Two Hayward brothers were arrested today after getting into an alcohol-induced fight with each other. Being brothers who fight, one of them employed the use of creative weaponry — specifically, a weed-whacker. (I bet it was the younger one. The younger one, speaking from experience, always goes in for the kill using the most creative yet dastardly force.)

Bay Area News Group/Oakland Tribune has more:

Officers were called at 12:06 a.m. to the 200 block of Cooper Way after a woman called 911 to report her children were fighting, said Sgt. Mark Ormsby.

When police arrived at the home, just a few blocks south of Tennyson Park, they found two brothers outside the house on the curb, Ormsby said.

Phillip Roman Ramirez, 21, reportedly grabbed a weed whacker and had threatened his brother Thomas Garcia Ramirez, 24, during an argument, according to police.

In response, the older brother grabbed a knife and allegedly stabbed his sibling in the wrist.

See, it was the younger one! I knew it! We do crazy shit like that, us younger brothers of the world. (Flashback: When I was a wispy ten years of age, I once gently tossed ["violently hurled," according to mom] a TV set at my older brother in the middle of a nasty fight. Instead of hitting him in the head, like it was supposed to do, the TV went through our bedroom window. Everything smashed to bits. Shards of glass and plastic and antennae everywhere. Both of us grounded for life. Point being: I won. It was his TV.)

Anyway, Thomas was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest, while Phillip totally didn't do anything wrong, mom! was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication and a probation violation.

[Oakland Tribune]

A new but not so shocking twist in the case of Leila Fowler happened over the weekend. Her 12-year-old brother was arrested in connection with her murder. If you recall, her brother was at home at the time of Leila's stabbing death last month and told police he saw a tall man with long gray hair run form the scene. Turns out he might have fabricated the entire thing.

AP reports:

Police released no information about what led them to arrest the unidentified 12-year-old for the April 27 attack. Following the crime, investigators did a door-to-door sweep of homes, storage sheds and horse stables scattered across the oak-studded hills foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Divers also searched two nearby reservoirs in search of clues.

Leila's brother told police he found his sister's body and encountered an intruder in the home while their parents were at a Little League game. He described the man as tall with long gray hair. A neighbor told detectives she saw a man flee the home, but she later recanted the story.

A neighbor, the only person to cooberate the brother's story of a tall man with gray hair leaving the house, later recanted her story.

Details in the case remain minimal. Although the 12-year-old suspect's biological mom, Priscilla Rodriquez, told Sacramento television station KOVR that her son "could never hurt his sister," she also noted that a "bitter" custody battle helped create a divide between her and the children's father.

On the brighter side, if there is any, the small Calaveras County town can sleep better knowing that the a suspect -- a 12-year-old boy, not a tall stranger -- is now in custody. The small community had rallied together over the past couple of weeks to help find Leila's murderer while keeping a watchful, worried eye on their own children. "Citizens of Calaveras County, you can sleep a little better tonight," Sheriff Gary Kuntz explained to reporters Saturday.

A court date has not been released due to the suspect being a minor.

[CBS]
[AP]
[LA Times]
[People]

Looking to get a few well-earned bucks out of the city for the Christmas Day tiger attack that claimed the life of their (alleged) friend Carlos Sousa Jr., Amritpal and Kulbir Dhaliwal have filed claims against the city. Finally. And our sources sent SFist a copy of the claim! (We'll try to get that up for you shortly.)

In addition to rightfully accusing San Francisco for for Tatiana's fatal mauling spree last December,which also sent the brothers to the hospital for several days, Geragos' firm also claims that the brothers "have been defamed by a public relations firm, acting as an agent of the city and county of San Francisco and the San Francisco Zoo. Members of the public relations firm, including but not limited to Sam Singer, made false statement's about Claimant's on the date of the attack."

Oh, and one of the brother is also whining that he was "wrongfully deprived" of his 2002 BMW M3, which was impounded. The poor dear.

In related news: OH MY GOD, Amritpal Dhaliwal, 19, was arrested last night at the Bayfair Center trying to shoplift a pair of Nintendo Wii controllers from Target. (His scars are still visible on his forehead, according to police. Aw.) Hope this doesn't hurt their credibility, or lack thereof, when their claim turns into a lawsuit and heads to court.

Less than a week after the fatal tiger mauling at the SF Zoo, much of the news that has (slowly) unraveled from the Christmas Day tiger attacks has been disheartening. From the downplayed info about the too-short tiger pen fence, conflicting evidence that the three boys taunted the Siberian tiger just before the attack, and that emergency protocol wasn't followed by SF Zoo employees, there are more chin-scratching facts to add to the list. Take, for example, the lack of concern the two brothers felt for their dead friend, Carlos. According to a law enforcement source, as the brothers were being transported from the zoo to the hospital, "one brother told the other not to talk to anyone." The source went on to say that "they were more concerned with their car in the parking lot and that it would be okay." (Sure, people have different reactions in time of grief, but still: Ouch.)

In more news, 911 tapes were released on Friday. According to SF Examiner:

Emergency personnel were first notified at 5:08 p.m. when a Terrace Café employee called 911 saying an "agitated man is claiming he was bitten by an animal," according to the transcript.

The two brothers attacked were initially considered mentally unstable by zoo personnel and "making something up" about a tiger biting one of them, the transcript says.

The transcript depicts a scene quickly descending into fear when at 5:11 p.m. the transcript read, "The tiger is out of the gate and they are locking up the zoo."