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March 3, 2013 Daily Mail UK

An enormous prison brawl involving 400 inmates broke out today at the Whetstone Unit of Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson.

The riot involved 300 white and Mexican inmates fighting against 100 Africa-American prisoners and started around 9.45 a.m. in the unit which houses 1,250.

At least 17 inmates were injured during the free-for-all and two prison staffers suffered minor injuries - The extent of the inmates' injuries wasn't immediately available.

March 3, 2013 NY Times

Bruce Reynolds, the chief architect of one of 20th-century Britain’s most notorious crimes, the caper known as the Great Train Robbery, died on Thursday in England. He was 81.

His son, Nick, confirmed the death to The Associated Press. Sky News in Britain reported that Mr. Reynolds had died at his home in South London, a few months short of the robbery’s 50th anniversary.

In the early morning of Aug. 8, 1963, a gang of 15 men stopped a Glasgow-to-London mail train about 45 miles short of its destination by tampering with a signal. The train, which usually carried large quantities of money in the second car behind the locomotive, was loaded even more heavily than normal because of a just-completed bank holiday in Scotland, and the thieves escaped with about 120 bags of cash, mostly in small bills, totaling about £2.6 million, or about $7 million at the time — the equivalent of about $60.5 million today.

Mr. Reynolds, who was 31 at the time and known to the police as a burglar well-connected in the London underworld, had used insider information from the postal service to plan the heist, which he thought of as a painter would a masterpiece. Indeed, he referred to it in a 1996 interview as “my Sistine Chapel.”

March 2, 2013 NY Post

A Yonkers man who snuck onto Rikers Island by allegedly impersonating a Department of Correction employee — and even moved inmates between cells — was busted yesterday, sources said.

Matthew Matagrano, 36, was arrested last night at a DOC facility.

Feb. 28, 2013 Reuters

JOHANNESBURG  - South African police were caught on video dragging a man hundreds of meters from the back of a pick-up truck, hours before he died in custody, drawing a storm of protest against a force accused of routine brutality.

The 27-year-old Mozambican taxi driver, Mido Macia, was found dead in detention with signs of head injuries and internal bleeding, according to an initial post mortem report released by the country's police watchdog.

The incident, videotaped on Tuesday and broadcast nationwide on Thursday, was condemned by President Jacob Zuma and opposition politicians.

"The visuals of the incident are horrific, disturbing and unacceptable. No human being should be treated in that manner", said Zuma in a statement that described the incident as "the tragic death of a man in the hands of the police".

Police told media they detained Macia after he parked illegally, creating a traffic jam, and then resisted arrest.

The video clearly shows the man scuffling with police, who subdue him. He is then bound to the back of the pick-up by his arms before the vehicle drives off in front of scores of witnesses in the east Johannesburg area of Daveyton.

Police commissioner Riah Phiyega said she was looking into the "alleged brutal treatment" by officers "in a very serious light and it is strongly condemned".

March 1, 2013 Associated Press

LOS ANGELES  — The enduring mystery of why young people joined Charles Manson's murderous family appeared to be at the heart of Gov. Jerry Brown's decision Friday to reverse a parole board's recommendation and keep Bruce Davis in prison.

Brown said he wants Davis, who has been behind bars for 42 years, to come clean about all the details of his involvement with Manson's cult and the two gruesome killings of a stuntman and a musician.

It was the second time in less than three years that a California governor has rejected a parole board ruling in Davis' case. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger refused his release in 2010, citing the heinous nature of Davis' crimes and his efforts to minimize his involvement.

Brown repeated those reasons in a six-page decision but added his belief that Davis still has more to disclose about the killings.

"Until Davis can acknowledge and explain why he actively championed the Family's interests and shed more light on the nature of his involvement, I am not prepared to release him," Brown said.

March 1, 2013 ABC News

Two more men were arrested Tuesday in connection with a suspected drug-related triple homicide in the Forestville area last month, Sonoma County sheriff's officials said Friday morning.

Francis Dwyer, 65, was arrested at his residence in Truth or Consequences, N.M., and his son, 38-year-old Odin Leonard Dwyer, was arrested just outside Denver, Colo., according to the sheriff's office.

Mark William Cappello, 46, of Central City, Colo., was arrested Feb. 14 in Mobile, Ala. in connection with the fatal shootings. He is expected to be booked into Sonoma County Jail within the next several days, sheriff's officials said.

The Dwyers are expected to be extradited to Sonoma County in the near future, according to the sheriff's office.

The three men face charges for the Feb. 5 murders of Raleigh Butler, 26, a former Sonoma County resident who was living in Truckee, Richard Lewin, 46, of Huntington, N.Y., and Todd Klarkowski, 42, of Boulder, Colo.

Their bodies were found by Butler's brother and a woman in the bedroom of a cabin Butler's mother rented at 9707 Ross Station Road in the Forestville area.

Sheriff's Lt. Dennis O'Leary said the victims were waiting for someone who was going to sell them "a significant amount of marijuana." O'Leary said, "People associated with the victims said it was a pot deal that went bad."

Feb. 28, 2013 King 5 News

Just when you thought you’d seen the last of Colton Harris-Moore, he’s back, draped in drama once again.

Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich is pursuing a theft charge against Harris-Moore for stealing a plane from an Anacortes airport in 2010. However, he landed that plane in San Juan County.  Prosecutors there took jurisdiction, and went along with a massive plea deal that landed the Barefoot Bandit in prison for 6.5 years.

“Fifteen prosecutors from across the country, two U.S. attorneys and two judges agreed that the sentence for this matter was appropriate,” said Harris-Moore’s attorney John Henry Brown. “The only person who disagreed was Mr. Weyrich."

Weyrich says he wasn’t aware of the San Juan plea agreement and never agreed to one himself.  He wants the once notorious fugitive prosecuted locally for local crimes.

“Another county, without consulting us, took some of our charges and filed them as part of a plea bargain,” said Weyrich. “This surreptitious deal between the defense attorney and the San Juan County prosecutor turns the end of justice on its head.”

Prosecuting Colton Harris-Moore again could constitute double jeopardy. It’s quite possible the theft case will be thrown out by the judge. He could be convicted on a burglary charge connected to the airplane, but even that likely would not increase his sentence.