Mad Criming From Around the Globe and At Home …Well, If You Say So Dept. Man: Suspected pot pipe really ‘my bomb’ March 7, 2007, Associated Press SHAWANO, Wis. –Deputies got a surprise answer when they asked a man if an item in his bedroom was for smoking marijuana, a criminal complaint says. “That’s not a dope pipe, it’s my bomb,” Eugene Hansen told them, according to the complaint filed in Shawano County Circuit Court. Hansen, 48, of Wittenberg, could face up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine on a felony charge of possessing improvised explosives. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. The complaint said sheriff’s deputies responding to a complaint March 1 were told Hansen was intoxicated and was causing a disturbance. When they questioned him in his bedroom, they saw several electronic items, pipe fittings and wiring, as well as the suspected marijuana pipe, the complaint said, and Hansen told them he uses bombs to blow up toilet paper rolls. Sheriff’s investigator Randy Giese said a search found bomb-making components but no actual explosive materials that could have led to more serious charges. “He had the basics of a bomb, things that could be used in bomb-making,” Giese said. Hansen is due back in court March 19. Driver, Take Me to Freedom Dept. Cops: Robber tries to escape in cab March 6, 2007 AIKEN, S.C. –A man tried to escape a bank robbery in a taxi, police said — until the volunteer fire chief hunted him down. Phil Napier, chief of the Graniteville Vaucluse Warrenville Volunteer Fire Department, owns a hardware store and flower shop next to the Security Federal Bank in Graniteville. Napier said a customer in his store told him about the bank robbery. “I told them to watch the store and I jumped in the truck,” Napier told The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle. He followed the taxi for several miles and radioed deputies, who pulled the cab over. Thomas R. Washington, 40, of Graniteville was charged with entering a financial institution with intent to steal and grand larceny, according to a news release from the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Michael Frank said the cab driver was unaware his passenger was robbing the bank. Police did not say how much money was stolen. A telephone number for a Thomas Washington in Graniteville was disconnected. Hewp! Poweef! I’ve Been Wobbed! Dept. Man robbed of a bag holding $875, his teeth March 6, 2007 Buffalo News A Buffalo man reported to police that he was robbed at knifepoint Monday night of his bag, which contained his teeth, pajamas and wallet containing $875 in cash. The victim said he was approached near the intersection of Broadway and Mills Street at 10:10 p.m. by a man wearing a black jacket and hoodie and holding a knife. The victim handed over what police described as a “hospital bag” filled with his belongings. It was not clear whether the victim had just been released from a hospital.   Dept. of Fiendish Plans Robbery suspect wears bag in court March 7, 2007 Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. –An armed robbery suspect took no chances on Wednesday in allowing a victim to see his face. Oji Ngozi, charged in an October 2003 armed robbery, wore a shopping bag with two small eye holes over his head at a motion hearing Tuesday to suppress photographic evidence used in a police lineup. His defense attorney said he was concerned that victim Rebecca Lee would see Ngozi during the hearing. He said the victim failed in the days following the robbery to identify Ngozi from a photo lineup as one of the two men who broke into her home. Even though a sign on the courtroom door bars hats or head coverings, Judge Carolyn Blackett allowed Ngozi to don the bag and stay in the courtroom. She did not issue a ruling on Wednesday. “It is my understanding that there was a motion to waive the defendant’s presence because he was concerned that victims could identify him,” prosecutor Tracye Jones said. “I did note for the record that he has a bag on his head.” Ngozi’s bag drew the attention of curious onlookers who tried to catch images of him on camera phones. Ngozi’s attorney declined to speak to a reporter with The Commercial Appeal afterward. Lee testified that she remembers Ngozi clearly from the robbery in October 2003. “I’ll never forget that face,” Lee testified. “I can tell you all about it.”         –Compiled by Staff Thugs