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Tag: Theft

  • Man who shot Lady Gaga’s dog walker gets 21 years in prison

    Man who shot Lady Gaga’s dog walker gets 21 years in prison

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    LOS ANGELES — The man who shot and wounded Lady Gaga’s dog walker and stole her French bulldogs last year took a plea deal and was sentenced to 21 years in prison on Monday, officials said.

    The Lady Gaga connection was a coincidence, authorities have said. The motive was the value of the French bulldogs, a breed that can run into the thousands of dollars, and detectives do not believe the thieves knew the dogs belonged to the musician.

    James Howard Jackson, one of three men and two accomplices who participated in the violent robbery and its aftermath, pleaded no contest to one count of attempted murder, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. It was not immediately clear which attorney represented Howard on Monday.

    Jackson and two others drove around Hollywood, the city of West Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley on Feb. 24, 2021 “looking for French bulldogs,” prosecutors said previously. They found Lady Gaga’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, with the pop star’s three pets.

    Jackson shot Fischer during the robbery near the famed Sunset Boulevard, during which two of the dogs were taken. A nearby doorbell camera recorded the dog walker screaming “Oh, my God! I’ve been shot!” and “Help me!” and “I’m bleeding out from my chest!”

    Fischer later called the violence a “very close call with death” in social media posts.

    The dogs, named Koji and Gustav, were returned several days later by Jennifer McBride, who was also charged in the crime.

    The pop star had offered a $500,000 reward — “no questions asked” — to be reunited with the dogs at the time.

    Jackson also admitted the allegation of inflicting great bodily injury and to a prior strike, the DA’s office said Monday. The prosecutor’s office did not immediately say what the prior strike was.

    “The plea agreement holds Mr. Jackson accountable for perpetrating a coldhearted violent act and provides justice for our victim,” the office said in a statement. Howard had been charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit a robbery and assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

    Jackson was mistakenly released from jail earlier this year due to a clerical error. He was recaptured nearly five months later.

    Another accomplice, Harold White, pleaded no contest Monday to a count of ex-convict in possession of a gun. White, who was in a relationship with McBride at the time, will be sentenced next year.

    The couple had allegedly tried to help White’s son, Jaylin White, avoid arrest in the aftermath of the shooting.

    Jaylin White and Lafayette Whaley earlier this year pleaded no contest to robbery.

    Whaley drove Jackson and the younger White around last year as they searched for the pricy dogs. Jackson and White jumped out and attacked Fischer, prosecutors said previously. They hit and choked the dog walker, and Jackson pulled out a semiautomatic gun and fired, striking Fischer once before the trio fled.

    Lady Gaga’s representatives and Fischer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    ———

    Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton contributed.

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  • Missouri man admits 26-year Social Security fraud

    Missouri man admits 26-year Social Security fraud

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    ST. LOUIS — An eastern Missouri man has admitted that he stole almost $200,000 by collecting his mother’s Social Security benefits for 26 years after her death.

    Reginald Bagley, 62, of Dellwood, pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony charge of stealing money belonging to the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Eastern Missouri said in a news release.

    Bagley did not report his mother’s death on March 12, 1994, to the Social Security Administration.

    Instead, in 1998 he set up a bank account to have her benefits directly deposited. The bank statements were sent to his address, with the name of either Bagley or his mother on them, prosecutors said.

    The scheme unraveled when the Social Security Administration tried to contact Bagley’s mother because she was not using her Medicare benefits.

    Bagley closed the bank account and received a cashier’s check for the remaining balance on July 24, 2020.

    In all, Bagley stole $197,329 in Social Security benefits, prosecutors said.

    At his sentencing on March 29, Bagley will be ordered to repay the money. He faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

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  • Ex-con gets at least 18 years in severed head case in Vegas

    Ex-con gets at least 18 years in severed head case in Vegas

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    LAS VEGAS — An ex-convict who led police on a chase around Las Vegas before officers found the severed head and dismembered body of his friend in a stolen vehicle he was driving was sentenced Thursday to at least 18 years in prison.

    Eric John Holland said he was “truly remorseful” for killing Richard P. Miller, whose remains were found in coolers in the bed of a Chevrolet Avalanche in which Las Vegas police stopped Holland last December. Authorities found that Miller had been shot several times, including at least once in the head, before his body was carved up.

    “It’s a terrible thing that happened and I’m just so sorry,” Holland said.

    That provided little comfort to Miller’s daughter, who tearfully and haltingly told a judge she felt “very little relief,” that Holland pleaded guilty in July to a reduced charge and avoiding trial on an open murder charge that could have resulted in a life sentence behind bars.

    “I don’t know how to make sense of it,” sobbed Amanda Dawn Potter, who traveled from Portland, Oregon, for Holland’s sentencing. She called her father’s slaying “the most bizarre thing to ever happen to my family.”

    “My dad didn’t deserve this,” she said.

    Holland, 58, has an extensive criminal history, mostly for forgery and embezzlement, but also including an attempted prison escape in Texas.

    Before Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones sentenced him to 18 to 45 years for second-degree murder and felony theft, Holland said Thursday he hoped authorities would continue to investigate his motive for killing Miller.

    “I was going to bring it up in court, but I’m not going to because of family members,” Holland said. “There was a reason, and I hope that they’ll get closure today.”

    Holland’s attorney, Daniel Westbrook, told the judge he would not say more than what his client said. Westbrook declined additional comment after the sentencing hearing.

    Holland was friends with Miller, 65, who lived on a houseboat at Lake Mead, the Colorado River reservoir about a 30-minute drive from Las Vegas.

    Miller was reported missing in November 2021, and investigators later determined he was killed during an argument with Holland.

    The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Thursday that in jailhouse interviews, Holland said he wanted police to investigate whether Miller was responsible for the disappearance of Miller’s ex-wife, Jing Me Zhu, in 2018 or 2019.

    “I’m going to prison for the rest of my life, and I just want to make sure that she wasn’t forgotten,” Holland told the newspaper.

    Holland said he believed Zhu lived in China and Canada before marrying Miller in 2018. In divorce proceedings less than a year later, Miller alleged in court documents that Zhu left him and moved to China. Records showed that Zhu could not be located to receive a court summons.

    Westbrook told the newspaper that Holland believes Zhu is dead and that Miller killed her.

    Holland did not provide details of Miller’s death, the Review-Journal reported.

    Las Vegas police said Thursday they had no missing person investigation related to Zhu.

    Police previously said Holland drove away from patrol officers trying to stop him on Dec. 23, 2021, in a stolen pickup truck and that he was seen switching vehicles before he was arrested in the second vehicle by officers who tracked him to an apartment complex west of the Las Vegas Strip.

    Police later found receipts in the vehicles for items including a power saw and trash bags purchased from a home improvement store after Miller’s disappearance.

    Holland had been sought since May 2019 on an arrest warrant in a 2018 case in Las Vegas accusing him of embezzlement, identity theft, issuing false checks and theft, according to court records. He had posted $5,000 bail in that case.

    Records show Holland also used the name Eric Allen Holland and served prison time in Nevada for a felony theft conviction stemming from a 2000 forgery case in Las Vegas. He also used names including John Carl Hall, Phil Whidden, Robert Daniel Lauer and Steven Tauber, prison records show.

    Holland had prior felony convictions dating to 1987 in California for embezzlement, assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest causing substantial bodily harm and property theft and false identification, according to a Las Vegas prosecutor, prison and court records.

    Records show that Holland was convicted in Texas in a federal counterfeiting case, and later of attempted escape and aiding in an escape.

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  • Teenage driver charged in crash of stolen car that killed 4

    Teenage driver charged in crash of stolen car that killed 4

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    BUFFALO, N.Y. — A 16-year-old accused of driving a stolen SUV involved in a high-speed crash that killed four teenage passengers was arraigned Tuesday on manslaughter and other charges.

    The parents of two of those killed, meanwhile, have filed a lawsuit against automaker Kia, claiming their children would be alive if its cars were harder to steal.

    A total of six teens were in the Kia Sportage when it crashed on state Route 33 on Oct. 24, Buffalo police said. The car had been reported stolen the previous night.

    The driver, apparently held in by an airbag and the steering wheel, was the only occupant not ejected through the sunroof when the vehicle struck a concrete embankment at high speed and flipped backwards, District Attorney John Flynn said. The driver was treated at a hospital and released. A 14-year-old girl also survived.

    The driver, whose name was not released, pleaded not guilty in Erie County Court on Tuesday to charges of manslaughter, assault and possession of stolen property. He was released under supervision with an ankle monitor, according to Flynn, who said opposed the release.

    Flynn told reporters the teen was charged as an adolescent but he would argue to keep the case in adult court at a hearing next week.

    “I still don’t think it’s right that this kid is out playing video games when on Thursday at Thanksgiving, there’s going to be an empty chair of four individuals at the Thanksgiving dinner table,” he said.

    The 16-year-old’s attorney said in court that those killed were close friends.

    Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said after the crash that the teens may have been participating in a TikTok challenge encouraging people to break into and steal Kia cars using cellphone chargers.

    The so-called Kia challenge showed how to hot-wire Kias and Hyundais with a USB cord and a screwdriver. Many police departments around the country have reported increases in Kia and Hyundai thefts since the video was posted last summer.

    A federal lawsuit filed last week on behalf of the mothers of 15-year-old Kevn Payne Jr. and 17-year-old Swazine Swindle, who died in the Buffalo crash, seeks unspecified damages while accusing Kia Corp. and Kia America Inc. of negligence and creating a public nuisance. It alleges that Kia failed to include an anti-theft device on certain vehicles and did not recall the cars or warn the public when the issue became evident.

    California attorney Jonathan Michaels, who represents the parents, said no one should be stealing cars but social media can have a powerful pull.

    “This is something that, on a young brain that’s not fully developed, that temptation is just so strong,” Michaels, of MLG Attorneys at Law, said by phone, “and they’re not understanding the consequences of what they’re doing, and all their friends are doing it. So it’s foreseeable this is happening, and it’s a defect to begin with.”

    An insurance industry group has said some Kias are stolen at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the auto industry because their keys lack computer chips for theft “immobilizer” systems.

    Kia has since announced it would include an immobilizer for all vehicles starting with model year 2022.

    A spokesman for the automaker said the company generally does not respond to pending litigation.

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  • Supposed $477 million FTX ‘hack’ was actually a Bahamian government asset seizure

    Supposed $477 million FTX ‘hack’ was actually a Bahamian government asset seizure

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    Remember that hack of nearly half a  billion dollars in cryptocurrency from bankrupt FTX last weekend? Turns out it was actually a government asset seizure.

    The Securities Commission of the Bahamas has now acknowledged that it was behind the removal of $477 million in crypto assets from the bankrupt exchange on Nov. 12.

    “The Securities Commission of the Bahamas, in the exercise of its powers as regulator acting under the authority of an order made by the Supreme Court of the Bahamas, took the action of directing the transfer of all the digital assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. to a digital wallet controlled by the commission, for safekeeping,” the agency said in a statement.

    The transfer occurred the day after FTX had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware and immediately sparked concerns of a major hack. The company announced that day that “unauthorized access to certain assets has occurred” and that they were coordinating with law enforcement on the matter.”

    On Thursday, the U.S.-based bankruptcy administrators led by John Ray, III, who have taken control of FTX, said in court filings that they had “credible evidence” that officials in the Bahamas had directed FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to access FTX’s systems after the Chapter 11 filing, “for the purpose of obtaining digital assets of the debtors.”

    The seizure of assets came amid an emerging fight for control over the direction of the bankruptcy proceeding, with officials in the Bahamas filing a separate Chapter 15 bankruptcy petition in federal court in New York on Nov. 15.

    That filing was on behalf of FTX Digital Markets Ltd., a subsidiary that managed significant aspects of the company’s operations from its headquarters in the Caribbean island nation. 

    A Chapter 15 filing is used typically in cases involving companies with debtors in multiple countries.

    In its statement, the Bahamian Securities Commission said it believed FTX Digital Markets was not part of the Delaware bankruptcy proceeding.

    The administrators of the Delaware bankruptcy have asked the judge in their case to combine the cases, saying that it was duplicative and confusing to keep them separate. The judge scheduled a hearing on the matter for Monday.

    The administrators of the Delaware case have accused Bankman-Fried of attempting to undermine their efforts to sort out the mess he left behind by pushing the second bankruptcy case brought by Bahamian officials. 

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  • Prosecutors, defense win freedom for man in 1983 killing

    Prosecutors, defense win freedom for man in 1983 killing

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    NEW ORLEANS — A man who spent nearly four decades behind bars for a 1983 killing won his freedom Thursday after New Orleans prosecutors joined defense lawyers in asking to have his murder conviction overturned.

    Attorneys on both sides said evidence of inconsistencies in the only eyewitness’s testimony was kept from the jury that convicted Raymond Flanks. Their joint motion to vacate his conviction was approved Thursday morning by a state judge.

    Flanks, 59, was in orange prison coveralls during the hearing but he was unshackled in the courtroom before Judge Rhonda Goode-Douglas heard attorneys statements. A few hours later, he emerged from the doors of the courthouse wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the word “Justice” — arms raised in triumph as a band of supporters applauded.

    “Even though it was delayed justice, it was justice,” Flanks, who is identified in court records as Raymond Flank, told reporters.

    He was convicted in the December 1983 shooting death of Martin Carnesi during an armed robbery outside the home he Carnesi shared with his wife in eastern New Orleans.

    Carnesi’s wife had identified Flanks as the killer. But her description of the suspect and the car he used differed at trial from her earlier statements to police and a grand jury.

    The motion seeking to have the conviction thrown out said that Faye Carnesi, who is now deceased, had described the killer as having a white blotch on his cheek, that he was in his late 20s and that he drove an old car.

    “Given that Mr. Flank was 20-years old, had no white blotches on his face, and drove a new car, these were important discrepancies,” the motion said. The information might have affected the jury’s decision, it said.

    According to the motion, Flanks had been arrested for the armed robbery of a grocery store — he was later convicted and has not contested that verdict — when he was implicated in the Carnesi death.

    Flanks was tried twice for the Carnesi killing. The first jury, in 1984, deadlocked even after being told the gun Flanks had when he was arrested for the grocery robbery was the murder weapon. That later turned out to be false, based on a 1985 examination of the weapon by a federal laboratory.

    Prosecutors tried him again later in 1985, winning a first-degree murder conviction and life sentence.

    “The parties agree that, in this case which relied on a single eyewitness, competent counsel armed with the favorable evidence would have been able to present a compelling case that Mrs. Carnesi was innocently mistaken when presented with the wrong suspect,” the motion said.

    The Innocence Project New Orleans, which advocated for Flanks’ release, noted that the case involved “cross-racial identification” — the eyewitness was white, the suspect was Black — and said most wrongful convictions in New Orleans that involve withheld evidence involve Black defendants.

    Relatives of the victim made clear they still believe Flanks is guilty.

    “I’m still as angry as the day it happened,” daughter Debra Carnesi Gonzales said in a statement read via Zoom by her daughter, Casey Gonzales.

    Debra Gonzales recalled seeing her father dying on the ground and said: “I don’t believe that my mother was mistaken.”

    Outside the courthouse, Flanks expressed sympathy for Carnesi’s family and said he holds no ill will toward them.

    Flanks’ case was the latest in a series of conviction reversals sought jointly by District Attorney Jason Williams, who ran on a reform platform before taking office in January 2021, and criminal justice advocates. Williams has touted his office’s efforts to review longstanding convictions that resulted from non-unanimous jury verdicts, which are now illegal in Louisiana, and other dubious convictions from decades ago.

    ———

    This story has been updated to indicate that the suspect, not the victim, was Black.

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  • Robber, clerk fatally shoot each other in Chicago grocery

    Robber, clerk fatally shoot each other in Chicago grocery

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    CHICAGO — A robbery suspect and a grocery clerk fatally shot each other during an attempted holdup in the store, authorities said.

    The shootings Friday evening inside the El Barakah Supermarket in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood killed would-be robber Nicholas Williams, 24, and 63-year-old clerk Ali Hassan of Berwyn, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

    Williams entered the store around 6:20 p.m. and produced a handgun in an attempt to rob the store, but Hassan pulled a gun from his waistband and shot Williams in the chest, police said. Williams returned fire and shot Hassan in the chest and back.

    Williams ran from the store but collapsed about a block away and died, police said.

    Hassan, a Palestinian immigrant, was transported to University of Chicago Medical Center and was later pronounced dead.

    Two other people in the store were not hurt, police said.

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  • Driver held after wild police chase in Southern California

    Driver held after wild police chase in Southern California

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    LOS ANGELES — A driver who stole several cars, rammed police cruisers and hit other cars during an hourlong chase across Southern California was arrested after a chase that ended in smoke, flame and gunshots.

    The wild chase across two counties began about 5 p.m. Wednesday with reports of a sedan speeding erratically in Anaheim in Orange County.

    After a while, the driver fled that car and stole a parked van, which was captured on video smashing several times into a Fullerton police cruiser that blocked it until it managed to speed off.

    The chase continued with the van sideswiping and rear-ending several cars as it sped and slid through street traffic before heading onto a freeway.

    The driver later abandoned the van and ran inside a home in Whittier in Los Angeles County, stole keys to a pickup truck parked in the driveway, and took off as people in the home who had confronted him were almost struck, KNBC-TV reported.

    Andres Benitez told the station that he had just returned from work.

    “I was just talking to my mom and we were having a normal conversation when I saw the back door open and it’s not supposed to open,” he said. The suspect came into the kitchen.

    Benitez said he grabbed a kitchen knife in order to defend his mother.

    “I started redirecting him to the front door” but the man grabbed the car keys from the kitchen table. Benitez said he cornered the suspect, who had a pair of scissors, and threatened to stab him as his mother tried to hold him back.

    The family and the man wound up outside, where he stole the truck and sped away.

    The pickup eventually lost a front tire, but the driver continued to weave erratically through traffic in the Hacienda Heights area at high speed, hitting several cars, crossing center dividers and running red lights.

    The truck ended up at a gas station after a Los Angeles County sheriff’s patrol car rammed the truck from behind.

    By this point, more than a dozen patrol cars ringed the gas station but the truck still backed up and smashed into a patrol car, prompting authorities to fire several shots through the driver’s window.

    Deputies with guns drawn surrounded the stopped truck as smoke erupted from it, and then flames that were quickly doused with a fire extinguisher.

    At last, deputies using a special shield came up to the car, smashed the driver’s window, opened the door and pulled out the driver, who was walked to a patrol car. It was unclear whether he was injured.

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  • Phoenix police arrest two in dismemberment death of veteran

    Phoenix police arrest two in dismemberment death of veteran

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    PHOENIX — Police investigating the killing of an 80-year-old Air Force veteran arrested two suspects after they allegedly pawned the chain saw used to dismember the victim’s body.

    Phoenix police said Thomas Wallace was being held Sunday on $1 million cash bond on suspicion of second-degree murder, concealing a dead body, theft of a pickup truck and trafficking in stolen property, while Romana Gonzalez is jailed on suspicion of fraud and theft.

    Authorities said Wallace, 58, had been a roommate of the victim and Gonzalez also stayed off and on at the home where the body was found. It was unclear Sunday if either has a lawyer to speak on their behalf. Police didn’t release the victim’s identity or the age of Gonzalez.

    Officers entered the home Nov. 1 for a welfare check and reported finding two black trash bags inside a bedroom, along with severed body parts in a pile of blankets, according to court documents. Homicide investigators then discovered blood on the ceiling, walls and furniture, and the victim’s head in layers of linen.

    The victim’s missing pickup truck was found at a motel down the street where Wallace and Gonzalez also were located and arrested Thursday, police said.

    Wallace and Gonzalez are accused of pawning some of the victim’s items last month for $50, including a 10-inch saw that still had pieces of flesh in the chain, and a camera bag with the victim’s business card inside.

    Ruby Lowry told Phoenix TV station KPNX that he was a good neighbor who would help anyone, and “he didn’t deserve that.”

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  • Theft charges dismissed for ex-manager of Marvel’s Stan Lee

    Theft charges dismissed for ex-manager of Marvel’s Stan Lee

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    LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles judge declared a mistrial and dismissed grand theft charges Tuesday against a former business manager of Marvel Comics mastermind Stan Lee.

    Superior Court Judge George Lomeli dismissed the charges against Keya Morgan, who was accused of stealing from Lee, when a jury was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal after two days of deliberations and a 2 1/2-week trial.

    Lomeli said he was stepping in to clear Morgan of three felony counts of grand theft from an elder “in the interests of justice,” according to Variety.

    “My client and I have spent four years proving his innocence and today we prevailed,” Morgan’s attorney Alex Kessel said in an email to The Associated Press.

    Prosecutors had alleged that Morgan, 41, stole more than $220,000 in proceeds from three memorabilia signings from Lee about six months before Lee died in 2018. Morgan was arrested the following year. Initial charges of elder abuse and false imprisonment against Morgan were dropped long before the trial.

    The prosecution argued during the trial that Morgan had preyed on Lee when Lee was in mental decline in the last months of his life, and acted without authority on his behalf.

    Kessel argued that the missing money actually went to Lee’s daughter and heir J.C. Lee, who was a witness during the trial.

    The proceedings were largely overshadowed by the simultaneous trials of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and actor Danny Masterson, which were going on simultaneously with Morgan’s on the same hallway of a downtown LA courthouse.

    An after-hours email sent to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office seeking comment was not immediately returned.

    Lee, the creative dynamo who co-created characters including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the Incredible Hulk for Marvel and made beloved cameos in the movies that featured his creations, died in November of 2018 at age 95.

    ———

    Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton

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  • 23 cars were broken into in one night in the Outer Banks. Police say all the cars were likely unlocked

    23 cars were broken into in one night in the Outer Banks. Police say all the cars were likely unlocked

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    KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — Cash, purses and wallets were stolen out of multiple cars in Kill Devil Kills on Tuesday night. Police say all the car owners said their cars were left unlocked or they were “unsure” if their car was locked or not.

    None of the 23 cars had signs of forced entry and none of the cars were damaged. One of the cars was driven to the parking lot of the Sea Ranch Resort in Kill Devil Hills.

    The alleged break-ins happened between midnight and 5 a.m. on Oct. 25, according to Kill Devil Hills Police Department.

    The cars targeted were in the north end of Kill Devil Hills between Walker Street on the south and Wallace Street on the north, according to the police department. Some items were stolen from cars also on Bay Drive.

    Even though no cars were damaged, police are taking these crimes seriously. Some vehicles have been processed for fingerprints and DNA.

    The police ask that if people believe there car was broken into — even if it was unlocked and nothing was stolen — they report it to the Kill Devil Hills Police Department.

    “Knowing the location of the break-ins can help KDHPD identify potential security systems that might aid the investigation,” the police wrote on their Facebook page.

    • Credits

    Copyright 2022 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Feds: Theft of frozen beef in Nebraska uncovers crime ring

    Feds: Theft of frozen beef in Nebraska uncovers crime ring

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    LINCOLN, Neb. — An investigation into the theft this summer of several semitrailers loaded with frozen beef from Nebraska has led to arrests and uncovered a multimillion-dollar theft ring targeting meatpacking plants in six Midwestern states, federal authorities said.

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported Tuesday that the discovery of the Miami-based theft ring began in June with a Nebraska investigation into the theft of semitrailers loaded with nearly $1 million in frozen beef from areas near Grand Island and Lincoln.

    The investigation, led by the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office in Nebraska and Homeland Security’s Major Crimes Task Force in Omaha, determined that the theft ring was targeting beef and pork packaging plants in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

    Charging documents say federal investigators used phone records and GPS tracking devices on trucks being driven by three men from Miami to place the men in and around meatpacking plants where trailers of meat products were stolen. The documents don’t say what the men did with the meat. Lancaster County Sheriff’s Capt. Michael Peschong said Wednesday that officials are still investigating those details.

    “We haven’t nailed down the exact details on where all the meat stole ended up yet,” Peschong said.

    Investigators said they have identified approximately 45 thefts that occurred across the six Midwest states totaling $9 million in loss.

    On Oct. 20, investigators arrested 38-year-old Yoslany Leyva Del Sol, 37-year-old Ledier Machin Andino, and 39-year-old Delvis L. Fuentes, all of Miami, in south Florida. Online court documents show they are charged with transporting stolen goods and money laundering in Florida’s federal court.

    Lopez was released on bond last Friday and plans to plead not guilty, according to his attorney, Omar A. Lopez of Miami. Del Sol’s bond hearing is set for Thursday, said his attorney, Alfredo Izaguirre of Coral Gables, Florida. Del Sol also plans to plead not guilty, Izaguirre said.

    An attorney for Andino did not immediately return a phone message left for her.

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  • Official: Dallas shooter was attending birth at hospital

    Official: Dallas shooter was attending birth at hospital

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    DALLAS — The 30-year-old man charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of two Dallas hospital employees was on parole and had been given permission to be at the medical facility for the birth of a child, a Texas prison official said Sunday.

    Nestor Hernandez was granted leave to be with his “significant other” at Methodist Dallas Medical Center during her delivery Saturday, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Amanda Hernandez. She said he’d been sentenced to prison for aggravated robbery and was released on parole last October, but did not provide additional details on the circumstances of the shooting.

    Authorities have said Hernandez opened fire at the hospital around 11 a.m. Saturday and killed two staff members before being shot and injured by a hospital police officer. The victims have not been publicly identified and it’s unclear what led to the shooting.

    Hernandez, who was wearing an ankle location monitor at the time, was taken to another hospital for treatment, hospital officials said Saturday. He was not listed Sunday in Dallas County jail records and it was not immediately clear whether he has a lawyer.

    The Texas prison system’s Office of Inspector General is working with police to investigate the shooting, Amanda Hernandez said. Dallas police and a hospital spokesman declined Sunday to provide additional information on the shooting.

    It follows hospital shootings in September in Little Rock, Arkansas, that killed a visitor and one in June in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that left four dead.

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  • 2 arrested in California armored car robbery, guard shooting

    2 arrested in California armored car robbery, guard shooting

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    LOS ANGELES — Two men were arrested Friday after they allegedly robbed an armored car outside a Los Angeles County bank earlier this week and shot a guard several times in an ambush, authorities said.

    The alleged robbers stole about $140,000 and the guard’s gun on Monday outside a Bank of America branch in the Harbor City area, south of downtown Los Angeles near Carson, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

    The men face charges of Hobbs Act robbery and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The Hobbs Act prohibits robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce. The defendants face three decades in prison.

    The Loomis armored car guard had been working on ATMs at the bank around 11:20 a.m. when the suspects, both armed and masked, ambushed him and opened fire, federal prosecutors said. He was struck several times in the leg before the thieves fled.

    The guard, who was armed but didn’t shoot during the holdup, was treated for non-life threatening injuries at a hospital, authorities said Monday.

    Authorities said surveillance video and cellphone records helped them link the suspects to the violence.

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  • Brother of suspect in slaying of family pleads not guilty

    Brother of suspect in slaying of family pleads not guilty

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    MERCED, Calif. — The younger brother of a man charged in the kidnapping and killing of a family in central California pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he helped his brother.

    Alberto Salgado was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, accessory after the fact, and arson of property, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office said.

    Salgado, 41, was arrested days after authorities arrested his older brother, Jesus Salgado, 48. The elder Salgado pleaded not guilty last week to kidnapping and killing an 8-month-old baby, her parents and uncle.

    Alberto Salgado was appointed a public defender by the court. A message was left with the Merced County Public Defender’s Office seeking comment.

    Jesus Salgado allegedly kidnapped the family at gunpoint from their trucking business on Oct. 3. Authorities say Salgado, a former employee with a longstanding dispute, likely killed them within an hour.

    The victims’ bodies were found two days after the kidnapping. A farm worker in an almond orchard in the San Joaquin Valley, California’s agricultural heartland, discovered the remains of Aroohi Dheri; her 27-year-old mother, Jasleen Kaur; her 36-year-old father, Jasdeep Singh; and her 39-year-old uncle, Amandeep Singh.

    Surveillance video showed the family members were taken from their business in Merced, a city of 86,000 people about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco, by a suspect later identified as Jesus Salgado and driven away in Amandeep Singh’s pickup truck.

    Firefighters found the truck on fire in the town of Winton, 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Merced, hours after the kidnapping.

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  • Mall of America testing metal detectors due to gun incidents

    Mall of America testing metal detectors due to gun incidents

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    BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis is testing metal detectors at one entrance following two incidents of gunfire and an armed robbery within the last year.

    Mall spokeswoman Laura Utecht said Tuesday the trial is taking place over the next month at the mall’s north doors, although that could change as testing continues. She declined to say what shoppers should avoid trying to carry through the metal detectors, the Star Tribune reported.

    “With Mall of America being such a unique property, it is important to thoroughly evaluate this technology onsite to ensure its accuracy, effectiveness and efficiency,” Utecht said in a statement, adding that the mall is testing a variety of security options.

    The Mall of America bans guns, according to its website, but the Bloomington shopping center has never had metal detectors or searched bags. The mall, which opened in 1992, is the largest in the U.S. and is a tourist destination and community gathering spot.

    Two gun incidents took place in August. In one, a man robbed two stores and was apprehended with a loaded rifle. About three weeks earlier, a man fired shots in the midst of a fight among four other people. There were no injuries in either case.

    A shooting last New Year’s Eve left two people wounded following a dispute on the mall’s third floor.

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  • ‘Flash’ actor Ezra Miller pleads not guilty to liquor theft

    ‘Flash’ actor Ezra Miller pleads not guilty to liquor theft

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    BENNINGTON, Vt. — Ezra Miller pleaded not guilty Monday to stealing bottles of liquor from a neighbor’s home, one of a string of arrests and reports of erratic behavior by the “Flash” actor that stretch from Hawaii to Vermont.

    Miller, 30, appeared Monday with their lawyer remotely from Burlington, Vermont, for the arraignment in Bennington to felony burglary and petit larceny, a misdemeanor. They accepted the conditions that they not have any contact with the homeowner or go to the residence.

    “Ezra would like to acknowledge the love and support they have received from their family and friends, who continue to be a vital presence in their ongoing mental health,” Miller’s lawyer Lisa Shelkrot said by email.

    If convicted, Miller faces a maximum of 26 years in prison. The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 13.

    Vermont State Police responded to a burglary complaint in Stamford on May 1 and said they found that several bottles of alcohol had been taken from a residence while the homeowner was away.

    The homeowner said he had been friends with Miller for about 18 years and bought the home a year and half ago in the town, where Miller had also purchased a home, according to the police affidavit. Miller was charged after police consulted surveillance footage and interviewed witnesses.

    Miller was arrested twice this year in Hawaii, including for disorderly conduct and harassment at a karaoke bar.

    Also this year, the parents of 18-year-old Tokata Iron Eyes, a Native American activist, filed a protection order against Miller, accusing the actor of inappropriate behavior with her as a minor from the age of 12. Iron Eyes has disputed that.

    Miller stars in the upcoming film “The Flash,” expected to be out in June 2023, after appearing in several “Justice League” films for Warner Bros. and D.C. Films as the Flash. A representative for Warner Bros. did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

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  • Cheaters Are Everywhere. To Survive, Leaders Must Stay One Step Ahead.

    Cheaters Are Everywhere. To Survive, Leaders Must Stay One Step Ahead.

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Good gracious, chess savant Hans Niemann (allegedly) cheat in more than 100 matches? That seems to be what the chess community and reigning chess champ Magnus Carlsen are insinuating. Apparently, it’s not just the chess world that’s fallen victim to a cheating scandal. The fishing community has been rocked after it was recently revealed that lead weights were used to overstate the size of a fish caught in a Lake Erie contest. When will this insanity end?

    The fact is that it will never end. Cheating is as American as apple pie. I know this because I’ve been running a small business for more than 25 years. And when you run a small business for that long, you get used to people who cheat you out of money or in business. They’re everywhere and on both sides of the business.

    It’s the woman in California who allegedly embezzled more than a million bucks from her employer. Or another woman in Pennsylvania who was accused of stealing $2 million from her employer’s credit card. Let’s also give a shout-out to the bookkeeper from Albuquerque who is thought to have stolen $175 thousand from her employer and another bookkeeper in Rhode Island who was ordered to pay $600 thousand that she pilfered from her employer. Oh, and let’s not forget the ex-Apple employee that was charged with theft, taking kickbacks and money laundering to the tune of $10 million. Or the administrator at the Yale School of Medicine, who pleaded guilty to taking more than $40 million. Yes, $40 million.

    But it doesn’t end with employees. Some business owners can’t be trusted, either.

    Like the restaurant owner in New York’s Hudson Valley who was convicted of torching his business for the insurance money. Or the Missouri restaurant owner — and many others — who allegedly defrauded the government out of Paycheck Protection Program funds. There’s the diner in Pennsylvania and the BBQ joint in Texas that cheated (allegedly in the BBQ place’s case) its employees out of their tips. And another guy in Hudson Valley (is there something in the water there?) that was sentenced for defrauding prospective franchisees of his bagel company. And then there’s the restaurant owner in Connecticut who was convicted and the auto shop owner in Florida who was accused of cheating on their taxes.

    Related: Confessions of a Cheating Nation: One in Four Have Stolen From Their Employers

    These are just a few of the stories that actually made it to the media over the past few months. But you and I know that we’re just scratching the surface. There are cheating employees who steal office supplies and inventory and take sick days when they’re not actually sick. There are cheating business owners who defraud the government, overbill their customers, negotiate in bad faith with their suppliers and promise their employees compensation that they never have any intention of paying. A lot of this stuff never makes the news. A lot of this stuff is going on right now. A lot of the people doing this stuff never get caught.

    It’s not just Hans Niemann who cheats. There are cheaters everywhere. And anyone who has run a business for a period of time will confirm that. It’s a fact of life. So here’s some advice: Don’t waste your time getting upset, angry or frustrated. You’ll never stop the cheating. But you can minimize the financial impacts on your business. How?

    Related: ‘Lying and Cheating to Get Money’: Elizabeth Holmes Trial Begins in California

    Start by requiring people in financial positions to take time off multiple times a year — because cheating bookkeepers get found out when they’re not around. Make sure you’re segregating financial duties, so the same person who’s handling cash isn’t handling the books or invoicing. Require multiple signatures and multi-factor authentication on your bank account and get notices whenever certain transactions are completed. Have someone outside your company do the bank reconciliations because another set of eyes often sees things. Lock up your office supplies and inventory. Install security cameras. Pay attention to your general ledger and financial statements and question anything that seems out of the ordinary. Trust your people, but verify. Don’t be cynical, but be realistic.

    And what about you? Are you cheating on your taxes? Your customers? Your suppliers? Here’s some news for you: people know. They can tell. Word gets around. And if you are behaving this way, then I can guarantee that you’re not running a very successful, sustainable business because ethical business people don’t do business with unethical people. And business is all about trust. And reputation. There’s no question that you’re losing out on deals, projects and customers. I know it. And so do you.

    Cheaters are going to cheat. Even chess players and fishermen. Even your employees. But not you. When you’re a business owner, there are plenty of reasons to lose sleep at night. But you can minimize your losses from your cheating employees. And you can rest a little bit easier if you’re able to look at yourself in the mirror each morning.

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    Gene Marks

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  • Convicted ‘fake heiress’ released as she fights deportation

    Convicted ‘fake heiress’ released as she fights deportation

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    NEW YORK — A woman whose exploits posing as a German heiress to scam individuals and financial institutions out of hundreds of thousands of dollars inspired a Netflix series is being released from immigration custody.

    Anna Sorokin was scheduled to be released from ICE custody Friday evening, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.

    The 31-year-old had been held by immigration authorities since March 2021 after she had served three years in prison for larceny and theft. Immigration authorities claim she has overstayed her visa and must be returned to Germany.

    This week, a judge had cleared the way for Sorokin to be released to home confinement while she fights deportation. Under conditions imposed by Manhattan Immigration Judge Charles Conroy, she must post a $10,000 bond, provide a residential address where she’ll stay for the duration of her immigration case and refrain from social media posting.

    Posing as Anna Delvey, Sorokin managed to ingratiate herself with New York’s movers and shakers, claiming she had a $67 million (68 million euros) fortune overseas, according to prosecutors. She falsely claimed to be the daughter of a diplomat or an oil baron.

    Prosecutors alleged Sorokin falsified records and lied to banks, luxury hotels and upper crust Manhattanites and stole a total of $275,000. Her exploits inspired the Netflix series “Inventing Anna.”

    After Conroy issued his order, Sorokin’s attorney, Duncan Levin, said in a statement that Sorokin “is thrilled to be getting out so she can focus on appealing her wrongful conviction.”

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  • ‘Our worst fears’: Kidnapped baby, parents, uncle found dead

    ‘Our worst fears’: Kidnapped baby, parents, uncle found dead

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    SAN FRANCISCO — A baby girl, her parents and uncle were found dead in a central California orchard two days after they were kidnapped at gunpoint from their business, police said.

    “Our worst fears have been confirmed,” Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said at a Wednesday night news conference.

    Warnke did not release any information about how and when police believe they were killed. He said the victims were close to each other when found by a farm worker in a remote area.

    The grim announcement came after authorities earlier Wednesday released surveillance video of a man kidnapping 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri; her mother Jasleen Kaur, 27; father Jasdeep Singh, 36; and uncle Amandeep Singh, 39, on Monday.

    Authorities said they were taken by a convicted robber who tried to kill himself a day after the kidnappings. Jesus Salgado, 48, was in critical condition when taken into custody but has been talking to police, Warnke said.

    No motive for the kidnapping has been established, he said.

    “There’s no words right now to describe the anger I feel and the senselessness of this incident,” Warnke said. “I said it earlier: There’s a special place in hell for this guy.”

    Investigators, including crime lab technicians from the California Department of Justice, would be processing the crime scene through the night, Warnke said.

    The four family members were taken from their business in Merced, a city of 86,000 people about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco in the San Joaquin Valley, California’s agricultural heartland.

    Relatives of Salgado contacted authorities reporting that he had admitted to them he was involved with the kidnapping, Warnke told KFSN-TV on Tuesday. Salgado tried to take his own life before police arrived at a home in nearby Atwater, and he has since been hospitalized.

    Efforts to reach Salgado’s family were unsuccessful Wednesday.

    The video released earlier Wednesday showed the suspect first walking by the property before talking to one of the men. Later, it shows him leading the men, who had their hands zip-tied behind their backs, into the back seat of Amandeep Singh’s pickup truck. The suspect then went back to the trailer that served as the business office and led Jasdeep Singh, who was carrying her baby in her arms, out and into the truck before the suspect then drove away.

    Family members said nothing was stolen from the trucking company but that their relatives were all wearing jewelry. Warnke had said that after the kidnappings, an ATM card belonging to one of the victims was used in Atwater, about 9 miles (14 kilometers) north of Merced.

    Warnke said the kidnapper made no ransom demands.

    Investigators were trying to discover a motive for the slayings, the sheriff said.

    “We have a whole family wiped out and for what? We don’t know yet,” he said.

    Relatives of the victims had been notified of the deaths, the sheriff said.

    “We’re hoping that they can now at least have some kind of closure,” Warnke said, adding: “It’s not the closure we were hoping for; it’s not the closure they were hoping for.”

    Family members had earlier asked anyone who owns a convenience store or gas station in the area to check their surveillance cameras for images of the suspect or those missing. They said they were worried the baby wasn’t being fed because the family didn’t have any baby food with them at the time of the kidnapping.

    “Please help us out, come forward, so my family comes home safe,” Sukhdeep Singh, a brother of the victims, said, his voice breaking.

    Salgado was previously convicted of first-degree robbery with the use of a firearm in Merced County, as well as attempted false imprisonment and an attempt to prevent or dissuade a victim or witness. He was sentenced to 11 years in state prison in that case, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

    He was released from prison in 2015 and discharged from parole three years later. He also has a conviction for possession of a controlled substance, the corrections agency said.

    Investigators have not found a link between Salgado and the family to show they knew each other before the kidnapping.

    “As of right now, we believe it was random,” Deputy Alexandra Britton said. “We don’t have evidence to prove otherwise.”

    Family members had told KXTV-TV that the office for Unison Trucking Inc., the family’s business, had only opened about a week earlier.

    “My husband is very peaceful and calm person. We don’t have any clue why they kidnapped them,” said Jaspreet Caur, wife of the kidnapped uncle.

    The sheriff said detectives believe the kidnapper destroyed unspecified evidence in an attempt to cover his tracks.

    The sheriff’s office said that firefighters on Monday found Amandeep Singh’s truck on fire. Merced Police Department officers went to Amandeep Singh’s home, where a family member tried to reach him and the couple. When they were not able to reach their family members, they called the Merced County Sheriff’s office to report them missing, the office said.

    Merced County Undersheriff Corey Gibson said a farmer found a phone belonging to one of the victims on a street in Dos Palos, a town 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Merced, and answered it when the family called it.

    ———

    Dazio reported from Los Angeles. News Researcher Jennifer Farrar in New York contributed to this report.

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