Suspected ‘A.M. Rapist’ arrested in Illinois The man believed to be the so-called “A.M. Rapist” — a suspect thought responsible for a series of five burglaries and sexual assaults in the Ocean Beach, Mission Beach and College West areas in 2000 and 2001 — was arrested near his home in Arlington Heights, Ill. on Aug. 11 according to police officials. Stephen D. Richardson, 33, was extradited to San Diego and faces numerous charges associated with the “A.M. Rapist” series. According to San Diego Police Department investigators, evidence was developed on July 22 that linked Richardson to a Sept. 2, 2000 sexual assault in Ocean Beach. The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office subsequently issued a warrant for his arrest. Detectives from the Sex Crime Unit worked with the Arlington Heights Police Department to arrest Richardson. At the time of his arrest, a DNA sample was obtained from Richardson that matched samples gathered at the scene of all five cases in the series. Man linked to threats against schools on Web A 39-year-old man is in federal custody after he was arrested Aug. 5 near Shelter Island for allegedly making threats against two Coronado elementary schools through the Internet. Paul Douglas Rodgers was arrested by San Diego Harbor Police and subsequently turned over to FBI agents at the George Bailey Detention Center. According to FBI officials, Rodgers allegedly posted a threat July 30 against the two schools on Craigslist’s San Diego site, saying “Coronado elementary schools to be destroyed” in October attacks were attended by children with parents in the military. In June, San Diego police contacted Rodgers in the vicinity of Shelter Island regarding a May post threatening a local elementary school. According to police reports, Rodgers admitted to making the posts and said he was the subject of a mind-control experiment. When asked by police, Rodgers agreed to go to the county’s mental health department for evaluation and was evaluated for eight days. HTH graduate designs winning game weapon When the video game “Rachet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time” is released this fall, recent High Tech High graduate Jackson Finley should have a light advantage. Finley won the Captain Qwark’s “My Blaster Runs Hot” contest and, as a result, the weapon he designed will appear in the upcoming game. “It was cool,” Finley said. “It’s my favorite game, so I’m pretty happy to have won.” Finley named his weapon the Spiral of Death. “It makes little blades of energy that spin and you shoot them off and they roll around,” Findley said. “They can roll over people, bounce off them, and eventually they fly back to you like a boomerang.” Finley beat out more than 1,000 entrants in the fan-voted contest and was recognized at a party at the Hard Rock Hotel during the Comic-Con Convention in July that was featured on G4TV’s X-Play. At the party, Finley was presented with a replica of the weapon and, although he couldn’t use it yet, he got to see a video of it in action. “It was weird,” Finley said. “It was a really cool but strange feeling.” In addition to the replica, Finley won a copy of the game, a poster and $500. His Spiral of Death beat out four other finalists: The Plasma Sprinkler Glove, Bubble Shot, Qwark Machine and Super-Sized Sticky Hand Toy. Finley, who will attend California College of the Arts later this month, said when he heard of the contest he had an idea of what he wanted to do. After refining that idea, it took him about an hour to create a sketch of the weapon. “Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time” is the third game in the “Ratchet and Clank Future” series. It will be released this fall for the PlayStation 3 console. ‘Summerfest’ community picnic set for Saturday The Peninsula community will have another opportunity to celebrate summer with the free “Ocean Beach Summerfest” event slated for Saturday, Aug. 22 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the Sunset Cliffs Boulevard side of Dusty Rhodes Park. The event, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Ocean Beach in cooperation with the Dusty Rhodes Park Recreation Council, will feature carnival rides, live music, a craft fair, food booths and a beer garden featuring Karl Strauss brews. Families are encouraged to bring their own food or buy food from the vendors. Alcohol is not allowed in the park except inside the adults-only beer garden. Glass containers and smoking are also not allowed in the park and dogs must be leashed except in the designated off-leash area. For information, call (619) 225-8705.