The serial "snuggler" will have to keep his hands to
himself. The man who sneaked into women's apartments just to cuddle
with them has been sentenced to five years' probation.
Before pleading guilty earlier this year to 12 counts of unauthorized
entry, Steve Danos, 26, led a commendable life, a
judge said Wednesday before sentencing him.
None of the victims was hurt. Instead, the intruder roused the
residents to ask about a party, helped himself to beer and
pizza, folded clothes, made nachos and crawled into one woman's bed
to rub her stomach.
Before his arrest, Danos had a more notable claim to fame. He drove
in the winning run in the state championship
baseball game his senior year at John Curtis Christian School in
River Ridge.
"It's simply unbelievable," state District Judge Todd
Hernandez said Wednesday, while flipping through letters written to
the court on Danos' behalf by friends, teachers and school administrators.
"Mr. Danos, up until this point you've led a life that would make any parent unbelievably proud," Hernandez said.
The judge attributed Danos' bizarre behavior to the use of alcohol and drugs.
Danos' attorney, Robert Gill, said Danos was an outstanding high
school athlete who sank into depression when he didn't
make the team at Louisiana State, Gill said.
The odd behavior began when Danos started soothing himself with Xanax, alcohol and marijuana, Gill said
****
A South African soccer referee pulled a gun and shot dead a coach who questioned one of his rulings, police said on Sunday.
Inspector Mali Govender of the Grahamstown police in the Eastern Cape
province said a fight broke out after the referee
gave a yellow warning card to a player in a local match on Saturday.
"There was an altercation...and the referee became threatened
when the other team approached him because they were
angry," Govender said. "So he pulled out a gun and killed
the coach of the visiting team."
Govender said the coach died on the field while the referee fled the
scene. Police were confident of making an arrest soon,
she added.
South Africa has one of the world's highest murder rates with an
alarming 47.4 murders per 100,000 people, or eight times
the figure for the United States.
****
A naked man chased a woman motorist to her house in Germany to protest that she had parked badly, police said Friday.
"A resident ran completely naked after the 30-year-old woman in
order to communicate his displeasure about the 'noise and
time she had taken to park,'" police in the central town of
Goettingen said in a statement, adding that he could face
prosecution.
Police said the woman dismissed the man with "strong language" before alerting authorities and her neighbors.
****
Plastic surgeons in Mexico report a big increase in the number of women who who want to become virgins again.
The surgery has been available for a few years but has become
fashionable with about seven women a month undergoing
treatment in Mexico City.
The procedure lasts for 45 minutes and costs around £1,000. The
hymen is totally reconstructed and the healing period is
from one to four weeks.
Doctor Juan Jose Castaneda told La Republica online: "The surgery leaves women as if they never had sexual intercourse."
Psychologist Ricardo Melgoza criticised the trend saying: "It is
a double mistake, the woman lies and presents her new
partner with a fake virginity, but she's also fooling herself. This
is the result of a sexist and hypocritical society."
****
A US woman led police on a high-speed police chase to her house - because she thought she could not be arrested at home.
The woman, of Alexandria, Louisiana, told officers she had seen
someone avoid arrest in a similar manner on a TV show,
reports The Town Talk newspaper.
But once she pulled into her driveway, officers from four agencies
surrounded and arrested her and she now faces charges
including speeding, reckless driving, and failure to give way to an
emergency vehicle.
The chase began when a police officer noticed the woman's car did not
have a licence plate, so he attempted to pull her
over but the car sped up and joined a motorway.
By the time the 95mph chase entered Alexandria, officers with the
Louisiana State Police, Alexandria Police Department
and Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office were involved.
Police chief James Gonzales says the woman pulled into her driveway and got out of her car as if nothing had happened.
****
US police had no trouble tracing a suspect who stepped in wet paint during a burglary.
Police in Grants Pass, Oregon, say the intruder stepped in the paint and left a well-marked trail when he left.
Officers followed the footprints to a motel where they arrested a
22-year-old man. They say evidence recovered there
included a pair of paint-covered shoes.
The suspect was charged with burglary and theft and is being held in jail in lieu of £40,000 bail.