The following arrests were made recently by local police departments. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Massachusetts’ privacy law prevents police from releasing information involving domestic and sexual violence arrests with the goal to protect the alleged victims.
LOWELL
• Tasha Perry, 39, 65 Summer St., Apt. 162, Lowell; warrant (failure to appear for assault and battery with dangerous weapon).
• Ibrahim Mbouemboue-Yogno, 35, 218 Wilder St., Apt. 24, Lowell; keeper of disorderly house, disturbing peace, assault and battery on police officer, assault and battery with dangerous weapon (door).
• Kenneth Eng, 21, 27 Hastings St., Lowell; operating motor vehicle after license suspension, making illegal turn from wrong lane.
• Jeremy McWhinnie, 35, 157 Summer St., Apt. L, Lowell; warrants (failure to appear for assault and battery on police officer, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct).
NASHUA, N.H.
• Kevin Mulligan, 29, 7 1/2 Martin St., Nashua; simple assault.
• Hayden Lee Wilburn, 32, 44 Amherst St., Nashua; warrant.
• Ricardo Encarnacion, 31, 290 Ruggles St., Roxbury Crossing; three counts of theft by unauthorized taking ($0-$1,000).
• David Perez, 37, 18 Mulberry St., Nashua; nonappearance in court.
• Brian Anthony Desautels, 54, 23 Cushing Ave., Nashua; simple assault.
• Hector Solano, 54, 25 Amory St., Roxbury; lane control violation, driving motor vehicle after license revoked/suspended, nonappearances in court.
PELHAM, N.H.
• Victoria Coyle, 38, Dracut; suspension of vehicle registration.
• Nicholas Gentile, 39, Chelmsford; suspension of vehicle registration.
• Sara Beaulieu, 46, Tyngsboro; suspension of vehicle registration.
• Jean Richard, 28, Lowell; suspension of vehicle registration.
• Heloisa Moreira Oliveira, 28, Lowell; suspension of vehicle registration.
• Michael Ingham, 50, Pelham; driving under influence.
• Brian Arsenault, 39, Tyngsboro; suspension of vehicle registration.
• Robert Carleton, 23, Pelham; simple assault (domestic violence).
• Daniel McGillicuddy, 45, Dracut; two counts of violation of protective order.
• Jessica Conway, 25, Dracut; driving motor vehicle after license revoked/suspended.
• Luis Lopez, 55, Lowell; suspension of vehicle registration.
• Tamy Smith, 33, Lowell; suspension of vehicle registration.
• Frantz Letang, 48, Andover; arrest on another agency’s warrant.
• Nathan Harrington, 49, Lowell; suspension of vehicle registration.
• Carmen Ruiz, 25, Hudson, N.H.; suspension of vehicle registration.
• James Frederick, 51, Hudson, N.H.; operating motor vehicle after certified as habitual offender, driving under influence (subsequent offense), driving motor vehicle after license revoked/suspended for driving under influence.
WILMINGTON
• Mohammed Ali Jones, 43, 25 School St., Apt. 2, Everett; operation of motor vehicle with registration suspended or revoked, uninsured motor vehicle, license not in possession.
• Nolan Patrick Vigeant, 22, 42 Hanover St., Wilmington; operation under influence of alcohol, two counts of leaving scene of property damage, marked lanes violation, speeding.
Douglas County commissioners passed a measure Tuesday that requires hundreds of retail stores in unincorporated parts of the county to file a report with law enforcement when thieves rip them off.
But unlike an initial version of the law that was made public in December, the county will levy no fines on retailers for failing to do so — instead leaving any decision about punishment to a local court.
The first version of the law called for fines of $50, and all the way up to $1,000, for businesses that failed to report a crime. That caused some unease in the business community that Douglas County was overreaching.
Commissioner Abe Laydon said during the business meeting Tuesday that the ordinance was not meant to punish retailers but to keep the community safe.
“This is the most prosperous county in the state of Colorado — we don’t want us to become a target for organized crime,” he said. “When we tolerate organized retail theft, we normalize lawlessness.”
The latest rendition of the ordinance increased the time — from 24 hours to 96 hours — that businesses will have to report a theft. It also allows a retailer to report a crime via an online form rather than have police called to the scene.
That was enough to allay concerns from Chris Howes, the president of the Colorado Retail Council. In an attempt to make the measure more palatable to local businesses, he said his organization had some “fruitful discussions” with the county after the law was first unveiled.
“We don’t feel it punishes retail,” he said. “The focus on retail crime is overall going to be a benefit to us.”
District Attorney George Brauchler said he wants to get the message across that “we do not tolerate thieves.”
“If you come here to steal from us, plan on staying,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “Business owners and citizens alike should know that we will continue to protect their property rights.”
Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said the ordinance is aimed at combating the recent trend of retail outlets, especially large ones, not reporting crime on their premises. The measure holds employers accountable for policies that discourage the reporting of theft and that might result in retaliation against an employee who does report a crime.
“When corporate policies prevent or discourage the reporting of theft, it limits our ability to investigate, identify patterns and hold offenders accountable,” Weekly said in a statement. “(This ordinance) reinforces the importance of timely reporting and evidence preservation while focusing on corporate entities rather than individual employees.”
LOS ANGELES — A Torrance man who unsuccessfully ran against Rep. Maxine Waters four times was sentenced Monday to four years in federal prison for his role in a scheme to siphon $250,000 in campaign cash for his own use.
Omar Navarro, 37, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to a single federal wire fraud count for defrauding his election campaign.
After he was sentenced, U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi ordered Navarro immediately remanded into custody. A restitution hearing will be scheduled later.
“As a candidate for Congress, defendant knew and understood that campaign funds raised by him and others for his campaign were restricted to supporting his election efforts and could not be used for the candidate’s … own personal use or enjoyment,” according to his plea agreement.
Despite this, Navarro conspired with his mother, Dora Asghari, and a friend to convert campaign funds for their personal use.
Asghari, 61, of Torrance, pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court to a charge of lying to FBI investigators during an interview. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 13.
Attorneys for Navarro and his mother could not immediately be reached for comment.
Navarro unsuccessfully ran in 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 against Waters, D-Los Angeles.
An indictment made public in September 2023 outlines a scheme in which Navarro made payments from his campaign to various individuals — including his mother and friend Zacharias Diamantides-Abel, 37, of Long Beach — and then directed the transfer of cash back to himself for personal use.
Navarro used $100,000 to pay for personal expenses, including trips to Las Vegas and the Northern California wine country, as well as payment of two criminal defense attorneys who helped him when he pleaded guilty to felony stalking in 2020.
According to the indictment, Navarro later falsely reported these expenditures as campaign expenses to the Federal Election Commission.
Federal prosecutors said Asghari and Diamantides-Abel concealed Navarro’s misdirection of campaign funds by frequently cashing the checks rather than depositing them into their personal bank accounts. If they deposited the check, they often withdrew the funds shortly thereafter to share with Navarro, the indictment states.
In total, from December 2017 to June 2020, Diamantides-Abel and Asghari received $49,260 and $58,625, respectively, from Navarro’s campaign, according to checks he wrote or caused to be written to them. According to the indictment, Asghari also created a shell company to facilitate her receipt of these campaign payments and transfers back to Navarro and his own shell company.
From January 2018 through July 1, 2020, Navarro deposited over $100,000 in cash into his personal accounts, even though he had no other source of income aside from the campaign funds, and he frequently made deposits after Diamantides-Abe or Asghari cashed campaign checks, court papers show.
Navarro formed a sham charity called the United Latino Foundation as another way to embezzle funds from his campaign for his personal use, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Diamantides-Abel pleaded guilty in May 2025 to a conspiracy charge and was placed in a diversion program.
The 45-page indictment charged Navarro with 13 counts of wire fraud, 26 counts of falsification of records and three counts of prohibited use of campaign funds. Asghari was charged with six counts of wire fraud. Diamantides-Abel was charged with two counts of wire fraud. All three defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy.
A woman goes to the Delaware car wash she frequents and leaves three rings next to the driver’s seat. When she gets back in the car, she realizes her engagement ring is missing and goes on a hunt to figure out what happened.
In a video with over 168,000 views, TikToker Casey Corradin (@casecorradinn) tells viewers she considers leaving the engagement ring in the car “one of the worst mistakes” in her life. She explains that the car wash instructs drivers to get out of the car, so workers can clean the inside and outside of the vehicle.
She explains that she took her engagement ring off to apply hand sanitizer and lotion and didn’t put it back on before getting out of the car. However, she immediately realizes it’s gone when she gets the car back.
“The second I sit down, I realize my engagement ring is missing,” she says. “I had three rings to start. Two rings are still there. The most expensive ring with a diamond on it is not there anymore.”
She flags down a manager who tells her that she doesn’t know how to access the cameras, so she’ll have to come back the next day. But Corradinn is determined not to leave the car wash without her ring. When she threatens to call the cops, the manager takes a look at the cameras. According to the creator, the one camera that would have shown who was in the driver’s seat was broken.
Did she call the police?
The TikToker calls the police, who quickly come to the car wash to interview the workers and look through the facility to search for the ring. Unfortunately, they don’t find it, and she files a police report.
“The car wash has all of my information in case it magically shows up,” she continues. “But I have accepted the fact that it’s gone.”
Corradinn shares that her dad plans to go to every pawn shop in Delaware over the next week to search for her ring. Pawn shops are frequent stops for people selling their jewelry for cash. However, she may be able to get the ring back at no cost if they can prove it was stolen property.
“I 100% realize this is my own fault for leaving my ring in that situation. That is the part that is eating me alive,” she says.
Did the TikToker find her ring?
In a follow-up video, Corradinn shares that her dad made a poster with pictures of her engagement ring to share with local pawn shops to see if they can locate her ring.
The poster shows a black teardrop-shaped diamond with white diamonds on the band.
Corradinn tells viewers that she hasn’t found her ring yet and has “accepted the fact that it’s gone.”
“I’m coming to terms with it. I really don’t think we’re going to get any luck at any pawn shops. But who knows? Crazier things have happened,” she remarks at the end of the clip.
How did viewers react?
While Corradinn partially blames herself for losing the engagement ring, many viewers assure her that it’s not her fault.
“God forbid you have your own belongings in YOUR OWN car??? this is not your fault at all and I’m so sorry this happened to you Case,” one writes.
Another says, “Don’t blame yourself! it was your car and your space, it should have been safe there. i’m sorry :(“
Others suggest that perhaps the ring wasn’t stolen after all, and suggest other reasons for the missing ring.
“They have high suction vacuums. This happened to a friend of mine and they found the ring in the vacuum they used,” a commenter suggests.
“Did they check the vacume? like maybe even the hose?” another asks.
A third offers, “Could it have fallen out of the car when you got out to switch with the worker driving? My SIL had that happen and it was found a week later by someone that saw the ring glisten in the dirt.”
Officials, including Multnomah County District Attorney at the Card Rhino press conference
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office has indicted and arraigned five people accused of operating a large-scale retail theft “fencing” operation connected to a secondhand store known as Card Rhino.
Prosecutors allege the business knowingly purchased stolen merchandise at steep discounts and resold the goods for significant profit.
Photo via the Multnomah County Sheriffs Office
According to the indictment, Card Rhino — a secondhand store in Multnomah County — accepted new-in-the-box merchandise stolen from retailers by what authorities describe as some of Portland’s most prolific “boosters,” or repeat retail thieves.
Investigators say the stolen goods were either delivered directly to Card Rhino or first exchanged fraudulently at retail stores for gift cards. Those gift cards were then sold to Card Rhino. The store allegedly paid only a fraction of the items’ market value — in some cases, “pennies on the dollar.”
Prosecutors further allege that businesses associated with Card Rhino transported the stolen merchandise to related operations and resold the products online at substantial markups.
Search Warrants Yield Thousands of Items
On March 18, 2025, the Portland Police Bureau and investigators with the District Attorney’s Retail Theft Task Force executed search warrants at three locations tied to the investigation:
Direct Deals HQ LLC/Limit Deals, 19300 S.W. Boones Ferry Road, Suite 2C, Tualatin
Great Deals 2.0, 5305 N.E. 121st Ave., Suite 509, Vancouver, Washington
Photo via Multnomah County Sheriffs Office
Police reported seizing more than 31,000 pieces of evidence, including approximately $14,000 in cash, gold and silver, as well as high-value new merchandise. Authorities estimate the total value of the seized property exceeds $300,000.
Defendants and Charges
Five people have been charged in connection with the alleged operation:
Nickolas Ragsdale (Case 25CR62909) faces 68 charges, including multiple counts of money laundering, conspiracy to commit first-degree theft, theft in the first degree, aggravated identity theft and identity theft.
Alisha Scott (Case 26CR06975) faces 37 charges, including money laundering, conspiracy to commit theft, first-degree theft, organized retail theft, identity theft and aggravated identity theft.
Aaron Scott (Case 26CR06966) faces 27 charges, including money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, theft in the first degree and identity theft.
Chris Woodley (Case 26CR06961) faces 14 charges, including conspiracy to commit first-degree theft and money laundering.
Michael Burgess (Case 26CR06983) faces four charges, including theft in the first degree, organized retail theft and conspiracy to commit first-degree theft.
All defendants have been indicted and arraigned. As with all criminal cases, they are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
Two City Council members representing West Los Angeles communities will pool discretionary money to support a repair crew to fix street lights in their respective areas, it was announced on Friday.
Council members Katy Yaroslavsky and Traci Park, who represent the 5th and 11th Council Districts, respectively, held a news conference Friday morning to highlight their effort.
The council members introduced a motion to allocate $500,000 to accelerate repairs of inoperable streetlights across the Westside, where they say copper wire theft and a growing repair backlog have left communities in the dark.
Park, who represents the coastal communities such as Venice, Pacific Palisades and Del Mar, among others, cited the blackouts were in large part due to copper wire theft.
“While the city works to get ahead of this epidemic, we are taking action locally to dedicate funding and restore lighting in our Westside neighborhoods,” Park added.
Yaroslavsky, who represents communities such as Brentwood, Bel Air, Melrose and Hancock Park, echoed her colleague’s sentiments, adding that the city has a street light emergency.
“One in 10 lights are out, and my colleagues and I on the City Council are done asking residents to wait on a broken bureaucracy,” Yaroslavsky said in a statement.
The funding is expected to support a dedicated street light repair crew, and the procurement of solar-powered street lights.
Andrew Martin, a Mar Vista resident, expressed frustration regarding the latest copper wire theft that left his neighborhood in the dark. He thanked the council members for their motion, which he described as “really encouraging.”
“The usual feeling you have is that government doesn’t work, but this is a clear example that it does, starting at the bottom with local community members and local leaders like Traci and Katy. We’re hopeful that our lights will be up and running very soon,” Martin said in a statement.
Park’s council office noted that unlike most other council districts, the Fifth and Eleventh, do not have access to AB 1290 funds — discretionary tax increment dollars that other districts around the city rely on for infrastructure improvements and repairs.
Combined, the council members’ districts have more than 1,100 open street light repair cases in the Westside, which they hope to address with their discretionary dollars.
The motion is expected to be heard by the City Council in the future.
Council members Hugo Soto-Martínez and Ysabel Jurado, who represent the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Council Districts, previously used discretionary funds for street light repair crews to cover their neighborhoods.
Earlier this week, Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez celebrated solar-powered upgrades in Lincoln Heights and Cypress Park, where the Bureau of Street Lighting converted 91 existing LED street lights.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, the City Council approved a contract amendment with NBS Government Finance Group Incorporated, adding $312,018 to their agreement which began in 2021. The contract totals nearly $1.9 million.
The firm is expected to produce a so-called engineer’s report, which is required as part of an effort to change the assessment for calculating streetlight maintenance fees.
More than half-a-million property owners would be impacted by the new assessment, but must be approved by a majority of property owners under the Proposition 218 process or the “Right to Vote on Taxes Act, which was passed by California voters in 1996.
City officials say the assessment has not been updated in more than 30 years.
A proposed measure is expected to be mailed out to affect property owners later in the spring for their consideration. City departments are also expected to conduct outreach and inform residents about the proposal prior to implementation.
Dog and home sitters have become a popular alternative to kennels, but just how safe is it? As TikToker Halie Hope (@halie.hope1) found out, there is always a risk.
In the tearful clip, Hope explained what happened, earning over 57,200 views. Approximately a year ago, her boyfriend hired a woman for dog and house sitting. Over time, the couple “built trust” with the girl, even letting her host friends and have small pool parties at their home. Hopped added that they learned to count on her.
However, after a weekend work trip, Hope returned exhausted. The next day, she woke up to find that multiple valuables were missing. These included a PlayStation, four watches (including three Rolexes), a $12,000 tennis bracelet, an $8,000 Chanel bag, an AR-15, and various other guns and ammunition.
Through the Ring camera, Hope said that she discovered “sketchy” people entering their home to party with the house sitter. So, she decided to call the sitter and nonchalantly mention that items were missing. The sitter allegedly replied, “Oh, really?”
Hope also said she asked for the names and numbers of the people in their home.
The Ring camera also showed these people arriving with a pack of beer and BuzzBalls. Their faces are in full view.
According to the camera, they left the property at 2:30 am and returned at 4 am wearing masks. They let her eight-month-old dog out in the front yard and entered the home. This causes the dog to get agitated and bark, but, according to Hope, the sitter said she was asleep.
Hope then went on to explain how the incident impacted her two dogs. One of them broke the kennel and peed all around it as they tried to escape, while the other couldn’t stop barking.
Cumulatively, Hope says that close to $40,000 of “prized possessions” were stolen, while her dogs remain “on edge.”
“I feel violated, betrayed. I don’t feel safe in my own house because they know where they live, and they know what we have,” she said.
Since the incident, Hope shared that she was getting a new security system and that there was an active police investigation.
“You can’t take away this feeling, you can’t take away with what you did to my dogs,” Hope concluded.
“Just be really careful in who you have in your home and who they have in your home,” she said. “And learn from this because this is the worst feeling ever.”
As a final note, she also advised viewers to schedule all valuables on their home insurance policy.
Essentially, there were two types of comments. Those who sympathized with Hope, and those who believe that she could have done more.
“I’m sorry to be the one to say this but whyyyy was this stuff at reaches way, why not lock a closet or draw?” one asked. “I’m sorry this happened but why on earth would you leave Rolex and tennis bracelets in the house when you’re gone?” a second repeated.
And a third chimed in, “Umm why would y’all leave all that out? That’s why you need a safe. Nobody is to be trusted ever.”
Others urged her to call the police.
“Guns?” a fourth wrote. “Ugh! You need to report this to the police!”
“Stealing guns is a federal offense and the ATF should be involved,” a fifth advised. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
Similarly, a sixth said, “Make sure you press charges on her too! Don’t drop those charges no matter what! I’m so sorry.”
Is stealing a gun really a federal offense?
Gun theft is indeed a federal offense.
Federal laws governed under the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) dictate that stealing a gun is a serious crime, for which you can face up to 10 years in prison.
According to Cannon & Associates’ law firm, stealing a firearm is a crime regardless of a gun’s value because the weapon can be used to commit other crimes.
TikToker opens up about the theft in an interview with The Mary Sue
In an Instagram direct message interview with The Mary Sue, Hope shared that, while the police investigation was still ongoing, two arrests had been made (although none of them were the house-sitter). She also shared that none of her belongings had been recovered.
“I wanted to make a TikTok about this happening to urge people to make sure they list their valuables on their homeowners policy in case an incident happens,” she explained. In our case, we are not able to get any compensation because our valuables were not scheduled on the policy. And secondly, I wanted to remind people to be very careful on who they allow in their homes and who they trust.”
She added that while the reception to her video has been “great,” she also received some hate comments questioning why valuables weren’t in a safe. “The main takeaway is that you can never be too careful when it comes to protecting your home,” she concluded. “Security, locks, and insurance are very important.”
Charlotte is an internet culture writer with bylines in Insider, VICE, Glamour, The Independent, and more. She holds a Master’s degree in Magazine Journalism from City St George’s, University of London.
There are just 16 Flock Safety cameras in Thornton.
But those electronic eyes, mounted to poles at intersections throughout this city of nearly 150,000, brought out dozens of people to the Thornton Community Center for a discussion on how the controversial license plate-reading cameras are being used — and whether they should be used at all.
Law enforcement agencies cite the automatic license-plate readers, or ALPRs, as a powerful tool that bolsters their ability to locate and stop suspects who may be on their way to committing their next assault or robbery.
But Meg Moore, a six-year resident of the city who is helping spearhead opposition to Flock cameras, said she worries about how the rapidly spreading surveillance system is impacting residents’ privacy and Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Thornton’s Flock camera data can be seen by more than 1,600 other law enforcement agencies across the country.
“We want to make sure this is truly safe and effective,” she said in an interview.
The debate over Atlanta-based Flock Safety’s cameras, which not only can record license plate numbers but can search for the specific characteristics of a vehicle linked to an alleged crime, has been picking up steam in recent years. The discussions have largely played out in metro Denver and Front Range cities in recent months, but this year they reached the state Capitol, where lawmakers are pitching a couple of bills to tighten up rules around surveillance.
In Denver, Mayor Mike Johnston has been butting heads with the City Council over the issue. Johnston is so convinced of Flock’s value in combating crime that in October, he extended the contract with the company against the wishes of much of the council. Denver has 111 Flock cameras.
In Longmont, elected leaders took a different approach. Its City Council voted in December to pause all sharing of Flock Safety data with other municipalities, declined an expansion of its contract with the company and began searching for an alternative.
Louisville beat its Boulder County neighbor to the punch by several months, disabling its Flock cameras at the end of June and removing them by the start of October. City spokesman Derek Cosson said privacy concerns from residents largely drove the city’s decision.
Steve Mathias, a Thornton resident for nearly a decade, would like to see Flock’s cameras gone from his city. Short of that, he said, reliable controls on how the streetside data is collected, stored and shared are paramount.
“In our rush to make our community safe, we’re not getting the full picture of the risks we’re facing,” he said. “We’re making ourselves safe in some ways by making ourselves less safe in others.”
The hot-button debate in Thornton played out at last month’s community meeting and continued at a City Council meeting last week, where the city’s Police Department gave a presentation on the Flock system.
Cmdr. Chad Parker laid out several examples of Flock’s cameras being instrumental in apprehending bad actors — in cases ranging from homicide to sex assault to child exploitation to a $5,700 theft at a Nike store.
As recently as Monday, Thornton police announced on X that investigators had tracked down a man suspected of hitting and killing a 14-year-old boy who was riding a small motorized bike over the weekend. The agency said a Flock camera in Thornton gave officers a “strong lead” in identifying the hit-and-run suspect within 24 hours.
At the Feb. 3 council study session, police Chief Jim Baird described Flock’s camera system as “one of the best tools I’ve seen in 32 years of law enforcement.”
But that doesn’t sway those in Thornton who are wary of the camera network.
“I’m not a fan of building toward a surveillance state,” Mathias said.
The hazards of a system like Flock, he said, lie not just in the pervasive data-collection methods the company uses but also in who eventually might get to see and use that data — be it a rogue law enforcement officer or a hacker who manages to break into Flock’s database.
“A person who wants us to do us harm with this system will have as much capability as the police have to do good,” he said.
A Flock Safety license plate recognition camera is seen on a street light post on Ken Pratt Boulevard near the intersection with U.S. 287 in Longmont on Dec. 10, 2025. (Matthew Jonas/Daily Camera)
Crime-fighting tool or prone to misuse?
In November, a Columbine Valley police officer was disciplined after he accused a Denver woman of theft based in large part on evidence from Flock cameras, according to reporting from Fox31. The officer mistakenly claimed the woman had stolen a $25 package in a nearby town and said he’d used Flock cameras to track her car.
“It’s putting too much trust in the hands of people who don’t know what they’re doing,” DeFlock’s Will Freeman said of so many police agencies’ adoption of the technology.
Last summer, 9News reported that the Loveland Police Department had shared access to its Flock camera system with U.S. Border Patrol. That came two months after the station reported that the department gave the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives access to its account, which ATF agents then used to conduct searches for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Parker, the Thornton police commander, said any searches connected to immigration cases or to women from out of state who are seeking an abortion in Colorado — another scenario that’s been raised — “won’t ever touch our system.” State laws restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities and with other states’ abortion-related investigations.
“Any situation I feel uncomfortable about or that might be in conflict with our policies or with Colorado law, I will revoke their access — no problem,” he said.
Thornton deputy city attorney Adam Stephens said motorists’ Fourth Amendment rights are not being violated by the city’s Flock camera network. During last week’s meeting, he cited several recent court cases that, in essence, determined that there is no right to privacy while driving down a public roadway.
In an interview, Stephens said Thornton was “in compliance with the law.”
Flock spokesman Paris Lewbel wrote in an email that the company was “proud to partner with the Thornton Police Department to provide technology used to investigate and solve crimes and to help locate missing persons.”
Lewbel provided links to two news stories about minor children who were abducted and then found with the help of Flock’s cameras in Thornton and elsewhere.
At the council’s study session last week, Parker provided more examples of Flock’s role in fighting crime and finding missing people in Thornton. They included police nabbing a suspect who had hit and killed a pedestrian, locating a burglar who was suspected of robbing several dispensaries, and tracking down an 89-year-old man with dementia who had gotten into his car and gotten lost.
“It allows us to find vehicles in a manner we weren’t able to previously,” Parker said of the camera network.
Thornton installed its first 10 Flock cameras in 2022 and then added five more — plus a mobile unit — two years later. The initial deployment was in response to a spike in auto thefts in the city, which peaked at 1,205 in 2022 (amid an overall surge in Colorado). Thornton recorded 536 auto thefts last year.
The city says Flock cameras have been involved in 200 cases that resulted in an arrest or a warrant application in Thornton over the last three years.
Thornton police have access to nearly 2,200 other agencies’ Flock systems across the United States, while nearly 1,650 law enforcement agencies can access Thornton’s Flock data, according to data provided by the city.
For Anaya Robinson, the public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, the networked nature of Flock cameras across wide geographies is a big part of the problem. By linking one police agency’s Flock technology with that of thousands of other police departments, it “creates a surveillance environment that could violate the Fourth Amendment.”
The sweeping nature of Flock’s surveillance is also worrisome, Robinson said.
“You’re not just collecting the data of vehicles that ping (a police department’s) hot list (of suspicious vehicles), you’re collecting the data of every vehicle that is caught on a Flock camera,” he said.
And because the technology is relatively inexpensive — Thornton pays $48,500 to Flock annually for its system — it’s an affordable crime-fighting tool for most communities. But that doesn’t mean it should be deployed, DeFlock’s Freeman said.
Fight remains a largely local one
State lawmakers are crafting bills this session to limit the reach of surveillance technologies like Flock’s.
Senate Bill 70 would put limits on access to databases and the sharing of information. It would prohibit a government from accessing a database that reveals an individual’s or a vehicle’s historical location information, and it would prohibit sharing that information with third parties or with government agencies outside the controlling entity’s jurisdiction. Certain exceptions would apply.
Senate Bill 71 would direct a “law enforcement agency to use surveillance technology only for lawful purposes directly related to public safety or for an active investigation.” It also would forbid the use of facial-recognition technology without a warrant and would place limits on the amount of time data can be retained.
Both bills await their first committee hearings.
Thornton says it doesn’t use facial recognition technology. Its Flock data is retained for 30 days.
Regardless of what passes at the state Capitol, the real fight over license plate readers of any type will likely continue to happen at the local level. Thornton’s council plans further discussions on Flock next month.
For Moore, the resident who is leading the charge against the cameras, potential surveillance of the immigrant community is what troubles her the most.
“We want to make sure we’re operating this so that it’s safe for all of our residents,” she said. “Getting rid of the cameras altogether is a tough sell. But there needs to be a conversation about guardrails.”
Mayor Pro Tem Roberta Ayala, a Thornton native, said she has heard a wide array of opinions from her constituents about the advantages and potential downsides of the technology.
“Could it be misused? Yes. Do we want to stop that? Yes,” she said.
But as a victim of crime herself, Ayala also knows the immense damage and disruption that crime causes victims and their families, be it a stolen vehicle or something much worse. And as a teacher, Ayala is concerned about achieving justice for the families of children who are harmed or abused.
“If it can save even five kids,” she said, “I want the cameras.”
CHANCES FOR NEXT WEEK. IN A FEW MINUTES, WE’LL CHECK BACK. HEATHER THANK YOU. NOW TO SOME NEW VIDEO OUT OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY. AS DEPUTIES MOVED IN TO ARREST NEARLY TWO DOZEN PEOPLE FOR RETAIL THEFT, ALL FROM THE SAME STORE, THEY ARRESTED 21 PEOPLE, INCLUDING FOUR MINORS, ON CHARGES OF STEALING FROM A DOLLAR TREE. THE SACRAMENTO SHERIFF’S OFFICE HAD A RETAIL THEFT OPERATION GOING ON AT THE STORE ON FLORIN ROAD. NOW, SOME OF THE ARRESTS WERE REPEAT OFFENDERS, AND ANOTHER PERSON WAS CAUGHT STEALING DRINKS AND THEN RESELLING THEM. DETECTIVES SAY THAT THEY HAD 67 CALLS FROM THAT STORE IN JUST THREE MONTHS. OFFICIALS SAY IN ALL DOLLAR TREE STORES THROUGHOUT THE SACRAMENTO AREA, THERE WAS A 40% INCREASE IN FINANCIAL LOSSES LAST YEAR ALONE. THEY SAY THAT IN TURN LEADS TO STORES CLOSING, PRICES GOING UP AND FEWER JOBS. MOST OF THEM WILL GET TAKEN TO JAIL. PEOPLE THINK DOLLAR TREE OBVIOUSLY LOWER LESSER AMOUNT. THEY DON’T CARE. THEY DO. EVEN IF YOU DON’T GET CAUGHT THAT DAY, WHETHER IT’S SHOPLIFTING. BLITZER LAW ENFORCEMENT WILL WORK WITH THEIR ASSET PROTECTION EMPLOYEES TO INVESTIGATE AND EVENTUALLY COME AFTER YOU. THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THAT SIX OF THE SUSPECTS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR PROSECUTION UNDER PROP 36. THAT’S
Retail theft operation at a Dollar Tree store leads to 21 arrests in Sacramento County
Nearly two dozen people, including four juveniles, have been arrested in Sacramento County for stealing from a Dollar Tree store in South Sacramento as part of a retail theft operation. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office conducted the operation at the store on Florin Road, resulting in the arrest of 21 individuals, some of whom were repeat offenders. Another person was caught stealing drinks and reselling them.Detectives reported receiving 67 calls from the store in just three months, highlighting the persistent issue of theft. Officials noted a 40% increase in financial losses at Dollar Tree stores throughout Sacramento last year, which they say leads to store closures, rising prices, and fewer jobs.”Most of them will get taken to jail. People think Dollar Tree obviously lower, lesser amount. They don’t care. They do, even if you don’t get caught that day,” said Alex Yakimchuk from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. “Law enforcement gets there in time. We will work with their asset protection employees to investigate, and eventually come after you.”The sheriff’s office stated that six of the suspects are eligible for prosecution under Proposition 36, a measure passed by voters to increase penalties for certain drug and theft crimes.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Nearly two dozen people, including four juveniles, have been arrested in Sacramento County for stealing from a Dollar Tree store in South Sacramento as part of a retail theft operation.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office conducted the operation at the store on Florin Road, resulting in the arrest of 21 individuals, some of whom were repeat offenders. Another person was caught stealing drinks and reselling them.
Detectives reported receiving 67 calls from the store in just three months, highlighting the persistent issue of theft.
Officials noted a 40% increase in financial losses at Dollar Tree stores throughout Sacramento last year, which they say leads to store closures, rising prices, and fewer jobs.
“Most of them will get taken to jail. People think Dollar Tree obviously lower, lesser amount. They don’t care. They do, even if you don’t get caught that day,” said Alex Yakimchuk from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. “Law enforcement gets there in time. We will work with their asset protection employees to investigate, and eventually come after you.”
The sheriff’s office stated that six of the suspects are eligible for prosecution under Proposition 36, a measure passed by voters to increase penalties for certain drug and theft crimes.
Lego collectors have a problem—specifically, a pasta problem.
Across the internet, Lego fans are documenting a strange phenomenon. A customer will order a box of Lego, open it up, and then discover that their plastic bricks have been replaced with noodles.
For example, in December 2025, one internet user said they purchased a box of Lego from Target. When they brought it home, they opened the box. They then discovered that, instead of their beloved toy, the cardboard was filled with conchiglie noodles.
She’s not the only one. Across Reddit and other social media, users have documented Lego boxes that are instead filled with dry pasta.
Now, it’s happened again. What’s going on?
What Happened To This Woman’s Lego?
In a slideshow with over 640,000 views, TikTok user Elise (@elise00250) shows the box for a Lego Tiny Plants set.
“Tell me why I just bought a £35 Lego set all sealed up literally not been touched, all the bags completely sealed and l go to open one of the bags and it’s full of pasta,” Elise writes in the text overlaying the video. This equates to around $48 USD.
“Lego has some explaining to do,” she adds.
The images in the slideshow show paper bags that appear to be sealed. The bags clearly contain conchiglie pasta.
In the comments section, Elise insists the bags have not been resealed. She adds that the Lego was purchased from British retailer B&M. Additionally, being gluten-free, she couldn’t even use the pasta.
Why Is There Pasta In Lego Boxes?
As previously reported by The Mary Sue, there’s no consensus as to why this is happening. That said, some internet users have theories.
The most common theory is “return fraud.” This is where someone buys the product, then replaces the contents with something of a similar weight in order to return it to the store for credit. From there, they can either use or sell the contents.
Elise insists the bags have not been resealed. However, someone who is experienced in this practice may have developed methods for doing so that are nearly undetectable. They could have steamed the bags open and resealed them. Alternatively, they could have printed their own bags that match the Lego bags, then used them to package up pasta.
Given the relatively high price of Lego and the low cost of pasta, it’s easy to see how even just a few successful attempts of this could net the scammer a major payday.
But why pasta? Again, no one is sure. Some say its low cost, paired with its similar weight and sound in the box, may make it the ideal candidate for a Lego swap.
In the comments section, users claimed that they had experienced something similar.
“The same thing happened to me last year lol couldnt believe it hahaha,” said a user. “But Amazon gave me a refund.”
“It happened the same thing to me , but i ordered it from a well known app,” recalled another. “But the problem is that i hadn’t opened it until 2 months later, so no refund and nothing just a very expensive bag of pasta.”
“I bought a mario lego that was $200 after taxes im victoria drove home about 1 and half hours and opened the lego it was a bunch of random lego bags that did not go with the set,” recalled a third. “I balled my eyes out I didnt want to order it off lego and wait I saw it and wanted it and I didnt get what I want i open all big legos in store after purchase so it doesn’t happen again.”
In a comment, Elise says she is currently pursuing a refund with the company.
The Mary Sue reached out to Elise via TikTok direct message and comment and B&M via email.
MIAMI — A Florida congresswoman charged with conspiring to steal $5 million in federal COVID-19 disaster funds formally pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, nearly three months after her indictment.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was not present for the arraignment in Miami federal court, but her attorney, William Barzee, entered the plea on her behalf. He explained that she was in Washington, D.C., where Congress has been debating funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
“She’s eager to get back to work,” Barzee said after the hearing. “She’s up in Washington right now fighting for her constituents, and her main focus is representing the people in her district.”
Barzee just took over Cherfilus-McCormick’s case this week. Her previous attorney, David Oscar Markus, had requested the arraignment be rescheduled several times while Cherfilus-McCormick resolved issues with her finances, but he ultimately left the case, citing scheduling conflicts.
Cherfilus-McCormick is facing 15 federal counts that accuse her of stealing funds that had been overpaid to her family’s health care company, Trinity Healthcare Services, in 2021, before she was elected to Congress. The company had a contract to register people for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Cherfilus-McCormick was arrested in November and then freed on a $60,000 bond. In addition to bail, the judge said Cherfilus-McCormick must surrender her personal passport, and is allowed to travel only between Florida, Washington, D.C., Maryland and the Eastern District of Virginia.
She has been allowed to retain her congressional passport to perform certain duties for her job.
According to the federal indictment, prosecutors said that within two months of receiving the funds in 2021, more than $100,000 had been spent on a 3-carat yellow diamond ring for the congresswoman.
The health care company owned by Cherfilus-McCormick’s family had received payments through a COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract, the indictment says. Her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, requested $50,000, but they mistakenly received $5 million and didn’t return the difference.
Prosecutors said that the funds received by Trinity Healthcare were distributed to various accounts, including those of friends and relatives, who then donated to Cherfilus-McCormick’s congressional campaign.
The Florida Department of Emergency Management previously sued Trinity Healthcare in civil court, and the company agreed to pay back all of the money last year as part of a settlement with the state.
“It’s surprising that the DOJ (U.S. Department of Justice) would take on a case after it’s been resolved and after there was an agreement to repay all of the funds that were improperly sent to her,” Barzee said.
Cherfilus-McCormick won a special election in January 2022 to represent Florida’s 20th District, which includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, after Rep. Alcee Hastings died in 2021.
The charges she faces include theft of government funds; making and receiving straw donor contributions; aiding and assisting a false and fraudulent statement on a tax return; and money laundering, as well as conspiracy charges associated with each count.
Fresh snow in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, helped police officers find a suspect in a business break-in and theft over the weekend. Police responded to a business alarm in the 1300 block of Southwest Market Street early Sunday. When they arrived, they discovered the front door was shattered. Officers checked the building and learned a “large quantity” of nicotine vapes were stolen. Outside the business, the suspect left behind a major clue: a trail of footprints in the snow. Police used a thermal-imaging drone, plus the assistance of K-9 officer Roy, to track the footprints back to a nearby home. Officers made contact with the residents inside, and a juvenile reportedly admitted to the burglary and showed officers the stolen vapes. “Thanks to a quick response, teamwork, and some helpful snowy conditions, the suspect was taken into custody, and the stolen property was returned to the business,” police said on social media. Charges are pending, police said. The suspect’s age was not specified, but the case was submitted to juvenile court.
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. —
Fresh snow in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, helped police officers find a suspect in a business break-in and theft over the weekend.
Police responded to a business alarm in the 1300 block of Southwest Market Street early Sunday. When they arrived, they discovered the front door was shattered. Officers checked the building and learned a “large quantity” of nicotine vapes were stolen.
Outside the business, the suspect left behind a major clue: a trail of footprints in the snow.
Lee’s Summit Police Department
Police used a thermal-imaging drone, plus the assistance of K-9 officer Roy, to track the footprints back to a nearby home.
Officers made contact with the residents inside, and a juvenile reportedly admitted to the burglary and showed officers the stolen vapes.
“Thanks to a quick response, teamwork, and some helpful snowy conditions, the suspect was taken into custody, and the stolen property was returned to the business,” police said on social media.
Charges are pending, police said. The suspect’s age was not specified, but the case was submitted to juvenile court.
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HUDSON, N.H. — A Staten Island man is being held without bail after police said he carried out a coordinated retail theft operation, stealing 455 containers of over-the-counter medications from Walmart and several Hannaford grocery stores before fleeing from officers.
The Hudson Police said they arrested 28-year-old Yasin Shearin after Walmart employees on Lowell Road reported a “repeat theft suspect” they wanted removed for trespassing. When officers approached him, Shearin displayed a New York driver’s license on his phone, but the photo did not match him, and he struggled to answer questions about his identity, including his Social Security number, according to a police affidavit.
Police said they linked him to a prior felony theft at the same Walmart involving nearly $1,500 in merchandise on Oct. 29. According to the affidavit, during that prior incident, the store’s asset protection employee took surveillance of Shearin placing items into a tote and walking past all points of sale. The employee told police Shearin appeared to be attempting the same method again on Dec. 17, concealing Zyrtec inside a closed tote.
Police said the store’s asset protection employee also alleged Shearin had “numerous open cases around the area regarding past thefts with Walmart.”
As police moved to arrest him, Shearin allegedly resisted and ran from the store. Officers chased him across the parking lot and apprehended him by the nearby McDonald’s.
Police said Shearin tried to get into a black 2025 Nissan SUV with New York plates during the chase. The vehicle was seized, and a search warrant allegedly uncovered 455 items of over-the-counter medications — Tylenol, Zyrtec, Nexium, Nicorette, Motrin, Dulcolax, Nexium, Pepcid, Breathe Right nasal strips and more — packed into bags.
Police said they also found marijuana and what they believe to be butane hash oil.
The affidavit states GPS data obtained from the vehicle showed it had stopped at several Walmart and Hannaford supermarkets in New Hampshire, including locations in Salem, Bedford, Seabrook, Manchester, Derry, Londonderry and Hudson.
Surveillance footage from the Hudson store showed Shearin entering alone, heading directly to the vitamin and health aisle, and concealing medications in a blue bag hidden inside a shopping cart before walking out without paying, according to the affidavit.
Police later matched the blue bag to one allegedly seized from the SUV.
Shearin was arraigned in the 9th Circuit Nashua District Court on Friday. Court documents state he entered a not-guilty plea to willful concealment, a Class A misdemeanor, and no pleas to receiving stolen property ($1,501 or more), a Class A felony, and organized retail crime enterprise and theft by unauthorized taking ($1,001-$1,501), both Class B felonies.
A judge ordered him held without bail, citing his risk of flight, multiple open cases in other states, and what was described as a safety risk to himself and the community if released.
Shearin was appointed a public defender, Alex Charles Fernald, who was not immediately available for comment.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
Two people were charged after about 200 bronze vases were
reported stolen from gravesites at a cemetery in Wayne County.
It happened at Wayne Memorial Park on N.C. Highway 117 South between
November 2025 and January 2026, according to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies identified 35-year-old Lewis Cody Honeycutt and
46-year-old Crystal Lynn Yancey, both of Goldsboro as the suspects related to
the thefts.
Honeycutt and Yancey are each charged with 26 counts of disturbing a casket/grave marker, misdemeanor larceny, possession of stolen property and obtaining property by false pretense.
Both suspects are being held in the Wayne County Detention Center
under a $150,000 secured bond.
“These cases were unconscionable and deeply hurtful for many families in our
community,” Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce said.
Anyone who finds a missing or recently stolen vase is encouraged to report
it to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.
LONDON — Elizabeth Hurley accused the publisher of the Daily Mail on Thursday of tapping her phones, putting microphones outside her windows and stealing her medical records among “other monstrous, staggering things” during testimony in a celebrity-studded privacy invasion lawsuit.
“The best way I can describe it is like there is someone peeping into your life and into your home,” the model and actor said. It “makes me feel as if my private life had been violated by violent intruders — that there had been sinister thieves in my home all along and that I had been living with them completely unaware.”
Hurley testified the day after Prince Harry choked up as he spoke of the emotional toll his battle against the British media had taken on him and his family. Harry showed up in the High Court on Thursday to show his support during much of Hurley’s testimony.
Harry, Hurley and Elton John are among a group of seven claimants who allege that Associated Newspapers Ltd. hired private investigators to unlawfully snoop on them over two decades.
The publisher denies the claims and has called them preposterous. It said that the articles were reported on with legitimate sources and many will be named by employees at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday in the company’s defense during the nine-week trial in London’s High Court.
Hurley, who like the prince brought similar phone hacking lawsuits against the publishers of the Daily Mirror and The Sun, said that she was unaware of similar allegations against the Mail until she was told in 2020 that Gavin Burrows, a former private eye, purportedly said that he had stolen her information at the behest of the newspapers.
Burrows has since disavowed that sworn statement and said he never worked for the Mail.
Hurley claims 15 articles about her between 2002 and 2011 relied on unlawful information-gathering. Several were about the 2002 birth of her son, Damian, and the paternity fight with his father, the late film producer Steve Bing.
“The Mail’s unlawful acts against me involve landline tapping my phones and recording my live telephone conversations, placing surreptitious mics on my home windows, stealing my medical information when I was pregnant with Damian, and other monstrous, staggering things,” Hurley said.
She said she had hoped her son, now a model and actor himself who sat in the courtroom, would never see those articles.
“I felt really mortified that my son would be able to read all this stuff one day, and I feel really bad that that day is today when all this stuff is being regurgitated,” she said as she became upset when shown some of those articles in court. “Yet again, everyone’s privacy is being invaded in this terrible way, and I feel very helpless about that.”
LOS ANGELES — Federal immigration authorities allowed a suspect in a $100 million jewelry heist believed to be the largest in U.S. history to deport himself to South America in December, a move that stunned and upset prosecutors who were planning to try the case and send him to prison.
Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores was one of seven people charged last year with stalking an armored truck to a rural freeway rest stop north of Los Angeles and stealing millions worth of diamonds, emeralds, gold, rubies and designer watches in 2022.
Flores faced up to 15 years in federal prison if convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Flores in late December after he requested voluntary departure, prosecutors said in court filings.
ICE did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Flores’ attorney, John D. Robertson, motioned to dismiss the indictment against his client, asking for the charges to be permanently dropped and the case closed.
Federal prosecutors oppose the motion and say they still hope to bring Flores to trial, asking for charges to be dropped “without prejudice” to keep the door open for criminal prosecution in the future.
Despite Flores being a lawful permanent resident and released on bail, he was taken into ICE custody in September, according to court filings from his defense attorneys. Federal prosecutors say they were unaware Flores had an immigration detainer.
This was a violation of his criminal prosecution rights and warrants his case getting dismissed, Robertson said in his motion.
Flores opted for deportation to Chile during a Dec. 16 immigration hearing, according to court documents. The judge denied his voluntary departure application but issued a final order of removal, and he was sent to Ecuador.
“Prosecutors are supposed to allow the civil immigration process to play out independently while criminal charges are pending,” federal prosecutors wrote in their motion opposing the case dismissal. “That is exactly what they did in this case — unwittingly to defendant’s benefit in that he will now avoid trial, and any potential conviction and sentence, unless and until he returns to the United States.”
What happened to Flores is extremely unusual, especially in a case of this significance, former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson said.
Ordinarily, if a criminal defendant had immigration proceedings against them — which is common — immigration officials would inform prosecutors what was happening. In minor cases, a defendant can sometimes choose to self-deport in lieu of prosecution.
“It’s just beyond me how they would deport him without the prosecutors … being in on the conversation,” Levenson said. “This really was the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing.”
The infamous jewelry heist unfolded in July 2022 after the suspects scouted the Brink’s tractor-trailer leaving an international jewelry show near San Francisco with dozens of bags of jewels, according to the indictment. While the victims reported more than $100 million in losses, Brink’s said the stolen items were worth less than $10 million.
A lawsuit filed by the Brink’s security company said one of the drivers was asleep inside the big rig and the other was getting food inside the rest stop when the thieves broke in.
LOS ANGELES — Federal immigration authorities allowed a suspect in a $100 million jewelry heist believed to be the largest in U.S. history to deport himself to South America in December, a move that stunned and upset prosecutors who were planning to try the case and send him to prison.
Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores was one of seven people charged last year with stalking an armored truck to a rural freeway rest stop north of Los Angeles and stealing millions worth of diamonds, emeralds, gold, rubies and designer watches in 2022.
Flores faced up to 15 years in federal prison if convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Flores in late December after he requested voluntary departure, prosecutors said in court filings.
ICE did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Flores’ attorney, John D. Robertson, motioned to dismiss the indictment against his client, asking for the charges to be permanently dropped and the case closed.
Federal prosecutors oppose the motion and say they still hope to bring Flores to trial, asking for charges to be dropped “without prejudice” to keep the door open for criminal prosecution in the future.
Despite Flores being a lawful permanent resident and released on bail, he was taken into ICE custody in September, according to court filings from his defense attorneys. Federal prosecutors say they were unaware Flores had an immigration detainer.
This was a violation of his criminal prosecution rights and warrants his case getting dismissed, Robertson said in his motion.
Flores opted for deportation to Chile during a Dec. 16 immigration hearing, according to court documents. The judge denied his voluntary departure application but issued a final order of removal, and he was sent to Ecuador.
“Prosecutors are supposed to allow the civil immigration process to play out independently while criminal charges are pending,” federal prosecutors wrote in their motion opposing the case dismissal. “That is exactly what they did in this case — unwittingly to defendant’s benefit in that he will now avoid trial, and any potential conviction and sentence, unless and until he returns to the United States.”
What happened to Flores is extremely unusual, especially in a case of this significance, former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson said.
Ordinarily, if a criminal defendant had immigration proceedings against them — which is common — immigration officials would inform prosecutors what was happening. In minor cases, a defendant can sometimes choose to self-deport in lieu of prosecution.
“It’s just beyond me how they would deport him without the prosecutors … being in on the conversation,” Levenson said. “This really was the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing.”
The jewelers who were stolen from are also demanding answers.
“When a defendant in a major federal theft case leaves the country before trial, victims are left without answers, without a verdict, and without closure,” Jerry Kroll, an attorney for some of the jewelry companies, told the Los Angeles Times.
The infamous jewelry heist unfolded in July 2022 after the suspects scouted the Brink’s tractor-trailer leaving an international jewelry show near San Francisco with dozens of bags of jewels, according to the indictment. While the victims reported more than $100 million in losses, Brink’s said the stolen items were worth less than $10 million.
A lawsuit filed by the Brink’s security company said one of the drivers was asleep inside the big rig and the other was getting food inside the rest stop when the thieves broke in.
A fifth person has been arrested after being accused of stealing more than 1,000 pounds of copper wiring and other metal materials from the former DMV site in Raleigh on New Bern Avenue.
Raleigh police arrested Kwantez Hagans, 28, on Monday.
The thefts occurred on Aug. 29 and Sept. 2, according to court documents.
An arrest warrant says Hagans worked at 4 Seasons Demolition Services at the time of the incident, where he was accused of stealing copper communication wiring with the intent to “steal and to defraud the defendant’s employer,”
Court documents show he obtained more than $800 from Foss Recycling under false pretenses “to deceive and did deceive.” Officials said the money was obtained after Hagans exchanged the same copper communication wires that he had stolen.
A Foss Recycling representative told WRAL News this week that the company follows all state regulations to prevent purchasing stolen materials, but did not comment on this case directly.
North Carolina law requires recycling centers to record all transactions, identify sellers, and document vehicles arriving at the facility, often with photographs, according to the Raleigh Police Department.
“Through these partnerships and reporting requirements, businesses have been educated on what to look for when individuals attempt to sell large quantities of copper wiring. These efforts have played a significant role in deterring copper thefts throughout the city,” said a department spokesperson.
WRAL News has reported on the soaring price of copper, which makes it a profitable target.
A social media post from Foss Recycling promotes “top dollar” for scrap copper amid the increased price.
The rising value of the material is leaving some in the construction industry bracing for more thefts on job sites.
“I’m sure they’ll get hit sooner or later. They tend to follow the price of copper,” said Charlie Wilson with C.T. Wilson Construction Company and a member of Carolinas Associated General Contractors. “The price of the copper itself is one thing, but usually what’s more expensive is the repairs to fix with the damage done to steal the copper.”
In May, the Raleigh City Council voted to award a $1.9 million contract to 4 Seasons Demolition for abatement and demolition of the old DMV site on New Bern Avenue to prepare the space for future development. A city spokesperson tells WRAL News that 4 Seasons has full responsibility for the site and retains ownership of the materials during demolition.
4 Seasons did not respond to WRAL’s request for comment.
The rising value of copper has security experts calling for boosted deterrence measures on job sites.
“We know that it’s easy for them to remove, as well as you don’t need many tools. It doesn’t take a lot of sophistication to remove copper from buildings and places like that. So that I think makes it a very soft target and easy for thieves to go after,” said the CEO of local security company Guardiex, Jeffery Tanksley.
Hagans is being held on a $50,000 bond and is expected back in court at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
Quavon Gilmore was arrested in December and faced charges connected to the thefts. Elijah Walker, Michael Moore and Willie Jacobs III also face charges connected to the thefts.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide the constitutionality of broad search warrants that collect the location history of cellphone users to find people near crime scenes.
The case involves what is a known as a “geofence warrant” that was served on Google in a police hunt for a bank robber in suburban Richmond, Virginia. Geofence warrants, an increasingly popular investigative tool, seek location data on every person within a specific location over a certain period of time.
Police used the information to arrest Okello Chatrie in the 2019 robbery of the Call Federal Credit Union in Midlothian. Chatrie eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison.
Chatrie’s lawyers challenged the warrant as a violation of his privacy because it allowed authorities to gather the location history of people near the bank without having any evidence they had anything to do with the robbery. Prosecutors argued that Chatrie had no expectation of privacy because he voluntarily opted into Google’s Location History.
A federal judge agreed that the search violated Chatrie’s rights, but still allowed the evidence to be used because the officer who applied for the warrant reasonably believed he was acting properly.
The federal appeals court in Richmond upheld the conviction in a fractured ruling. In a separate case, the federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled that geofence warrants violate the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches.
The case is expected to be argued later this year, either in the spring or in October, at the start of the court’s next term.
Having your credit card information stolen is more common than you’d think.
In fact, there were over 748,000 cases of identity theft in the first half of 2025 alone. Credit card fraud comprised a majority of those cases.
While there are some things that one can do to protect themselves, there are many situations where you have no choice but to hand your card over to a stranger. But what happens if you suspect that they’ve stolen your card information?
TikTok user Andrew King (@andrewmking7) recently found out in a video with over 543,000 views.
What Happened To This Man’s Credit Card?
In his video, King shows himself talking to a Taco Bell employee. He tells her that, a couple of weeks prior, he ordered something from the drive-thru and handed over his credit card. However, it was never returned to him.
“Then I looked at my card, and somebody charged, like, $40 worth of Taco Bell,” King says.
After asking a few clarifying questions, the employee gets to work. Another employee comes and pulls up security footage.
“This dude was so chill,” King writes in the overlay text. “We ended up watching the footage together and watched the worker use my card to order like 24 tacos.”
By the end, King says that he was given a full refund and the worker was fired.
Why Did He Wait So Long To Get His Card?
In a follow-up video, King explains why he waited two weeks before going to the Taco Bell location about the issue.
According to King, he initially didn’t notice what happened.
“She said ur good to go have a great night,” he writes in a comment. “Didn’t realize she didn’t hand it back cause I had been handed all the food and drinks.”
However, he soon discovered that his card was missing. Consequently, he canceled his card.
“I already had a new one coming in the mail, and the other one’s useless because it’s canceled,” he says. “So, it’s not like they can spend more money on it.”
King expected the money to be returned to his account. After it was not, he decided to go to the Taco Bell location directly. This resulted in the events shown in his video.
What Should You Do In This Situation?
If you realize your card has been stolen, there are a few easy steps you should follow.
First, lock your card to prevent any further charges. After this is done, begin the process of canceling the card. This can be done by contacting your bank.
If someone has already made purchases using your stolen card, you can dispute these charges. Legally, your maximum liability for unauthorized charges is $50. That said, many banks, like Citi and Chase, offer $0 liability for customers.
Finally, one should monitor their credit report to ensure no fraudulent activity has been linked to their name. If some is detected, it can be reported to the relevant agencies and removed.
To prevent this in the future, one can use more secure forms of payment like Apple Pay, or simply pay with cash.
In the comments section, users offered their opinions on what King experienced.
“That’s crazy, most of the times crew members don’t even need to buy food, its free or discounted,” detailed a user. “Barely any need for them to steal $50 worth. Wow.”
“I bet a customer paid with cash and the employee used the card to pocket the money,” speculated another.
“I had a situation where my card was handed back to me and later that day, I got a notification that my card had an unauthorized charge so that tells me the worker had saved my card info somehow and used it to make an online purchase,” detailed a third. “Anything could happen at any time any place by anyone. It’s a scary world. Be extra careful.”
The Mary Sue reached out to King via TikTok direct message and comment and to Taco Bell via email.
