When he helped his friend pick out a wooden packing box last week, Joao Fontes was under the impression the large box would be for clothes and other possessions. But Jonathan Schempp had another idea.

With a court date looming the next day — May 11 — to face charges of public urination, Schempp, 22, of Somerville, Mass., was planning his great escape. Last Tuesday, he and a friend entered Atlantic Shipping Co. in Fall River, where his friend presented the box and signed the papers with Fontes’s name. The box, which Schempp did not realize was to be fitted with metal straps, was headed for Cape Verde.

But the crate never made it out of the warehouse and, four days later, when Fontes received a receipt from the shipping company about the package, he realized what his friend had done. So he did the only thing he could think to do for a friend — he called the Somerville police.

They alerted Fall River police, who sent officers and a dog to the shipping company, Fall River police spokeswoman Lisa Ahaesy said. Police knocked on a container and heard a faint cry for help, Ahaesy said. Police opened the container and found Schempp inside with food, water, and clothing.

“He was dehydrated and confused,” she said. “The crate he was in was not due to be shipped out until the end of the month, and the transport would have been another 15 days to Cape Verde. Had the caller not contacted Somerville police, he would have died.”

When Schempp’s sister, who had not spoken to him since March, was notified of the incident last night in a phone interview, she said she was not surprised about what he’d done.

“He’s just kind of that way,” said Jana Schempp, 24, of Rapid City, S.D. “He’s always been adventurous.”

Schemmp was treated at a hospital for dehydration and arraigned on arrest warrants for minor motor vehicle violations.

An accused New Jersey bank robber needed some help with his getaway - so he asked a bank employee to call him a cab.

Police say Ernest Di Falco was busted about a-half hour after the Bank of New York branch in Rutherford was robbed.

According to investigators, a bank worker wrote down the taxi’s license number.

Even though he wore a disguise, police say another bank employee recognized Di Falco and remembered he worked in a nearby pizzeria.

Officers say they’ve recovered the cash, a fake gun, as well as an old .22-caliber revolver. Di Falco is now charged with armed bank robbery.

Burglars beware: a bathroom break on the job can get you busted. That’s how Otha Smith got caught.

Dewey Coulson went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, only to find an intruder using the toilet.

“When I turned the corner … I saw the light was on, and I thought someone had just left it on so I opened the door, and there was this guy sitting on the toilet,” said Coulson, 19. “So I said, ‘What are you doing in my house?’ And he said, ‘I just had to use the bathroom.’ ”

Coulson ran upstairs to get his stepfather, and when they returned they saw the man trying to leave.

“He was walking really slowly, and then he saw us, and he started running toward these doors and he grabbed the handle and my stepdad and I closed on him,” Coulson said.

He and stepfather Dave End wrestled with the man to subdue him until police arrived.

Coulson’s mother, Cathy End, said the intruder likely wasn’t in the house long before heading to the bathroom.

“There was some money out of my wallet, but that’s as far as he got, I guess, before nature took over. The toilet part just blows my mind,” she said.

Otha Smith, 42, who police said apparently entered through an unlocked door, was charged Wednesday with burglary to an occupied residence, a felony.

Because of two prior burglary convictions, he could face 21 years in prison if convicted.

Amy R. Logue may face felony charges after Ontario, Ohio police say she called them to buy crack cocaine.

Police arrested the 27-year-old Ashland, Ohio woman Saturday after meeting her at a fast-food restaurant, Ontario police reported. Logue currently faces misdemeanor charges of attempting to commit an offense and disorderly conduct.

The Richland County Prosecutor’s office is reviewing the case for additional felony charges, the office said Wednesday. Prosecutor Bambi Couch-Page is handling the case, but could not be reached for comment.

Police reported receiving a call from Logue at 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Officer Robert Griefenstine, who was on dispatch duty, answered the phone “Ontario police.”

After a slight hesitation, Logue said hello, asking Griefenstine if he was working, according to police. Griefenstine thought this might be an attempted drug buy. The woman continued asking if what he had was “good,” police said.

Logue asked to meet, and Griefenstine summoned Lt. Randy Hutchinson, police said. Hutchinson picked up the phone, but she had hung up. Logue called back a few minutes later, and Hutchinson answered with just a hello.

Logue told Hutchinson she wanted $80 worth of the good stuff, police reported. When police met Logue, she reportedly was in a green car with a 46-year-old Nova man and a 24-year-old Ashland woman.

Officers took each into custody. The 27-year-old woman insisted she was only there to buy a sandwich, but had $80 in her front pocket. She claimed the money was not hers, police said.

Story courtesy Mansfield News Journal

It’s hard to escape when your face has appeared in local newspapers and news broadcasts and you’re running in front of City Hall — naked.

But Michael W. Gebre tried.

Gebre, 19, was arrested early yesterday as a suspect in a rape and two attempted rapes in West Seattle, but when he was about to be taken to jail about 10:30 a.m., he made a break for freedom.

Detectives had taken Gebre to police headquarters on Fifth Avenue to interview him. They removed his clothing and collected it as evidence, police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said.

Police gave Gebre a paper jumpsuit and paper booties to wear until he could be booked into the King County Jail and given jail garb.

But while he was en route to the jail, Gebre made his break.

Two detectives placed Gebre in a car and proceeded to drive him one block to the jail. Gebre was restrained with plastic flexi-cuffs, Whitcomb said, because his wrists were too small to be held in standard handcuffs.

Gebre twisted around and managed to open the door. Standard patrol cars are modified so rear passenger doors cannot be opened from the inside, but Gebre was not transported in a patrol car, Whitcomb said.

When he opened the door, one of the detectives reached over and grabbed him by the suit.

“Gebre leaped out of the car, the suit tore off and Gebre fled naked,” Whitcomb said.

Greg Aramaki was walking on Fifth Avenue in front of City Hall when he heard a commotion.

“I started hearing yelling and someone saying, ‘Stop him. Stop him,’ ” Aramaki said.

Most people were scrambling out of the way, said Aramaki, a Seattle City Light employee. He soon saw why — it was a man running at full speed.

“He didn’t have anything on,” Aramaki said.

Though not a big man, Aramaki said he thought he could at least try to stop the man. So he jumped in front of Gebre, taking a blocking stance. He didn’t think of trying to grab him.

“He was naked,” Aramaki said. “There was nothing to hold onto.”

Gebre ran into him, but didn’t stop. Instead, he kept heading down James Street.

Within a block, the Seattle detectives caught up with him and took him into custody. He is being held in the King County Jail.

Santa Rosa, Calif., police Sgt. Steve Bair said Grebe has been charged with five incidents in his city. All five involved break-ins.

His history includes at least one arrest in San Jose, Calif., for alleged peeping.

Covington, Kentucky police said a man chased a burglar out of his home Tuesday afternoon after noticing that the gun the burglar was using to threaten him had no barrel.

Police said the burglar walked into the home through an unlocked side door about 3:15 p.m.

The man, whom police would identify only as a resident of the 600 block of Bakewell Street, didn’t notice the missing barrel until after he’d already handed over $180 when the burglar demanded money, officers said. After he left, the resident called police.

Officers closed off several streets south of Fifth Street for a couple of hours as they searched for the burglar. A few chased the suspect but lost him. Officers, however, did find clothing and pieces of a gun they believe the burglar discarded.

Police describe the burglar as a tall, slim, black man in his 30s with facial hair.

Grid-lock leads to lock-up for one alleged bank robber. Police in the Omaha, Neb., area say a stick-up man had no where to run when got he caught in traffic in a construction zone.

According to police, the guy was trying make his getaway after robbing a bank Saturday afternoon. Police followed the suspect’s van in a squad car and an Omaha police helicopter.

The suspect was busted after getting stuck in the traffic jam. Authorities say they found the money and other evidence in the guy’s van.