Land of Oz

Crime Today

Update July 7 Two teenagers were arraigned in 50th District Court in Pontiac on Thursday in connection with a carjacking and shooting at a gas station. Christopher Eugene Jackson, 17, and his alleged accomplice, Cordero Landrum, 18, were both charged with murder, carjacking and felony possession of a firearm, Local 4 reported. David Lee Bingham, 38, ran inside a Pontiac Sunoco station on Tuesday to get help after he was carjacked. Police said Jackson followed Bingham into the station and fired four shots into his chest.

It seems like there are two approaches to crime these days. Look at quotes from some recent news releases. The first is from Alabama and follows the George Bush mode of criminal prosecution for non-Americans - I don't like 'em and no matter what, I say they're guilty. By the way the authorities in Aruba say they don't have enough evidence to accuse these guys. But the missing kid's mom says she knows they're guilty.

In a brief and tearful statement Tuesday, Beth Holloway Twitty, Natalee's mother, accused Aruba of letting guilty people free. "Two suspects were released yesterday who were involved in a violent crime against my daughter," she said. "These criminals are not only being allowed to walk around among the tourists and citizens of Aruba," she said, but there were no limits on where they could go.

On the other hand, we have the big city mode of criminal prosecution. They're guilty as sin, but somebody forgot to initial the third block on the seventh page of the fourth copy of the evidence chain, so they'll get away. The below "resident" was taken into custody after a guy was shot four times and killed in a 7/11 calling 911 after having his car hijacked.

The 17-year-old Pontiac resident was taken into custody. Local 4 reported that the suspect was detained after officers found a .38 caliber revolver with four spent casings in the cylinder. Officers also recovered the victim's car key in the suspect's pocket.

As far as I'm concerned they ought to chain the spare tie from the car around this 17-year-old's ankles and dump him in the middle of Lake Huron. If he makes it down the St. Lawrence Seaway to New York, then we can waste the time of a trial on him.

2fers: Aruba and Pontiac