The police separated the Keeleys and interrogated them in different rooms. Meanwhile, their young son was left outside in the car crying for his parents, as any normal toddler might do. As his mom tried to comfort the child, a police officer told them to get someone to take care of him or they would call child services to take him away.

The Keeleys wound up being thrown in jail for several days before they were able to post bond, leaving their child with a close relative. The charges were later dropped, with the judge presumably asking the police, "What are you, stupid?"

Via Wsbtv.com
"That'll be $5,000, please. No, not together -- each."

Naturally, Lopez and just about everyone else in the world disagreed with that decision, and several other lifeguards quit in protest.

Hemera Technologies/Photos.com
Causing 71 people to sink to their watery graves.

If Jeff Ellis Management had a PR division, they were probably ripping their hair out at this point over the company's strict adherence to the "let 'em die" policy of lifeguarding. Needless to say, it wasn't long before they came to their senses and reversed their stance on the matter, admitting they had been "hasty" in their original decision to, you know, fire a lifeguard for rescuing someone. The response of the former employees at being offered their jobs back involved one artfully extended middle finger.

The Backlash:

But not for Gaglio, who found himself brought up on charges several weeks later for giving the blanket away. See, it wasn't his blanket he brought from home -- it was a work blanket, belonging to the city. And apparently Detroit is so strapped for cash that they can't give away one blanket to an old man without making sure somebody pays for that shit. Did we mention that the blanket he gave away was actually originally donated? Because it totally was.

Digital Vision./Digital Vision/Getty Images
"Thanks for the free blanket ... SUCKERS!"

Anyway, the Detroit EMT services will probably never run short of blankets ever again: After news of the unfair treatment of Gaglio broke out, people from around the world decided to send in their own blankets as a replacement. No word on whether Detroit will allow those blankets to be given away either. Meanwhile, Gaglio still awaits his punishment from the world's most frugal bureaucrat.

Apparently, the Educational Bus Company that employed Daw takes bus driving very seriously as well. So much so that their ruling was that you can't just deviate from your route to pick up a bunch of unscheduled passengers. Not even if they're police officers. Not even if they're police officers trapped in a sinking car in the middle of a hailstorm.

The statement released by the company simply noted that it's against company policy to pick up unscheduled passengers, in the name of the children's safety. And that's fair enough -- we're sure that there's some kind of predatory animal out there that is able to disguise itself as three drowning police officers. We probably ran that one in an article just last week.

After some bad PR, the bus company did eventually give Daw his job back, with a note of praise for his rescue of three police officers, as well as a stern warning never to do it again ever.

Via Theblaze.com
Then they promptly shrunk his bus and cackled maniacally.

The explosive detonated as the area was being cleared, and sadly did kill one person and injure a bunch of others, but Jewell was hailed a hero for ensuring that it didn't wind up one of those incidents that is solemnly alluded to afterward simply by the date on which it occurred.

The Backlash:

That is, until he was named the lead suspect for having planted the bomb.

Via Foxnews.com
And here he is with a much justified "You have got to be fucking kidding me" look on his non-terrorist face.

Apparently, the FBI figured that the prospect of becoming a hero for saving thousands of people from a bomb threat is a pretty good motive for planting a bomb in the first place. On that logic, they announced that Jewell was under investigation, and the media (paying little mind to that "innocent until proven guilty" malarkey) took it from there.

News coverage of the FBI's investigation quickly turned into a kind of perverse reality TV show, broadcasting live as the FBI searched Jewell's apartment while keeping him under 24-hour surveillance. They even kept tabs on him as he did his grocery shopping -- you know, in case he walked out with six bags of fertilizer and some fuses. Jewell couldn't even escape late night television, as he found himself on the butt end of Jay Leno's jokes.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Of course, we use the term "jokes" very, very loosely.

Eventually, the feds were forced to admit that they didn't have anything on him. That didn't help Jewell, who had already lost his job and suffered a crucifixion in the media. There was no big moment of vindication for him, and he never got the hero status he deserved.

It was 10 years before someone finally stepped up to thank Jewell ... even after they caught the real guy.

Xavier Jackson has a Facebook page and an email at XavierJacksonCracked@gmail.com. He would also like to personally thank David G. and Maegan V. for their assistance with entries for this article.

And now for something totally different: 6 True Stories That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity and 5 Inspiring True Stories For Anyone Feeling Cynical Today.

By the way, did you know that your local mini-mart does more than serve orange-powdered cheesy snacks? Check out 6 Ways Convenience Stores Have Changed the World in our Food for Thought hub!