The week in review
Hottest: Temperatures reach 102 degrees July 22, so the city and county open cooling centers .
Latest summertime juvenile rampage: A Charlottesville resident is bashed in the head with a garbage can lid early July 23 on Ridge Street, then kicked and beaten by three teen males, who abscond with his cellphone. Hours later at 5:30am, a gang of five males encounter a homeless guy sleeping on the Downtown Mall. One of the teens spits on him, the rest surround him, and one stick-wielding suspect hits the victim on the head with a stick, knocking him to the ground. The alleged thugs flee when police respond, round them up; and two are connected with the earlier robbery, as is a third suspect. Total arrests: six juveniles, four of whom are being held in juvenile detention, according to a release.
Latest use of police resources to keep 19- and 20-year-olds from drinking: Complaints about loud music lead police to a Gilbert Station Road party where they arrest five 19-year-olds, one 20-year-old, and one juvenile, WINA reports.
Biggest extradition: Alleged diamond ring snatcher Kordaryl Cross, 21, of Westland, Michigan, is accused of grabbing a $12,000 engagement ring from Zales Jewelers in December 2009. Police say that DNA evidence links the Detroit-area resident to the robbery, and he's being held without bond in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail on grand larceny and robbery charges. Two years ago, he was charged with using the same m.o. at a Kay Jewelers in Detroit.
Biggest whew, part 1 A nine-year-old Greene County girl runs away from her home at 11:40am July 25 after being punished. Her parents report her missing two hours later, and Julyssa Daniels Simms is found with minor injures after 7pm by a search volunteer.
Biggest whew, part 2: A three-year-old left in a Ford pickup at Barracks Road Shopping Center on a record-breaking, 102-degree July 22 is unharmed. Jose Marmaleso Martinez, 21, who was looking after the child for a friend, is charged with felony abuse and neglect.
Worst boating: Six people are injured on Smith Mountain Lake July 23 when a just-refueled boat explodes. The cause of the blast is under investigation, but vapor build-up is a possibility.
Worst fall: April Dodson, 29, of Criglersville is discovered with severe head injuries under the Quaker Run Road bridge in Madison County following an alleged domestic dispute July 20. Benjamin Grant Alger, 27, is charged with malicious wounding and domestic assault, according to the Progress.
Most suspicious: A package next to a light pole on Rives Street leads to the evacuation of townhomes July 25. Authorities blow up the package, which is deemed not harmful, and its remains go to the state lab, the Newsplex reports.
Most cringe-worthy wounding: Lynchburg 13-year-old Dez Heal was playing ninja when he fell and ended up with a bamboo stick through his neck. Gawker has the gruesome photo, and Heal survives relatively unharmed.
Best news for Fluco blogger: AG Ken Cuccinelli weighs in that a Fluvanna ordinance can't prevent blogger Bryan Rothamel from using the county seal on his website. The Rutherford Institute has filed suit against Fluvanna on behalf of Rothamel.
Latest Tommy Garrett sighting: The Buckingham-born publicist who is friends with Mrs. Ed Begley Jr. (and who once sued the Hook) appears in the Sunday Daily Progress touting the DVD release of his latest role. In Henry Jaglom's 2010 Queen of the Lot Garrett plays himself in a bit part, listed in the IMDB credits after Card Player #4 and Interviewer #1.
Grossest contamination story: Churchville resident Rick Hudnall got sick after drinking water he'd collected in a cistern. Later he realized that the 50 or so vultures roosting in his neighborhood– in trees around his house, and on his roof– had been defecating in the cistern, the Newsplex reports. It's illegal to kill vultures, and he's been unsuccessful in scaring them off.