Weekly Daily Brickbats Archive 2008 January 22-31

Chicago police officer William J. Cozzi pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery. He was caught on videotape in 2005 striking a man who had been shackled in a wheelchair. Cozzi was given 18 months probation, but he was not fired by the department. Instead, he was given a two-year unpaid suspension. He is scheduled to return to work in April.

For the third time in 13 months, the state of Wisconsin has sent out letters in which the recipients' Social Security numbers are visible. In this latest incident, the state sent 1099-G tax forms to people who received a state income tax refund or other payment in 2007. Because of the way the forms were folded, Social Security numbers were visible in some of the windows of the envelopes. The state has offered to pay for one year of credit monitoring for all of the recipients.

A man passed out in a car just outside the entrance to England's Altrincham General Hospital. A traffic warden spotted the car and reacted immediately by writing a ticket. Fortunately, the driver of the car had rushed into the hospital seeking help, and nurses ran out to help. Paramedics also rushed to help. But the meter maid continued to write a ticket, even after they explained the man had gone into a diabetic seizure. She finally relented after two paramedics pressed the matter and did not issue the ticket.

Yvonne Todd says her Saint Bernard Shelby was barking because a Muskogee, Oklahoma, police officer had grabbed her arm. She tried to calm the dog, but before she could, an officer shot the dog in the head, killing it. Now, she's suing. The police say they were responding to reports of gunshots. But witnesses say the only shot they heard was the one that killed Shelby. They also say the officer that shot the dog was defending himself, another statement denied by Todd and at least one witness. Todd was never charged with a crime.

Brian Nelson got a notice from city officials in St. Paul, Minnesota, telling him he was delinquent in paying a $50 parking fine issued in December. Just one problem: The ticket was issued against a 1941 Ford that Nelson says is inoperable and has been parked in his garage for a decade at his home in Fargo, North Dakota. When Nelson explained this to city officials, they said he'd have to travel the 250 miles to St. Paul to try to clear the matter up or pay the fine. But after he went to a Minneapolis TV station with his story, an official admitted someone had made a mistake and said the matter could be cleared up over the phone.