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Angel rescues a family

To the mystery man who appeared out of nowhere, handed a needy family of wad of cash, then disappeared just as fast.
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To the mystery man who appeared out of nowhere, handed a needy family of wad of cash, then disappeared just as fast.

The work of an angel? An astonished Monica Weiss is not totally discounting the possibility.

Weiss was in the Scotiabank on Red Deer’s 67th Street last week paying bills her family could barely afford.. Her husband was injured at work in January and the couple, with two children, are barely squeaking by on worker’s compensation money.

The family, forced to leave their apartment, have been living in a camper since May. Weiss explained the hardships to a bank teller, saying the family was behind in their payments. “I said there was a chance (my husband) may not ever return to work because he developed a rare condition with his injury.”

She returned to her van and began counting what little money she had left when the unexplained happed. “All of a sudden this gentleman walks up to the van” and sticks his hand through the window. “He put this huge wad of cash into my hand. All I heard him say was ‘I’m a lucky man and I heard your story and here, take this.’ ” It was $1,300 in cash.

The Good Samaritan requested Weiss, who hadn’t noticed him in the bank, not to ask his name, then drove away in a white pickup truck. The T-shirt he was wearing reminded her of John Travolta’s angel character in the movie Michael, she said.

The T-shirt, the white truck, and the whole experience “was wow!” said Weiss.

Wow, indeed.

To the heavy-set Austin, Tex., sheriff who tasered a 72-year-old grandmother twice after she started arguing over a speeding ticket.

A video released by the Travis County Constable’s Office, taken from a camera mounted on the officer’s dashboard, shows the senior hitting the ground and moaning while the shocks jolted through her body after the May 11 confrontation. Surely this huge, trained cop towering over a 1.5-metre (four-foot-11) elderly woman, could have easily overpowered her without a high-voltage weapon. Granted, the grandma, who refused to sign the speeding ticket, dared the officer to zap her when he brandished the Taser.

But let’s put things into prospective. Had she dared him to punch her, would he have landed a solid left hook?

She was stopped for driving 60 mph in a 45-mph zone. She stepped from her vehicle and started mouthing off, standing close to the deputy.

The following scenario unfolds on the video:

Officer: “If you don’t step back, you’re going to get Tased.”

Woman: “Go ahead, Tase me. I dare you.”

(The officer complies and the senior hits the ground moaning in pain.)

Officer (yelling): “Put your hands behind your back or you’re going to be Tased again.” Then he zaps her again.

Here’s a policeman who is going to be shamed and laughed out of his career. Big sissy. Can’t even handle a tiny 72-year-old woman?

And speaking of heartless cops, a dart to the Regina officer who plowed through a parade consisting of a mother duck leading her ducklings in single file across a road last week. Jessica Dennett watched in horror when she slowed to let the family cross. The cop steered around her and roared through, killing four or five of the ducklings. The brake lights on the cruiser didn’t flash once.

“The mamma bird turned around (after her babies were hit) and she started flapping her wings. She looked devastated, as much as a bird can look upset, she looked upset,” said Dennett. “The other babies just scrambled. It was just horrible.”

Dennett wept all the way to work after witnessing the incident. There was no indication the officer was responding to an emergency. There was no siren, nor were the cruiser’s emergency lights activated.

“There was ample time to stop or slow down,” said Dennett. “There was no reason (the officer) should have had to run over those birds. That kind of disregard for life just bothers me.”

Rick Zemanek is an Advocate editor.