An Escambia County (FL) man was arrested after falling through the ceiling of a local pharmacy.  The suspect claimed he broke into the building in search of a place to take a nap.
 
Deputies responding to the burglar alarm at the Ensley Pharmacy found a hole in the ceiling, a tile on the floor and Bennett Ervin Turner, 38, hiding in a locked room.  Turner told arresting officers that he regularly rested in the attic.  Surveillance footage shows Turner coming down from the attic and walking around the business. "He did not steal anything," owner David Creahan said.
 
Turner was treated for minor injuries from his fall and taken to the Escambia County Jail.  He faces a misdemeanor criminal mischief charge, and felony charges of burglary and possession of burglary tools. 
 
—Source:  Pensacola News Journal

The parents of a little league baseball player are suing one of the opposing team's coaches after their son was hit with an errant pitch while attempting to punt the ball at bat.

Michael Connick, a 13-year-old player, was given the signal for a suicide squeeze and squared to bunt.  After the first pitch was high and inside, he pulled back.  On the second pitch, he squared up again.  This time, the pitch hit him and "severely" broke his hand.
 
According to a lawsuit filed by the boy's father, who also is an attorney, the incident constituted assault and battery because Scott Barber, an assistant coach for the opposing team, ordered the pitcher on the mound to "throw at" the batter.  The Connicks are seeking more than $25,000 in damages, lost wages and attorney’s fees.
 
“Immediately after (Michael) fell to the ground, and while writhing in pain, defendant Barber again yelled from the dugout, ‘Good!,’ thus confirming and ratifying his order to ‘throw at’ and intentionally and recklessly … hit the plaintiff,” Tom Connick stated in the suit.  Connick further claims that even after Michael left the field for the hospital, Barber encouraged other reckless and/or negligent physical play, including instructions to run over players on the opposing team.
 
In addition to monetary damages, the Connicks want Barber banned from coaching or participating in any youth sports for at least 15 years. Barber, a gym teacher, is also a varsity baseball coach and varsity boys’ golf coach at Jefferson Area Senior High School in Ashtabula County, Ohio.

“My understanding is he has not been disciplined,” Connick said of Barber. “I think anybody who considers himself to be a coach should not instruct his players to harm another player. He is a danger and should be barred from coaching. Fifteen years is a reasonable time period to learn his lesson.”
 
The Division 13U teams are governed by the Mentor-based Great Lakes Baseball League, which is also named in the suit.  The State High School Associations Baseball Rules Book considers it an illegal act when a pitcher intentionally pitches too close to a batter.
 
“Anything he gets will go toward his medical bills, then a college fund through probate court,” Connick said, stressing that his family was not suing for the money. “I’m a lawyer, but I’m also Michael’s father. I don’t want people thinking I’m some scumbag attorney.”

—Source:  The News-Herald (Northern Ohio)

A would-be bank robber left with a polite "thank you" after a teller told him she didn't have any money in her drawer.
 
North Charleston, South Carolina police said Melvin Jesse Blain, 31, visited a Wachovia Bank branch and passed a note to the teller saying he was robbing the bank and asking for $30,000.  After the teller told Blain she had no money in her drawer, he said "thank you" and walked out empty-handed.
 
Blain, who was arrested a short distance from the bank, explained his behavior to police by indicating that he had just finished a nearly four-year prison sentence for bank robbery and didn't want to go back.  Blain was charged with entering a bank with intent to steal.
 
—Source:  Pensacola News Journal

American Airlines is being sued by a Washington State woman who claims she was traumatized when an American plane ran off the runaway at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
 
In a federal lawsuit, passenger Jewel Thomas claims she suffered severe mental and emotional problems after the New York bound plane skidded onto the grass next to the runway in an emergency landing at Chicago's O'Hare.  "That day changed my whole life – it changed my whole world," Thomas said, adding: "This is one problem I can't solve."
 
No physical injuries were reported among the passenger or crew and the damage reported to the plane was a blown tire.  Nonetheless, Thomas contends the incident upset her so much that she is on disability leave from her job at Microsoft, that she can no longer fly and sometimes even "freaks out" when she hears an airplane. 
 
Thomas claims the flight crew is at fault because it had notice of electrical and battery trouble and did not divert the flight sooner.  In the lawsuit, Thomas cites that the cabin public address system failed and eventually all power to the passenger cabin went out, including the lights, and passengers were praying and calling family members.  The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
 
—Source:  msnbc.com