. she was clueless. >> granny finally lets go of the scanner to look for a more powerful weapon. >> an additional weapon to use against the individual. that she couldn't find. >> instead, granny grabs the scanner again for one last whack as he runs out. the intruder flees with about $100 cash and a hot-headed senior on his tail. >> she really didn't realize what she was doing in the heat of the moment, she said. but she's glad she did it and she's glad no one was hurt. we like to put the disclaimer that we don't advise this.
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>> because of the past criminal record, police officers easily recognize him from the store's security camera footage. mark mcginnis, age 34, is charged with one count of unarmed robbery. the case is later dropped when mcginnis is charged and convicted for breaking and entering in another case. police say this is one of the most unusual pieces of video they've ever seen. but thank goodness for one brave granny. >> granny was a rock star in this incident. she came to the aid of her friend. in another brazen crime caught on camera, a shopper's newly purchased ipad is ripped from his hand, and the thief takes off running with the bag and a piece of the poor man's finger. >> it happened like lightning. >> it's april 15, 2010, and millions of shoppers around the country are eager to get their hands on the newly released ipad, the popular device from apple.
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bill jordan buys one for a friend at the cherry creek mall in denver, colorado. but just as he walks out of the mall, he feels someone tugging on his shopping bag. >> i felt this huge pull on my arm and then another yank. you know, it's just -- and another yank. >> it's such a vicious yank that, not only is the ipad gone, but so, too, is the skin on the 59-year-old's finger. >> he just kept pulling and pulling, and, like i said, something had to give, and it wound up being the pinky on my left hand. >> the crime is caught on the shopping center's security cameras. jordan's finger is so damaged it needs to be partially amputated. >> i think it's about down to here. >> after looking at the video, denver police spokesman sonny jackson can spot the thief and another man following jordan. >> you can tell they're walking above, and they see the individual. but it does concern us.
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you purchase an item, and someone is targeting you as you buy it. >> the next morning, 20-year-old brandon darnell smith is arrested and charged with robbery and third-degree assault. smith pleads not guilty. >> there's a message here, that people have to be very careful wherever they go. it just doesn't seem like something like that is worth hurting someone over. >> but jordan's nightmare isn't over. almost three months later, smith writes a letter that's intercepted by deputies at the jail. in it, police believe he orders a hit on jordan's life. jason jordan, an attorney and bill jordan's son, speaks out. >> he's not just some small-time guy who's ripping people off at the cherry creek mall. he's willing to have somebody murdered, for crying out loud. >> the denver d.a.'s office charges smith again, this time with one count of attempted murder. those charges are dropped by prosecutors, however, when smith
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agrees to a plea deal and pleads guilty to aggravated robbery, second-degree assault, robbery and theft. he's sentenced to 25 years in prison. despite the outcome, jason jordan says his dad's life has never been the same since that day he bought an ipad. >> it's like their whole world's been turned upside down. all of it is so messed up from beginning to end it's just crazy. coming up, a couple's surveillance video camera solves a strange mystery and reveals a cruel truth. >> you wouldn't think for a minute anything like that would happen. plus, a donkey goes up, up and away. a publicity stunt gone awry. >> kids were crying because the donkey, she was crying as well. or ] mama sherman and the legion of super fans.
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camera dumping a poor cat into a wheelie bin. >> i didn't think for one minute i would ever see anything like that. i was angry when i found out. >> it was a very unusual crime and not a thing that's normally caught on camera. >> the strange incident takes place august 21, 2010, coventry, england, 95 miles northwest of london. stephanie and darryl manns are out for the evening. >> we were at friends' house watching "the x factor." we got back about midnight, went to bed. >> when they come home that night, their cat, lola, isn't around. but that's not unusual. the couple isn't alarmed. lola, coming and going, has been part of her routine since they took her in as a stray seven months earlier. >> she's outside the house, and we fed her ever since. a faithful cat. >> a fun-loving, independent feline who also likes the
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outdoors. >> she's never really been a home cat. she's always been out and about. she just comes to get fed and to sleep. >> the next day, no sign of lola. again, the manns aren't worried. as they leave their house at 5:00 p.m., they have no idea what's in store. >> i heard a cat meowing, but it didn't sound quite right. it sounded like it had been hurt or something. i basically had to look around and didn't see her in the gardens. >> after a couple of minutes of searching, darryl opens their green trash bin. there, sadly looking up at him, is lola. >> like the last place we'd look. never expected to find a cat in there. could have died in there or anything. no one could have found her. >> how in the world did lola get into the trash bin? she couldn't have gotten in there on her own. someone must have put her there. but who? and why? the manns look through their security camera footage. they had invested in cameras almost three years earlier to fight vandals.
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>> never check if it normally, only if we know something is wrong or there's a mark on the car. that's when i'll look back and check it all over. it's very, very rare. >> but this time the manns spy a woman walking by. she stops and strokes lola sweetly. then she looks around and tosses the cat right into the bin like a piece of rubbish and nonchalantly walks away. >> we didn't think it was going to be the person that it was. we didn't think it was going to be just a normal lady walking past. when i first saw the video, it was shock at first and then shock soon turned into anger with how anyone could be so cruel. >> there it's no reason. the cat didn't scratch her, bite her. it's just one of those things you don't expect people to do. it's not a normal thing going around putting cats in bins. >> darryl posted the video on facebook to see if anyone recognizes the woman. the video goes viral and sparks a global outrage.
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>> internet sensation, people very disturbed by this video. >> the woman is identified as mary bale, age 45. bale starts receiving death threats and expresses deep regret for her actions. >> it was not intended to cause any harm to anybody. i apologize really. >> you said you did it as a joke. >> i didn't say that. >> but you are sorry? >> yes. of course, i'm sorry. >> on october 19, 2010, mary bale pleads guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the cat. she's fined 250 pounds. that's almost $400. and she's banned from keeping animals for five years. >> what she did was wrong. to some people, it might just be a cat. but she's our cat. >> the reason for bale's actions are still unclear. but without the manns' security footage, the mystery of the cat in the bin may never have been solved. >> obviously we were just relieve thad lola was fine and we found her in time. hopefully, it discourages people
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to not do cruelty to animals. in another unusual tale, beachgoers along the black sea in russia are shocked when they spot a parasailing donkey overhead. >> eyewitnesses were sad. kids were crying because the donkey, she was crying as well. >> it's summer 2010. as part of a bizarre publicity stunt, a local tourist operator rents a donkey and uses it to promote his parasailing business by flying the terrified animal 150 feet in the air. >> they didn't think a lot about what they're doing. the poor donkey, i feel the pain for her. >> anna is a correspondent for the news agency east to west and a frequent contributor to the british newspaper "the sun." >> people, they made pictures of her and like video of her. i think that people couldn't
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believe this could happen. >> the video shows the donkey strapped into a harness and then taking off in the air. she flies for 30 awful minutes. witnesses say from the ground they could hear the animal braying. >> i think it's never happened in russia before so we weren't ready for that kind of accident. >> the donkey finally lands in the water and is pulled to shore, where she's checked by a veterinarian. the video sparks outcry from animal rights groups. the man behind the stunt goes into hiding at a friend's house with the flying donkey. anna tracks them down in a city an hour away. she's the first journalist to find them. >> she was standing in the garden alone. she looked okay. she wasn't damaged. she felt happy to see us because i bring a lot of food for her, like vegetables.
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>> but the tale of the flying donkey doesn't end there. with the help of the donkey's real owner, anna helps rescue the animal from the parasailing businessmen. >> we took her away without his permission because he is not the owner, and i have the real owner with me so we don't have to ask. >> days later, news spreads across europe. "the sun" newspaper is so appalled by the story they offer to adopt sweet anapka and promise a safe home for her in england. anapka, the flying donkey, soon becomes an international sensation. >> police in southern russia are launching an investigation into animal cruelty. >> anapka is even invited to stay at the prestigious kremlin riding school in moscow where she receives royal treatment. >> she has a fresh garden, vegetables. people are giving her massage every day, and people love to give her attention.
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>> as for the parasailing businessman, anna believes there's a good chance he won't be held accountable for his actions because of russia's weak laws on animal cruelty. >> i spoke with him many times. he can't even say, i apologize. he is not even feeling sorry about that. he thinks it's all right. he thinks it's funny. >> the donkey story may be a youtube phenomenon, but to anna it was more than a news story. it was a chance to do good. >> i had the opportunity to rescue a donkey, this animal. and, as a human being, you know, to do something good, i'm happy about that. and i really care about her even now. we spent a lot of time together. she's like my family now. >> about six months after the rescue, the adored donkey dies of a heart attack.
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a bold granny, brazen robberies and some of the most bizarre situations we've seen. you might not believe them if they weren't caught on camera. that's all for this edition. i'm contessa brewer terrifying, dangerous, explosive situations. split second dilemmas. a house on fire. >> the flames come through that window like they belonged in the house and i didn't. >> a car out of control. >> i knew i was probably going to die. >> a downed sightseeing plane. an abduction in broad daylight. >> it looked like she was fighting for her life. >> witnesses must decide whether
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