Drop the Kid A man who is apparently already in a world of shit just added more charges to his rap sheet and probably won't have custody of his baby girl for quite a while. Police were called after a bail bondsman who was looking for the suspect found him and chased him down. The man was holding his infant daughter, who is under a year old, when he saw the bounty hunter coming. The suspect ran and carried the baby during the entire chase. The girl was not injured and the dad was charged with child endangerment, along with whatever bail-jumping charges he was already facing.
Family Matters A 41-year-old woman regrets involving her family in her business plans, after her son threw an expensive hissy fit in east Charlotte last week. The woman told officers that she was renting a home out to her son, but had to evict him in the end. When she told him he had to go, the man began destroying property in the furnished home. In the end, he smashed up a stove, a refrigerator, a glass table, two flat-screen TVs and the bathroom mirror, causing a total of $2,648 in damages. Now, on top of the charges, this guy has nowhere to live. He'd better call his mo- oh, nevermind.
Please Stop A vandalism suspect in northeast Charlotte apparently felt the need for speed last week and couldn't be bothered with pesky traffic signs. One neighbor in the Withrow Downs neighborhood called police after an unknown suspect took a bucket of house paint and painted over a stop sign. The suspect also painted over the street in front of the reporting neighbor's house. The suspect was caught soon after the crime and, according to the report, "does not have any excuses or justification for damaging the property."
Help Yourself Employees at a Rite-Aid in east Charlotte confronted a conspicuous shoplifting suspect last week, causing him to go try his luck elsewhere. The employees later told police that the man entered the store and went right for the trash bags. He took a trash bag out of its package and then began walking around the store filling it with cleaning supplies. When he tried to walk out the door, employees confronted him. The man dropped the bag and ran toward Home Depot.
Check Bait Winner winner, fish dinner? The Southside Fish Market called police after discovering that a stack of activated scratch-off lottery tickets had gone missing from behind the counter. The bad news is that the fish market is out $300 worth of tickets. The good news is that it should be pretty easy to track down the thief if they try to claim any winnings from the tickets.
Buck Shot After a spike in suspicious activity reported in the wooded area behind a Providence Road shopping center, CMPD officers installed a deer camera to surveil the area. The deer cam proved to be an unreliable witness when officers returned after the weekend and discovered that the camouflaged recording device had been stolen. The investigation remains open, and police are looking for the teenaged prankster (or dexterous deer) responsible for stealing the camera.
Sneak Arrest There was nothing sneaky about a pair of sneaker thieves who attempted to steal a pair of Air Jordans from a Steele Creek shoe store. The basketball shoe bandits made it out of the store with the stolen sneaks, but continued to loiter at the Charlotte outlet mall. That's when police were able to catch up with them. In addition to the stolen shoes, the conspicuous thieves had about $60 worth of cocaine and marijuana in their possession.
Sweet Tooth, Sticky Fingers A woman charged with shoplifting probably thought she had considered all the consequences when she planned the loot she wanted to lift from her neighborhood Walmart — a few bags of candy and a tube of toothpaste. Unfortunately there was one consequence she failed to plan for: loss prevention employees waiting for her at the exit. At least she'll be minty fresh for the cavity search.
Feeling Salty We're getting mixed signals on the proper etiquette for handling salt and pepper shakers. When Salt-n-Pepa told us to "push it real good," they got nominated for a Grammy. When a man followed those instructions and pushed a pair of salt and pepper shakers off of a table and onto the floor at a Plaza Midwood restaurant, he got charged with vandalism. The man, who was also a former employee at the restaurant, wasn't just pushing the pepper, he also broke two bottles of hot sauce on the ground and damaged three paper towel holders.
Bringing The Heat As easy as it is to get guns these days, you'd think someone looking to stick up a store would be all set, but some people want to do things differently. A man robbed a Quik Trip in southwest Charlotte last week using something most people walk around with every morning. An employee told police that a man came into the store at about 4:30 a.m. and immediately threw a cup of coffee on him and demanded money from the register. The employee obliged, but it's unclear how much money the suspect made off with. In the CL news room, we call crimes like this a major waste of coffee.
Fix It A 45-year-old repairman called police after one of his customers was not impressed with his work. The victim told officers that a man assaulted him while he was trying to do work in the suspect's northeast Charlotte home. He suffered no injuries.
Threat of the Week The dinner crowd at a west Charlotte Bojangles' got to see the first-hand dangers of skipping leg day when a disgruntled diner, evidently dissatisfied with the dark meat he was served, went on a rampage. Police say the enraged meat-eater, desperate to replace his plate of legs and thighs, approached another diner and threatened to "bust his head open until the white meat came out." We get it, you're a breast guy.
Blotter items are chosen from the files of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty.