A Daytona Beach (FL) man was arrested after he tried to sell a stolen car back to its owner.

Car owner Walter Potts told police that he received a telephone call informing him that his stolen car was identified and could be purchased back for $150. Potts was told to bring the money to a local Save-a-Lot store where he could exchange it for the car keys. Potts notified police, who accompanied him in an unmarked car.

When Devin Holt-Thayer approached Potts with the keys and demanded the cash, officers moved in. Holt-Thayer then ran off and tried to hide in a local O'Reilly Auto Parts store, where he was apprehended. Holt-Thayer claimed he was paid $10 to turn over the keys for cash. Holt-Thayer has been charged with felony dealing in stolen property, felony grand theft and misdemeanor resisting officers without violence.

According to news reports, Potts plans to press charges.

—Source: news-journalonline.com

A New York school district is being sued by the families of two students who claim to have been knocked down by a classmate during a field trip to the Bronx Zoo.

According to news reports, two girls were knocked to the ground by an 11-year-old boy. During court proceedings, the boy testified that he accidentally ran into the girls while he was being chased by another student; the parents of the girls maintain that the boy pushed them to the ground. The lawsuit alleges that those in charge did not properly supervise the children during the field trip and members of Cornwall Central School District should have anticipated that the 11-year-old boy could be a behavior problem.

The majority in the New York Appellate Division recently ruled that the case could proceed toward trial. In his dissent, Presiding Justice Randall Eng called the 11-year-old’s conduct impulsive, and said the district could not have anticipated it.

—Source: abajournal.com

A twenty-eight year old Orlando (FL) man is challenging his arrest on grounds that the cocaine found in his pocket was not his, but rather belonged to the owner of the shorts.

According to news reports, Billy Diggs and two other men were searched after police noticed a handgun inside the car the men were standing alongside. When the search turned up a bag of white powder in the pocket of the shorts Diggs was wearing, Diggs denied ownership of the shorts. The powder was identified as cocaine. Arrest records indicate that Diggs was serving 10 years of probation for an extortion conviction and now faces charges of cocaine possession and violation of probation.

—Source: Pensacola News Journal (FL)

Recently, a Connecticut jury unanimously ruled in favor of an eight-year-old boy who was sued by his aunt for hugging her.

Jennifer Connell of New York sued her nephew, Sean Tarala, for $127,000 after she fell and broke her wrist when her nephew jumped into her arms at his birthday party.

“All of a sudden he was there in the air, I had to catch him and we tumbled onto the ground,” Connell testified in court. “I remember him shouting, ‘Auntie Jen, I love you!’ and there he was, flying at me."

According to news reports, Connell testified she loves the "very loving, sensitive" boy but thought he should be held accountable.

“The injuries, losses and harms to the plaintiff were caused by the negligence and carelessness of the minor defendant in that a reasonable eight-year-old under those circumstances would know or should have known that a forceful greeting such as the one delivered by the defendant to the plaintiff could cause the harms and losses suffered by the plaintiff,” the lawsuit claimed.

"I live in Manhattan in a third-floor walkup so it has been very difficult," Connell said. "And we all know how crowded it is in Manhattan."

She continued, "I was at a party recently and it was difficult to hold my hors d'oeuvres plate."

The boy was the only defendant in the case. The boys' mother, Lisa Tarala, died last year.

Connell's lawyer issued a statement, saying, "From the start, this was a case was about one thing:  getting medical bills paid by homeowner's insurance.  Our client was never looking for money from her nephew or his family."

—Sources:  nypost.com and foxnews.com