GET THE LEAD OUT!

A retired New York City cop accidentally shot himself in the leg at a Middletown firing range while qualifying to carry a weapon in New Jersey.


G. Kevin Calogera, 54, who also is an Old Bridge councilman, unintentionally left his finger inside the trigger guard when he was reholstering his gun, and the force pushed up on the trigger, discharging the gun around 9:30 a.m. yesterday.

Calogera is a member of the Retired Officers Association, and that group was qualifying at the police department's firing range, Middletown Police Chief Robert Oches said.

The retired officer was taken to Jersey Shore University Hospital. The incident has been referred to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office for review.

Retired officers have to qualify twice a year to carry a gun in New Jersey.

Hum, I wonder if he made the grade.

Photo by Grendel Khan

TREADING A FINE LINE

When my grandmother got annoyed with us when we were little, she used to say, "Go play in the traffic."


She was kidding, of course.
Well ... we assumed she was kidding.

Turns out a Cleveland, Ohio, man sort of had the same idea when he turned a practical joke into a safety campaign.

Mike Wood found that the cut-out picture posters he made of his kids to be used as a joke on his neighbors also helped to slow down speeding cars when he placed the life-sized posters in his yard next to the curb.


The cut-outs were so realistic that drivers not only slowed down but got mad because they thought he was allowing his children to play too close to the road.

That's when Wood turned his idea into a money maker by creating a police officer cut-out holding a radar gun. Now he's getting tons of orders from law-enforcement agencies for the $60 cut-out.

Another missed opportunity, Gram.

BTW moms, kids really do play in traffic! See it here.


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