The Sacramento City Attorney's Office has warned Target that its Land Park location could face public nuisance fines if it keeps calling police to report thefts. A city spokesman denied any such threats, but the Sacramento Bee reports that multiple requests for an interview with City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood were not granted. The state legislature is considering a bill that would prohibit local officials from punishing stores for reporting thefts.
Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters recently told members of the state legislature that he has been locked out of the state Department of Education website for two years. In a video posted to X, Walters and another man, who wasn't identified, said that employees created individual websites during a previous administration, and they did not leave the information on how to access those sites when they left. But some lawmakers wondered why the issue hasn't been solved in two years.
Cook County, Illinois, homeowner Darryl Lloyd was stunned when he received a property tax bill for more than $30,000 for his residence. Last year, his bill was a little over $1,800. The tax assessor's office said it miscalculated the value of Lloyd's home and about 4,400 others. They promise these property owners will get corrected tax bills, but Lloyd said he hasn't gotten his yet.
An audit has found that Warren Tyler Agner, who oversaw business development programs at Utah State University Eastern, did not show up to work for two years but was still paid. The audit also found that administrators knew about his absences but did nothing: Agner was friends with his supervisor, as well as the two administrators further up the chain of command. He even lived with his supervisor's supervisor, though neither disclosed this to the school. Agner was paid $157,470 in salary and benefits during the period he was absent. The audit recommended, among other things, updating the school's nepotism and cronyism policy and requiring supervisors to report when an employee is absent. Agner has since been fired, and his roommate resigned before he could be terminated, but the other two administrators remain in their positions.
Saying the link between height and success is significant, the School of Management and Business at Vietnam National University in Hanoi said that this year, female students less than 1.58 meters tall (5'2″) and male students less than 1.65 meters (5'3″) would not be allowed to enroll. The average height for a Vietnamese woman is 1.56 meters (5'1″), and the average height for a Vietnamese man is 1.68 meters (5'6″). Following a public outcry over the new requirements, the Ministry of Education told the university to reconsider them. The school removed the height requirements for all of its programs but one: Students who wish to pursue a degree in Management and Security must still meet the height minimums.
Myanmar's military government has arrested Hiroshi Kasamatsu, an executive with a Japanese supermarket chain with several stores in the country, for selling rice above the maximum price set by the government. In total, the government arrested 62 people for selling rice above the official price. Kasamatsu and 10 others face six months to three years in prison while the rest face possible fines.
Police in the Maldives have arrested State Minister for Environment, Climate Change, and Energy Fathimath Shamnaz Ali Saleem. Police haven't said why she was arrested, but local media report she is accused of using black magic against President Mohamed Muizzu. Sorcery isn't illegal under the country's civil penal code. But it can be punished by up to six months in prison under Islamic law in the majority Muslim nation.
A judge in Florida has tossed out key evidence in a computer hacking case against Courtney Clenney and her parents. Clenney is an OnlyFans model accused of killing her boyfriend, and her parents are accused of taking, accessing, and disposing of the boyfriend's personal computer. Judge Laura Shearon Cruz said the state violated attorney-client privilege when prosecutors collected texts and emails between Deborah Lyn Clenney and Kim DeWayne Clenney and their attorneys. Prosecutors claimed they weren't aware at the time they accessed the parents' cloud storage system that the parents had hired legal representation.
The New York legislature is looking at a bill that would ban the sale of gasoline-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers in the state. If passed, the bill would require rules to enforce the ban by Jan. 1, 2025.
The Chicago City Council is considering hiking 16 different taxes and fees. The ideas the council has been asked to consider include an income tax surcharge, a vacant lot tax, traffic congestion charges, and higher taxes on groceries and alcoholic beverages.
A federal judge has awarded $1.5 million to a family after their two children, a boy and a girl who are U.S. citizens, were wrongly detained at the U.S.-Mexico in 2019. The family lives in Mexico, but the children attend school in the United States. As they attempted to cross the border as they regularly do, Customs and Border Patrol agents stopped them because they believed the photo on the then-9-year-old girl's passport was not of her. She was taken into a room and interrogated by a single agent, a violation of CBP policy, which was not recorded. She reportedly confessed that the girl on the passport was her cousin. The children were finally released after their mother began giving interviews to the media.
Former Boyle County, Kentucky sheriff's deputy Tanner Abbott has been sentenced to nine years and two months in federal prison after being convicted of four counts of violating people's civil rights, and one count each of conspiracy and falsifying records. Prosecutors said Abbott used excessive force against four people, performed an illegal search, and wrote false reports to cover up his abuse. They say his victims were disabled, handcuffed, or otherwise unable to defend themselves. He was convicted, in part, based on text messages he sent from his work phone bragging of the abuse and photos he took of the injuries he caused his victims.
A grand jury in Hall County, Georgia, has indicted county Solicitor General Stephanie Woodard on 24 felony counts—13 counts of false statements and writings, and 11 counts of theft by taking. Woodard is accused of spending nearly $4,200 of taxpayer money on herself and family members, including using funds to have her dog cremated.
In England, all seven members of the Broughton Moor parish council resigned following a public backlash after one council member reported a man to police for trimming overgrown weeds and hedges from the right-of-way of a local road. Some area residents had said the vegetation made it dangerous to walk on the road, so Adam Myers trimmed it all back. But less than 10 minutes after Myers posted a photo of the completed work, a council member commented that he had caused criminal damage. Local police also received a report about Myers' landscaping but said they plan to take no action on the matter. Council members said they were bullied online and in person over the effort to call the police on Myers.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan to close convenience stores in a 20-block area of the Tenderloin district between midnight and 5 a.m. for the next two years. Officials say convenience stores attract nighttime illegal drug activity. Restaurants, bars, and non-retail businesses will not be affected by the law.
Greene County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney Brianna Vanata has dropped involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges against former 911 dispatcher Leon Price, who is accused of refusing to send help to a dying woman. The charges were filed by Vanata's predecessor as district attorney. Kelly Titchenell called 911 to report that her mother was unresponsive and turning yellow. Price at first agreed to send an ambulance, but then he repeatedly told Titchenell he needed her mother's consent, even though she could not speak. He never sent an ambulance, and Titchenell's mother died the next day from internal bleeding.
Jamey Noel, former Clark County, Indiana, sheriff and Republican Party chairman, is facing 25 felony counts relating to claims that he used jail employees for personal work and that he used credit cards from a volunteer fire department he headed and money from the jail commissary to make personal purchases, among other allegations. A state audit found more than $900,000 worth of "questionable" or "unsupported" purchases.
Four Miami-Dade police officers each face up to 30 years in prison after being indicted for manslaughter in the deaths of a kidnapped UPS driver and a bystander in a shootout at a busy intersection. The incident began when Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill robbed a jewelry store and hijacked a UPS truck with the driver still inside; it ended in an intersection packed with cars. Rodolfo Mirabal, Leslie Lee, Jose Mateo, and Richard Santiesteban were indicted on one count each of manslaughter with a firearm for the death of the UPS driver, while Mirabal received an additional indictment for the death of a motorist stuck in traffic.
In 2022, San Francisco fireman Robert Muhammad used a work computer to find fellow firefighter Gabriel Shin's home address. Muhammad had earlier threatened Shin for refusing to reveal who was talking about Muhammad's personal business at work. Muhammad took a hydrant wrench to Shin's house and, finding him outside, began repeatedly swinging the wrench at his head, leaving Shin with broken arms and a concussion. The attack stopped only after a neighbor pulled a handgun and confronted him. Shin has filed a lawsuit against the department, but Muhammad has been allowed to remain on the job, and Shin said his supervisors ordered him to drop the charges and not to cooperate with the criminal investigation.
Authorities in Tennessee indicted Gibson County Sheriff Paul Thomas on 22 charges including official misconduct, theft, forgery, and computer crimes involving jail inmates in his custody. Thomas failed to disclose ownership interests in a staffing agency that provided inmates to assist local businesses, a company that housed current and former inmates in a transitional home, and a third company that provided transportation to work-release inmates and former inmates traveling to and from work.
In India, Ishwar Deen spent more than two months and 250,000 rupees ($2,995) modifying his car to look like a helicopter, welding a propeller to the top and a boom to the back. The first day he took the car on the road, police seized it for illegal modifications and fined him 2,000 rupees ($24).
Twyla Stallworth of Andalusia, Alabama, called to file a noise complaint against her neighbor; when no police officer ever came, she set off a car alarm to annoy the neighbor, who then called to report her. An officer was then dispatched to the scene and arrested Stallworth—not for the car alarm, but for not showing identification in her own home. Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson later apologized to Stallworth and said all charges would be dropped. Under Alabama law, officers can demand ID only from someone who is in a public place and has committed or is likely to commit a crime.
(Illustration: Peter Bagge)
In England, the Hastings Borough Council enacted rules banning one person from walking more than six dogs at a time. Those who violate the ordinance face a fine of up to 1,000 pounds ($1,252). The rules also ban dogs from a number of public places.
Sherri Chance's son called 911 when he saw flames shooting out of the clothes dryer at their home in DeKalb County, Georgia. Even though a fire station was just 2 miles away, he sat on hold for 41 minutes while family members and neighbors tried to battle the growing blaze themselves. Firefighters didn't arrive until a passing FedEx driver saw the house on fire, drove to the fire station, and alerted them.
(Illustration: Peter Bagge)
The St. Louis County SWAT team knocked down the door to Brittany Shamily's home, detaining her and her family while they ransacked the place, searching for evidence related to a carjacking. One of the victims told police his AirPods were in the stolen car, and the Find My app seemed to indicate they were in the home. But the app isn't quite that precise: Police didn't find any evidence related to the carjacking, but they did find the AirPods in the street nearby.
Officials in Fowlerville, Michigan, agreed to pay $320,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by Ryohei Akima, who was wrongly charged with driving under the influence after a rookie officer misread a Breathalyzer test. Akima blew a 0.02, below the blood alcohol content for a drunk driving charge. But the officer—who told a colleague over the radio, "I have no idea what I'm doing"—read it as 0.22, nearly three times the legal limit. The charges were dropped when a blood test showed Akima was under the limit.
Home invasions by criminals seeking to steal automobiles rose 400 percent last year, according to the Toronto Police Service. One officer advised residents to leave their keys at the front door so they'll be easier for criminals to find. "They're breaking into your home to steal your car. They don't want anything else," Constable Marco Ricciardi said during a community meeting.
(Illustration: Peter Bagge)
In Nigeria, Chioma Okoli faces up to three years in prison and a fine of 7 million naira (around $5,112) after posting on Facebook that she found a tomato puree made by local company Erisco Foods Limited to be too sweet. Police charged her under the nation's cybercrimes law with "the intention of instigating people against Erisco Foods." The company also filed a civil lawsuit against her.
For almost eight years, California law enforcement officials kept a death in police custody secret, labeling the case an "accident" and refusing to disclose basic information to journalists and the family of the victim, according to an investigation by Open Vallejo. Darryl Mefferd had seemed disoriented and dehydrated and was making paranoid remarks, so his niece took him to a local hospital, where he was treated with vitamins and a sedative. Doctors wanted him to remain in the hospital, but they did not feel he met the conditions for an involuntary commitment and did not call police. Mefferd left the hospital but outside encountered Vallejo Police Department Officer Jeremy Callinan, who was at the hospital on another call. Callinan ignored the niece's pleas to take her uncle home, insisting on taking Mefferd into protective custody. Thirty minutes later, Mefferd was dead. The coroner ruled the death an accident, due to a lethal dose of methamphetamine. But Mefferd had spent the previous eight hours in a hospital, where a doctor said his drug diagnosis was "uncomplicated." A source who had reviewed body camera footage—which has still not been made public—claims that Mefferd either fell or was thrown to the ground before Callinan handcuffed and sat on him for 10 minutes.
For the first time in 111 years, Pennsylvania's Upper Moreland Township will not host the June Fete Fair and Horse and Pony Show. Township officials canceled the fair citing recent youth violence at other area events. Organizers had offered to cancel evening hours, install metal detectors, and beef up security, but town officials said the changes weren't enough. This is the second spring festival in the region canceled because of violence and robberies at other events.
Mexican officials are once again criticizing Ceci Flores, who searches for the bodies of people who have disappeared and are presumed to have been kidnapped and murdered. She typically searches in areas known to be places where drug cartels dump bodies. The problem is that she is too successful in finding those bodies, undercutting the government's claims to be searching for them and its efforts to downplay the scope of violence and kidnapping in the country. After her latest find, prosecutors initially claimed she'd found dog bones before admitting she'd found human remains, but they then accused her of breaking the chain of evidence.
The California state Senate has passed a bill that would require speed governors on all new cars manufactured or sold in California by 2032. These devices would give drivers "audible and visual signals" when they exceed the speed limit by more than 10 miles per hour. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco), says the measure will reduce traffic accidents and deaths.
A group of New York City sheriffs created a "man cave" at a city storage facility and stocked it with booze and tobacco products seized from stores and bars they raided and closed for violating COVID-19 shutdown orders. They reportedly blocked off the security cameras so they could drink and smoke in the area. The Department of Finance, which employs the sheriffs, has refused to release their names, and department Commissioner Preston Niblack declined to discuss the issue with local media. But officials say that twelve sheriffs were suspended for 30 days without pay over the matter, and none were charged with any crimes.
Darien Harris spent 12 years in prison for murder but was freed last year after it was discovered an eyewitness against him was legally blind. Court records show the man denied under oath that he had vision problems. In fact, he had advanced glaucoma and had been declared legally blind nine years previously. A second eyewitness denied Harris was the shooter. Harris is now suing the Chicago Police Department for violating his civil rights.
U.S. Reps. Grace Meng and Tim Kennedy, both Democrats from New York, have introduced a bill that bar the sale, transfer, or possession of Level 3 body armor to anyone but the military or police officers. Level 3 armor is designed to stop rifle rounds such as 7.62 mm. The bill is named for Aaron Salter Jr., a retired police officer who died trying to stop a 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo. Kennedy said Salter fired on and hit the gunman but the gunman was wearing body armor and was not stopped.
New York lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow evidence of past sexual offenses to be introduced in sex crimes trials. The bill is named for Harvey Weinstein, the movie mogul whose rape conviction was tossed out by the state Court of Appeals because the trial judge allowed testimony about alleged incidents that were not part of the case. The bill has passed the state Senate, but it has met resistance in the Assembly, where some members have expressed concern it could have a disproportionate impact on men of color. But Assembly member Amy Paulin (D–Westchester), one of the bill's sponsors, says those concerns are overblown. "Most rapists that are serial rapists – which is what we're talking about here because multiple victims – are privileged white men," Paulin said.
Linden, New Jersey, Mayor Derek Armstead has apologized for making disparaging remarks about Hasidic Jews. In a secretly recorded conversation between Armstead and local Board of Education President Marlene Berghammer, Berghammer said, "If it's in a neighborhood school district, it should be, we don't mind if it is a black person or a Haitian-speaking person." Armstead replies, "That is what has to happen in order to keep our community from being taken over by guys with big hats and curls," an apparent reference to the city's growing Hasidic Jewish population. Armstead apologized for the remarks but said it is part of an extortion scheme: The comments were first revealed in a $950,000 lawsuit brought by former assistant superintendent Paul Oliveira, who claims he was forced to leave his job for opposing a scheme to keep Jews from being hired.
Police Scotland initially declared the death of Brian Low to be "non-suspicious and medical-related." But a medical examination found "he had injuries consistent with being fatally shot." His death certificate says he died of a shotgun wound to the neck and chest. Three months later, police arrested a man in connection with the death. Scotland's Police Investigation and Review Commissioner has confirmed it is looking into the way the crime scene was handled.
Police Officer Noah Werner of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, arrested Jeff Adams for DUI in 2023. Adams asked for but was not given a breathalyzer at the scene. It took four months, but lab tests eventually found Adams was not intoxicated. But in the meantime, he was suspended as an Uber driver, and while he wasn't fired from his day job as a teacher, he says he still fears the arrest hurt his reputation. WSMV, Nashville's CBS affiliate, reports that Werner arrested two other people for DUI in 2023 who turned out to be sober. "I certainly regret that, and I really deeply hurt for what they went through," said Police Chief Gary Goodwin. The station reports that police departments throughout Middle Tennessee have arrested sober people for DUIs. It also found that many drivers ask for but do not get breathalyzers because departments do not use them. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation told the station that because of a backlog it can take up to eight months to get alcohol reports back.
Former Columbus, Ohio police vice detective Andrew Mitchell has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of depriving individuals of their civil rights while acting under color of law and one count of obstructing justice. While working as a plain clothes officer, Mitchell kidnapped two sex workers: He detained, handcuffed, and questioned them before ever identifying himself as an officer. Last year, Mitchell was acquitted of murder and manslaughter after shooting and killing a woman in his unmarked police car during a prostitution investigation.
A Portland, Maine, police department after-action report on a mass shooting last year describes a scene of "utter chaos" with officers who had not been dispatched showing up in civilian clothing, some of them dressed similarly to how the gunman was described as being dressed. The report said this could have led to an accidental friendly fire incident. It also said a tactical team from another agency almost crashed its armored vehicle into another police vehicle. Officers also reported smelling alcohol from inside that tactical team's vehicle, and members of the team said they had just come from a funeral.
When two masked men broke into a woman's Chicago home, she called 911. And then she called again. And again. In total, she spoke to 911 operators six times over the course of an hour. At one point, a supervisor explained they had no police units to send, blaming cuts to the police department; he even recommended she call her alderman and ask him to give the police more funding. Fortunately for her, the intruders left after spotting her. Officers did not arrive until more than three hours after her first call to 911.
When Caroline and Matt Ydstie got a ticket for running a red light in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they were confused: They live in the Pittsburgh area and say they have never been to Philadelphia. What made it even more confusing is that the ticket was for a white Ford. They drive a blue Honda Civic. When the Ydsties called to find out what was going on, the Philadelphia Parking Authority told them to contact the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. PennDOT told them they'd have to go to court to challenge the ticket. Caroline Ydstie said that would cost more than the ticket, so she called a local TV station. The station found the problem began with the person who typed in the ticket, which was generated by a red light camera. That person got one letter of the license plate wrong, tying the ticket to her vehicle
Sheriff Calvin Hayden of Johnson County, Kansas, has admitted that a warrant he claimed to have allowing him to seize election ballots was not signed by a judge. Since 2019, Hayden claimed to be investigating election fraud, focusing on a software company the county used to manage poll workers. No charges have come from that investigation. While state law requires the county to destroy the ballots, the elections office had held off because of Hayden's purported investigation. But when they never received that warrant, and after being reminded of the law by the secretary of state's office, they destroyed the ballots, leading Hayden to accuse them of destroying evidence. During a candidates' forum, former Kansas GOP Chairman Mike Kuckelman asked Hayden which judge signed the warrant he claimed to have had. "There's no judge," Hayden replied. Kuckelman pointed out that a judge has to sign a warrant for it to be valid. "I didn't say it was valid," Hayden said.
Toronto Police Service Supt. Stacy Clarke has pleaded guilty to seven counts of professional misconduct, including breach of confidence, discreditable conduct, and insubordination. Clarke, the department's first black female superintendent, provided questions and answers to a sergeant's exam to six black constables before they took the exam. At a tribunal hearing, her attorney said she was frustrated at how long it was taking to diversify the department and claimed she was trying to fight systemic racism. The prosecution asked that she be demoted to staff sergeant for at least two years before being allowed to reapply to become superintendent, with no guarantee of regaining the job. Her attorney is asking that she be demoted to inspector for up to 18 months and then automatically reinstated as superintendent.
The University of New Brunswick, a public university in Canada, is seeking a research chair in quantum sensors for space application. According to the job posting, "The successful candidate will bring a record of leadership in multidisciplinary and collaborative research achievements in quantum sensing technologies that shows global impact." Oh, and that person must be a member "of gender equity deserving groups (including cisgender women, transgender women, transgender men, two-spirit, and non-binary)" and/or not white.
Raul Ortiz and his mother have sued the Elyria, Ohio, police department and three officers after they entered his home without a warrant and tased and arrested him. Ortiz's ex-girlfriend had contacted police and told them she previously lived at his house and wanted to retrieve her belongings. When they met her there, Ortiz refused to allow them in. (The landlord later confirmed she had turned in her keys and was no longer a resident.) One of the officers encouraged the ex to kick in the door, and they all rushed in. Ortiz demanded to know why they had kicked in the door, which led to a struggle in which one of the officers used a Taser on his bare stomach as he protested that he had a pacemaker. Police charged Ortiz with five felonies, including three counts of assaulting an officer, and his mother with felony obstruction for demanding to know why her son was being arrested. Prosecutors dropped all charges, but only after Ortiz had spent nine days in jail.
A typo apparently led Pinellas County, Florida, sheriff's deputies to pull a man and his epileptic teenage daughter from their car at gunpoint. A local TV station reports that a deputy ran the car's tag and it came back stolen. But about 10 minutes after deputies pulled over the driver, dashboard and bodycam video showed the deputy who entered the tag number realizing he'd typed it in wrong. Another deputy can be heard complaining about deputies "not knowing what they're doing." "People make mistakes," said the deputy who ran the tag number.
In Pennsylvania, Rusty Herr and Ethan Wenthworth spent almost 30 days in jail for contempt of court after the State Board of Veterinary Medicine claimed they failed to respond to a subpoena for records relating to their use of ultrasound to perform pregnancy checks on cows. The two run a business that helps dairy farms manage their cows' pregnancies. The Pennsylvania Veterinary Medicine Association has filed complaints with state regulators claiming that by using ultrasound for pregnancy checks, the two are engaging in the unlicensed practice of veterinary medicine. A lawyer for the men has taken the case to the state supreme court.
Police in Cobb County, Georgia, have arrested former U.S. Postal Service carrier Ebony Williams on charges of theft and forgery. Police saw Williams getting into a car that had been reported stolen. When they approached her, they saw letters scattered around the interior of the car. After getting a warrant, they found ripped-open checks among the mail in the glove compartment and trunk. Police believe Williams stole the checks instead of delivering them.
Jeremy Haney, a former police officer in Appleton, Wisconsin, has pleaded no contest to felony misconduct in public office for falsifying information in a report. Haney forged the signatures of a prosecutor and a judge on paperwork to authorize placing a tracking device on a suspect's vehicle as part of a drug investigation. An assistant district attorney spotted the discrepancy when he was reviewing the documents and realized they were not the ones he signed. Haney claimed that he lost the original paperwork, so he reprinted it and forged the signatures. He will receive no jail time but will have to pay fines and fees totaling more than $1,000.
The French government has banned supermarkets from offering discounts of more than 34 percent on shampoo, toilet paper, toothpaste, and other personal items. The law effectively bans "buy one, get one" discounts, and it has applied to all food items since March 2023. Supporters of the law say it protects small stores that cannot compete on price with large retailers.
Following numerous complaints about lengthy response times, Meigs County, Tennessee, commissioners are looking at ways to improve their emergency medical service. But EMS Director Tony Finnell doesn't seem very concerned about the issue: Chattanooga's ABC 9 reported that when he was confronted about response times by a resident at a public meeting, Finnell said, "Ma'am we're all gonna die. My suggestion to you is to get your heart right with God."
Starting July 6, all new vehicles sold in the European Union and Northern Ireland will come with mandatory intelligent speed assistance, which will cause the vehicle to beep or vibrate and eventually slow down if the driver exceeds the speed limit. The technology was introduced as an option by many manufacturers in 2015. It was mandated by the E.U. in 2022, but drivers at that time had the option of switching it off.
