'Drug-addled' man shuts down town

A rampaging naked car-jacker wearing only his socks ran amok in Scottsdale, Arizona today, causing two terrific car collisions that injured seven people and shut down most of the city's roads during rush hour.
Witness photos of the destruction caused by the man show him standing triumphantly on top a SUV while debris from the smash litters the roadside.
The first car crash was reported to the police at 1.30 p.m. after which the man is said to have left his vehicle, stripped naked and car-jacked a Toyota Prius, pulling the female passenger from the car.

Triumphantly standing on top of car as debris from his crash surrounds the intersection, the man is naked apart from his socks

Minutes later, the man had motored to Shea Boulevard, near to 90th St in Scottsdale where he collided with four other vehicles, causing one of the drivers to suffer a serious injury.
By now, the man was causing panic as he exited the now totaled Toyota Prius and attempted to carjack another two vehicles before police officers arrived and arrested him.
Mark Clark, a spokesman for Scottsdale police said that the man's erratic beahviour suggests that he may have taken drugs.

 

Witnesses to the first serious crash at Hayden and Via De Ventura, where three people were injured, said that the man's car crashed into a Porsche, which caused the sports car to crash into another vehicle.
Exiting his car, the man began singing and chanting while he removed his clothes, ran up to a Prius, pulled the woman from the car and sped off.

An aerial of the busy intersection where the naked rampaging man stood on top of an SUV

The stolen Prius lies ruined at the side of the road (left) while another vehicle has smashed into the side of a tree (right)

The Porche driver was seriously injured during the first crash while the woman was not hurt according to ABC 15.com
After the second collision, the Prius is reported to have rolled several times before the man was ejected through the windshield.
Witnesses then claimed that the man then stood up and ran over to two SUV's and tried to car-jack them before police arrived.
Injured during the second collision were a pregnant lady who sustained two broken legs.

Causing seven injuries, two serious, during his rampage, the man was believed by police to be on drugs

The man caused major road chaos across Scottsdale and some roads will not reopen until 8 p.m.

The suspect was taken to a nearby hospital were he is being evaluated for drug use and mental issues.


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The Chameleon revealed

It was one of the most elaborate and utterly bizarre ruses ever pulled off.
For five months Frenchman Frederic Bourdin managed to convince an entire family he was their missing 16-year-old son - despite being 23-years-old.
Bourdin turned up in Spain claiming to be Texas schoolboy Nicholas Barclay three years after he disappeared aged 13.

Serial imposter: Frenchman Frederic Bourdin managed to convince and American family he was their missing teenage son Nicholas Barclay

Elaborate: Bourdin managed to keep up the ruse of being Nicholas, despite having brown eyes instead of blue and different facial features, for five months until his deception was discovered by a private investigator

Nicholas's family flew to meet him and despite the fact Bourdin had a completely different eye colour to their son - blue instead of brown - they took him in believing his elaborate story that the change was down to experiments carried out by his captors.

 

He was only caught out by a private investigator working on the story for a TV station in 1997. He was jailed for six years for the con.
And, even more incredibly, the elaborate ruse was not the first time Bourdin had posed as a missing child.
In fact, he'd made a habit of it over the years, switching from one alias to another with more than 40 different personas.
Now the bizarre story of Bourdin - nicknamed 'the Chameleon' - has been turned into a film.

Conman: Despite being jailed in 1997 for pretending to be Nicholas Barclay, Bourdin was caught out again in 2005 pretending to be a Spanish orphan at a French school

Another con: In 2003 Bourdin stole the identity of 14-year-old Leo Balley who vanished on a camping trip in Isere eight years earlier

The Chameleon had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival this week and reveals how the serial imposter kept up the deception by dyeing his brown hair blond, going back to school, and using a pen to fake a tattoo on his hand.
But the Barclay ruse turned out to just be the tip of the iceberg.
Bourdin was born in 1974 on the outskirts of Paris. He never knew his father and was bought up by his poor grandparents after he mother abandoned him when he was aged just two.

The Chameleon: Frederic Bourdin being interviewed on French television about his numerous personas

He began misbehaving and was sent to a school for young troublemakers aged 12.
When he was 16, Bourdin ran away to Paris where he unsuccessfully tried to tell a police officer he was a lost British teenager. His inability to speak much English caught him out.
Bourdin then made a career out of pretending to be orphans across Europe - using sob stories to be fed, clothed and looked after. He has since learned to speak five languages fluently.
After his release from prison for pretending to be Nicholas Barclay, Bourdin immediately took up his way of life again, stealing the identity of 14-year-old Leo Balley in 2003 who vanished on a camping trip in Isere eight years earlier. He was busted by a DNA test.
His latest exploit was in 2005 when he attended the Jean Monnet school in Pau, France, posing as Spanish orphan Francisco Hernandez-Fernandez.
He was only unmasked when a teacher at the school recognised him in a television programme about his exploits.
Talking about the deception, Bourdin said: 'I loved the kids and the people looking after them, they treated me as one of them.
The French news agency AFP quoting him as saying at the time that he sought 'love and affection' by assuming false identities.
The school head was quoted as saying Bourdin 'appeared a bit older than his pals - two or three years at most'.
In 2007, Bourdin married a French woman named Isabelle after vowing to give up his life as a serial imposter. Now Bourdin, aged 38, has three chilren with his wife.
The Chameleon was written and directed by Jean-Paul Salomé. Bourdin, renamed Grondin in the movie, helped as a consultant on the film and was portrayed by Canadian actor Marc-André Grondin.


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£50,000 destruction spree after being dumped by text...

Jailed: Paul Hyde, 46, went on a destruction spree in Billericay, Essex, after his fiancee broke up with him





An axe-wielding man went on a destruction spree causing nearly £50,000 worth of damage after a row with his fiancee over a Valentine's Day card.
Paul Hyde, 46, used a four-foot axe to destroy cars and homes in a quiet street in Billericay, Essex, as terrified homeowners barricaded themselves inside.
He has been jailed after admitting threatening to kill residents on the street following the break-up of his year-long whirlwind romance with Alison Hall.
Basildon Crown Court heard how Hyde's violent rage was triggered by an argument with his now ex-fiancee when he went to collect his belongings from her home the day after Valentine's this year.
Miss Hall had dumped him by text for 'not showing enough gratitude' for the Valentine's Day card she had given him the day before.
When Miss Hall arrived home from work shortly after 5pm she found Hyde swallowing paracetamol tablets whilst downing whisky.
A heated argument ensued and Hyde threatened to kill Miss Hall but she managed to wriggle free of his grip and fled the property.
Hyde then grabbed a four-foot axe from the house and began his costly destruction spree by smashing his way into the house of her 49-year-old neighbour Pauline Hilton.
He bashed Ms Hilton around the face before holding the axe across her throat as her terrified daughter Gemma Hilton, 27, locked herself in the upstairs bathroom and called police.
His rampage then spilled out into the street where he began violently hacking at parked cars and front doors as terrified neighbours watched on in horror.
Hyde's rampage of destruction - which caused a total of £48,000 worth of damage - was eventually ended when armed police used rubber bullets to disarm him.

Damaged: Up to 10 cars and vans were attacked in the street in Billericay

The rampage lasted around 20 minutes - causing thousands of pounds' worth of damage before police could stop Hyde

Basildon council clearing up after the attack, which caused serious damage to many vehicles

Jailing Hyde for four-and-a-half years for 18 separate offences on Thursday, Judge David Owen-Jones told him: 'You simply lost it. You went on a rampage with the axe and threatened lots of your neighbours.
'Everyone involved in this terrible incident has been psychologically affected and it has devastated a neighbourhood.

 

'You threatened to kill your ex-partner and she must have been terrified out of her wits.
'You did not stop and went from house to house threatening neighbours with the axe. What you did was simply unbelievable.'
Victim Pauline Hilton attended court on Thursday and spoke after Hyde's sentencing about the devastating effect the attack has had on their quiet neighbourhood.
She said: 'No amount of time for a sentence will compare to the utter trauma we've been through.
'We've been so impacted by this and it's something none of us will ever forget but you have to try to move on.
'Everyone involved has been psychologically affected and it has devastated a neighbourhood.'
Hyde was given a restraining order banning him from visiting Patricia Gardens, in Billericay, Essex, or contacting any of his victims.


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Woman jumps 35 storeys to her death

Leapt to her death: Elizabeth DeMaria jumped as police arrived to arrest her




A woman wanted on fraud charges has jumped 35 floors to her death from a Las Vegas hotel after investigators forced their way into her room.
Tracking Elizabeth DeMaria for over a month after she skipped bail in May, members of the Secretary of State Office's Securities Division in Nevada burst into the MGM Grand after DeMaria refused to let them in.
They then witnessed DeMaria throw her laptop off the side of a balcony before jumping herself as they attempted to apprehend her on 11 counts of fraud and 11 counts of theft for conning nine victims out of $200,000 in 2010.
She is alleged to have told her victims that they were investing in a media company called The Vegas Channel and is accused of showering herself with luxury goods with the money she extorted.
After tracking her to the resort, the investigators knocked and announced their intent to serve a warrant for her failure to show at a court-mandated May 10 status check when she was out of jail on bail.
A female voice was heard in the room, but requests to open the door were ignored.
After she jumped, police were called to the scene, and a white stone ring and a brooch were found in the room.
The remains of the computer were recovered, and will be examined for evidence of fraudulent materials and activity.
Documents found on the bed referred to Secretary of State Ross Miller and Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Also found was a U.S. passport under the name Lisa Victoria, the name she used to check into the MGM Grand.

Landmark: She fell 35 floors from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas

'The passport could be used for international travel, thereby implicating consciousness of guilt,' investigators said in their search warrant.
'The passport is evidence of a violation of federal law and contraband.'
Investigators said DeMaria had been renting the room since the day she failed to appear in court.
While staying at the MGM Grand, she posted "disparaging blogs about witnesses related to her criminal prosecution," according to the warrant.
While DeMaria insisted investor funds were only used to develop the media company, authorities say her bank records show the money was deposited into an account under the name Luxury Lifestyles Las Vegas.
She withdrew about $125,000 in cash from the account, according to records.

Olympic Village of 1936

Athletes from all over the world headed 76 years ago to take part in the most infamous Olympic Games in history - the so-called 'Nazi Games' (pictured Adolf Hitler greeting them)

A bas-relief of marching Nazi troops, a Red Army mural – and a cellar where the anguished cries of condemned torture victims once rang out in the night.
If walls could speak, those within the Olympic Village of 1936 would have a host of dark tales to tell.
This is where athletes from all over the world headed 76 years ago to take part in the most infamous Olympic Games in history – the so-called ‘Nazi Games’.
The 1936 Olympic Village, on the western edge of Berlin, lies forlorn and forgotten.
‘It is a shame,’ says Sven Voege, who’s currently in negotiations to rent out some of the village sites as exhibition rooms.

The gym, with the Olympic rings and a vaulting horse used by German triple gold medallist Alfred Schwarzmann. Located on the western edge of Berlin, it lies forlorn and forgotten

‘But because it is inextricably bound up with Nazism, most Germans avoid it. It is a place that lives and breathes sportsmanship and history, side by side.
'But German history is something we shun because of our past.’
Around 4,000 athletes – including Great Britain’s 208-strong squad – took part in the Games in the summer of 1936.
Adolf Hitler looked on with delight as his German ‘supermen’ lived up to his dreams of glory, winning the Games with a medal count of nearly 90; Great Britain came tenth with just 14.
The only real slap in the face for the Führer was the success of America’s black track-and-field athlete Jesse Owens.

He won four gold medals and was the star of the Games in the world’s eyes – even if Hitler regarded him as inferior because of his colour.

The swimming pool, viewed from the diving board. Hopes of refurbishing the building, which served in WWII as a hospital for wounded German troops, have fallen through

Ironically, Owens’s tiny room – No 5, in block 39 – is the only athlete’s room that has been renovated.
It’s a simple space that reflects the modesty of the humble man who stayed there – a man who, paradoxically, enjoyed more freedom in Nazi Germany at that time that he did in his segregated U.S. homeland.
A short walk from Owens’s quarters lies the ‘Restaurant of the Nations’, the eating hall for the athletes.
The record books tell how in three weeks the participants consumed 100 cows, 91 pigs, over 650 lambs, 8,000lb of coffee, 150,000lb of vegetables and 160,000 pints of milk.

A bas-relief of marching German soldiers, which still stands near the theatre where athletes went to watch variety shows, hinted at Hitler's future military ambitions

‘The Führer was teetotal and the order for the athletes was no drinking,’ says Voege.
‘But the French and the Italians railed against the idea of no wine, while the Belgians and Dutch thought the prospect of no beer was too much to contemplate.
'All four nations were the exception and were served alcohol at every meal.’

Only the salon where the Italians dined alongside the Soviets is preserved. The room where the British ate is a shell filled with fallen masonry.
Hopes of refurbishing the building, which served in WWII as a hospital for wounded German troops, have fallen through.
In 1936 a huge steel-and-wood sign depicting the five Olympic rings stood on top of the Restaurant of the Nations.

The fencers practise in the Olympic Village. During their stay, there were constant reminders of the Nazi regime's less savoury side. Athletes were surrounded by officials in Nazi uniforms

That’s now propped up against a back wall, forgotten, in the off-limits gymnasium.
Outside the hall is the 400m loop, which is just as it was when Godfrey Brown, Godfrey Rampling, Freddie Wolff and Bill Roberts pounded it in practice before going on to win gold for the UK in the 4x400m relay race.
‘Children were allowed into the village, and the English runners were firm favourites with them because of their impeccable manners,’ says Voege.

Jesse Owens won four gold medals and was the star of the Games in the world's eye

‘They always stopped to say hello to the children and sign autographs.’
During their stay, there were constant reminders of the Nazi regime’s less savoury side.
Athletes were surrounded by officials in Nazi uniforms.
And a bas-relief of marching German soldiers, which still stands near the theatre where athletes went to watch variety shows, hinted at Hitler’s future military ambitions.
After the war ended in 1945, the Olympic Village was occupied for nearly 50 years by the Soviet Army.
Among the new tenants were the torturers of SMERSH and the KGB, interrogators who turned the subterranean rooms housing the swimming pool’s heating system into a theatre of pain and death.
The cremated remains of victims lie strewn over the site.
Meanwhile, mocking Hitler’s dreams of a ‘thousand-year Reich’, a painting was added of heroic Red Army soldiers doing battle with the Nazis in the ‘Great Patriotic War’, which claimed the lives of over 25 million Soviets.

Since the fall of communism, the Olympic Village has lain largely undisturbed, any hopes of restoring it scuppered by its Nazi past.
Hopefully a far happier future awaits the site of the London 2012 Olympics after the athletes have returned home.


Read more: Dailymail.

Britain's fattest teen Georgia Davis

Britain's fattest teenager Georgia Davis has told how she has lost an incredible 14 stone since firefighters broke down a wall to rescue her from her home in a £100,000 rescue.
The obese 19-year-old now weighs 42st 6lb - down from 56st - after doctors put her on a strictly controlled diet.
Breaking her silence, the teenager revealed she was left asking herself 'how has it come to this?' as she waited for rescuers to break into her first floor bedroom in Aberdare, Wales.

Obese: Georgia Davis, 19, has lost 14 stone since being rushed to hospital - but still weighs 42st 6lb. She is pictured here with her mother Lesley

Now she has walked again for the first time and had a proper shower again in a hospital diary, The Sun reports.
She writes how she dreams of going to Tokyo to sample the food and having her own flat as she turns her life around.
And she revealed she has received cards and letters of support from people across the country which have helped her win her battle against the scales.

 

Her diet now consists of cereal and toast for breakfast followed by a healthy dish of meat and vegetables for lunch and dinner.
The teenager used to order up to 20 kebabs each week from a takeaway and gorge throughout the day on chocolate, crisps and two litre bottles of Coca Cola.
Initially her weight was given as 63st - but it was officially recorded at 56st when she was taken to hospital.

Rescue: A specially-built ramp at Georgis Davis' home which was built in a £100,000 operation after she was left unable to walk because of her weight

Georgia said her lowest moment was waking up to hear firefighters building a ramp to rescue her in a £100,000 operation.
A team of 50 workers broke down a wall to get her out of her first floor bedroom in the terraced home on May 24.
The teenager was forced to wear a bedsheet - because none of her supersized clothes were big enough.

Bulge: Georgia, pictured in February 2011, has spoken of her dream to have a flat of her own and to travel to Tokyo

She told The Sun: 'What could I do except switch on the TV and wait? I asked myself "How has it come to this?
'I felt nervous and uneasy because I knew I was the biggest I had ever been - and the most dangerous for my health.'
The teenager said she felt panicky and embarrassed - but was treated kindly by hospital staff.
Her mother Lesley, 57, was forced to raise the alarm after Georgia was unable to stand up because of her weight.
The teenager said the day she realised she was unable to use her legs was the most frightening.
Lesley and her stepfather Arthur Treloar were forced to move out of the property temporarily while the wall was rebuilt.
Georgia added in her diary: 'Mum says the council will not allow me to live upstairs again so if I return home I will have to have a bedroom on the ground floor. I don't want to live like that.'
She added that she dreamed of one day having a flat of her own and 'share it with a girlfriend'.
After weeks hooked up to oxygen in a special £4,000 bed she has taken her first steps again - walking from her bed to a nearby chair as she begins to win her battle against her weight.
She was forced to have bed showers rather than proper showers because of her weight.
Doctors had to battle for 15 minutes to get an IV line into her - and cut a hole in her skin to make it bigger so they could reach her vein.
Georgia is due to spend a further six weeks in the hospital before going to a special obesity clinic 40 miles away at Morriston Hospital in Swansea.
Writing about her dreams for the future, the teenager said she would love to go to Tokyo because of the culture and the food.

Fat teenager: Georgia brought her weight down to manageable levels after going to a fat camp in the U.S. - but she piled on the pounds when she came back

She passes the time in hospital reading novels like Fifty Shades of Grey - and dreaming about the future.
Georgia began piling on the pounds after quitting a fat camp in America when her stepfather was diagnosed with cancer.
But after her health scare the teenager has vowed that she will finally win her weight battle.

Slimmed down: Georgia after losing 15 stone at a weight loss camp in the US. However, she put all of the weight back on - and more - when she returned

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Yohan Blake pulls a stunner, beats Usain Bolt in 100m

Yohan Blake delivered a shock that will be felt all the way to London 2012 by handing the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, a rare defeat in the Jamaican Olympic trials. On a night when anticipation of quick times charged the atmosphere of Kingston's national stadium, Blake did not disappoint the large crowd. In a furious dash down the track, he recorded a time of 9.75sec to claim the 100m title, comfortably ahead of a fast-finishing Bolt, who clocked 9.86, just getting by Asafa Powell for second, who finished third in a time of 9.88.
For Blake, this went a long way in settling doubts about the 22-year-old sprinter's quality, but for Bolt, the world record holder, it was a performance that raised questions in the buildup to next month's Games. All three men qualified for the Jamaican Olympic team and will line up against a formidable US contingent when the Games start on 27 July.
A few stunned spectators still slumped forward in their chairs stared blankly in disbelief following the sub-10 second race, hardly able to fully comprehend the sight of Blake still celebrating a well-deserved win on the bright blue track. Yet an upset had not been wholly unexpected.
Bolt finished first in his semi-final heat, in 10.01, only just ahead of Michael Frater, after another wretched start left the Olympic champion with plenty of work to do to get back to the field. He did it easily enough, as he had in the first round, but perhaps the disapproving headshake on crossing the line was the clearest sign that things were not quite right for him.
"Asafa and Yohan, these guys have good top-end speed so for me to get left in the blocks like that was not a good thing. I guess it was just one of those things," Bolt said.
"In the semi-finals the guy in lane seven moved and it threw me off. I keep seeing these guys in my peripheral vision. It's kind of hard to ignore them. When they move it throws you off and then you get left. After you get left like that it is always hard to get back."
Bolt's sluggish start had been cause for concern, particularly after losing his world championship title to Blake after a false start in the 2011 final in Daegu. This season there was no occasion more evident that timing his acceleration from the blocks is still a problem than the 10.04 he recorded in Ostrava, where Bolt got away slowly, before recovering with a trademark late burst. He beat Powell twice, with impressive times of 9.76 (Rome) and 9.79 (Oslo) but again seemed to find the starting blocks more like giant sand traps that a means of propelling himself forward.
At his best the 6ft 4in superstar has never been a quick starter. However, his tardiness should be a worry for both himself and his coach Glen Mills, who coaches Blake as well. But Mills, while stating that he was not surprised by the performance of any of the athletes, dismissed any concerns about a substandard performance in London.
"I wasn't surprised by his performance, Bolt is not at his best but he is good enough to compete," Mills said. "We are right where we want to be going into London. We just want to keep them healthy and that is key. We didn't send Yohan to Europe so he is in far better shape than Bolt at this time, but we have four weeks. We will take it in stride and we know exactly what to do."
Bolt and Blake are set for another showdown in the 200m final today as both cruised into the semi-finals. Bolt won his heat in 21.21 and Blake his in 21.43, both running into strong headwinds.
The Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce sent a clear warning to rivals hoping to claim her crown, as the diminutive sprinter blew away the other competitors on the way to a new personal best of 10.70sec. Despite a slow start to season Fraser-Pryce's dismissal of a strong field, which included the world champion Carmelita Jeter, at a grand prix in New York, gave clear indication that she was rediscovering her best form. Fraser-Pryce seems to have improved the last part of her race. "The people that work hard are going to be the ones able to defend their title in London," she said.