Natalie M.

Sharp
Comm. 285
INSTRUCTIONS: Using techniques you studied in the "Alternative Leads" chapter in the
textbook, write an alternative lead for each of the following stories. You may want to use
complete or partial quotations, questions, descriptions, buried leads, multiparagraph
leads, suspense or chronological order. Or, you may want to try a shocking lead, ironic
lead, direct-address lead or a word used in an unusual way. Correct any errors you may
find in grammar, spelling, punctuation and AP style. Refer to the directory in your
textbook for the proper spelling of names.
1.) In many ways, it was a rather common robbery. Fortunately, the police succeeded in
capturing the apparent perpetrator, identified as Alan Franklin, age 23, of 820 Apollo
Drive, Apartment #223. Employees at the First Union Bank, 3720 Kohlar Blvd., pushed
an alarm button at 2:38 p.m. yesterday after a lone man came into the bank and demanded
money. The man said he had a sawed-off shotgun under his raincoat. A teller gave him
money in a paper bag he carried. She also slipped in an exploding dye pack. Just as the
man left the bank the pack detonated, and the man tossed the bag containing the money
into the bushes. Witnesses said he fled on foot. Officers started combing the area, looking
for a man in a yellow shirt, blue jeans, and raincoat. They lifted the lid of a trash bin
behind the McDonalds at 3782 Kohlar Blvd. and found him there. He was crouched
among the half-eaten burgers and fries.
A man sought haven in a McDonalds garbage bin after robbing the First
Union Bank on Kohlar Boulevard.
2.) Judge Samuel McGregor performed an unusual wedding Monday. He married Sunni
McGrath and Wallace A. Svec. It wasnt a fancy wedding; no cake, dress, hugs, or even a
kiss. They werent allowed. Why? Because McGregor performed the wedding in his
courtroom, minutes after sentencing McGrath to a years probation for drunk driving. A
blue prison uniform served as her wedding gown. For security reasons, an attorney stood
between the couple as they exchanged vows. Rather than kiss, the judge suggested they
wave. Immediately after the wedding ceremony, the bride was ordered back to prison.
Because McGrath was already on probation for burglary, grand theft and possession of
cocaine, the arrest for drunk driving resulted in her being returned to jail. Thus, their
honeymoon will be delayed. "It was real different. But I feel really good because I love
him to death," McGrath said from her jail cell yesterday afternoon. The two have dated
for three years and said they wanted to marry to avoid problems with prison visitation
rights and requirements. McGrath is scheduled to be released in three months, and the
couple has plans for a traditional weddingflower girl and allat that time. She said she
committed the other crimes to support a drug habit that she has recently kicked.
Sunni McGrath traded in her heels for handcuffs and her honeymoon for a
3-month prison sentence as she married Wallace A. Svec on Monday. The couple
tied the knot just moments after McGrath was sentenced for drunk driving while on
probation.

3.) Edward Beaumont, 40, is in serious condition after being shot in the head at 12:40
a.m. today under strange circumstances. A few weeks ago, Michael Uosiss home at 4772
E. Harrison Ave was robbed. This morning Uosis heard a banging at one of his windows.
He thought it was the man who had robbed him, coming back to rob him again. So Uosis
went to a closet, got out a .38-caliber revolver and fired a single shot at the window.
Uosis said he didnt see anyone. He only fired the gun to scare away whoever was
outside. The man outside was Beaumont, who used to work with Uosis, both as postal
workers until Uosis retired three years ago. "I didnt mean to shoot him," Uosis said. "He
was a good friend, and I didnt know it was him outside. I didnt even see who it was."
Neither the police nor Uosis know why Beaumont was at the house at 12:40 a.m.
Beaumont is currently in the intensive care unit at Regional Medical Center. Hospital
officials said Beaumont might be paralyzed as a result of the shot. Police charged Uosis
with aggravated battery, and he was released from the city jail after posting $2,500 bail.
If convicted, he could be sentenced up to 15 years in prison and fined up to $10,000.
Under state law, it is illegal for a resident to use unnecessary force against an intruder
unless the resident is defending himself or another occupant of the home against death or
great bodily harm.
At 12:40 a.m., Michael Uosis fired a warning shot to a suspected burglar at
his window. He was shocked when he realized that he had shot his friend, Edward
Beaumont, in the head.
4.) Two burglars, appearing to be teens, struck VFW Post #40 at 640 Sherwood Dr.
Janitor Steven Cowles, age 70, heard them but didnt catch them. Cowles went to work at
the VFW post at about 5 a.m. today and almost tripped over two knapsacks filled with
expensive liquor and cigarettes from the post. "I knew something was funny. Then heres
those two kids coming around the corner by the popcorn machine," he said. "I let out a
big noise and said a few things. I had two loaves of stale bread for the ducks I feed every
morning and an old box of Entenmanns sticky buns. I started hitting them with the
bread, and then I threw the buns at them. Thats when they dropped everything and ran.
The key to thwarting burglars is stale bread and sticky buns, as Janitor
Steven Cowles found out this morning at VFW Post #40.
5.) Lillian Sodergreen parked her car at Albertsons, a supermarket at 4240 Michigan
Street, and told her son, 4, in the back seat to sit still and be quiet while she was gone.
Her daughter, 8 months, was already sleeping. She said it is the last time she will leave
the children alone. Troy Dysart, 21, a car thief, saw Sodergreens car running and took
his chance. He insists, however, that he is not a kidnapper. He wanted a car to steal for a
joy ride. At approximately 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, he did just that. "There are rules to
follow," Dysart explained in an interview in his cell in the city jail. "My number one rule
is: Make sure you dont get more than you bargained for." But he was "moving too
fast," he said. "I saw the keys and got in, but I didnt notice the kids," he continued. He
peeled out of the parking lot. "When I turn around the corner, I looked to my side and
saw the little girl lying on the seat, and then another kid I freaked out and parked the
car." Dysart is now charged with grand theft and kidnapping. He added, "I didnt want
nothing to do with the kids. I didnt touch the kids. My wife has three kids. I dont need

no more kids. Im going to tell the judge the same thing. He can charge me, but I didnt
know they were there. Why would I want more kids?" The children were unharmed.
1Troy Dysart, accused of grand theft and kidnapping two children, says he
dont need no more kids.
2Troy Dysart intentionally stole a car found running in a supermarket
parking lot. What he did not intend to steal were the two children in the back seat.