Tag Archives: crimes

The Insider reports: In a sit-down with a group of reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday — the day before his historic expulsion from Congress — the scandal-plagued Republican took a swipe at what most consider to be the foremost achievement of the LGBTQ rights movement. “I was an opposer of gay marriage,” Santos said in response to a question …

Memphis’s Fox affiliate reports: A well-known Shelby County pastor who appeared on “American Idol” and “The Voice” was arrested and charged with identity theft. Pastor Steven Flockhart of 901 Church was charged with identity theft and theft of merchandise $2,500-$10,000 on Thursday. Flockhart and another member of the church agreed to open a joint credit card specifically for the church. …

ABC News reports: A 34-year-old New Jersey man is in jail on terrorism charges after authorities alleged he deliberately drove his SUV into a home and a police station while blaring the Guns N’ Roses’ song “Welcome to the Jungle” from his stereo. John G. Hargreaves was immediately taken into custody when his Toyota SUV came crashing through the lobby …

Axios reports: Target announced Tuesday that it is shuttering nine stores on Oct. 21 because “theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests.” Organized retail crime accounted for $112.1 billion in losses in 2022, a National Retail Federation report released Tuesday found. Organized retail crime — where gangs of thieves swarm stores for products …

Tampa’s CBS affiliate reports: Deputies say David Robinson, a 34-year-old youth pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church in Plant City, sent several text messages with sexual content to at least two juveniles between January and June 2023. In addition to his role as a youth pastor, Robinson volunteered at various Christian schools in east Hillsborough County. He is facing nine counts …

Manchester’s ABC affiliate reports: A former New Hampshire minister is accused of strangulation and sexual assault and is being investigated for similar charges in Florida. Ossipee police said at the time of the allegations, Kevin Straughan, 67, was the head minister of Agape Ministries Church in Ossipee and Moultonborough. Straughan has been indicted on several charges, including four counts of …

Savannah’s ABC affiliate reports: A former Savannah pastor will serve 25 years in prison and life on probation for child molestation and statutory rape. Alfonza McClendon Sr. was convicted of molesting two children between 2013 and 2017. The molestation happened while McClendon was pastor of the First Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church. He will have to register as a sex offender …

From the Justice Department: A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Charles Austin Jenkins, age 66, of Thurmont, Maryland, and Robert Justin Krop, age 36, of Frederick, Maryland, with conspiracy and false statements in order to acquire machine guns. Krop is also charged with illegal possession of machine guns. As detailed in the indictment, Charles Jenkins has been …

Des Moines’ CBS affiliate reports: A former Iowa church pastor is accused of drugging and sexually abusing a child more than a decade ago. Criminal complaints say 68-year-old Mark Benson abused the girl several times at his home in Cambridge from 2009 to 2012. The victim was between the ages of 10 and 13 at the time. She told police …

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: The director of the Feeding Our Future nonprofit and 46 other people have been charged in what federal prosecutors say was a “massive scheme” to defraud the government of more than $250 million meant to feed needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a news conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger described it …

From the Justice Department: A Georgia woman was sentenced today to 41 months in prison for her scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $7.9 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. According to court documents, Hunter VanPelt, aka Ellen Corkrum, 49, of Roswell, …

The Kansas City Star reports: Kansas state Rep. Mark Samsel was arrested on charges of misdemeanor battery on Thursday after getting into a physical altercation with a student while substitute teaching in Wellsville. On Wednesday, Samsel, R-Wellsville, was substitute teaching at the Wellsville school district’s secondary school. Throughout the day, high school students began recording videos of the lawmaker talking …

Houston’s ABC News affiliate reports: While a takedown to the floor wasn’t necessary, police body camera video of a maskless woman being arrested for the second time in six days showed her in the middle of a recitation of her “rights” inside an Office Depot store in Texas City. However, much like her previous arrest at a Bank of America …

USA Today reports: North Dakota investigators were skeptical that South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg didn’t know he fatally struck a pedestrian on the night of Sept. 12, 2020. According to video footage from two separate interviews between investigators and Ravnsborg, made public Tuesday by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, authorities found the reading glasses of Joe Boever …

Cincinnati’s ABC News affiliate reports: Federal officials said they found around 44 pounds of cocaine-coated corn flakes, seized in Cincinnati from incoming freight from Peru. U.S. Customs agents said they intercepted the smuggled narcotics, with an estimated street value of $2,922,400. K-9 Bisco picked up the scene, federal officials said, alerting agents to a large shipment of cereal heading to …

Myrtle Beach’s NBC News affiliate reports: Surfside Beach police identified the man who is accused of pointing a gun at another customer during a mask dispute inside a Piggly Wiggly. Brian Good, 36, of Maiden, was arrested and charged with pointing and presenting a firearm, third-degree assault and battery and unlawful carry of a pistol Witnesses told officers that man …

Patch reports: Two men accused of orchestrating a robocall to suppress the vote in Detroit and other cities with significant minority populations have been bound over to circuit court on felony election law charges, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday. Jack Burkman, 54, and Jacob Wohl, 22, are scheduled to appear in Wayne County Circuit Court on Nov. 12. …

Politico reports: Federal prosecutors in Michigan have charged a man with making a death threat against one of the attorneys for a whistleblower who initiated the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, according to newly unsealed court records. The man, Brittan J. Atkinson, allegedly emailed the attorney in November, calling him a “traitor” who “must die a miserable death.” The …

The Associated Press reports: San Angelo’s former longtime police chief has been indicted on bribery and fraud counts accusing him of taking $134,000 in bribes to help a radio communications vendor obtain $11 million in city contracts. Timothy Ray Vasquez made an initial court appearance in federal court in San Angelo. He had served as police chief from 2004 until …

CNBC reports: A judge on Wednesday dismissed New York state criminal charges filed against Paul Manafort, the fallen Republican lobbyist who served for several months as President Donald Trump’s campaign chief in 2016. Judge Maxwell Wiley said during a hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court that New York’s double-jeopardy law barred the state indictment against Manafort. The Washington Post reports: Manafort, …