U.S. tourist kills mugger with bare hands

By: Associated Press | Friday, February 23, 2007 7:00 PM PST ∞

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- An American tourist who watched as a U.S. military veteran in his 70s used his bare hands to kill an armed assailant in Costa Rica said she thought the attempted robbery was a joke -- until the masked attacker held a gun to her head.

"I thought it was a skit. But then he pointed the gun at my head and grabbed me by the throat and I thought I was going to die," Clova Adams, 54, told The Associated Press by telephone Friday from the Carnival Liberty cruise ship.

The assault occurred during a ship stopover Wednesday in Limon, 80 miles east of San Jose, Costa Rica's capital.

Adams was with 12 American tourists who hired a driver to explore Costa Rica for a few hours. They were climbing out of the van to visit a Caribbean beach when three men wearing ski masks ran toward them, she said. One held a gun to her head, while the other two pulled out knives.

Suddenly, one of the tourists, a U.S. military veteran trained in self defense, jumped out of the van and put the gunman in a headlock, according to Limon police chief Luis Hernandez.

Hernandez said the American, whom he refused to identify, struggled with the robber, breaking his collarbone and eventually killing him. Police identified the dead man as Warner Segura, 20. The other two assailants fled.

Afterward, the tourists drove Segura to a hospital, where he was declared dead. Sergio Lopez, a Red Cross auxiliary, examined Segura's body and said he died from asphyxiation.

Lopez also treated Adams for a panic attack.

"She was very nervous after the assault, but she had not been physically hurt," Lopez said.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed the account, but refused to release the name of the American who defended the group, citing his right to privacy.

Costa Rican officials interviewed the Americans, and said they wouldn't charge the U.S. tourist with any crime because he acted in self defense.

"They were in their right to defend themselves after being held up," Hernandez said. He said Segura had previous charges against him for assaults.

The cruise ship delayed its departure until the group boarded the ship, The Carnival Liberty, which was set to return Sunday to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Adams spoke freely with the AP until a man who identified himself as her fiancee said they didn't want to talk to the media. He said the group might release a joint statement later and hung up the telephone.

Officials on the ship refused to pass an AP reporter on to other members of the tourist group, and several attempts to reach Adams' room again failed.

Costa Rica has struggled with growing violence and crime in recent years. University of Kansas student Shannon Martin, 23, was stabbed to death in 2001 after she left a nightclub in Golfito, 105 miles south of San Jose.

Carnival Cruise Lines confirmed in a statement that one of the ship's guests had killed the Costa Rican assailant, but refused to name those involved.

"All of the guests involved, who had booked the cruise together as a group, have opted to continue with their vacation plans. Carnival is providing full support and assistance to the guests," the statement said.

-- Associated Press writer Ioan Grillo contributed to this report from Mexico City.

Video shows rats running wild in KFC-TacoBell restaurant in New York City

NEW YORK (AP) -- A dozen rats were caught on video scurrying around the floor of a New York City KFC/Taco Bell restaurant early Friday, running between counters and tables and climbing on children's high chairs.

News crews flocked to the windows of the Greenwich Village neighborhood restaurant, which hadn't opened for the day. By midmorning, the footage was all over the Internet and television news shows, with onlookers giving a play-by-play from the sidewalk as the rodents moved about.

"He's coming for his close-up," one bystander said as a rat came near the window.

Employees came to work, but no customers were allowed in as health inspectors arrived.

There was no answer at the phone number displayed in neon on the store window below the words "We Deliver."

"This is completely unacceptable and is an absolute violation of our high standards," KFC and Taco Bell said in a statement. "This restaurant has been closed and we are addressing the issue with the franchise owner. We will not allow this store to reopen until is it completely resanitized and given a clean bill of health."

The chains said construction in the basement on Thursday "temporarily escalated the situation."

The city Department of Health had inspectors at the site on Friday, said department spokeswoman Sara Markt. She said the restaurant had passed inspection in December, but a violation was issued to the restaurant owner about "evidence of rats" -- which meant only droppings at the time.

Markt said the owner of the franchise is listed with the department as ADF Fifth Operating Corp.

Rats have long been a problem in New York City, with such a dense population and such a large and readily available food supply for the rodents. They are frequently scampering through subway tunnels, rooting through trash, dashing across parks and burrowing into the walls of apartment buildings.

But it is rare to see so many rats congregating in one place in such public view.

Yum Brands Inc., based in Louisville, Ky., owns the Taco Bell and KFC restaurant chains.

Last week, it was reported that Taco Bell sales had slumped after a widely publicized E. coli scare, but that international sales helped Yum Brands in the company's fourth quarter.

The E. coli outbreak late last year caused more than 70 Taco Bell customers to become ill. Federal officials said in December that the most likely source of the illnesses was lettuce. Taco Bell took precautions by changing its suppliers of lettuce and cheese in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Homeless, mentally ill man spent 17 months in Indiana jail after allegedly stealing a soda

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) -- Officials are at a loss to explain how they allowed a homeless, mentally ill man accused of stealing a soda to languish in jail for 17 months.

Edward Perez's attorney, his court-appointed psychiatrist, the judge in his case and Lake County jail officials all apparently believed he had been released a year ago.

The mistake wasn't discovered until this month, after a new warden ordered a review of all inmates' files, Sheriff Roy Dominguez told the Post-Tribune of Merrillville for a story Friday.

"This is very unfortunate," Judge Sheila Moss said. "This is a guy who apparently needed services, and he should have been somewhere where he could get that, rather than sitting in our county jail, which is already overcrowded."

The jail released Perez and transferred him to a mental health clinic Feb. 7, Dominguez said.

Perez had stayed in the jail's medical wing since July 2, 2005, after allegedly stealing a bottle of Pepsi from a Wal-Mart in Schererville, Dominguez said.

A police report that referred to the man as "Edward Hammer-Perez" said that before stealing the soda, he said he had just gotten out of jail and wanted to go back. He listed the state psychiatric hospital in Logansport as his address.

In February 2006, the psychiatrist went to the jail to evaluate Perez only to be told he already had been released, Moss said. The judge said that after the psychiatrist informed her, she deferred to defense attorney Fred Flores, who agreed that his client was not behind bars.

Moss, noting that Perez appeared in some records as "Edward Hammer-Perez," speculated he might have been jailed under a different name than appeared on his court file.

Telephone messages left by The Associated Press seeking comment from Flores and the sheriff's department were not immediately returned Friday. An employee at the clinic where Perez was taken said officials authorized to comment were unavailable until Monday.

Gunman takes 13-year-old Fla. boy from bus stop; child found hours later

PARRISH, Fla. (AP) -- A teenage boy was abducted by a gunman at a school bus stop Friday but found hours later with only scratches, officials said.

Clay Moore, 13, was kidnapped shortly before 9 a.m. He was among about a dozen children and was closest to the man's red or maroon pickup truck, Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells said.

He was found walking on a farm or a ranch about 20 miles away, Wells said. Someone saw him and let him use a cell phone.

Wells said deputies were talking with the boy, and police had not arrested anyone.

It wasn't clear how the boy got the minor scratches. Wells said he didn't yet know whether the boy was freed or had escaped.

Wells said it appeared to be a random kidnapping.

Parrish is about 30 miles southeast of St. Petersburg.

Giant sinkhole swallows homes in Guatemala City neighborhood; 2 killed

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AP) -- A 330-foot-deep sinkhole killed two teenage siblings when it swallowed about a dozen homes early Friday and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people in a crowded Guatemala City neighborhood.

Officials blamed the sinkhole on recent rains and an underground sewage flow from a ruptured main. The two bodies were found near the enormous fissure, floating in a river of sewage.

The pit emitted foul odors, loud noises and tremors, shaking the surrounding ground. A rush of water could be heard from its depths, and authorities feared it could widen or others could open up.

Edward Ramirez said he and other residents had been hearing noises and feeling tremors for about a month before the ground opened up before dawn, waking many in the poor neighborhood.

"People were shouting 'The electric posts are falling down!"' said the 26-year-old Ramirez, who lives 50 yards from the hole. "We are going to a friend's house now. There's no way we'll stay here."

Police helped residents move out of their homes. Some officers carried refrigerators and TV sets on their shoulders, while other pushed sofas on makeshift carts.

The dead were identified as Irma and David Soyos, said emergency spokesman Juan Carlos Bolanos. Their father, Domingo, was still missing, according to disaster coordinator Hugo Hernandez.

Rescue operations were on hold until a firefighter, suspended from a cable, could take video and photos above the hole and officials could use the documentation to decide how to proceed.

Security officials guarded the site from possible looters and to clear the area of onlookers.

Cristobal Colon, a spokesman for the municipal water authority, said the sewage main ruptured after becoming clogged. He said the city was aware of the blockage and the army had been considering a controlled explosion to clear the pipe, which carries both rainwater and sewage for much of the capital.

Antonio Fuentes, 50, said he plans to abandon the run-down neighborhood he has called home for 15 years.

"Last night, a friend had to take my handicapped wife out on motorcycle," he said. "Now I'm leaving for good, never to come back."

Preserved human kidney recovered 2 months after theft from exhibit in Seattle

SEATTLE (AP) -- A human kidney stolen from an exhibit of preserved bodies and organs was recovered after two months, thanks to an anonymous tip, police said.

Police interviewed and released a 26-year-old Tacoma man about the case and were waiting for prosecutors to decide whether to bring charges, Officer Jeffery R. Kappel said. Police declined to say why the kidney was taken or where it had been kept.

The organ disappeared Dec. 30 from "Bodies ... The Exhibition," which features 20 cadavers and 260 other parts preserved with a process that replaces human tissue with silicone rubber. Skin is removed, exposing muscles, bones, organs, tendons, blood vessels and brains.

The kidney was part of an interactive area where visitors can touch some body parts.

The exhibit, which runs through April 29, is one of several being shown around the world. The displays have drawn protests in Seattle and elsewhere because the Chinese citizens whose cadavers and body parts were used never agreed to let their remains be displayed.

It was unclear whether anyone would claim a $10,000 reward offered in January by Premier Exhibitions Inc. of Atlanta for the kidney's return. Police were holding the kidney as evidence.

The theft was the first from a "Bodies" display, a Premier Exhibitions spokeswoman said.

On the Net:

http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com

Virginia man confesses to deadly hit-and-run more than half a century later

HILLSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- A man received a suspended jail sentence after confessing to running down an elderly churchgoer with a car, then leaving the scene more than half a century ago.

Verlyn Brady, 77, pleaded guilty Thursday to reckless driving in the 1953 hit-and-run death of George Lewis Dalton in this small, southwest Virginia town.

Brady said he wondered for years whether it was a deer or a person he struck one October night. He waited until last summer, just before he underwent open heart surgery, to contact authorities.

Dalton, 74, and his wife were crossing a road in front of their home about two miles south of Hillsville on their way to church when he was killed. The driver disappeared into the darkness.

Brady said he was blinded by the headlights of an oncoming vehicle and wasn't sure what he had struck. He inspected the car later and found a broken headlight and blood on the bumper.

He said he saw a newspaper account of the accident at the time and wondered all these years whether he was responsible. A teenager known for speeding around town was suspected but cleared of the deadly accident.

In addition to a suspended jail sentence, Brady was fined $500 and had his driving privileges restricted for six months.

Beaver is spotted in New York City for the first time in 2 centuries

NEW YORK (AP) -- Beavers grace New York City's official seal. But the industrious rodents haven't been spotted here for as many as 200 years -- until this week.

Biologists videotaped a beaver swimming up the Bronx River on Wednesday. Its twig-and-mud lodge had been spotted earlier on the river bank, but the tape confirmed the presence of the animal.

"It had to happen because beaver populations are expanding, and their habitats are shrinking," said Dietland Muller-Schwarze, a beaver expert at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. "We're probably going to see more of them."

Beavers gnawed out a prominent place in the city's early days as a European settlement, attracting fur traders to a nascent Manhattan. The animal appears in the city seal to symbolize a Dutch trading company that factored in the city's colonial beginnings, according to the city's Web site.

But amid heavy trapping, beavers disappeared from the city in the early 1800s, according to the city Department of Parks & Recreation.

The beaver that has made its way to the Bronx appears to be a male, several feet long and 2 or 3 years old, said Patrick Thomas, the mammals curator at the nearby Bronx Zoo.

Biologists have nicknamed the animal Jose, as a tribute to Rep. Jose Serrano's work to revive the river. The Bronx Democrat lined up federal money for a cleanup.

"But I don't know to what extent I imagined things living in it again," he said.

Man gets life sentence, life partner in same court

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- With help from a judge, a man being sentenced to five years in prison also got a life partner.

After sentencing 23-year-old David Kite on Wednesday to prison for stealing a lawnmower from a home, St. Clair County Circuit Judge John Baricevic obliged Kite's request to marry girlfriend Victoria Smith in the same courtroom.

The groom sported an orange jumpsuit, shackles and handcuffs during the five-minute civil ceremony; the bride had on a T-shirt and sweat pants.

A day later, Baricevic described the short ceremony as polite, with no visible grudge toward him by the lovestruck man he'd just punished with prison.

"If there's any resentment, you'd have to ask the other guy," Baricevic said. "Judges in all states marry people. Obviously, the situation involved here was not a usual one. It's very unique."

And it developed fast.

Kite had just pleaded guilty to a felony theft count and was ordered imprisoned when Kite asked for a furlough to marry Smith, promising to surrender to begin serving his sentence afterward. A prosecutor objected, and Baricevic denied the request.

"Usually to grant a furlough, it has to be an emergency situation. I didn't think marriage was," the judge said.

Moments later, Kite and Smith said they wanted to get married immediately.

So with Kite in a holdover cell, Smith hustled to the county clerk's office and filled out a marriage license the clerk brought over for Kite to sign.

Man discovers hottest chili pepper

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) -- Paul Bosland recalls taking a bite of a chili pepper and feeling like he was breathing fire.

He gulped down a soda, thinking, "That chili has got to be some kind of record."

The Guinness Book of World Records agreed, confirming recently that Bosland, a regents professor at New Mexico State University, had discovered the world's hottest chili pepper, Bhut Jolokia, a naturally occurring hybrid native to the Assam region of northeastern India.

The name translates as ghost chili, Bosland said.

"We're not sure why they call it that, but I think it's because the chili is so hot, you give up the ghost when you eat it," he said.

Bhut Jolokia comes in at 1,001,304 Scoville heat units, a measure of hotness for a chili. It's nearly twice as hot as Red Savina, the variety it replaces as the hottest.

By comparison, a New Mexico green chili contains about 1,500 Scoville units; an average jalapeno measures at about 10,000.

Anatomically explicit vehicle decor faces potential ban in Maryland

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Fake bull testicles and other anatomically explicit vehicle decorations would be banned from Maryland roads under a bill pending in the state legislature.

The measure was filed in the General Assembly Monday by Delegate LeRoy E. Myers Jr., who says children shouldn't be exposed to giant plastic gonads dangling from pickup truck trailer hitches. The bill also would ban displaying images of naked human breasts, buttocks or genitals, with offenses punishable by fines of up to $500.

"It's time to take a stand," Myers told The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail.

The American Civil Liberties Union objected to Myers' bill.

"The legislation is overly broad, and would probably make it illegal to have a sticker on your car of the Venus de Milo from an art museum," ACLU of Maryland spokeswoman Meredith Curtis wrote in an e-mail.

Pamela Campbell, whose Bullhead City, Ariz., business sells fake bull testicles, suggested that the swinging decorations can prompt healthy discussions about anatomy and reproduction.

"Do we have to neuter all dogs that walk by us?" she asked. "Where does it stop?"

Last week, Arizona's legislature rejected a measure that would have banned vehicle splash guards bearing racist terms or silhouettes of naked women.

'Hugging Bandit' gives costly affection

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- She's a hugging machine, but her affection comes with a price.

Police are warning men about the "Hugging Bandit," who heartily embraces men coming out of downtown bars and leaves them wallet-less.

Dozens of men say they have been victims. Police say others are too embarrassed to admit it.

"She doesn't just go up to you and hug you," said Detective Sgt. Tom Donovan. "She actually grabs (them), tries to talk them into something more, and there goes their wallet."

The Hugging Bandit has been striking for about the past decade, typically between 2 and 4 a.m. She uses the credit cards she steals within hours of her theft, police said.

"As far as I can tell, she waits until it's late at night and these guys coming out of the bars are tipsy," Donovan said. "They're either going to their car or going to the hot dog vendor ... She makes sure they're rip-roaring drunk."

Officers believe she is a 48-year-old Buffalo woman they have arrested 17 times between 1998 and 2005 for similar schemes, as well as prostitution and criminal possession of stolen property.

Her most recent theft was early Sunday. A man told police a heavyset woman approached him for sex. When he said no, she gave him a hug and left -- with his wallet containing $25, his driver's license and debit cards.

Police said they showed the man on Wednesday a photo array that included the woman suspected in the case. The man admitted that he was too drunk to remember her.

Myanmar cracks down on protesters, detaining 5

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- At least five protesters who took part in a rare demonstration that urged Myanmar's ruling military junta to improve health care, education and economic conditions were taken into custody Friday, people close to the demonstrators said.

One demonstrator, Htin Kyaw, was arrested at Thursday's protest, another on Thursday night, and three more, including one woman, on Friday on the outskirts of Yangon. Friday's detentions came after state-run media warned that their demonstration had broken the law and could prompt a crackdown.

Myanmar's military junta tolerates little dissent, and strictly curbs freedom of assembly and the media.

The protesters were taken from their homes and interrogated, according to people who know them but requested anonymity for fear of reprisal. More details were not immediately available.

About 25 people took part in the demonstration Thursday in Yangon, calling for improved health care and education, better pension benefits and lower prices for food staples. The government subsidizes items such as rice and cooking oil but not enough to offset rising prices, the protesters said.

It was one of the first demonstrations to challenge the junta's competence rather than its legal right to rule.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Friday that "action might be taken against the group" involved. The state media closely report the government line.

The National League for Democracy party of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday expressed its support for the demonstrators, describing them as "a group of people who had staged a peaceful protest holding placards that were expressing the actual problems people are facing in the country."

"The group had not caused any riot or commotion and had not done anything to create disrespect to the authorities but were merely exercising their basic rights as citizens."

The 30-minute demonstration ended peacefully. Three Myanmar journalists were detained for several hours.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta was installed in 1988 after authorities put down mass pro-democracy demonstrations.

General elections were held in 1990, but the military refused to hand over power after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory.

New Zealand demands Japan urgently move its stricken whaler from Antarctic coast

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- New Zealand demanded Friday that Japan explain why a whaling ship drifting off the Antarctic has not been moved eight days after being crippled by fire.

Conservation Minister Chris Carter said New Zealand urgently wants the whale processing vessel Nisshin Maru moved out of the area to avoid an environmental disaster if the weather deteriorates and the ship founders 135 miles north of the pristine coastline.

"That ship is still stationary in the water. It has got 1,100 tons of toxic oil in it and we want it out of there," Carter said.

Japan appears determined that the ship will leave the region under its own steam, while New Zealand and conservationists say offers of help to tow the ship away should be accepted to ease fears it could spill oil or other toxic chemicals near Antarctica's largest penguin rookery.

A spokesman for Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research, Glenn Inwood, said Friday, "There is no reason to move the vessel -- it isn't posing any threat to the Antarctic environment and the best thing to do for the safety of the crew is to complete ... getting the vessel seaworthy."

Asked to respond to Carter's demands that Japan move the ship, he said, "Look, everyone wants the Nisshin Maru moved as soon as possible, no one more than Japan."

"The sooner they can get the girl (vessel) moving, the sooner they can leave that area of the Antarctic," he told The Associated Press.

The ship's main engine was restarted but the crew turned it off while they repaired the vessel's safety systems, he said.

Crew are checking the radar, autopilot and rudder controls, as well as rewiring electrical circuitry damaged in the fire, he added.

Weather in the Ross Sea, where the vessel is drifting lashed between two other whalers, is still calm and the ship is not in any danger from pack ice, Inwood said.

An international environmental coalition said Friday it has asked countries with stakes in the Antarctic to act to prevent environmental damage from the ship.

The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, a group of more than 150 environmental non-governmental organizations in more than 40 countries, believes a decision was needed urgently, coalition executive director James Barnes said.

"Given the practicalities of the situation, it would appear that the Nisshin Maru should be towed out of harm's way to the nearest capable port or facility by the closest available vessel capable of doing so," he said.

The countries recognized under the Antarctic Treaty as having territory or interests in Antarctica include Australia, Britain, New Zealand and the United States.

Judge tosses suit by parents who objected to talk of gay marriage in classroom

BOSTON (AP)- - A federal judge on Friday threw out a lawsuit filed by parents who wanted to keep their young children from learning about gay marriage in school.

U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf said federal courts have decided in other cases that parents' rights to exercise their religious beliefs are not violated when their children are exposed to contrary ideas in school.

"In essence under the Constitution public schools are entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens in our democracy," Wolf said in his ruling.

Toni and David Parker of Lexington sued after their 5-year-old son brought home a book from kindergarten that depicted a gay family. Another Lexington couple joined the suit after a second-grade teacher read the class a fairy tale about two princes falling in love.

Both couples claimed Lexington school officials violated their parental rights to teach their own morals to their children. They said they did not want to dictate curriculum but wanted to be notified before gay couples were discussed so they could remove their children from classrooms.

Wolf dismissed both federal and state claims made in the lawsuit but said the parents could refile the lawsuit in state court.

The case attracted attention in part because Massachusetts is the only state that allows same-sex marriage.

Forty-five states ban gay marriage, most of them through voter-approved amendments. New Jersey, Vermont and Connecticut offer civil unions, which offer the protections and benefits of marriage without the title, and California offers domestic partnerships with similar benefits.

Prosecutors in Lubbock, Texas, say Chippendales dancers won't face charges for pelvic thrusts

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- A troupe of Chippendales dancers won't face criminal charges for the "pelvic thrusts" that got them thrown in jail for a night.

Police shut down a sold-out show at Jake's Sports Cafe on Feb. 16, saying a Chippendale with his pants open thrust his hips in a woman's face. The dancers were accused of performing a sexually oriented show without the proper permits.

But the district attorney told police Thursday that the eight dancers, their manager, a promoter and a manager at the sports bar will not be prosecuted on the misdemeanor charges. City officials also said they would not pursue the case.

Scott Stephenson, owner of Jake's Sports Cafe, said he was plans to invite the all-male troupe of shirtless, beefcake dancers back.

Virginia man charged with dumping more than 70 dead pets in national forests

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- A man working for a pet crematorium was charged with dumping the bodies of dozens of dead dogs, cats and other animals in the woods.

More than 70 carcasses were found on land in the George Washington and Jefferson national forests in boxes and bags, some with intravenous tubes and other medical equipment attached to their bodies.

Ronald Lee Henry Jr., 39, was indicted this week on a federal charge of willful depredation of federal land. He faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

"Instead of burying or cremating the dear little darlings, he was dumping them alongside the road," Hardy County Sheriff Robert Ferrell said.

Henry was working as a subcontractor for Family Pet Cremations in Chantilly, Va., when the dumping occurred in December 2005. Company owner Russell D. Harman would not comment on the indictment.

JoBeth Brown, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service in Roanoke, Va., also declined comment Friday.

Colorado high school bans energy drink after students say they felt ill

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- A high school banned a caffeine-packed energy drink after students complained that it made them sick and shaky and caused their hearts to race.

Some convenience stores near Doherty High also stopped selling the Spike Shooter drink, district spokeswoman Elaine Naleski said Friday.

About a half-dozen students reported symptoms including shortness of breath, heart palpitations and nausea, school officials said.

One student was taken by ambulance to a hospital last week and another was "so shaky and messed up" that she was brought to the school office in a wheelchair, Principal Jill Martin said. The effects were temporary and the students recovered, Naleski said.

Tim Patterson, chief executive of Colorado Springs-based Biotest Laboratories, which produces Spike Shooter, said the drink isn't meant for anyone under 18.

"I don't want these kids consuming the product," Patterson said. "That's not my target market."

He said thousands of customers have had no problem with the product, which the company says is sold in Colorado and Northern California.

The drink Web site says an 8.4-ounce can has 300 milligrams of caffeine. By comparison, the average 5-ounce cup of coffee has 80 to 115 milligrams of caffeine, according to the London-based International Coffee Organization.

The Web site cautions consumers: "Begin use with one-half can to determine tolerance."