Today’s Darwin Award Winner

Via sfgate.com:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A man who was found dead hanging by a rope off an 18-story Sacramento high-rise appears to have been a graffiti tagger, Sacramento police said Monday.

Fire Battalion Chief Marc Bentovoja said the man appears to have died accidentally of asphyxiation when he created a harness from the rope and lowered himself down the east side of the office building.

“From everything we can tell, he didn’t have any special rope rappelling equipment on, climbing equipment or anything like that,” he said. “He appeared to be looped into the rope.”

Police department spokeswoman Michele Gigante said Monday afternoon that investigators found a can of spray paint on the part of a balcony where the ropes were anchored. A tool for etching glass was found on the ground below his body, she said.

Gigante said building surveillance showed the man entering the building alone on Sunday. Police believe he gained access to the roof of the nearly 240-foot building and lowered himself three floors down to the balcony before lowering himself again.

Police and fire crews responded after receiving a call at 7:44 a.m. Monday. Rescue personnel were seen rappelling down the side of the building to check on the man, but he was already dead. The body was retrieved shortly after 9 a.m.

The coroner’s office will conduct an autopsy to determine the official cause of death. It is not releasing the man’s identity until his relatives are notified.

Bentovoja said the man did not appear to work for the building.

Formally named the 1201 K Tower, the building houses offices for lobbyists, public relations businesses and law firms that do business two blocks away at the Capitol.

The man’s death comes less than three weeks after police say a 22-year-old convicted graffiti tagger fell to his death while spray-painting a freeway bridge in Sacramento. Gigante said the deaths were unrelated.

-End

Looks like the dems are going to be short a voter in 2014.

-Dave

(h/t: Drudge)

This Week’s Darwin Award Winner

Via wtsp.com:

Largo teen Thorin Montgomery dies after game of Russian Roulette

Written by Althea Paul

LARGO, Florida – A Largo teen has died from his injuries after shooting himself while playing Russian Roulette.

Pinellas County Sheriff’s detectives say 17-year-old Thorin Montgomery and three teenaged friends were on the back porch of his house along 111th Way North in Largo Friday night, playing with a .38 caliber revolver.

Thorin was the first of his friends to have a turn when the gun fired, shooting him in the head.

He was airlifted to Bayfront Medical Center where he later died.

A neighbor, who doesn’t want to be identified, told 10 News he saw an ambulance arrive at the house and then neighbors started running toward there as well. He describes the scene as “crazy.” He says he’s surprised to hear the teens were playing such a dangerous game.

“I’m shocked to find out they’re stupid enough to play that game,” said the neighbor. “Kids nowadays, with them playing with guns the way they do, there’s no reason for that.”

The investigation is ongoing. Detectives will not say right now where the teens got the gun.

-End 

Hopefully this stoopid goober did not have a chance to procreate.

-Dave 

(h/t: Drudge)

Darwin awards 2011

The Darwins are out!!!!

Yes, it’s that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.

Here is the glorious winner:

1. When his 38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach , California would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

And now, the honorable mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger.. The chef’s claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies.. The deception wasn’t discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer… $15. [If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly.. He decided that he’d just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape…

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, “Yes, officer, that’s her. That’s the lady I stole the purse from.”

9.. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti , Michigan at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn’t open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren’t available for breakfast… The man, frustrated, walked away. [*A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street by sucking on a hose, he got much more than he bargained for.. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home’s sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he’d ever had.

In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with friends and family….unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long lost friend. In that case, be glad they are distant and hope they remain lost.

*** Remember….Rejoice! Those that did not survive helped “clean” out our gene pool. They walk among us, they can reproduce.. and they can vote.

~Steve~          H/T  Grouchy.