The suspected arsonist has a history...

During my hiatus from the Blogosphere, we had a major event here in The South of Iowa - the local bar was set on fire. Wojo's Restaurant and Lounge, a favorite of local farmers, retired farmers, and drunk farmers, was set on fire early in the morning of February 28. Here's a news story about the fire.

Well, our hardworking sheriff's department has captured the suspected arsonist. It appears that this arsonist wasn't the brightest match in the book (pun intended), as he had in his possession a microwave that was stolen from the restaurant when they served a search warrant on him.

Digging a little further, we find that Evan Godfrey, 18, the suspect, went on a crime spree after his fire buggery. Here's what the Iowa Courts Online has listed for him:

County Date Offense
Clarke 3/19/2007 SPEEDING 55 OR < (11 THRU 15 OVER)
Clarke 3/3/2007 (1,3)WINDSHIELD/WINDOW REQUIREMENTS
Decatur 3/10/2007 INTERFERENCE W/OFFICIAL ACTS
Lucas 3/15/2007 VIOLATION - FINANCIAL LIABILITY COVERAGE
Madison 3/7/2007 SPEEDING 55 OR < (6 THRU 10 OVER)
Wayne 3/22/2007 BURGLARY 1ST DEGREE - 1983 (FELB)

So, basically between his burglary/arson on February 28 and his arrest on March 20 (booked on the 22nd), Godfrey was cited/arrested FIVE times. Granted, they were small issues compared to setting a town landmark on fire, but they all add up:

It was Evan's way of saying, "Help me, I need love. Won't someone intervene?"

Heh, heh, heh. Not quite.

Evan apparantly just turned 18 back in January. One story I was told was that he was dating one of the waitresses at Wojo's and had been taken down to the basement a few times. Certain items found in his trailer came from Wojo's basement, according to my source. He and the waitress also used the basement for more recreational purposes, if you know what I mean.

Eeeww.

Criminals is dumb.

An interesting experience...

Yesterday we were unloading a load of DDGS when a young woman, probably 20 or so, came walking up to the farm. She first talked to my hired man, and then I talked to her. According to her, she and her friends were broke down just a few hundred feet away, and they needed a ride to Derby (a nearby town).

So, we took my pickup and went down to the car. There were three other "kids" there, two guys and a gal. They told me that their car's oilpan had been taken off when they went across the intersection with the county pavement a mile back doing 50 mph. How the car ran that long I have no idea; they surely didn't coast, as there's at least one incline between the intersection and where they stopped.

Now, I'm not a genius, but I can tell you that driving 50 mph across an intersection WITH stop signs is not a good idea. Furthermore, going from gravel to cement to gravel in less than a second in a 1992 Chevy Berreta (low ground clearance) with four adults in the car is not going to bode well.

Back at the scene, the gal who I gave a ride to reaches into the car and gets her 7 month old baby boy out in a car seat and puts him in the front seat of my truck. Hmmm. I told her that I had to turn around and back up to the car to pull it. So, I drove backwards to the nearest spot, turned around, and backed up to the car. With the baby boy in my passenger's seat.

If it were me, I wouldn't have left my 7 month old child in the cab of a complete stranger...Cute kid, though. Kind of looked like Stewie from The Family Guy. He looked up at me like he was thinking "Now, which Daddy are you?"

Anyway, we chained up to the car and pulled it to my farm a few hundred feet away, left it there, and then headed off to Derby. Two rode in the bed while two others rode in the front, along with the baby. There I tried to get the full story as to what happened.

Apparantly, the gal who came up to the farm is from Joplin, MO and was up visiting her baby's father/boyfriend, who lives in Leon. The damaged car belong to the boyfriend. He and the gang were driving from Leon to Derby to get his pickup that he parked/ditched somewhere near there. (???) He was in a hurry because, according to him, he had bowling league in Des Moines to get to. So, instead of driving through Humeston and slowing down to 35 MPH, they thought it would be better to drive fast on gravel roads with a 7 month old baby and cross intersections without stopping! Brilliant! Why he was going to bowling league instead of spending time with his son and girlfriend is beyond me.

So, talking further with the boyfriend, I asked him what he did for a living. Odd jobs, basically. He asked me if I was needing any help around the farm, and I said possibly, let me have your name and number.

By that time, we got to Main Street Derby, where the gang unloaded and rode off with the boyfriend's friends (who were also in a pickup, albeit with a Confederate flag on the license plate).

The BF never did give me his name and number. I guess that's why he's working odd jobs.

About a mile out of town I noticed that the BF had left the baby's bag and bottle in the truck. I turned around and went back to Main St, but Rebel Boy and the Rowdy Bunch had left. So, I went home and put the bag in the car. I later went to a meeting that night and upon coming home found that the car was gone...I suppose the BF found his pickup and pulled it home.

So, what have we learned from this experience?
1) Never drive 50 MPH across gravel - cement - gravel intersections with a small car, four adults, and a baby.
2) Never leave your baby with strangers
3) If you want a job, give your potential employer a way to contact you in the future.
4) Never drive more than a mile with a car that has no oil in the engine.

Sigh.

If this is an example of Generation Y, we're all screwed.

They all appeared to have most/all of their teeth. So, they must only be in the early stages of meth addiction.

Where have I been?

Thanks for all of you who have been patiently waiting for my return to the Blogosphere. You probably thought I had dropped off the face of the earth.

In the span of my absence, I've been to Orlando, FL for a convention, Des Moines for another conference, and delivered 100 tons of DDGS to local farmers. In other words, I've been pretty dang busy. Throw in the fraud called Daylight Savings Time, and there you go. The month of March has so far been a blur.

So, over the next few days, I will attempt to revive my former level of wit and insight about The South of Iowa. Thanks.