RAP SHEET
Operator: 911 . . .
Caller: Hi, we've had, uh, three
very threatening phone calls that
threatened me, my family and my
property and they have threatened
to be here tomorrow morning at
7 o'clock.
O: OK.
C: And I need to speak with, uh,
patrol. I just, I drove around
town and couldn't find them here
in Grimes. I know they're there,
they're probably just busy with
something. But, I've got a situation
where I need to have them probably
intervene.
O: Yeah, not a problem. We can
send a deputy over there to speak
with you.
C: That would be great.
O: OK, we'll send a deputy over
there.
C: Thank you very much.
Officer's Report: Upon arrival
I met with John, who explained
that he is an independent contractor
for Town and Country contractors.
John said that he was recently
part of building a project in
Bethany, Mo., in which American
Fence Company provided materials
he used to erect a fence on the
project. John said the project
was unable to make final payments
to him and that he's unable to
pay the final bill to several
vendors, including American Fence
Company. John said that his wife
Kathy observed a white male, mid-40s
with medium dark hair driving
a mid-size car taking pictures
of their house and items on their
property. John said that he spoke
with Mark of American Fence Company
that day via telephone, during
which time Mark was requesting
payment. John said that Mark admitted
to being the person taking pictures
of his residence and that Mark
suggested selling his boat, camper
and other property to pay a debt
of $12,000 owed to American Fence
Company. John said that after
speaking with Mark he was phoned
by Todd, who threatened to "go
in and out of the law" to
get payment and said that if John
didn't write a check to him that
he'd make sure that it cost him
more than $12,000. John said that
Todd called him again two days
later, during which Todd told
him that if he didn't get paid
he would be at the house the next
day to take his boat, camper and
whatever else he could take. John
said that Todd additionally said
that his wife and children should
not be at the house when he arrives.
John said that he fears for his
safety and the safety of his family.
John requested that a deputy be
present at his residence, as he
believes that Todd will follow
through with his threat. I called
the phone number and made contact
with a male subject, who identified
himself as Todd. I asked Todd
if I could meet with him in Grimes
to discuss the reported incident.
Todd was very defensive and asked
the reason for which I wanted
to meet with him. I explained
to Todd that I would not discuss
the case over the phone and insisted
on meeting with him. Todd insisted
that I explain the circumstances
and refused to meet with me. Todd
said that if I wanted to meet
with him I could at John's residence.
DOCKET DIVING
After a meth-induced frenzy kept
him up all night playing video
games, David Petithory passed
out on the stairs only to wake
to the sound of screaming and
the sight of his young daughter
floating unconscious in the bathtub.
The afternoon Brooklin Petithory
nearly drowned was just one day
after her parents - Petithory
and Amy Champoux - had taken her
to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate
her first birthday. But after
the kids had gone to bed the party
wasn't over for the two drug-abusing
parents, who spent the night smoking
methamphetamine in the basement.
The next day, Petithory was left
to bathe the girls while Champoux
ran errands, but, after placing
3-year-old K.C. and birthday-girl
Brooklin in the tub, he fell asleep
in the stairwell for nearly a
dozen minutes with the water still
running. When he awoke, Brooklin
was face down in the water, and,
after having been deprived of
oxygen for as long as 10 minutes
that day, she died barely a month
later of severe brain damage.
A bench trial in Polk County
District Court found Petithory
guilty of multiple counts of involuntary
manslaughter, child endangerment,
neglect of a dependant person
and possession of a controlled
substance. The court sentenced
him to 27 years in prison, but
he took his case first to the
appeals court, and when that panel
upheld his conviction, to the
Iowa Supreme Court. The crux of
his complaint, the Supreme Court
panel determined, rested on whether
or not one of the counts of neglect
- the allegation that he neglected
K.C. for the three months preceding
her sister's near-drowning - was
based on sufficient evidence.
Petithory argued that he was a
loving father and "careful
drug abuser," and, while
there are "generalized risks"
attributed to smoking meth, there
was no affirmative proof that
such factors occurred in his specific
case.
But the judges weren't interested
in how careful Petithory claimed
to be: "Russian roulette
is dangerous each time it is played,
not just when someone has his
head blown off." And life
with drug-addicted parents, the
panel reasoned, certainly constituted
the reckless danger that defines
the neglect standard. "There
is no question the defendent used
meth on a daily basis", the
judges noted, "there is no
debate about the pernicious effects
of meth; there is specific testimony
regarding Petithory's irate behavior
whenever he crashed from a meth-induced
high; and the children in Petithory's
care were clearly of such a tender
age that they could not be expected
to protect themselves from the
dangers and hazards to which he
exposed them." As such, the
Supreme Court upheld Petithory's
conviction late last month, noting
that "to rule otherwise would
countenance absurd results and
be contrary to the commonsense
manner in which we ought to interpret
a statute."
RENTERS BEWARE
Landlord: Ray Hansen
Address: 1648 22nd St.
Violations: Lavatory plumbing
in poor repair; loose electrical
light fixture in the bedroom;
deteriorating roof structure;
bathroom and kitchen floors in
disrepair; lack of fire detectors
and window screens; and loose
steps descending to a basement
door with no knob
Action: The Housing Appeals Board
voted to send the property to
legal, but waived the $5,000 penalty
fine.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
According to the Polk County
treasurer, the following individuals
have overdue Curb-It recycling
fees of $30.68:
- Robert Anderson of 4505 N.W.
Lovington Drive in Des Moines
- Joann Bailey of 4385 N.E. 26th
St. in Des Moines
- Charles Beck of 9515 N.W. Beaver
Drive in Johnston
- Donald Bishop of 4050 N.E. 78th
Ave., in Ankeny
- Troy Beckman of 841 S.E. 61st
St. in Pleasant Hill
- First Contract Corp. of 10275
N.E. 46th Ave. in Altoona
- Linda Stiles of 540 N.E. 43rd
Ave. in Des Moines
SUCKS TO BE YOU
Name: Herbert Charles White
Place of Incident: Des Moines
Posed for this picture because:
Not three months after being released
on parole, the man dubbed the
"West Side Burglar"
was behind bars again last week.
Herbert White, accused of more
than five dozen break-ins in the
late 1990s, was allegedly spotted
inside a house on 50th Street,
and after a short chase, was cornered
in a garage. Arrested and charged
with third-degree burglary, the
39-year-old is also a suspect
in a Beaverdale burglary in July,
when a woman found a man hiding
in her closet.
ON THE CLOCK
Des Moines Police - Aug. 25
3:20 p.m. Assault with a weapon
in the 1000 block of Bell Avenue
involving a male student being
confronted by another male student
who ran at him in the parking
lot of Git-N-Go with a baseball
bat, threatening to "kick
his ass" because, as the
suspect said later, he believed
the victim was "a pussy and
will get his."
5 p.m. Domestic assault on Creston
involving a man disciplining his
4-year-old son by spanking him
when the child's wife jumped on
his back and pulled him away.
8:23 p.m. Armed robbery at Family
Dollar at 2511 S.E. 14th St. involving
a man implying he had a gun in
his left sweatshirt pocket and
ordering employees back into the
store to hand over an undisclosed
sum of money.
9:11 p.m. Assault at 1439 32nd
St., involving a son wrestling
with his mother when she refused
to turn over a cell phone that
contained pictures of him and
his girlfriend doing drugs.
10:05 p.m. Assault at 1900 Mondamin,
involving a man riding his bike
when a suspect demanded he give
him the bike and struck him in
the face and head.
10:15 p.m. Assault at 330 E. McKinley,
involving a man suffering a broken
jaw after being punched four times
in the face by two suspects who
said he was blocking a driveway.
11 p.m. Burglary on 2825 S.E.
14th St., involving a man kicking
in the door of an ex-girlfriend's
trailer and punching her five
times in the face due to an argument.
11 p.m. Domestic assault on School
Street, involving a woman punching
a cohabitating male in the face
and hitting him with an ashtray
because "he pissed me off."
Des Moines Police - Aug. 26
12:15 a.m. Domestic assault on
Indianapolis involving a man grabbing
a woman by the shirt and telling
her he was going to have his cousin
"kick her ass" because
she told him she would no longer
bring their child to his residence.
1 a.m. Assault on the Locust Street
bridge involving a "highly
intoxicated man" reporting
he was jumped by a group of unknown
suspects as he returned to the
YMCA.
ALLEGED DRUNK DRIVERS
Name: Lori Lynn Vivone
Arrested: Aug. 28
Third offense
Name: Dana Dean Fleming
Arrested: Aug. 28
Second offense
Name: Anthony Michael Hood
Arrested: Aug. 28
First offense
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