Crime Blotter: Man Gets Jail Time for Junk
Feb. 4, 2005 -- -- One man's junk in Florida is another man's jail time; a Texas mom sits in a jail cell for her son; and a naked jogger gets sentenced. Keep your pants on and scroll down this week's edition of "The Crime Blotter."
Florida Man Gets Hard Time for Junk -- Again
SANFORD, Fla. -- One man's junk is sometimes another man's treasure. But one Florida man's junk is a ticket to jail.
Alan Wayne Davis refused Florida officials' request to remove airplane parts and other junk from his yard for 13 years before he was arrested and imprisoned. He served nearly a year in prison for illegal dumping and creating a public nuisance and was placed on house arrest upon his release in September.
Now, Davis is heading back to jail for an extended stay, as a Florida judge has sentenced him to three years in prison for violating his house arrest. Davis has made headlines -- and neighbors have complained about the junk in his back yard -- for years. When a judge ordered him to move his trash one time, he responded by putting it on his roof.
Neighbors and officials called his yard an eyesore, but Davis, a mechanic and welder, said he was an artist and that the junk was his supplies. He argued that he was trying to protect his property rights and that he was a victim of a government conspiracy.
In the latest legal battle, authorities said Davis violated his house arrest by keeping a part of a World War II fighter plane in his yard and not returning home from work on time. While sentencing Davis, the judge said, "Mr. Davis is marching to the beat of his own drum at all times."
Davis' wife, Aileen, called his sentence "crazy" and said, "This is a victimless crime."
Mom Goes to Jail for Son
ANGLETON, Texas -- A Texas mother may want to rethink paying for her children's sins.
Susan Manis was surprised when law enforcement officials came to her home on Jan. 28 with a warrant for her arrest. Manis had failed to make a monthly payment on $10,000 fines, fees and court costs levied against her 19-year-old son on three different convictions for offenses he committed as a juvenile.
Manis had agreed to pay the court $50 a month to pay off the costs because her son does not have a steady job. But, officials said, she admitted she could not make last month's payment.
Manis was placed in Brazoria County's holding cell before her husband called a judge who intervened and ordered her release. She has promised the court she would bring her payments up to date.
January wasn't a good month for Manis. She and her husband also spent time in school detention with their daughter for repeated tardiness. The daughter was late for class six times when the family's van wouldn't start.
Naked Jogger Sentenced
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The once-elusive naked jogger will have to keep his pants on -- in jail.
Fate Patterson, 39, was sentenced Jan. 26 to a year in jail and fined $1,000 for indecent exposure, fleeing and resisting arrest. Authorities solved the mystery of the naked jogger on Jan. 11, when officers arrested Patterson -- who was naked from the waist down -- jogging in a West Memphis, Ark., neighborhood near the Memphis airport.
For months, officers had received reports about a man making late-night runs in the buff. They nabbed Patterson after he ran past a police car and failed to heed an order to stop. Police chased him and were able to subdue him by using a Taser gun.
Patterson was supposed to have a mental evaluation but the judge canceled it when he admitted entering a Florida woman's home while in the buff two years ago.