Does this sound familiar? "Respectable" young man who was selling weed out of his pricey apartment gets shot and robbed by weed customers; media coverage ensues. It should—it's happened again. An appropriate celebration for the defeat of weed legalization.

In Bell, California—America's Most Corrupt Little Town—the corruption revelations never cease, ever! Today: the City of Bell operated a protection racket on city businesses, stealing money at will. Nice work, guys.

Central Park has seen a 45% increase in crime this year—including seven rapes, up from zero in 2009. The culprit? The bad economy, which apparently brings more people to the park, and then induces them to commit crimes.

Police suspect Steven Spader, 18, in a gruesome New Hampshire machete murder. Partly because they found a wallet connected to the victims in a bag with a sweatshirt bearing the writing "This is Steve's sweatshirt. Steve who is awesome." [AP]

Austria's "incest monster" Josef Fritzl—who used his daughter as a baby-bearing dungeon sex slave for 24 years—just gave his first jailhouse interview: "I hate hairdressers more than dentists." And: "My favorite show is Two and a Half Men."

Gang membership in the U.S. has reportedly increased 25% since 2005. But violent crime in the U.S. has sunk to its lowest levels since 1973. The more gang members, the less crime. Facts are facts. [USAT. Pic via]

Officials say the Yemeni parcel bombs found last week were "designed to be detonated in flight," not blow up synagogues. Good?

An Australian named Thomas John Collins spent a "stint in the cells" last week after calling his judge "mate." Twice. And then, when the judge demanded Collins call him "sir or your honour," Collins replied, "okay mate." Bad idea. [via]

Robbing banks in stupid costumes is so hot these days. But one Connecticut crook has put them all to shame: Police in Wolcott are looking for a man who robbed a bank on Thursday dressed as Spinal Tap's Derek Smalls.

Unemployed 36-year-old Colm Coss has been jailed for 18 weeks after trolling Facebook memorial sites and posting "abusive messages." He was charged after sending letters to neighbors containing his address, photos of himself and bragging about being a troll.

Three more "Latin King Goonies" have been indicted in the Bronx gay torture case. They're back in court Nov. 23.

Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, the two Rutgers students charged with secretly broadcasting freshman Tyler Clementi's gay sexual encounter online—which drove Clementi to suicide—have withdrawn from Rutgers.

Charlie Sheen's porn star lover is cashing in on her newfound notoriety, perhaps because Sheen stiffed her on her $12,000 "escort" bill after she posed for a picture with Sheen's ex-wife, Denise Richards. How quickly the rumor mill churns!

Trevor Case, a 22 year-old in Lincoln, Nebraska, suspected that his girlfriend was sneaking around on him. So he waterboarded her. For her own good.

A mistrial has been declared in the murder trial of John Katehis, the 18 year-old who confessed to killing veteran newsman George Weber after answering Weber's sex-seeking Craigslist ad. Katehis claims self-defense. [Previously:: Katehis' online photos, profiles]

A public housing cleaner found a mattress she feared had bedbugs. She dragged it into the hallway, lit it on fire, and ran away. Now she has been charged with arson. (N.B. "Call an exterminator" is the correct response.)

Police say that Gareth Williams, the British spy found dead in a locked gym bag in a bathtub with "no obvious injuries," had no drugs or poison in his system. So then how did...what...it's just such a god damn mystery.

A fourth teenager's been cleared in the Bronx gay torture case. Seven defendants remain.

Here is security camera footage of Harlem resident Carlos Baez in an elevator, yanking the leash of his tiny dog, "Dutch," and angrily swinging the terrified little thing around by its throat.

Florida mother Alexandra Tobias has pleaded guilty to killing her infant son after shaking him for crying while she was playing FarmVille on Facebook. She shook him, "smoked a cigarette to compose herself," and then shook him again. Yeesh.