Man charged with robbing Erie convenience store of cigarettes

An Erie man was jailed Monday on charges that included robbery after police said he bullied a convenience-store clerk for cigarettes and walked out without paying for them Sunday night.

David J. Rapoza, 33, of the 3500 block of Eliot Road, was arraigned before Erie 2nd Ward District Judge Paul Urbaniak on charges of robbery, simple assault, retail theft and public drunkenness.

Urbaniak placed Rapoza in the Erie County Prison on $15,000 bond.

Police said Rapoza went to the Circle K store at 2917 Glenwood Park Ave. at about 8:20 p.m. Sunday and ordered a female clerk to give him cigarettes. Rapoza repeatedly swore at the clerk, scaring her into thinking that Rapoza was going to assault her, police wrote in the criminal complaint.

Police said Rapoza ran out of the store without paying for the cigarettes. He reportedly jumped into an occupied vehicle, jumped back out and began walking away from the store.

Officers who responded to the robbery call arrested Rapoza at East 30th and French streets.

Woman Irate Over Cost Of Cigarettes Assaults Clerk

Oklahoma City police said an assault on a convenience store clerk came after the clerk informed the woman that a pack of Newport cigarettes was $6.25.
According to the police report released on Monday, the clerk told the group that the cigarettes were $6.25 a pack, to which one of the people shouted, "That's too much (expletive) money!"
When the clerk informed the three they could purchase the cigarettes from another store, police said, Courtney Marlana Smith, 24, grabbed items on the counter and threw them on the floor before leaving.
The clerk told police that she went outside with a clipboard to write down the license plate of the vehicle that the three were in, but was attacked by the group outside the store.
The clerk said the trio punched and kicked her while she lay on the ground before fleeing in a tan vehicle.
Later that afternoon, police said they found the vehicle with Smith, 20-year-old Dondea Antonio Logan and a juvenile.
After inspecting the vehicle, police said they found a loaded gun that was reported stolen in Purcell.
Smith was arrested on charges of possession of a fire arm, concealing stolen property, disorderly conduct and two charges of assault and battery.
Logan was arrested on an unrelated warrant, and the juvenile was taken to his home and released to his grandmother.

E-Cigarettes May Help in Quitting Smoking

E-Cigarette or electronic cigarette is an electronic device which produces an inhaled mist, provides nicotine and stimulates the tobacco smoking. The level of nicotine without the use of a lighter helps people to quit smoke.

E-cigarette looks like a cigarette and these cigarettes are reusable. E-cigarettes come in normal flavor of tobacco. The Blue Cigarette (E-Cigarette) is a smoking cessation, it delivers the smoking experience. It has no health effects associated with tobacco smoking.

According to a research, it was found that 31% of smokers after 6 months stopped smoking completely. However, around 66% of people said that they smoked fewer tobacco cigarettes and around 50% said they reduced their nicotine use.

The study included around 5,000 buyers; most of the participants had been smoking from last 6 or more years. Around 4.5% of people didn’t respond to it, they might were not able to quit smoke.

Meanwhile, it can appeal to non-smokers, especially children. The study has been not verified by any reports, though e-cigarette smokers self reported it. The US Food and Drug Administration is in a fix whether they should regulate it or ban it.

People who smoke can quit the habit with the puffing on a fake cigarette.

Stun gun used in cigarette hold-up

POLICE are investigating an armed hold-up on a Bankstown general store in Sydney's west by a man armed with an electric stun gun who stole at least 30 packets of cigarettes.

Police say a middle aged man walked into the general store at the corner of Picnic Point Rd and Doris St, Picnic Point, about 4pm yesterday afternoon.

He asked for three packets of cigarettes.

As the female owner of the business was about to hand over the cigarettes the man grabbed the packets and demanded she hand over all her cash.

The owner has told detectives the man produced an electric stun device and activated it before walking over to the cigarette cabinet and taking at least 30 packets of assorted cigarettes with a total value of up to $600.

He ran out of the shop and into a waiting car described as an old model square shaped burgundy/red coloured four door vehicle with yellow number plates. It was being driven by a second man.
No one was injured in the hold up.

The armed man is described as Caucasian appearance, middle aged, pale skin, fat build, about 170cm tall, blue eyes, short shaved blonde hair. He was wearing a baggy cream coloured t-shirt and cream coloured long pants.

3 million euro worth of cigarettes confiscated by customs

Mobile teams of the National Customs Authority discovered over 3000 boxes containing 30,000,000 Jin Ling cigarettes produced in the warehouse of Galaxy Tobacco SA Company in Sfantu Gheorghe, Central Romania, a press release of the institution informs. According to information remitted to HotNews.ro, cigarettes were destined to European markets or third party countries and their value is 3 million euro.

According to the National Fiscal Administration Galaxy Tobacco produced in its warehouse at Sfantu Gheorghe 10,000 boxes of cigarettes that it already sold, and the average estimated market value is 10 million euro. Galaxy Tobacco is the former national company Tutunul Romanesc whose privatization was one of the most controversial sales of the Romanian state. The company has always been the center of financial scandals.

Survey shows fewer Williamson students smoke, drink

The good news comes after the same report last school year showed an upswing in alcohol and cigarette use among students who took the survey anonymously.

The survey continues to suggest that students here fall below the national average in nearly every category of substance usage.

Students in grades 4, 7, 9 and 11 usually take the survey in the spring of an academic year. This new report represents about 7,000 students who took the survey last school year.

Jason Golden, the district's chief operating officer, presented the new data to school board members at their work session last week, explaining that as children get older, they tend to experiment more.

The report also showed a decrease in the use of hallucinogens and steroids among 9th- and 11th-graders.

Highway Reopens After Smoke Caused Closing

U.S. Highway 17 along the South Carolina coast is again open to traffic after a six-mile stretch in Charleston County was closed overnight because of smoke from a wildfire.

Officials say that blaze near the Santee River that has been burning since Wednesday is largely contained and has consumed about 2,600 acres. The highway closed about midnight and reopened Friday morning.

Weather conditions are expected to improve during the next couple of days with rain expected in the area this weekend.

Firefighters have also largely contained a second blaze in the Lowcountry, a 500-acre fire in rural Dorchester County.