Officials with the Raleigh Police Department say they are now “rescinding” a specific description of a vehicle suspected in a fatal hit-and-run, citing “updated findings.”

On Tuesday, authorities released a description saying the vehicle believed to be involved in a New Year’s Day hit-and-run was a dark-colored Chevrolet Colorado or GMC Canyon.

Now, police say while those vehicles are not eliminated as possibilities the search for the suspect vehicle is again broadened to include dark-colored mid-size pickup trucks of all makes and models.

Investigators believe the truck most likely has front end damage and was last seen traveling southbound on South Saunders Street.

The victim in that accident, 32-year-old Melissa Sue Johnson, was transported to WakeMed, where she was pronounced dead.

Anyone with information on the accident is asked to call Raleigh Police.

from:  http://www2.nbc17.com/news/wake-county/2012/jan/04/raleigh-pd-taking-back-description-hit-and-run-sus-ar-1778302/

Raleigh police released new details Tuesday about the pickup truck believed to be involved in a hit-and-run wreck on Sunday that killed a woman who was walking across South Saunders Street.

Preliminary information leads investigators to believe the truck is a 2006 to 2011 Chevrolet Colorado or GMC Canyon, police spokesman Jim Sughrue said. It is believed to be dark in color with damage to its front end.

The truck was last seen traveling south on South Saunders Street after the wreck.

Melissa Johnson, 32, was struck and killed while crossing the road near Maywood Drive Sunday around 7:15 p.m., police said. She was walking to the store from her home on nearby Summit Avenue.

via Truck sought in fatal Raleigh hit-and-run is Chevy or GMC :: WRAL.com.

A soldier charged with trying to bring explosives on an airplane told investigators he used them in Afghanistan but didn’t realize any were in a bag he brought back to the U.S. and apparently carried on a flight from North Carolina to Texas.

Trey Scott Atwater, of Hope Mills, N.C., was arrested Saturday while trying to go through security at an airport in Texas.  Authorities say the 30-year-old had a carry-on bag containing C4, a powerful explosive used in Iraq and Afghanistan to blow the hinges off doors or destroy unexploded ordinance.

According to court documents, Atwater told the FBI he is a demolitions expert who returned from his third deployment to Afghanistan in April. He said his Army special forces team always carried at least two blocks of C4, but he didn’t know any explosives were in his bag when he returned to his post at Fort Bragg, N.C.

He said the bag had been in his garage since then and he didn’t see any explosives in the main compartment when he packed for his trip to Texas.

Atwater was detained at the Fayetteville, N.C., airport on Dec.  24 when security agents found a military smoke grenade in his carry-on bag. Court documents don’t specifyand transportation officials wouldn’t say Tuesdaywhether investigators now suspect C4 was in Atwater’s bag then or whether he acquired it later.

Atwater did not say where he got the C4, although his comments in court documents indicate he could have brought it from Afghanistan.

After the smoke grenade was confiscated, Atwater was “admonished” and allowed to fly to Texas, court documents said.  Typically, bags are thoroughly searched and placed on X-ray machines for a second time after a suspicious item is found, although court documents don’t say whether that was done in Atwater’s case.

He and his family were returning home when he was stopped at Midland International Airport. A Transportation Security Administration agent spotted a suspicious item in his carry-on during screening, and a police bomb squad identified it as C4.

C4 looks like a block of clay and requires a blasting cap or detonator to explode. Combat troops have ready access to the explosive, which can also be used as fuel for heating water or rations. The U.S. military forbids troops from taking C4 out of combat zones, but the screening process for troops heading home is not as stringent as for people flying on commercial airlines.

Documents do not say how much C4 was in Atwater’s bag or whether there were blasting caps.

Atwater has been charged with trying to bring explosives onto an airplane, which carries a maximum 10-year federal prison sentence.  He waived his initial court appearance Tuesday, and his attorney, Jason Leach, declined to comment on the case.

The FBI didn’t find out about the smoke grenade until after Atwater’s arrest in Midland.

“When I asked him about the December 24 Fayetteville incident after TSA informed me of it, Atwater acknowledged that it had occurred, but said he had forgotten to mention it to us during our initial interview,” the FBI agent wrote in the affidavit filed in the case.

TSA spokesman Greg Soule declined to comment Tuesday.

No one answered the door Tuesday at the home of Atwater’s

parents in a quiet middle-class neighborhood in Midland, about 320 miles west of Dallas. An American flag between the two garage doors fluttered in the breeze. Relatives have not spoken publicly since his arrest or returned multiple phone messages requesting comment.

A neighbor who lives two doors down, Pam Moore, 55, said she watched Atwater grow up. She said he was a “wonderful kid” who played high school football.

“We were real proud of him when he joined the military,” Moore said. “I feel sorry that he got caught up in this. … I just hope everything works out for him. I really do.”

from:  http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8489208

Authorities have charged a member of the U.S. military who was arrested after trying to go through a security checkpoint at a Texas airport with explosives in military-grade wrapping, the FBI said Sunday.

Trey Scott Atwater, 30, was stopped at security at the Midland International Airport about 9 a.m. Saturday. FBI spokesman Mike Martinez said Atwater is being held at the Midland County jail and has been charged with trying to bring explosives onto an airplane.

He will remain in custody at least until his arraignment Tuesday, given that the courts are closed Monday for the holiday, Martinez said.

Atwater and his wife and family had been visiting relatives in the area and were on their way back to his base in North Carolina, according to local media reports.

via Suspect charged in Texas airport explosives case :: WRAL.com.

A woman is suing a Bluffton bar because a bartender didn’t check her age before serving her on the night of the 2009 wreck that paralyzed her.

The Beaufort Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/uNmhvJ ) that Chelsea Hess, who was then 20 years old, is a paraplegic because of the accident.

Hess’ lawsuit in 14th Circuit Court says she was served at Jock’s Sports Grill, but the bartender failed to check her ID or to determine if she was already drunk.

She’s also suing the state Department of Transportation, saying the agency failed to properly maintain the shoulder of the road where her car crashed.

Both the company that owns the bar and the DOT denied Hess’ claims in court papers.

Lawyers for both say Hess is responsible for her accident.

via SC woman sues bar for not checking her ID | abc11.com.

Sanford police are searching for a Southern Lee High School student missing for nearly a week. Crystal Cherry, 16, was last seen around 8 p.m. Friday at her home on Courtland Drive. When her mother went to check on her about three hours later, the teen was gone along with some of her belongings. Family member said the teen had never done anything like this before.Police say they have not issued an Amber Alert because there were no signs of foul play.

via Sanford teen reported missing :: WRAL.com.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), known for his cantankerous ways and for not speaking to media unless it’s his idea, was overheard at the Delta Crown lounge at Reagan National Airport today talking on his cellphone about an incident he said occurred three weeks ago while at an Episcopal church auction. Please note, a church auction.

Our source, a Democratic operative who heard the whole thing, said he was “very loud”. Sensenbrenner was overheard saying that after buying all their “crap” (his word) a woman approached him and praised first lady Michelle Obama.  He told the woman that Michelle should practice what she preaches — “she lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself.”

via Lawmaker Says Michelle Obama Has ‘Large Posterior’ – FishbowlDC.

The entire story is below:

She calls herself Joran Van Der Sloot’s guardian angel. Dr. Mary Hamer, that’s right she’s a doctor, has been writing to the sociopath who’s the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, for more than a year.

The divorced radiologist who lives near Jacksonville, Florida, has even paid more than $10,000 of Van Der Sloot’s bills.

Hamer told INSIDE EDITION, “No, I’m not nuts. I have helped Joran with his legal fees.”

She’s visited Van Der Sloot three times at the filthy Peruvian prison where he’s awaiting trial for the murder of Stephany Flores.

Video of her latest trip to the prison appeared on thedailybeast.com.

“Someone’s got to stand up and fight for Joran, and I’m going to do it because I believe in him,” said Hamer.

She visits Van Der Sloot for five hours at a time and says the prison is overrun with rats.

“Rats come up through the sewer pipes. So he has to stick a bottle down to make sure they don’t come up at night,” said Hamer.

There’s quite an age difference between them. She’s 55, he’s 24. So is she in love with him?

Hamer said, “No, there is no romantic connection.”

But that didn’t stop her from writing a song for him. She’s named it “Rescue,” because she wants to save him. She’s recorded it on a CD and she sings along to it with gusto.

Some of the lyrics are:

“I’ll help you heal from the justice…When everything has been shattered, and given up for lost, I will rescue you.”

She believes Van Der Sloot has been framed as part of an international conspiracy, and that he’s not the killer the rest of the world believes him to be.

“He’s a gentleman. Very polite. Good manners,” said Hamer.

So what does she say to people who think he’s playing her for a fool?

Hamer said, “No, I do not believe Joran Van Der Sloot is playing me. I have vetted him out. I’ve gone there personally and talked with him. I do believe Joran Van Der Sloot is innocent.”

via News – Woman Calls Herself Joran Van Der Sloot’s Guardian Angel – InsideEdition.com.

FedEx has vowed to track down the deliveryman who was caught on video carelessly tossing a computer monitor over a fence during a delivery.

Company spokeswoman Shea Leordeanu would not say what would become of the employee once they find him, but added: ‘This won’t be his best day.’

The  hilariously sad clip of a FedEx delivery man chucking the computer monitor has attracted nearly 200,000 viewers on YouTube in a single day, many of whom expressed fears that their holiday packages would be treated with the same regard.

via FedEx guy caught throwing computer monitor over fence in YouTube video | Mail Online.

The video has been embedded below the quoted text from the article.

The expression ‘dance like no one is watching’ could have been written for him.

But frankly everyone was after this young man’s interpretative dance video to Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You went viral on YouTube, receiving almost 800,000 hits.

As Mariah begins to belt out her famous Christmas hit, Preston Leatherman, tilts his head towards camera, lip-syncs the words and then he’s off – leaping and pirouetting around the shopping mall while clutching an iPod and headphones playing the song.

via Dancer in a hideous festive jumper takes gleeful spin around mall to Mariah Carey on his iPod | Mail Online.

Four Johnston County jail employees were terminated this month after a two-week internal investigation into inappropriate texting on their personal phones, Sheriff Steve Bizzell said Tuesday. A sheriff’s detective voluntarily resigned amid the probe.

Some of those employees sent inappropriate photos of themselves to other employees, Bizzell said.

The case has been handed over to the district attorney to determine if any laws were broken.

Other staff members alerted supervisors about having received inappropriate texts, prompting the sheriff’s office to launch an investigation in November, Bizzell said.

He called the internal probe “very methodical.”

“When you have five people being accused of these types of activities, you want to make sure you are being very fair,” he said.

Detective David Hildreth resigned Dec. 5. Doug Haddox was terminated Dec. 1, Kim Batts on Dec. 2 and Cindy Brantley on Dec. 6 for conduct unbecoming of a detention officer.

Karen Massengill was fired Dec. 13 for conduct unbecoming of a detention officer and lying to investigators during the internal probe.

Bizzell said the conduct went against the department’s “very high standard of excellence.”

via Improper texts cost five Johnston sheriff’s employees their jobs :: WRAL.com.

Very sad story.

A fake doctor injected a mans penis with silicone, killing him, police said Friday.Justin Street visited Kasia Rivera, 34, at her home in New Jersey for the penis enhancement proceedure on May 5, prosecutors say.But just a day after attending the so-called pumping-party the 22-year-old was dead.Street suffered a clot to the lungs and died. A medical examiner determined he died of a silicone embolism.His death was ruled a homicide following an investigation and Rivera has now been charged with manslaughter.She also faces charges involving the unauthorised practice of medicine. She was arrested Friday and is being held on $75,000 bail.

via Kasia Rivera: Fake doctor gave fatal penis enhancement silicon injection | Mail Online.

A 19-year-old Wisconsin man was convicted this week of a “planking” spree that included him lying atop a police squad car, a bank ATM machine, and merchandise displays at Walmart and Lowe’s stores.

A Municipal Court judge in Manitowoc found Alexander Hart guilty of disorderly conduct on the strength of “planking” photos that were posted earlier this year to his Facebook page, as well as an incriminating YouTube video. A city prosecutor’s evidence against Hart consisted of one video and ten photos, several of which you’ll find here.

When confronted by cops, Hart (pictured in the above mug shot) said that the images were done “to get laughs.” He then went on to claim that a specific image had been “Photo Shopped,” according to a City of Manitowoc Police report.

Judge Steven Olson fined Hart $303 for his “planking” escapades, which were photographed by his brother Ryan, who himself faces a disorderly conduct trial next week. Ryan Hart apparently upset cops by lying across a police memorial monument in front of the county jail. An officer compared the act to going to a cemetery and “planking” atop a gravestone.

Hours after Alexander Hart was convicted Tuesday, he was busted on a marijuana delivery charge, according to jail records.

In the wake of his pot collar, Hart launched a Facebook page asking readers to submit the names of Manitowoc residents who have “snitched to the pigs” about drug dealing. The page includes the name and photo of the person Hart identifies as “my Snitch!”

via Wisconsin Man Convicted For “Planking” Spree | The Smoking Gun.

‘Wendell police are searching for a 21-year-old man accused of shooting three people at a grocery store Wednesday evening.

Authorities said the shooting took place inside the Food Lion, at 2837 Wendell Boulevard, around 7:15 p.m. as the result of a domestic dispute between an employee and his partner.

Police said Tariq James Taylor is a suspect in the shooting and are attempting to locate him.

Food Lion employee Brent Thomas saw the two men arguing and tried to break it up.

“I was telling him to leave. I was pushing on him, but it was like I wasn’t even there,” Thomas said. “He was pale. He was sweating. It looked like he could have been on something.”

A few minutes later, Thomas said he heard gunshots and found the male employee shot multiple times and another employee shot in the leg. Thomas said a woman interviewing for a job was also shot.

The victims were taken to WakeMed Hospital. Their names were not released. The male employee involved in the dispute was in serious condition, authorities said. The other two victims had non life-threatening injuries.

Initially search dogs were used to track the shooter, but due to heavy rains they were unable to get a scent, authorities said.

via Three shot at Wendell Food Lion, shooter at large :: WRAL.com.

A Durham County judge has ruled that Crystal Mangum is able to go on trial. The judge approved Mangum’s psychiatric evaluation Wednesday.

Mangum has pleaded not guilty to fatally stabbing her live-in boyfriend Reginald Gaye in April.

She’s charged with first-degree murder and larceny.

via Mangum found competent to stand trial on murder charges | abc11.com.