Man with stolen sword, blind cat, arrested on suspicion of burglary / LJWorld.com

Lawrence crime, fire, courts coverage

Recent public safety stories

Have a tip?

Contact Journal-World reporter Caitlin Doornbos:

It was the case of the sword, the blind black cat and a pair of Chinese meditation balls. In fact, it was two cases with those same clues. So it didn't take police too long to figure out that the two crimes were connected.

At the scene of the first crime, at a home in the Easy Living mobile home park, 3323 Iowa St., a burglar apparently entered while residents were out, sometime before 5 p.m. Sunday, and made off with a medium-length Japanese-style sword, a blind black cat and the Chinese meditation balls, among other items, according to Sgt. Trent McKinley, a Lawrence Police Department spokesman.

Shortly after, the burglar struck again at another residence in the same neighborhood, McKinley said. About 5:20 p.m., the man terrified the residents of a nearby mobile home by barging in through their front door. He had no shoes or shirt on, but he was wearing the stolen sword on his waist in a scabbard, and was carrying the meditation balls and the cat.

The residents fled to a neighbor's house to call police, McKinley said, afraid for their lives, as the man entered their home and began eating their food.

About 90 minutes after police arrived at the home and arrested Blake Robert Hurd, 31, of Lawrence, the earlier crime was reported. Among the items reported missing in that first theft? The cat, the sword and the Chinese meditation balls. Connecting the two incidents, police arrested Hurd on suspicion of both crimes and returned the property and the cat, who goes by the name "Freddie."

Douglas County prosecutors charged Hurd Monday with aggravated burglary, burglary, and two counts of theft. He remained in Douglas County Jail Monday with bond set at $25,000.

Pete_Schweti 2 years ago

Fantastic. That is all.

midwestmom 2 years ago

okay - you win! too hilarious!!!

irvan moore 2 years ago

freddie is lucky to be home, heck of a story to tell i bet

Termcd4 2 years ago

He's probably from Topeka or Redbud Lane!

ksrover 2 years ago

"... Blake Robert Hurd, 31, of Lawrence ..."

fearthephog512 2 years ago

You dream to write headlines this bizarre!

riverdrifter 2 years ago

A blind black cat, a sword and Chinese meditation balls: memo to News Of The Weird...

JustNoticed 2 years ago

Here's a real headline about a guy named Cokie in a Georgia jail: Cokie Okey Dokey in Okefenokee Pokie

avarom 2 years ago

Arrested for too Much Smokie!!!!! Okie Dokey Articokie...lmao

Katara 2 years ago

Chinese meditation balls.... yeah, that's what they are for.

Catalano 2 years ago

LOL, my thoughts exactly.

feetup 2 years ago

oh h. no. you cannot make this stuff up!

Bob Forer 2 years ago

Time to get this guy an appointment with The Samurai Psychiatrist.

by Bob Forer

overthemoon 2 years ago

Reality makes the folks at the Onion have to work really hard to come up with kookie strange parody!

Pepe 2 years ago

That would be a slow news days in Wichita.

frankfussman 2 years ago

Chinese meditation balls...on a Chinese Zen master?

JayhawkFan1985 2 years ago

Example of why mental health funding needs to be restored to pre-Graves levels...

Armstrong 2 years ago

Wow, sounds like an every day event if this were Topeka

Joe Shaw 2 years ago

I have some major concerns with the timeliness of the response from the Lawrence PD. A lot can happen in the 90 minutes that it took for them to arrive on the scene.

First, obviously the blind cat's life was in immediate danger and it was tramatized.
The food that the sword wiedling gentleman was eating for the guy's lunch tomorrow, now what?
It is way too cold to not have on shoes or a shirt. Aren't we having blizzard conditions right now?

Except for those key concerns, the rest of the story seemed pretty normal.

bad_dog 2 years ago

Come on! Joe! Don!t no ya except is spellt axcept?

Tomato 2 years ago

You misread that.

The first crime was reported 90 minutes after the police arrested him at the location of the second crime.

Hard to tell how great of a threat he is. But I certainly have some concerns. Guy appears to be seriously mentally ill.

Who the hell would stea lsombodies kitty??

Lock them up and thro wawy the key.

The Governor will now pass a law permitting people to carry concealed samurai swords.

Remember! Only a good guy with a samurai sword can stop a bad guy with a samurai sword.

pace 2 years ago

What is sad is these actions are't as stupid as what Brownback does.

Commenting has been disabled for this item.

Archive for Monday, February 25, 2013