Tag Archives: crime

NBC News reports: The driver who police say intentionally drove a car into pedestrians in California this week targeted his victims because he believed some of them were Muslim, police said Friday. The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety said in a statement that the suspect, Isaiah Joel Peoples, 34, “intentionally targeted the victims based on their race and his belief …

Law.com reports: A Tennessee man charged by New York prosecutors with pretending to be a Manhattan lawyer and taking thousands from would-be clients was the co-founder of Students for Trump, a national group that mobilized college campuses in the run-up to the 2016 election and plans to do so again in 2020. John Lambert, 23, was arrested last week and …

CBS News reports: A woman has been arrested for allegedly throwing a bag containing seven newborn puppies into a Southern California dumpster. Riverside County Animal Services arrested 54-year-old Deborah Culwell on Monday at her Coachella home, reports CBS Los Angeles. Surveillance video showed a woman get out of a car and drop a bag containing the pups into a dumpster …

San Diego’s Fox affiliate reports: Parishioners and police tackled a woman who entered a Clairemont church service carrying a baby and a handgun on Easter Sunday. Police first received calls about an armed woman at a church service hosted at Mt. Everest Academy, near the intersection of Balboa and Genessee avenues, around noon. Witnesses said the woman came up on …

The Times Of San Diego reports: Rep. Duncan Hunter posted a video Thursday showing himself at the “grand border wall in Yuma, Arizona.” He says: “It looks pretty tough to cross. Let me see if I can do it.” He swings his legs over a horizontal rail less than waist high and declares: “There you go. That’s how easy it …

The Miami Herald reports: Federal authorities have arrested a South Florida man and accused him of calling the offices of three members of Congress and leaving threatening, racist and homophobic messages. John Kless, 49, has been charged with making threatening communications after U.S. Capitol Police say he called up U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Eric …

NBC News reports: David and Louise Turpin, the California parents who beat, starved and held 12 of their children captive inside their home, were sentenced Friday to life in prison. The husband and wife pleaded guilty in February to 14 counts each of torture, dependent adult abuse, child endangerment and false imprisonment. During their sentencing, both parents cried and wiped …

NBC News reports: A man carrying two gas cans, lighter fluid and lighters tried to enter St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Wednesday but was stopped by a security officer and taken into custody, an NYPD official said. “Nothing happened inside the cathedral,” the Archdiocese of New York said in a statement. There was no fire, but there …

The Associated Press reports: Bill Cosby has agreed to settle lawsuits filed by seven women who say he defamed them when he accused them of lying about sexual misconduct allegations. Court documents filed Friday in Springfield, Massachusetts, show the two sides have negotiated a settlement since Cosby went to prison last fall in a separate Pennsylvania sex assault case. The …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: A sword-wielding assailant wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat slashed a man in the hand during an altercation outside a popular roller-skating rink in San Francisco’s Western Addition on Friday, officials said. Police are searching for the attacker, who fled the scene outside the Church of 8 Wheels on Fillmore and Fell streets, …

CNBC reports: Celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti denied on Tuesday that he had tried to shake down Nike, and he accused the sports apparel giant of committing a “crime and coverup.” Avenatti tweeted his denial a day after he was arrested on federal charges, including trying to extort up to $25 million from the sports apparel company by threatening to reveal …

The Desert Sun reports: Police are looking for a person who shot two people at a Palm Springs night club early Sunday. The shooting was reported just before 2 a.m. at Toucans Toucans Tiki Lounge, 2100 N. Palm Canyon Drive. Neither victim’s injuries were life threatening, Palm Springs police Sgt. Ryan Raso said. The incident began when two people got …

CBS News reports: Police say a man threatened and intimidated members of a Phoenix mosque Saturday evening. According to the Phoenix Police Department, 40-year-old Noel Thomas Becht was reportedly acting suspiciously at the United Islamic Center of Arizona located near 35th Avenue and Yorkshire Drive. He first entered the mosque and told members he was curious about the Muslim religion. …

Will Sommer reports at The Daily Beast: Right-wing personality Jacob Wohl appears to have faked death threats against himself. One of those threats came via direct message from a Twitter account called @Drakehomes612, who described himself as a Minneapolis “diversity coordinator.” “I hope you fuckin know that if [I] bump into you in Dinkytown or anywhere else in my city …

NBC News reports: The ringleader behind a $25 million college admission scam that implicated dozens of people, including Hollywood actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, said he has worked with more than 750 families. William Rick Singer, who pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Boston federal court to racketeering, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges, said in a phone …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: The 737 inmates on California’s largest-in-the-nation death row are getting a reprieve from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who plans to sign an executive order Wednesday placing a moratorium on executions. Newsom also is withdrawing the lethal injection regulations that death penalty opponents already have tied up in courts and shuttering the new execution chamber at San …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. Bureau of Prisons opened an investigation into pharmaceutical wunderkind Martin Shkreli’s behavior behind bars, a bureau spokesperson said Friday. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Mr. Shkreli, 35 years old, is largely running his former drug company, Phoenixus AG, from his prison cell in Fort Dix, N.J., via a contraband smartphone. Mr. …

The Chicago Tribune reports: Musician R. Kelly was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after failing to comply with a judge’s order that he pay more than $161,000 in back child support. More than a hour after Kelly entered a closed court hearing in the Daley Center, he walked out accompanied by Cook County sheriff’s deputies. “He’s in our custody,” said …

The Associated Press reports: A 24-year-old man is guilty of trying to detonate what he believed was an explosives-laden van outside an Oklahoma City bank, a federal jury ruled Monday. Jurors convicted Jerry Drake Varnell, of Sayre, of attempting to use an explosive device to damage a building and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors alleged that …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: He asked the man if he was gay and when he responded “I am,” he hit him. Now, that alleged attacker faces assault charges — but those will not be enhanced as a hate crime. Carlo Alazo, 22 from Florida, was charged Friday by the Salt Lake County district attorney with three misdemeanors for threatening …