This is a very sad case where life imitates art. CSI fans will remember that this has happened on the show before too. It became a huge investigation to find out why the man lit on fire. Not to mention the fact that the victim in that episode was fried to a crisp.

But for homeless man 31-year-old Daniel Wood, it became his reality this week. He ignited when police officers tasered him when he resisted arrest. In his case, though, he had a small fire and the police were able to put it out with their hands. He only suffers mild burns on his chest.

The reason the man was resisting arrest was the aerosol can fumes he had been huffing in public. From the looks of his mugshot, he was very likely under the influence and bystnders called him “incoherent.” Here’s what one of the police officers says about it:

“It’s an open spark,” explained Captain Adam Pillar of the Lancaster police. He said the Taser was working properly and it was likely the chemicals from the aerosol can, which Wood was carrying, that caught fire.

I hope he is ok and will get the help he seems to desperately need.

Post from: CSI Fanatic

[Image: stock.xchng]

I was out listening to music and having a drink with friends last week in Las Vegas when we struck up a conversation with some women at the table next to us. One of them, it turns out is an undercover Las Vegas police officer! I just had to ask her to talk to me a bit about what it’s like for her to work there in the “city of sin.”

I’ll call her Fran, but it’s not her real name. She’s a petite, pretty woman, but with a handshake like a vice. It’s plain that in her case, looks are definitely deceiving. She’s smart & tough and I’m glad she’s on the side of the law.

Fran works in the undercover unit that tries to get young girls off the street and out of the psychological and physical clutches of their pimps. She told me that most of the young working girls ran away from bad home situations and fell prey to the “charms” of their pimp, who promises to protect them and whom they swear they love.

Fran spends her time trying to convince those girls that their pimp is out for no one but himself and that there is more for them elsewhere. Believe it or not, many of the girls are extremely difficult to convince. They’ve never known any better.

She says that the Vegas unit she works in sends the girls to Los Angeles to be a part of the Children of the Night Program.

Sometimes Fran dresses like the working girls so that she can gain their acceptance, so I don’t want to identify her at all, but it’s clear that she’s very passionate about the work she does. She knows that there are a lot of girls that won’t ever leave their pimp, but she keeps working to save the ones she can.

She’s married and her husband works in Las Vegas in the entertainment industry, so I know he comes into contact with some unsavory characters now and then too. But Fran is the super courageous woman I got the chance to talk to and I am in awe of her strength. She’s a true hero. She doesn’t want the spotlight. In fact, in her work, she can’t get public recognition. She is an unsung hero that saves young people from horrible situations, and perhaps worse every day.

I know she’s not in the CSI unit, but she’s someone that touched me and made me happy that there are such heroic people, ready to do what they can to save other people’s children. My hat’s off to Fran and to all of her counterparts everywhere that work to help others who don’t even know how to help themselves.

I was so impressed with Fran and the work she does that I just had to share it with you. I know I’ll watch crime dramas with a bit of a different attitude. I’ll watch with more respect for the undercover officers now that I’ve met Fran. I hope you might too.

Post from: CSI Fanatic

You have seen him on CSI: Vegas playing the recurring role of firearms tech Bobby Dawson. But his real name is Gerald McCullouch. According to TV Guide, while he was working on his laptop on the New York subway, a man jumped him and tried to steal the laptop. He fought back by punching the man.

“That’s when he pulled a kitchen knife out of a black plastic bag,” McCullouch said. “This thing must have had a blade 10 inches long. …I yelled at the top of my lungs, ‘Get the [bleep] away from me!’ That’s when the knife came down into my back. I don’t know whether he lost his grip or what, but the blade didn’t penetrate my leather jacket.”

The assailant was arrested and charged with robbery, assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.

Amazingly, McCullouch was attacked at gunpoint once before, in 2001. Thank goodness, he kept his wits about him and was able to keep from being hurt.

Post from: CSI Fanatic

Fans of such shows as The First 48 and Crime 360 will be excited about this new show that follows real crime fighters as they track down dangerous criminals each week. It looks like a good one. Here’s a trailer for the show to give you a taste of what you can expect.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow night on A&E 10:00pm ET/PT for the premiere of Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force.

[Image: © 2008 A&E Network]

Post from: CSI Fanatic

HGTV’s Summer Showdown premieres tonight at 10/9c and one of the celebrity judges for the four-episode series is Emily Procter. Some of HGTV’s best makeover experts will be going head-to-head in a challenge to redesign some very difficult rooms. A panel of celeb judges will choose which design is the best each week. And since Emily Procter has such good taste, she was chosen to join the panel.

So Emily fans, be sure to tune in tonight and for the rest of the season of Summer Showdown!

[Photo: courtesy of newscom.com]

csi-miami, csi miami, CSI, cbs, Emily Procter

Post from: CSI Fanatic

csi-miami, csi miami, CSI, cbs, tv, Television, DNA

Post from: CSI Fanatic

This episode of CSI: Vegas was incredible! It’s hard to beat the fun packed into this hour –or 42 minutes. Do you agree?

• Are there not enough lawsuits involving Tasers?
• Why did they change “thiocyanate” to “thiocyte”? I’m mystified by this.
• What did you think about all that green blood? Is that feasible? Did they sufficiently justify the sulfur/drug idea?
• Did you just love the way they inserted (with no explanation) Adam & Jamie from Mythbusters into the lab when they were using Mythbuster-esque test tactics? How fun was that?
• How campy was this episode? Did you love it, as I did?
• Cyanide-sniffers?
• Killer ground squirrels?
• What are your thoughts about Grissom’s explanation of how everything was connected by String Theory? Any physics professors out there? We’d love to hear your opinions!!

Post from: CSI Fanatic

“There’s no other museum that focuses on just crime and punishment,” said Janine Vaccarello, chief operating officer of the museum. “There’s nothing like this available for anyone to go check out and explore and to feel like they’ve touched history.”

John Walsh, who lost his own son in a violent crime, wanted to be sure that the museum accomplished three things: it needs to tell the history without glorify the criminal, it must show consequence of crime and it must honor fallen heroes of law enforcement.

Visitors to the museum can wander through the five main areas where they can find out all about the Notorious History of American Crime, Punishment: The Consequence of Crime, Crime Fighting, C.S.I. Experience and America’s Most Wanted, including John Walsh’s personal story. The history covered in the museum includes crime, ranging from the colonial period, pirates, the Wild West, the Depression, the Mafia and present-day.

Museum guests will have tons of hands-on games and exhibits where they can try their skills at crime-fighting techniques. I don’t know about you, but I know I want to go to it the next time I’m in WDC.

csi-miami, csi miami, CSI, cbs, tv, Television, DNA

Post from: CSI Fanatic

Crime 360 pairs real-life criminal investigations with cutting-edge forensic technology for the first time on television in the groundbreaking original real-life series CRIME 360, premiering Thursday, March 6 at 10 PM ET/PT.

CRIME 360 takes viewers inside actual investigations as they unfold, using state-of-the-art 360-degree digital photography and incredible CGI (computer-generated imagery) visualizations to bring the evidence, and the evolving theories about what happened, to life. Each one-hour episode begins the moment detectives are called to the scene and follows the case until it is solved. From the start, viewers are part of the investigation – experiencing the crime scene from every angle, and the evidence at the microscopic level. As the case develops, and the theories change, the graphics evolve, culminating in a full-blown visualization of what really happened.

“CRIME 360 is the perfect blend of technology and the real-time edge-of-your seat suspense our audience has enjoyed with THE FIRST 48,” said Robert Sharenow, Senior Vice President of Non-Fiction and Alternative Programming, A&E Network. “Through the use of CGI, viewers will see forensics and evidence in a way they’ve never before been able to experience on television.”

Shot in Richmond, VA and Cleveland, OH, the forensic specialists in the police departments filmed for CRIME 360 have a new tool in their forensic arsenal: state-of-the-art 3D laser scanners, which enable investigators to remotely measure, model and diagram crime scenes with significant detail, preserving the precise original crime scene forever. Long after the crime scene is gone, investigators can virtually return to the scene of the crime to test out theories and compare evidence results.

(follow the jump to find out about the first four episodes)

(March 6, 2008) Crime 360. Welcome to Homicide. On a hot summer day in Richmond, VA, Detective Shane Wait is called to a local apartment complex where a murder victim has been bound and stuffed in the trunk of the car. With no witnesses and no original crime scene, the detective has to heavily rely on the forensic evidence gathered from the victim’s body and the car. Waite has forensic tech Detective Faith Flippo test the vehicle for blood, DNA, and anything else that might help identify the killer. A break in the case occurs when Waite gets a 911 tip from a witness who said he that heard two gunshots the night of the murder at his apartment complex and saw two men entering the building. CC HD [TV14]

(March 13, 2008) Crime 360. Fatal Feud. Two men who live next to each other in a housing project get into a deadly argument. One is shot and killed. Detectives Crewell and Williams take the two men’s girlfriends back to headquarters to find out what happened. One story tells of murder, the other self-defense. Detectives try to unravel the different accounts given by the girlfriends. The key may lie with a gun that was recovered from a trash can behind the house. A Federal lab tests a bullet found at the scene and the gun to determine if it is the murder weapon. Meanwhile, Crewell and Williams try to find holes in the girlfriend’s stories. As the girlfriend’s stories start to fall apart, the suspect on the run is feeling the heat. CC HD [TV14]

(March 20, 2008) Crime 360. Deadly Secrets. In Cleveland, Ohio, lead Homicide Detective Wally Everett and his partner Detective Mike Smith, are called out to a crime scene where a body lays hidden between some hedges and the porch of the victim’s grandmother’s house. The victim, a male, is face down. Strewn around the front lawn are seven bullet casings, evidence suggesting that the victim was shot multiple times. As detectives investigate the immediate area, they discover clues of the victim’s alternate lifestyle–and they wonder if there may be a connection between that and his murder. Each piece of evidence takes them closer to their suspect and his motive. CC HD [TV14]

(March 27, 2008) Crime 360. Blood on the Tracks. In Cleveland, Detectives Tim Entenok and Joselito Sandoval are called to a crime scene where a missing person is found dead in a 4-foot-diameter sewage drain, in a remote section of a park. The body is found 300 feet deep in the pipe, which has been draining a constant flow of rainwater. When Entenok takes a closer look at the body, he notices that it is maggot-infested: an indication that the body has been in the pipe for over a week. The victim’s head seems to have bullet holes, but the detectives can’t be certain. Only an autopsy will determine the cause of death. Meanwhile Sandoval scours the nearby train tracks for additional evidence. A few rocks, stained with a blood-like substance, are collected. The investigation seems to go cold with no leads until a female witness gives them a much-needed break in the case. CC HD [TV14]

csi-miami, csi miami, CSI, cbs, tv, Television, DNA

Post from: CSI Fanatic

Here’s a case in point. In New South Wales, law officials have managed to close 300 unsolved cases in the past year, just by comparing with the DNA of prisoners.

Police Minister David Campbell says, “Those people in jail for existing offences have been linked to [other] crimes that they’ve also committed as a result of these DNA tests,”

I’m sure that the ability to solve those cases has brought some closure to the loved ones of the victims involved. It seems like the only losers are the losers who committed the crimes. Very fitting.

And here in the US, a division of the Department of Justice is beginning to do the same thing:

National Institute of Justice (NIJ) seeks applications from States and units of local government for funding to identify, review, and investigate “violent crime cold cases” that have the potential to be solved using DNA analysis and to locate and analyze biological evidence associated with these cases. Experience has shown that cold case programs can solve a substantial number of violent crime cold cases, including homicides and sexual assaults.

Technology surrounding the use of DNA has come a long way and now old and degraded samples of DNA that would be unusable in the past are able to be used for comparison. Now, I think this brings up the interesting, yet controversial question about whether there should be a nationwide database of everyone’s DNA. Let’s see what you think:

CSI, cbs, tv, Television

Image source.

Post from: CSI Fanatic