Woman Tosses Baby Into SUV To Block Repo

A woman is accused of throwing her year-old son into her SUV in a failed attempt to stop the vehicle from being repossessed in Dallas.

Krystal Gardner of Tool was jailed Wednesday on bail of nearly $3,800 on charges including child endangerment related to abandonment, no driver’s license and no insurance. Electronic records at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center did not list an attorney for the 28-year-old mother, who was booked Monday.

Recovery agent Luke Ross told KTVT-TV that he was in the Ford Expedition when he saw Gardner toss the baby through an open window. He said the baby landed on the seat “like a kid bouncing on a bed.”

Texas law bans a vehicle from being repossessed if a person is inside.

Police were called. The uninjured baby was removed, for placement with his father. Ross then repossessed the SUV.

Naked Killer May Escape Jail

A teenager who was naked when she crashed her car and killed her boyfriend could avoid jail because the dead man’s family has forgiven her and don’t want to see her behind bars.

Nineteen-year-old Jessica Maree Langford should not go to jail because she was “exceptionally” remorseful, had pleaded guilty and suffered mental illness problems since before the accident, her lawyer argued in court today.

Langford has pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Daniel Andrew Glover, 19, at Hastings, on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, on November 29, 2008.

She embraced Glover’s mother, Cheryl, and his sister Tiffany, 16, outside court as all three wept.

Langford will be sentenced next week but Judge Ross Howie said he was considering imposing a community-based sentence, which would not involve a jail sentence.

“The moral culpability is clear, she was having a night out with her boyfriend on the beach, was an inexperienced driver, influenced by alcohol and driving too fast,” Justice Howie said.

Queen’s Jaguar Daimler Up For Sale

A top-of-the-range Daimler formerly owned by Queen Elizabeth II is up for sale, with unique features including a handbag holder and corgi-friendly fittings.

The Daimler Majestic V8 Jaguar, which the monarch used from 2001-2004, has only 14,000 miles on the clock and is on offer to the highest bidder.

“It’s a truly unique vehicle,” Peter Ratcliffe, a specialist dealer who bought the car from Jaguar, told The Independent newspaper.

“There is nothing else out there, or ever going to be out there, that you can buy and say this was the personal car of the Queen of England, specially built for her,” he added.

The car, used to drive the queen from her Buckingham Palace residence to her Windsor Castle estate, originally included secure telephone phone lines to Downing Street and the Home Office.

Nice Thief Replaces Stolen Tires

Police said a central Pennsylvania thief who stole the wheels off a car was nice enough to replace them — albeit with worn tires.

Police in Lancaster said the thief broke a car window overnight Sunday and stole the car’s stereo and GPS unit along with the wheels. The thief took the time to replace the pilfered rims with other wheels and four worn tires.

Police estimate the loss at $850.

Funeral Home Van Towed With Body Inside

A NYPD tow truck removed a minivan parked outside a New York City funeral home, giving its dearly departed passenger an unexpected side trip.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said there was “nothing to indicate it was more than just an illegally parked car.” Redden’s Funeral Home director Paul DeNigris said a windshield placard had fallen flat. The van’s tinted windows helped obscure the white cardboard box that held the remains.

DeNigris said he was “a wreck” after discovering the van missing Monday in Manhattan. He rushed to the tow pound, where he discreetly explained the circumstances and got the van back. He also got body to an airport in time for a scheduled flight to Miami.

He plans to fight the $115 parking ticket.

Steering Wheel Pops Off Buick

Washington state troopers said a man is lucky to have only minor injuries when he crashed his car into a barn after his steering wheel popped off while driving.

Trooper Keith Leary said the 59-year-old man was driving his 1978 Buick on State Route 530 when his steering wheel came off, the car left the road, went down an embankment, up the other side, and crashed into a barn.

The man narrowly missed a power pole and several small barns with baby cows inside.

Rescuers said it’s a miracle the man suffered only minor neck pain in the accident. The farm’s owner said the car destroyed the farm’s refrigeration and milking area and happened right as 140 cows were about to be milked.

Hyundai Halts Sales Of 2011 Sonata

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor said it had suspended sales of its new Sonata models in the United States due to door lock problems, sending its shares more than 4 percent lower.

The decision comes as rival Toyota Motor Corp has been struggling with a mass recall crisis since late January, which had spawned expectations that Toyota’s tarnished safety record would shift consumers to more affordable Hyundai models.

“We have halted the sale (of the new Sonata model) due to door-related defects,” a Hyundai official said.

“We’re looking in to the problem and working on how to deal with it.”

Earlier, local news service Moneytoday said that Hyundai Motor’s U.S. unit ordered a halt to sales of the new Sonata after notifying dealers of potential problems with the front door locks, citing U.S. auto industry media.

Shares in Hyundai Motor shed as much as 4.3 percent shortly after the market open before trimming losses to be quoted down 3 percent at 113,500 won by 0051 GMT, versus a 1 percent drop in the wider market.

Hyundai was the only major automaker to increase sales in the battered U.S. market last year.

Hyundai’s U.S. sales rose 8.3 percent to 435,064 units in 2009, while industrywide U.S. sales were down 21 percent. Its share of the U.S. market jumped to 4.2 percent from 3 percent in 2008.

This year it is targeting 4.5 percent market share in the United States, helped by popular new product launches and aggressive marketing.

Man Rides On Car Hood In His Underwear

Police expect to file charges against a 57-year-old man who was wearing only underwear in frigid temperatures when he hopped on the hood of his girlfriend’s moving car during an argument.

Police have yet to identify the man or his 28-year-old girlfriend, saying they’ll release the names once they sort out what charges to file.

Police were called about 3:20 a.m. Thursday by someone reporting a man riding on the hood of a car, screaming at the woman driving it.

The woman had a bruise under her left eye and police said they found drug paraphernalia in the car.

Uniontown is about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh. The region has been hit by heavy snows and overnight temperatures were in the teens on Thursday.

Drunk Driver Had 49 Children In 16-Seat Taxi

 A South African minibus taxi driver five times over the legal blood alcohol limit at breakfast time was arrested on Wednesday for transporting 49 children in a 16-seat vehicle.

The 26-year-old man was pulled over at a routine check-point in KwaZulu-Natal province, where traffic officials found the children, aged between three and 13, crammed on top of each other for the morning ride to school.

“The man is now behind bars,” Colin Govender of the Road Traffic Inspectorate said. The driver is due to appear in court on Thursday.

With the soccer World Cup just months away, police are cracking down on rogue taxi operators in the hope that foreign visitors will use minibuses to get around the country.

Millions of mostly black South Africans use minibus taxis to travel between townships and cities, although many of the vehicles are barely roadworthy and fatal accidents are common.

New York Driver Nabbed With Mannequin In Car Pool Lane

The tip-off was the sunglasses.

A New Yorker faces a $135 traffic fine for using a mannequin as her “plus one” in the high-occupancy vehicle lane of the Long Island Expressway.

An alert sheriff’s deputy on Long Island became suspicious this week when he saw the “passenger” wearing sunglasses and using the visor. The problem: The sky was overcast.

When he stopped the vehicle, he found the mannequin, fully dressed with a long dark wig, blazer, shirt and scarf.

The 61-year-old driver left with a summons.