Attack of the Drones A passenger flight descending into Charlotte Douglas International Airport recently had one last crisis to avert before touchdown. The pilot reported a near-miss with a drone above the 3400 block of Brookshire Boulevard. A second pilot descending onto the same runway contacted air traffic control to report that they also nearly hit the drone. In an unrelated incident, a 26-year-old man was arrested after flying his drone too close to a police helicopter last week. Police found the man in the act, but he refused to land the drone or to show police any registration for his aircraft, despite FAA regulations requiring him to do so when asked by law enforcement. The man was flying the drone at 12:40 a.m., despite FAA regulations against flying drones at night. He later told police he had listened to a police scanner and was trying to take close-up video of the helicopter in action.
When one door closes Not happy with how construction on his new restaurant was going, an Uptown property owner told the contractor not to let the door hit him on the way out. The ex-employee took the words literally -- after getting sacked, he asked for permission to return to the job site to collect his things. In addition to taking his belongings, he walked off the site with a pair of $4,000 French doors.
Helicopter Mom Probably tipped off when her son kept using all the minutes in their family cell phone plan, a Carmel woman began to suspect that her son was hiding something. Sure enough, a little snooping revealed that he was operating a small-scale drug operation out of his bedroom. The woman discovered a safe containing more than 50 syringes, 65 plastic baggies filled with a white powder and other drug paraphernalia. The suspect was arrested and now faces various narcotics charges, in addition to being grounded.
Sentimental Value When a suspect realized they had been left out of a recently-deceased west Charlotte man's will, they decided to forgo the traditional process of disputing the document, and instead took matters into their own hands. While the daughter was finalizing documents to secure her inheritance, the suspect broke into the recently dead man's home and stole the items in question: more than eight washer and dryer units.
Your Place or Mine Figuring that if it had worked for Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, it could work for her love life, a Mountain Island Lake woman decided to apply the "build it and they will come" mantra to planning a Saturday night date. The woman went to Walmart and collected everything she would need for a romantic rendezvous: pasta, marinara sauce, a press-on nail kit, diet pills and some flashy new jewelry. Sure enough, the woman walked out of the store with a date -- to appear in court, for shoplifting.
Going the Distance Proving there's no such thing as distance when feelings are involved, a woman filed a police report after her long-distance love issued a series of threats during a heated phone conversation. The suspect stated: "I'm in Atlanta at the mall," but assured the victim that when they were done shopping, "I'm coming up there." The suspect then reiterated, "You're going to make me come up there and beat your face in."
Can't Catch 'Em All A Pokemon pack wasn't in the cards for one young fan after he spent all of his allowance on a new video game console, but the gamer couldn't curb his urge to catch 'em all. After making his purchase at a Sharon Amity Road game store, the suspect grabbed a pack of Pokemon cards and opened them behind a display unit so he could remove a pin from the package. He left the pack, but made off with the pin.
Natural Selection One local resident was so eager to cast his vote in the state primary that he may have forgotten how the voting process actually works. The east Charlotte suspect allegedly snuck onto a resident's lawn and uprooted a political sign that was posted out front, then threw the sign onto the victim's front porch. The suspect fled the scene, probably believing that he had effectively cancelled out the victim's vote.
The Easter Bunny Strikes Cops responded to a Fourth Ward 7 Eleven store after an unidentified suspect walked out with three retail cases of Starbursts and Snickers bars, totaling nearly $130. Police weren't able to locate the suspect. In his defense, the stolen candy was "sharing size."
The Main Event When police responded to a southwest Charlotte high school following calls of an upset during a sporting event, they weren't responding to drama on the field. Rather, they were following up on reports that an unruly suspect had snuck into the event without purchasing a ticket, and had then proceeded to shout profanities. When an employee of the high school intervened, the suspect challenged him to a fight. Before he could make the first punch, police arrived.
Blotter items are chosen from the files of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty.
