Maine's cloaked crusaders

Back in June, Kathryn Skelton of the Lewiston Sun Journal caught up with two members of the Real Life Superhero Project (http://www.reallifesuperheroes.org/) that live and patrol in Lewiston. The full-length interview is extensive and well worth reading, especially in light of the current Guardian Angel recruiting efforts in Portland:

Weird, Wicked Weird: Maine's Real Life Superheroes. Yup, for real.
By Kathryn Skelton, Staff Writer
Published Jun 05, 2010 12:00 am | Last updated Jun 04, 2010 11:10 pm

Her mom thought she was doing drugs, slipping out at night, wandering the streets.

Mom didn’t realize her little girl was actually busy atoning and avenging.

As the self-styled superhero "Dreizehn" (that’s the number 13 in German), she’d slip out and look for trouble, interrupting drug deals and vehicle break-ins. Think “Kick-Ass,” but in real life. Sometimes it worked, sometimes the teenager got beaten up, badly.

Dreizehn moved to Maine from a big city outside New England a few months ago to join her similarly self-styled superhero boyfriend, "Slapjack." Several nights a week they walk Lewiston-Auburn for hours on end as roving Good Samaritans, looking for trouble.

The streets here? Much less mean, in her limited experience.

Most nights their foot patrol means giving bottled water and granola bars to the homeless and maybe yelling at a graffiti artist, all the while costumed and armed with batons, knife-proof protective wear and brass knuckles electrified with Tasers.

Dreizehn and Slapjack are in their 20s. Their parents? They still have no clue.

“You kind of have to be a little unstable to do it,” Dreizehn said. “Going out at 2 a.m. with a mask on and thinking you’re going to save the world, it says a lot about you.”
[...]

Read full article with photos here:
http://www.sunjournal.com/city/story/844777

Darn it, QUIT YOUR STEALING WAYS!!!

From all of us who have had to chase thieves off of their property and/or recover stolen property from them, congratulations to this Mainer who had had enough of all that crap. Story from the Kennebec Journal.

VIENNA: Buckshot thwarts thieves
BY MATTHEW STONE
Staff Writer
06/04/2008

Staff photo by Andy Molloy
DOUBLE OUGHT BUCK: Kennebec County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Chris Cowan stands in front of a pickup in Augusta shot during an alleged scrap metal theft in Vienna.

VIENNA -- When a few tons of iron, steel and aluminum disappeared from his machine shop Saturday night, Joseph Lord knew the thieves would return for more. After all, they hadn't finished the job.

He was right. Around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, they reappeared. And Lord was prepared.

After going 56 hours without sleep, Lord walked back to his Kimball Pond Road shop -- the third time Tuesday morning he had checked the premises -- and saw a blue Ford pickup parked near the building with 450 pounds of scrap metal in the truck's bed.

"They evidently see me, and they took off," Lord said.

His shotgun loaded with buckshot, Lord shot out the truck's tires and windshield, preventing the thieves' escape.

"I shot out both front tires. I put three rounds through the radiator," he said. "I put two through the windshield. I put the rear window out and put seven pellets through the seat. If they'd been there, they'd been dead. I know how to shoot, I shoot pretty accurate and I have buckshot."
...
In a statement, Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty said deputies examined the truck's registration and contacted the owner, trying to determine the thieves' identities.

"We have two good suspects," Liberty said late Tuesday afternoon. He said he expected an arrest to be imminent.

From the time his metal first disappeared on Saturday, Lord said he was bracing for the thieves' return. "I knew they'd be back," he said Tuesday afternoon. "If they had taken it all, they wouldn't be back."
...
"It's bothered me so bad, I couldn't sleep because I knew they were coming back," he said.

Lord said he expects scrap metal thieves will now think twice before striking Vienna again.

"I think I did the town a favor," he said.

For full article, please click here: [Source]

Sometimes you just have to look out for yourself.