Crime

Law & Crime reports: A Jan. 6 rioter who was arrested in Canada after failing to report to prison and attempting to apply for asylum has gotten the green light to come back to the United States — with federal prosecutors quashing the arrest warrant they issued for him earlier this month and dismissing his fleeing justice charge — as …

Gothamist reports: A state trooper staged his own shooting on the Southern State Parkway in Nassau County in October — firing into his own leg, state police and local prosecutors said. When Trooper Thomas Mascia reported that he’d been shot, it set off a dayslong, multi-state manhunt for a vehicle and driver that authorities have since said he made up …

Indianapolis’s Fox affiliate reports: An Indiana man recently pardoned by President Donald Trump for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is dead after being shot by a sheriff’s deputy while allegedly resisting arrest. Matthew Huttle, 42, of Hobart was shot and killed during a traffic stop near the Jasper/Pulaski county lines on Sunday afternoon. A deputy with the Jasper …

Law & Crime reports: Thanks to President Donald Trump, a Texas man who beat police officers with a metal whip and showered them with bear spray during the Jan. 6 riot had his more than six-year prison sentence ended. But 36-year-old Andrew Taake may be headed back to jail anyway. Taake made headlines at the time of his arrest because …

The Christian News reports: A Texas megachurch pastor retired last month following an arrest for solicitation of prostitution at a massage parlor. The Rev. John F. Fiedler led the 15,000-member Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, until his retirement on Dec. 31, 2024, church records show. Police documents allege that Fielder was caught in a prostitution bust carried out …

Jacksonville’s Fox affiliate reports: The Vice Chair of the Clay Soil and Water Conservation Board, and son of Clay County School Board Member Beth Clark, was arrested Sunday, January 19th in a child sex sting operation conducted by the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office. According to the arrest report, Harrison “Ted” Clark is accused of traveling to meet a child for …

Oklahoma City’s NBC affiliate reports: The Cleveland County District Attorney’s office has charged a former pastor who’s accused of sending an unsolicited nude photo of himself to a Kansas teenager. Court documents allege McMillan added the victim on Snapchat in 2023. The victim told police at the time McMillan would have had to use his son’s phone, her former classmate, …

ABC News reports: A Massachusetts man was found to be carrying a gun after attending a tour of the U.S. Capitol as he left the nearby Library of Congress on Tuesday, police officials told ABC News on Thursday. Authorities in Washington were alerted by police in Carlisle, Massachusetts, on Monday that a man with a gun who had expressed suicidal …

Politico reports: Trump has once again sent a disturbing message to his supporters: If you engage in political violence on my behalf, I will protect you. Tarrio, Rhodes and their associates should feel emboldened, and there is no telling what they will do with Trump now firmly behind them. You can safely expect a fair amount of recidivism among those …

Milwaukee’s Fox affiliate reports: A now-former teacher at a Thiensville private school has been charged with child sex crimes. The accused is 36-year-old Daniel Rick of Jackson. He is a former teacher and athletic director at Christ Alone Lutheran School. He faces the following charges: child enticement-expose genitals/pubic area/intimate parts, exposing genitals/pubic area/intimate parts to a child. A criminal complaint …

The New York Daily News reports: Mayor Adams will attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday after getting a last-minute invite that led him to cancel appearances at multiple Martin Luther King Jr. Day events in New York. Adams — whose simpatico relationship with Trump has prompted speculation he’s looking for legal help with his federal corruption case — didn’t receive …

The Fond du Lac Reporter reports: A 19-year-old man accused of setting fire to a building in Fond du Lac early Sunday that included Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman’s office cited the TikTok ban as a motive in the incident, according to authorities. The Fond du Lac Police Department said the Menasha man was arrested after being found near a …

The Christian Post reports: Public trust in pastors has dropped to a new low, according to the latest Gallup poll. The survey finds that only 30% of Americans rate clergy as highly honest and ethical, continuing a downward trend. Gallup’s findings, released last week, place clergy in 10th position among the 23 professions measured. Clergy were ranked below auto mechanics …

Boston’s NBC affiliate reports: A New Hampshire man is under investigation for possible civil rights violations. Frank Hobbs Jr. is accused of swiping someone else’s signs supporting gay rights. New Hampshire authorities say Hobbs was caught on camera stealing signs from a Goffstown intersection. A woman had lawfully placed signs in support of the LGBTQ community, and when one of …

Asheville’s ABC affiliate reports: The McDowell County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) has charged a local pastor with multiple felonies. According to an MSCO Facebook post, Detective Grant Robinson with the MSCO charged Jeffrey Brian Merrow, 60, of Marion, N.C., with felony embezzlement and felony larceny.The release said Deputy Alicia Lund spoke with members of Garden Creek Baptist Church, where Merrow was …

ABC News reports: A Missouri man who brandished a Nazi flag after a thwarted attack on the White House in 2023 was sentenced to eight years in federal prison on Thursday. Sai Varsith Kandula traveled from St. Louis, Missouri, to Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2023. Four hours after his arrival, Kandula — then 19 years old — crashed the …

NBC News reports: President Joe Biden said Friday he is commuting the sentences of nearly 2500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, cementing his legacy as the president who has issued the most individual pardons and commutations in U.S. history. “Today’s clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, …

Law & Crime reports: A Jan. 6 rioter who was arrested in Canada after failing to report to prison and attempting to apply for asylum is now looking at the possibility of spending another year behind bars — on top of his original nine month sentence — for fleeing justice, according to federal prosecutors. Antony Vo, a former Indiana resident …

The Austin Statesman reports: Austin real estate investor Nate Paul on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a charge of making false statements to a financial institution as part of a deal with prosecutors, ending a six-year legal saga. All other counts against Paul will be dropped under the terms of the agreement. He faces up to six months in prison. Paul …

The Roys Report reports: The former pastor of a now-shuttered Calvary Chapel congregation in south-central Texas has been sentenced to two years in prison for possessing child sex abuse material. On Tuesday, Judge Phil Grant of the 9th District Court of Texas sentenced Bruce Hollen, 63, to two years in state prison, according to court records. For several years, Hollen …