Briefly: National news
Man thought asleep at hospital was dead
Middleburg Heights, Ohio A man was found dead on a couch in a hospital lounge, and a nurse told police that nobody had checked on him for at least 17 hours because he appeared to be asleep.
Robert F. Johnson, 55, who had emphysema, was found Thursday at Southwest General Health Center, police said. It was not clear when he died; an autopsy was planned.
Police Chief John Maddox said Johnson probably had been dead for several hours and most likely died of natural causes.
“It’s just unbelievable,” his wife, Robin Johnson, said Friday. “Somebody out at the hospital didn’t notice that a man was laying there for such a long period of time and not moving? Why didn’t anybody check?”
A hospital spokeswoman, Kelly Stanford, declined to comment on the death. “It’s an unfortunate situation, but we’re cooperating fully with all levels of investigation,” Stanford said.
Nurse Lynette Chihil discovered Thursday morning that Johnson was dead. She told police that Johnson, who was fully dressed and curled with his face buried in a cushion, was discolored and cold, and that she had seen him on the same couch 17 hours earlier. Another nurse said she saw a man reclining on the couch late Wednesday.
Robin Johnson said she had not seen her husband since he left home Monday morning after an argument. Police believe he camped out at the hospital rather than return home.
Vintage boat explodes, sinks, killing one
Holland Township, Mich. A boat exploded, burst into flames and sank Saturday on a western Michigan lake, killing one of the two men aboard.
The explosion on the 1959 twin-engine wooden boat knocked the men unconscious, authorities said.
When the boat’s owner, John M. Huegli, awoke, he tried but failed to rouse Peter C. Murray and abandoned the boat as it was consumed by flames on Lake Macatawa, Ottawa County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Allman told the Holland Sentinel.
Divers recovered the body of Murray, 52, of Ann Arbor. Huegli, 59, of Dexter, was hospitalized for minor injuries and released.
The cause of the explosion was unknown. Huegli told authorities that the boat had been fueled and vented Saturday morning, Allman said.
Shirtless man steals airport baggage tractor
Atlanta An airline passenger wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms stole a baggage tractor at the city’s main airport and drove it onto an active runway early Wednesday, police said.
Atlanta police say Robert W. Buzzell, 31, had walked out an exit door that had an alarm at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Flights were not affected by the incident, which took place before 6 a.m., airport officials said.
The man was stopped by mechanics who asked him for an employee identification card. When he could not provide one, they escorted him to an office and called police.
Authorities said the man appeared mentally unstable.
Buzzell, who had a ticket for a Delta flight, was jailed on charges of unlawful interference with security, theft by taking and reckless conduct.
Police said Buzzell, of Warner Robins, Ga., told Delta employees that an alarm sounded when he opened the door to the tarmac, but that no security personnel were around.
Zoo’s bear exhibit allows backyard view
West Orange, N.J. A planned black bear exhibit at Essex County’s zoo will allow visitors to view the bears the way they’re often seen in New Jersey — through a living room window.
The Turtle Back Zoo’s “Bears in Your Backyard” exhibit is taking advantage of the many encounters New Jersey residents now have with bears, a consequence of the state’s dense population and its burgeoning bruin population.
“One of the viewing stations will be from a (mock) living room and a kitchen, and one of the TVs in the living room will be showing educational bear videos,” said zoo Director Jeremy Goodman.
The exhibit is scheduled to be completed later this year and stocked with a pair of bear cubs in the spring.
Zoo officials announced the plans Tuesday, the same day state game regulators voted to authorize a second black bear hunt, and hope to draw some momentum from opposition to the hunt.
“It’s to try to bring it to the public that, hey, these bears are not all that bad,” said county Executive Joe DiVincenzo.