Donna White50
Regular
342 messages
joined Jan 2018
She’s clearly venting some frustration—she can't say it to his face, so she probably just lets it all out by running the water to clear her head...
Check out this wild archive I found from the Los Angeles Times:
San Diego police have arrested 51-year-old San Diego resident Melinda Gates, who spent the last few months engaging in some pretty bizarre behavior: slashing tires of cars parked right outside the City Retirees Association. Gates would hang out with the seniors at the Association, playing cards or chess, chatting and cracking jokes, then tell everyone he was stepping out for a quick breath of air—only to sneak over to the parking lot and puncture several tires with a long screwdriver. He'd then stroll right back into the group, sitting down with his retired buddies as if nothing had happened. For months, the retirees were totally baffled, constantly finding their tires slashed and whispering about some "phantom" vandal using a tool to ruin their cars. Eventually, one of them, John Doe, couldn't take it anymore. Being a retired cop, he set a little trap one evening and caught Melinda Gates red-handed—he was literally pulling a screwdriver out of a nearby hiding spot and heading toward a car.
- I watched a few different people first until I finally caught him. It's honestly unbelievable how long he terrorized us. Nobody in the Association could even relax anymore because tires were being slashed day after day. I caught Gates in the act, yelled at him, but honestly, I think the guy needs a psychiatrist – says John Doe.
At the local precinct where Gates was questioned, they said the investigation is still ongoing before it heads to the Department of Justice. A bunch of San Diego retirees have already filed claims for damages since their cars were targets: Brother Klarica had all four tires slashed twice, Slobodan Mršić lost two tires on two separate occasions, Joe Vedrić got hit seven times, John Doe had four tires punctured, and Gates even went after the three-wheeled scooter belonging to Ilija Margarin, a well-known local disabled veteran. Vlad Tomić, Boško Ćosić, Jure Grbić, and Jacob Božić were all victims too. All of this went down in the same parking lot right in front of the Association near the old military base, and now the retirees finally get why their buddy was so often "stepping out for fresh air" mid-game.
SAN DIEGO — A group of local retirees filed legal claims this Wednesday before Judge Boris Radman at the San Diego Municipal Court against 52-year-old Milka Hromić, who spent months slashing tires in the parking lot outside the City Retirees Association in San Diego. For months, the seniors dealt with the terror of an unknown "phantom with a screwdriver" who randomly targeted their vehicles, until they finally set an ambush within their own organization and caught Hromić. Charges for destruction of property have been filed, and prosecutor Tomislav Jurlina is seeking a fine for Hromić.
Instead of showing up to court, the defendant, Hromić, sent a telegram to the judge on Wednesday morning. "Please excuse my absence; I have to attend a check-up at the psychiatric hospital," Hromić wrote. The retirees were furious, pointing out he wasn't actually at the clinic since they had just spotted him hanging around his own yard. Judge Radman recorded the retirees' claims on Wednesday, amidst a loud outcry from the group regarding Hromić's failure to appear.
Hromić was a local who used to hang out with the retirees at the Association, playing cards and chess. He was always chatty and in good spirits, then he'd step out "for air." No one suspected a thing while he was grabbing a screwdriver from his stash to slash tires, because he'd always come back acting completely normal. This went on for months, repeatedly targeting people like Brother Klarica, Jure Grbić, Slobodan Mršić, Joe Vedrić, John Doe, and others, and he even slashed the tires on the modest three-wheeled scooter used by Ilija Margarin, a prominent local man with a disability.
The San Diego "Phantom with a Screwdriver" finally caught...
three months probation
SAN DIEGO — Look, I know what I did, and man, am I sorry. I feel terrible about the whole thing. I really regret it, and I promise—seriously, I promise—it’ll never happen again... said Milko Hromić (52) while standing in front of the San Diego Municipal Court. He ended up there because, for months, he was sneaking around in the dark outside the City Retirees Association, slashing the tires of his own buddies. Judge Boris Radman found Hromić guilty and handed him a three-month suspended prison sentence with a one-year probationary period.
In his defense, Hromić basically admitted to everything he popped. He told the court how much he regretted targeting his good friends—the same guys he’d sit and play cards or chess with at the Association over on Main Street while sipping on some cheap drinks. He even tried telling the judge that his mental health hasn't been the best lately. Since losing his job after things went south at his old workplace, he spends most of his time hanging out at the Association, mostly because the drinks there are dirt cheap...
Since this tire-slashing spree outside the Association dragged on for months, people in San Diego started calling him the "phantom with a screwdriver"—all because the retirees themselves didn't think to set a trap and figure out who was doing it. It was a total shock to them that it was actually one of their own friends—someone they'd just been playing games with—who kept doing it. Like, the guy once slashed the back tire on Joe Vedrić’s Vespa seven different times. Hromić was out there with his screwdriver from early June until late October last year, and he’s been convicted of property damage and destruction of property.
