Crime

ABC News reports: Samuel Woodward, a California man accused of murdering his former classmate in 2018, has been found guilty in the hate crime case. Blaze Bernstein — a 19-year-old gay, Jewish student at the University of Pennsylvania — went missing while visiting his family in Newport Beach during winter break in January 2018. His body was found following a …

The Christian Post reports: Zachary King, a pastor with “significant experience serving in youth ministry” at multiple megachurches, including LexCity Church in Lexington, Kentucky, from which he recently resigned as executive pastor, has been charged with the rape and sexual abuse of a minor. A press release from the office of Attorney General of Kentucky, Russell Coleman, said King, 47, …

From the Justice Department: An Arkansas man was arrested today for allegedly assaulting law enforcement and other charges related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His alleged actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: St. Petersburg police have arrested a man who they say vandalized an LGBTQ+ street mural by doing burnouts on it. Christian Maier, 18, of St. Petersburg was arrested Monday on charges of felony criminal mischief and racing or stunt driving on a public street, the police department said in a news release. The Progressive Pride …

The Associated Press reports: Florida prosecutors knew the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted teenage girls two years before they cut a plea deal that has long been criticized as too lenient and a missed opportunity to imprison him a decade earlier, according to transcripts released Monday. The investigations uncovered Epstein’s close ties to former President Bill Clinton …

Indianapolis’s Fox affiliate reports: Victoria Spartz, the Republican U.S. Representative from Indiana’s fifth district currently running for reelection, has been charged after reportedly bringing a gun into a DC airport. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority confirmed to FOX59/CBS4 on Monday afternoon that Spartz was charged last Friday, June 28, with a weapons violation at Dulles International Airport. According to TSA, officers …

From the Justice Department: A North Carolina man was sentenced to prison today on six felonies related to his violent conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election. …

From the Justice Department: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the arrest of JUSTIN HEATH SMITH, an adult film actor who uses the stage name “Austin Wolf.” SMITH is charged …

NBC News reports: A Missouri woman is charged with multiple felonies for allegedly spiking her husband’s Mountain Dew with Roundup weed killer and insecticide repeatedly to be “mean” to him, authorities said. Michelle Y. Peters, 47, of Lebanon, is accused of secretly putting Roundup in her husband’s 2-liter bottles of Mountain Dew he stored in a garage refrigerator during May …

Sarasota’s ABC affiliate reports: The senior pastor of Palm View Baptist Church, Jonathan Edward Elwing, was arrested on June 21 for possession of child pornography. The 18 felony counts against Elwing stem from explicit photos of minors that detectives found on his phone. On June 20, detectives received information that Elwing used cryptocurrency to make an online purchase of child …

ABC News reports: A teenager accused of making a hit list and planning a mass killing at a high school near Cincinnati pleaded guilty Thursday to reduced charges of inducing panic. Prosecutors dropped a charge against the 14-year-old, leveled in February, of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder. He will be sentenced in July. Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers said the …

The Associated Press reports: A New Hampshire man charged with threatening the lives of presidential candidates last year has been found dead while a jury was deciding his verdict, according to court filings Thursday. The jury began weighing the case against Tyler Anderson, 30, of Dover on Tuesday after a trial that began Monday. A message seeking comment from Anderson’s …

The Associated Press reports: Nearly 200 people have been charged in a sweeping nationwide crackdown on health care fraud schemes with false claims topping $2.7 billion, the Justice Department said on Thursday. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges against doctors, nurse practitioners and others across the U.S. accused of a variety of scams, including a $900 million scheme in …

NBC News reports: A man known for publicly harassing police officers who testified in Jan. 6 cases has been arrested in connection with his own involvement with the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Tommy Tatum, who has also provided trial testimony on behalf of a Jan. 6 defendant, was arrested in Mississippi on Wednesday, according to court records. He …

New Orleans’ NBC affiliate reports: The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said on May 26, a Mandeville-area woman called the sheriff to report that her LGBTQ flag was stolen from outside her house and burned in the middle of the roadway at the intersection of Soult Drive and Preval Drive. The sheriff said detectives arrested two 15-year-olds and one 14-year-old …

The Arizona Republic reports: Officials say a temporary elections employee stole a security fob from Maricopa County’s vote tabulation headquarters last week. Walter Ringfield, a 27-year-old Phoenix resident took the fob on the evening of June 20 from the facility, officials said. In a statement, officials said the fob was recovered and they will reprogram and retest election equipment to …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: A Tampa dentist was indicted after he was accused of sending dozens of threats, some of which were racially charged and praised Donald Trump, according to the DOJ. Richard Glenn Kantwill, 60, of Tampa, was charged with three counts of interstate transmission of a threat to injure, officials said. The DOJ said Kantwill sent about 100 …

The Washington Post reports: Four people were killed and nine injured, including two police officers, when a gunman opened fire Friday morning outside a grocery store in Fordyce, Ark., according to state police. Law enforcement responded to calls around 11:40 a.m. on Friday about a shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store, said Mike Hagar, director of the Arkansas State …

Miami’s ABC affiliate reports: Vandals targeted row after row of Tesla Cybertrucks stored in a nondescript Fort Lauderdale parking lot in an apparent vendetta against the company’s controversial CEO, Elon Musk. The message spray-painted onto the vehicles? “F— Elon.” “It was just one row and then it was a second row, and then a third row and a fourth row,” …

The Kansas City Star reports: The president of Blue Springs’ elected school board has resigned amid allegations raised online by a young woman who accuses him of grooming her about 10 years ago when she was a youth group leader in his church. “It is with a profound sense of responsibility and commitment to transparency that we acknowledge the recent …