ASS ATTACK: Escaped Pitbulls Fatally Maul Two Beloved Burros
Two South Jersey pitbulls were captured last night after allegedly killing a miniature donkey and fatally wounding another, police said. The dogs escaped from their Vineland home Tuesday morning and eluded capture. Neal Parker, who owns a 26-acre farm in Millville, Cumberland County, spotted the two dogs running on his property. One of Parker’s beloved donkeys, a 14-year-old named Webster, was dead in a pen. Another donkey, Carolyn, 10, was mortally injured protecting its foal. Parker summoned police who searched for the dogs without success, a Millville police spokesman said. A tipster called police and said the dogs could be found nearby at a Lodge Place address in Vineland, police said. Diana Figura, the owner of the dogs, surrendered Coco and Dakota to animal control officers, police said. Figura was issued two summonses for having a potentially dangerous animal and two additional summonses for allowing them to run free, police said. [via INQUIRER]
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YES WE CAN: Obama Collects City Council & Statehouse Endorsements At City Hall
A bevy of city and state elected officials – specifically, six City Councilmembers, three state representatives and two state senators – are expected to endorse Barack Obama for president at 2 p.m. today in City Hall. “In addition to voicing support for their preferred Democratic candidate, this endorsement event is meant to balance the endorsements of other political leaders in the city and state, including Mayor Nutter and Governor Rendell,” stated a press release announcing the event. Nutter and Rendell are backing Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania’s April 22 primary. The Council members who will announce their support of Obama today are: Curtis Jones, Bill Green, Jannie Blackwell, Donna Reed-Miller, Jim Kenney and Wilson Goode, Jr. Among the Pennsylvania lawmakers will be state senators Shirley Kitchen and Vincent Hughes, and state representatives Jewell Williams, Harold James and Tony Payton Jr. “In Pennsylvania, we realize that top party officials are not with us as it relates to Senator Obama’s candidacy,” Jones said, “but there are three words that were born in Philadelphia and still resonate across the Commonwealth today, and they are ‘We the People.'” [via INQUIRER]
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Spectacular Tri-State Car Chase Ends With Perp Jumping Off Commodore Barry
A Delaware man [NOT pictured, left] in a rented truck led police on a three-state high-speed chase last night that ended when the truck crashed into a Pennsylvania State Police cruiser and the driver jumped from the Commodore Barry Bridge, authorities said. Police found Kennard Orlando Terry, 45, of New Castle, hiding in reeds under the span in New Jersey. A Delaware State trooper spotted the rented U-Haul truck at 9 p.m. as it jumped a curb and made several u-turns on New Castle Avenue just south of Wilmington, said Jeff Whitemarsh, spokesman for the Delaware State police. The trooper attempted to pull it over, but the truck did not stop, Whitemarsh said.The 15-mile chase was on. Delaware police pursued the U-Haul as it took the ramp onto Interstate 495, said Ed Kasuba, a spokesman for the Delaware River Port Authority. An officer put a “stop sticks” down on the highway. The U-Haul drove over the tire deflation device. The truck did not stop. The strip blew out all four tires, Kasuba said, and continued north toward Pennsylvania. By the time the truck crossed the state line, it was riding on bare rims. Pennsylvania troopers took over the chase. The truck did not stop. A police cruiser passed the U-Haul as it barreled east on the Commodore Barry Bridge. The cruiser tried to block it on the Jersey side of the bridge, Kasuba said. The U-Haul rammed the officer’s car broadside. Near the end of the bridge, the truck stopped. Terry jumped from the U-Haul. According to Delaware police, he fired a handgun into the air and darted on foot through westbound traffic. Then he lept from the bridge. He fell 25 feet, landing in a marsh below. DRPA police found Terry hiding in a clump of tall reeds in the Logan Township wetland, Kasuba said. Police put him in handcuffs and charged him with aggravated assault and eluding arrest. [via INQUIRER]