Woman arrested for calling former supervisor ‘stupid’ in cake frosting

Woman arrested for calling former supervisor ‘stupid’ in cake frosting

Police in Derry Township, Pa., have arrested a woman for sending a cake to a former co-worker with an insulting message written in frosting.

Equipment contractor Angela Price was charged with “criminal harassment” after she dropped off a cake at Penn State Medical Center for supervisor Michelle Reed, who had recently fired her. The cake said, “You can’t fix stupid” in icing.

Hospital security officers called police, who arrived and confiscated the baked good as evidence of criminal intent.

Price is facing a $300 fine. Her attorney called the charges “over the top.”

Source: The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pa.

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Witch-on-witch crime arrests made in Salem

A self-proclaimed high priestess of Salem witches was arrested for placing raccoon entrails on the doorsteps of two local witch-owned shops, then trying to frame another witch for the incident.

Sharon Graham, 46, pleaded not guilty to “malicious destruction of property” after her roommate told police that Graham had left the entrails and other body parts in an effort to frame a man named Christian Day who had fired her from a psychic telephone business.

The roommate also said Graham had a disagreement with the two shop owners over local licensing regulations for people who communicate with the dead.

Police alerted environmental officials after they searched Graham’s apartment and found a stuffed coyote attached to a totem pole.

David Gavegnano, a lawyer for Graham, said his client had nothing to do with the incident, and the “malicious destruction of property” charge made no sense because the raccoon entrails didn’t cause any property damage.

Day demanded an apology from anyone who had blamed him for the ruckus. He commented, “I love Salem. This is my home. I want Salem to be seen as a great place to go, not a place where raccoons are mutilated.”

Sources: Associated Press, The Salem News

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Woman faces jail time for swearing at toilet

A Pennsylvania woman is facing up to 90 days in jail for shouting profanities at a toilet in her home.

Dawn Herb of West Scranton began her battle with the toilet when it started overflowing one night at about 8 p.m., leaking down into the kitchen. She allegedly became potty-mouthed herself in the course of shutting off the commode and asking her daughter for a mop.

Her next-door neighbor, Patrick Gilman, an off-duty police officer, heard her through a bathroom window. Herb claims Gilman told her to “shut the f—- up,” and she advised him to “mind your own business,” or words to that effect.

Gilman then called police and had Herb arrested for disorderly conduct. The citation accuses her of directing obscene language at the toilet “with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm.”

In an interview, Scranton Public Safety Director Ray Hayes commented that the legality of cussing at a home plumbing fixture “may be something open to interpretation.”

But Mary Catherine Roper, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in Philadelphia, insists that Herb’s actions “cannot be the basis for a citation. You can’t prosecute somebody for swearing at a cop or a toilet.”

Source: The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.

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Secretary sues law firm for $33M after desk placed 3 feet from window

A secretary is suing the law firm where she was employed for $33 million after it placed her desk 3 feet away from a window, rather than right next to the window as she had requested.

Secretary Caryl Dontfraid claims she has “seasonal affective disorder,” which causes her to be depressed during the fall and winter and can be alleviated if she is near a window.

Her demand for a window seat at the firm’s offices on Park Avenue in New York City “could have been easily accommodated,” argues her lawyer, Robert Campos-Marquetti.

Dontfraid ended up 3 feet away from a window after a department move. Her boss, David Hill, says he asked her to try the new location for a few days and told her he would attempt to accommodate her if she was still uncomfortable, but she refused.

Dontfraid declined to comment, telling reporters, “I’m not going to go there.”

Dontfraid’s law firm, Binder & Binder, specializes in filing claims for people who have disabilities.

Source: New York Daily News

— Compiled by Thomas F. Harrison
Thomas F. Harrison is vice president of new business development at Lawyers Weekly.
He can be contacted at tom.harrison@exhibitAnews.com.