http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=5738787

Would-be purse snatcher gets surprise from victim's husband
Suspect ends up asking police for help
By Andy Cerota

(11/02/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - A suspected purse snatcher didn't know what he was in for when he picked a woman in a Home Depot parking lot for a victim. As soon as he grabbed her purse, the woman's husband grabbed a shotgun and opened fire.

It happened at the Home Depot on the Eastex Freeway near Little York. With as much activity during business hours there, you never know who may be waiting in the wings, night or day, ready to strike.

"I was just standing here and the guy just came up and pushed me real hard with a force, like it was a car that hit me. And he was just yanking my purse and my arm got twisted up in my purse and he just was just yanking it," said victim Sandra Hulsey.

Sandra may have looked like an easy target standing there as her husband, Norman, loaded wood into the couple's pickup truck. It turned out the suspect who shoved Sandra and tried to steal her purse didn't know who he was messing with.

"I had a board in my hand right here and I thought he was going to beg for money...is what I thought," said Norman. "He grabbed her and I already had that door open so I just grabbed my shotgun."

He fired a shot.

"The sound of the shotgun and that dude burning off -- it was funny," said eyewitness Freddy Butler.

Butler chased after the accused purse snatcher. who took off running and ended up asking a police officer for help.

"He displays a weapon and it scares the suspect," said a deputy on the scene. "The suspect runs up the police car and saying, 'Let me in. They are shooting at me'."

Police took the suspect into custody.

"The guy just didn't have any business doing what he was doing," said Sandra. "It's shaken me up but I'm OK."

The suspect was not injured. The Houston Police Department turned over the suspect to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Deputies say they patrol this area pretty heavily and despite what happened out there Thursday, they have not had many problems in the area.

Being 25 pounds overweight doesn't appear to raise your risk of dying from cancer or heart disease, says a new government study that seems to vindicate Grandma's claim that a few extra pounds won't kill you.

Released just a few weeks before Thanksgiving, the findings might comfort some who can't seem to lose those last 15 pounds. And they hearten proponents of a theory that it's possible to be "fit and fat."

The news isn't all good: Overweight people do have a higher chance of dying from diabetes and kidney disease...

..."Excess weight does not uniformly increase the risk of mortality from any and every cause, but only from certain causes," said the study's lead author Katherine Flegal, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

... But being merely overweight — having a BMI between 25 and 30 — did not increase the risk of dying from heart disease or any kind of cancer.

Also surprising was that overweight people were up to about 40 percent less likely than normal-weight people to die from several other causes including emphysema, pneumonia, injuries and various infections. The age group that seemed to benefit most from a little extra padding were people aged 25 to 59; older overweight people had reduced risks for these diseases, too...

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Coming soon next to the Coke and Pepsi in a store near you: ham-and latke-flavored soda to make your holiday feast complete.

Jones Soda's Christmas Pack flavors are Sugar Plum, Egg Nog, Christmas Tree and Christmas Ham.

It even will be kosher, the company making it says -- including the ham.

Jones Soda Co., the Seattle-based purveyor of offbeat fizzy water, is selling holiday-themed limited-edition packs of flavored sodas.

The Christmas pack will feature such flavors as Sugar Plum, Christmas Tree, Egg Nog and Christmas Ham. The Hanukkah pack will have Jelly Doughnut, Apple Sauce, Chocolate Coins and Latkes sodas.

"As always, both packs are kosher and contain zero caffeine," Jones said in a statement.

The packs will go on sale Sunday, with a portion of the proceeds to be given to charity, the company said.

Jones' products feature original label art and frequently odd flavors. Last year's seasonal pack was Thanksgiving-themed, with Green Pea, Sweet Potato, Dinner Roll, Turkey and Gravy, and Antacid sodas.

For its contract to supply soda to Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks, Jones came up with Perspiration, Dirt, Sports Cream and Natural Field Turf. The company -- fortunately or unfortunately -- prides itself on the accuracy of the taste.

Jones also makes more traditional flavors, including root beer, cherry and strawberry sodas.