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'Cat kicker' in video circulating online has been arrested, cops say

Thu, 02 Aug 2018 11:23:00 -0400

Atlanta Police announced the arrest of a 22-year-old "cat kicker" who they say was captured on video punting an innocent feline outside of a gas station.

Authorities said 22-year-old Jamari Davenport turned himself in on Wednesday. Video of the incident had been circulating on social media and Davenport has been charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals.

"The cat has still not been found, so the extent of the cat’s injuries are not known," police said.

The video shows the man only from the waist-down in a parking lot, charging towards the cat and kicking it like a football while bystanders cheer him on.

Police told Fox 5 Atlanta they believe it was filmed for entertainment, as the kicking is displayed in slow motion.

The video was reported to have been recorded in early July at a Chevron station. Investigators linked Davenport to the footage through tips and an examination of surveillance footage from a local gas station, which included his upper body and face.

The cat was recognized by a local security guard who works at the gas station. He said that the cat would always follow him around but has been missing since the incident.

Florida man convicted of plot to bomb Target stores in alleged stock-buying scheme

Tue, 31 Jul 2018 11:30:00 -0400

A Florida man is facing up to 40 years in prison for allegedly plotting to tank Target’s stock price by placing bombs on the shelves of various stores along the East Coast.

Mark Barnett, a 50-year-old from Ocala, was found guilty Monday of attempted arson and the possession and making of unregistered destructive devices, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida announced.

“If someone has to die so that I can make some money, so be it,” Barnett had told what officials described as a "confidential source."

Officials say Barnett offered someone $10,000 to create and place makeshift bombs disguised as food packaging on Target store shelves from Florida to New York. But before finalizing the plan, investigators discovered the bomb-making materials at Barnett’s place of residence, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.

The source working with him turned over to police at least 10 devices that were already made.

"Federal explosives experts subsequently determined that the resulting fire and explosion from each of the devices would have been capable of causing property damage, serious injury, and death," the attorney's office said in a statement.

"Searches of Barnett’s house, cellphone, and computer revealed pictures of the grocery items that he had turned into bombs, as well as leftover bomb components and articles describing stock options," it added.

Authorities believe Barnett’s intent was to have the company's stock plunge after the explosions and then swoop in to "cheaply acquire shares...before an eventual rebound in prices," the attorney's office said.

Prosecutors also said Barnett is a registered sex offender and was released from state prison in 2013 due to extenuating circumstances, after being convicted of multiple felonies such as sexual assault and grand theft. Beforehand, he was convicted of kidnapping in Mississippi.

Georgia rape suspect caught after high-speed chase ends in crash, police say

Mon, 30 Jul 2018 14:16:00 -0400

The suspect in a rape and kidnapping was arrested Sunday after allegedly leading Georgia cops on a high-speed chase -- during which he crashed into another driver, officials said.

The Marietta Police Department said the collision occurred Sunday morning near the intersection of South Cobb Drive near Fairground Street in Marietta.

During the chase, Andrew Head, 27, merged into oncoming traffic and hit another car head-on, police told FOX5 Atlanta. Both drivers were sent to Kennestone Hospital for medical attention.

“He absolutely put several motorists’ lives in danger,” Marietta Police Officer Chuck McPhilamy said.

The chase began around 9:00 a.m., after a woman locked herself in the bathroom of a local Texaco station and called 911 to report she had been kidnapped and raped numerous times inside her van, FOX5 reported. Cops say the alleged attacker, Head, stole her van and fled.

Authorities tracked down the van later in the day and instructed the driver to pull over. But instead of being cooperative, Head sped away and, at one point, drove directly toward officers, officials said.

“We are just glad this violent suspect was taken into custody and won’t be able to hurt anyone else,” McPhilamy told FOX5.

Head faces several charges, including rape, robbery by force and kidnapping.

Longtime radio hosts off air after calling New Jersey attorney general by 'abhorrent and xenophobic' nickname

Thu, 26 Jul 2018 10:33:00 -0400

Two New Jersey radio hosts have been yanked off the air after repeatedly referring to the nation’s first and only Sikh-American attorney general as “turban man.”

WKXW hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco made the controversial comments Wednesday on “The Dennis & Judi Show” during a segment about Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s recent order to suspend marijuana prosecutions in the state.

The station said Malloy, a New Jersey Broadcasters Hall of Fame inductee who has hosted the show with Franco for more than 20 years, told her he couldn't remember Grewal's name. Malloy then said, "I'm just going to say the guy with the turban" and the hosts, after that, continued to call him "Turban Man," it added.

The hosts acknowledged the offensive nature of their remarks -- for the most part.

“If that offends you, then don’t wear the turban and maybe I’ll remember your name,” Malloy said, according to FOX5 NY.

Grewal, in response, tweeted early Thursday "I’m the 61st Attorney General of NJ. I’m a Sikh American. I have 3 daughters. And yesterday, I told them to turn off the radio."

The station, meanwhile, said it has “taken immediate action and have taken [the hosts] off the air until further notice."

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy also denounced the hosts’ statements, saying he was "outraged by the abhorrent and xenophobic comments."

"Hate speech has no place in New Jersey, and it does not belong on our airwaves," Murphy said in a statement. "Station management must now hold the hosts accountable for these intolerant and racist comments.”

Bronx park flooded with needles despite syringe disposal boxes

Wed, 25 Jul 2018 12:45:00 -0400

An investigation has revealed an assortment of drug paraphernalia littered throughout a Bronx public park despite city-placed syringe disposal boxes meant to deal with the loose needles found scattered just feet from where children play and attend school.

A Fox 5 New York report on the park, located in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, also found that disposal boxes placed near a playground in the bathrooms had been shuttered after they became “shooting galleries” for addicts.

“The situation has gotten much worse, and they supposedly put this disposal box for them to not drop their needles on the ground, but it’s like an open invite to get high,” Shameeca Ruiz, a resident who lives near the park, told Fox 5 New York. “If they don’t care to not get high around children, they don’t care to pick up their needles.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heroin abuse has rapidly increased from 2010-2016. From 2015 to 2016, heroin overdose death rates increased by 19.5 percent, with nearly 15,500 people dying in 2016.

DOCTORS COULD HAVE SAVED PREGNANT MOM WHO DIED FROM SEPSIS, CORONER RULES

Footage from the report showed orange syringe tops, exposed needles and bags of unused drugs littered on the ground outside a baseball field where children were playing. Volunteer residents have attempted to clean up the park to make it safe to play.

“I’m doing this for the children here, because this is too much,” Rademes Ramos told the news outlet.

According to the report, the NYC Health and Parks department has placed syringe-disposal boxes in local parks throughout the Bronx to deal with an abundance of loose needles found by sanitation workers each month. Although the boxes have reportedly been making a difference in some areas, a considerable amount of drug abusers are still failing to dispose of their needles.

Concerned residents told the news outlet that addicts were breaking into the bathrooms in an attempt to access used needles, and that the presence of the disposal boxes were sending mixed messages about drug use.

“It’s an abundance of needles, everywhere, all strewn about. It just never stops,” Ruiz told Fox 5 New York.

Shirtless man captured on video hanging onto moving car

Tue, 24 Jul 2018 16:00:00 -0400

A recent video depicting a shirtless, shoeless man hanging onto the hood of a moving car has sparked an investigation by Georgia police.

Viviana Deyette, the car’s 17-year-old driver, said the man came out of nowhere and was frantically yelling about being in severe danger when he hopped onto the hood, FOX5 Atlanta reported.

“He was yelling that they are shooting at them and I didn’t know where he had come from and I thought someone was actually shooting at him,” Deyette told the station. “He kept yelling at me to drive.”

Police say Deyette drove a considerable distance with the man hanging onto the hood and was determined not to stop until she was in a safe environment. The man’s feet were nearly touching the road as the vehicle was traveling along a busy highway.

“She was able to keep a clear mind to get to safety, get to where she knew there was other people so she did the right thing,” said Sgt. Kevin Holbrook with Gainesville Police Department.

Police said numerous people called 911 earlier to report the man obstructing traffic with his behavior near a Motel 6 location on Highway 129, where investigators believe he was staying, according to FOX5 Atlanta.

“He was running back and forth in the roadway, was jumping on cars, banging on cars, was banging on cars again. Officers had an issue getting to the car because traffic was a dead still,” Sgt. Holbrook said.

The 37-year-old, whose identity has not been released because he was taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation, was found with drug paraphernalia on him after being taken into custody.

Police believe he may have been hallucinating at the time of the incident and Holbrook added “criminal charges may be possible in this case. There was damage done to this car as well as other cars from this individual.”

Deyette also told the station that she hopes the man ends up “somewhere where he would get the mental health and the help he needs.”

Former high school teacher who fired gun in classroom sentenced to prison

Wed, 18 Jul 2018 13:30:00 -0400

A former Georgia teacher was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison after a February incident in which he fired a revolver in his classroom.

Jesse Randal Davidson, 53, pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal damage to property, carrying a weapon within a school safety zone and disrupting the operation of a public school. After his sentence ends, he will be on probation for 8 years, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.

Prosecutors said Davidson stashed a revolver in a computer case he brought to his Dalton High School classroom in February and then barricaded himself inside the room before shooting through a window. No students were present at the time of the shooting.

Davidson surrendered after talking to a school resource officer, officials said.

The only injury stemming from the incident occurred when a student fell and hurt his ankle while the school was being evacuated.

Davidson, a social studies teacher at Dalton High for 14 years, was also an announcer for the school's football team.

Could Africa become the next Silicon Valley?

Mon, 16 Jul 2018 14:45:00 -0400

At one point, the idea of developing a startup in Africa was unfamiliar and far-fetched. However, new major tech labs in Ghana or Nigeria are looking to emulate the success of their counterparts in Silicon Valley.

The “Vibranium Valley” project , which is located in Yaba, Nigeria, was commissioned by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The project aims to deliver an elaborate, state-of-the-art space specifically for tech startups.

In May, Google and Facebook also lauched their own tech initiatives in Nigeria, according to a report from Phys.org.

Vice-President Osinbajo recently traveled to California to discuss with tech investors the future of Africa’s tech industry and what he deems could be a “fourth industrial revolution.”

“We may not have the kind of classrooms as we have today considering the growth of Nigeria’s population, so technology may become the way out to take education and learning forward,” he said, according to Africa-online.com.

Aside from Nigeria and its tech push, other countries, such as Ghana have directed their attention towards furthering technological involvement in Africa.

According to its “Around The World” blog, Google announced last month that it will be launching Africa’s first artificial intelligence research center later this year in Accra, Ghana.

Another major driving factor for this initiative is Africa’s abundant population. According to The UN Population Division, Africa’s population is estimated to be 1.2 billion. By 2050, the U.N. estimates the population will double to 2.4 billion.

“There’s clear opportunity for companies like Facebook and Google to really go in and put a pole in the sand,” said Daniel Ives, a technology researcher at GBH Insights in New York, according to Phys.org.

On May 22, Facebook opened the NG_Hub in Nigeria, "its first flagship community hub space in Africa, in partnership with Cchub," according to The Guardian. During the opening of NG_Hub, Facebook's head of public policy in Africa Ebele Okobi said that the goal was to “cultivate the nascent technology community.”

“The social network has pledged to train 50,000 people across the country to give them the digital skills they need to succeed,” she added, according to Phys.org.

First-ever color X-rays deliver astonishingly clear pictures for more accurate diagnoses, researchers say

Thu, 12 Jul 2018 14:15:00 -0400

Scientists from New Zealand recently performed the first-ever 3-D, color X-ray on a human being.

Developed by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, the new device works like a camera, collecting individual sub-atomic particles as they rapidly collide with pixels when its shutter is open, the Agence France Press reported.

This allows for high-contrast, high-resolution pictures to be produced at a quick rate.

The device, named “Medipix,” incorporates particle-tracking technology developed for CERN's Large Hadron Collider, which in 2012 discovered the Higgs Boson particle.

“This color X-ray imaging technique could produce clearer and more accurate pictures and help doctors give their patients more accurate diagnoses,” read a statement from CERN.

The “Medipix” is unique because it has the capability to show practitioners the difference between bone, muscle and cartilage in real time.

With this degree of advanced technology, doctors can examine the exact positioning and size of cancerous tumors, which will help to improve the quality of physical operation as we know it.

This technology is now being commercialized by New Zealand company MARS Bioimaging Ltd, which is linked to two universities that helped develop it: Otago and Canterbury.

San Francisco's new mayor confronts city in turmoil amid crime, homelessness, lost business

Wed, 11 Jul 2018 16:00:00 -0400

London Breed was sworn into office on Wednesday as San Francisco’s first female African-American mayor, taking over for the late Ed Lee – and immediately facing a slew of financial and social problems plaguing the city.

Breed, a 43-year-old Democrat and former president of the city’s board of supervisors, has been tasked with tackling a mounting homelessness crisis, a lack of adequate housing as more and more people flood into the Bay Area and a growing divide between longtime residents and the recently arrived tech industry.

"We are not a tale of two cities, we are one San Francisco and as your mayor, I will do everything I can to unite us and bring us together for the purposes of doing what we need to get on the right track," Breed said during her inauguration speech Wednesday afternoon.

The biggest obstacle Breed faces as mayor is combating the city’s rampant homeless problem.

City statistics shows that at any given time, there are 7,500 homeless living on the streets. The issue has been exacerbated by the country’s ongoing opioid epidemic.

Throughout the city, homeless people are seen daily shooting up heroin and smoking methamphetamine in broad daylight on downtown streets. According to reports from the city’s Department of Public Works, 10,000 needles were collected off the streets in March of 2017, compared with just 3,000 during the same time period the previous year.

The issue isn’t just affecting the city’s residents; it has also been blamed as a major detriment to the tourism industry.

Tourism is among the biggest industries in San Francisco – bringing in $9 billion a year in revenue, employing around 80,000 people and generating more than $725 million in local taxes. But the amount of homeless people in the city, especially in tourist-heavy areas around Union Square and Fisherman’s Wharf, has caused some visitors to rethink their travel plans.

"When these things leave, it affects all of us -- the taxi, the hotel, the restaurant," Hotel Council of San Francisco Executive Director Kevin Carroll told local media after a large trade show pulled out of the city due to those concerns. "We need to be concerned."

To combat the homeless problem in San Francisco, Breed wants to, among other things, improve hospital and hospice care for the homeless, open safe injection sites for drug users, have medical teams on the streets deal with overdoses and construct permanent housing for the city’s homeless.

“There is nothing compassionate or safe about relegating people, particularly those suffering from mental health or addiction issues, to sleep on our streets,” Breed wrote in a piece on Medium.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Stonewall Inn window and neon sign vandalized, officials say not a hate crime

Mon, 09 Jul 2018 11:17:00 -0400

An unidentified teenager has been accused of breaking the front window and historic neon sign of New York’s Stonewall Inn, a popular landmark in the LGBTQ community.

Officials said the 19-year-old suspect was aggravated after being thrown out of the gay bar Friday night. Early Saturday morning, authorities believe he destroyed the window and neon sign with a baseball bat, resulting in over $6,000 in damages. The teenager is being charged with reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal mischief, according to FOX23.

This incident is not being investigated as a hate crime, officials said.

The Stonewall Inn is the site of a police raid in June 1969 that ignited days of demonstrations.

In 2016, former President Barack Obama declared it a national monument.

North Carolina's wild horses face existential threat from junk food, group says

Thu, 05 Jul 2018 10:38:00 -0400

The wild horses roaming North Carolina’s internationally known “Outer Banks” are encountering a potential threat to their existence: junk food.

Year-round visitors and supporters of the horses are actually doing harm to the animals by trying to feed them, officials say.

“Naturally, food designed for humans are not supposed to be in their system. Unlike humans, horses do not have the ability to vomit when their body rejects food, so when they switch their diet, they can really get ill and develop colic, which has the potential to kill them,” Jo Langone, the Chief Operating Officer for the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, told Fox News.

The Fund describes itself as a nonprofit designed to "protect, conserve, and responsibly manage the herd of wild Colonial Spanish Mustangs roaming freely on the northernmost Currituck Outer Banks."

It says any unfamiliar foods can disturb the horses' normal diet of grass -- and more often than not, visitors are not aware of this reality and the potentially terminal consequences their actions can have on the horses.

To help raise awareness, a billboard and other signs have been put up in the area tailored towards educating the general public about the “dangers of human interaction with the wild herd,” the Charlotte Observer reports. One popular sign states: “Admire But Don’t Feed! Apples and Carrots Kill Wild Horses.”

“It is against the law to intentionally come within 50 feet of the wild horses, so that means no petting or feeding," VisitCurrituck.com says.

Aside from the threat of malnutrition from tourists, Outer Banks wild horses have had to endure other threats, such as being run over by the four-wheel-drive vehicles that roam the Corolla beaches, where many horses reside.

Twenty of the horses were killed by vehicles between 1985 and 1996, according to the Outer Banks Voice. In 1997, a fence was put up to keep the horses north of Corolla, and the herd has since grown to about 100, the Voice reported last month.

Norwegian Cruise employee rescued by Carnival Cruise 22 hours after falling overboard

Mon, 02 Jul 2018 13:30:00 -0400

A Norwegian Cruise Line crew member who fell overboard Saturday was miraculously found alive 22 hours later by a Carnival cruise ship.

The U.S. Coast Guard had been informed Saturday afternoon that a 33-year-old crew member was seen falling off of the Norwegian Getaway ship almost 30 miles northwest of Pinar del Rio, a province in western Cuba, according to The Miami Herald.

BLACK BEAR CAUGHT ON VIDEO STEALING DONUTS FROM FAMILY'S GARAGE

Following the report, the U.S. Coast Guard said, an HC-144 Ocean Sentry plane sent from Miami began the search just 10 minutes later.

But it was passengers aboard the Carnival ship who spotted the crew member around 1 p.m. Sunday, 21 miles north of Cuba.

The Norwegian employee, who has not been identified, was in stable condition. It was not immediately clear how the crew member managed to keep afloat after falling off the ship.

“This is nothing short of miraculous,” Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line told the Miami Herald. “Kudos to the Carnival Glory team for this amazing effort to rescue a fellow seafarer.”

Carnival’s Glory left Miami on June 24 for an eight-day cruise that returned to the Florida city on July 1st. The Norwegian crew member was found on the final day of the cruise.

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“We are so happy to know that the individual is safe and will soon be reunited with friends and family. We are also extremely grateful to Carnival Cruise Line and send out deepest thanks to the crew of Carnival Glory,” a Norwegian Cruise Line spokesperson told the Herald.

Woman, baby survive fall onto NYC subway tracks

Thu, 28 Jun 2018 10:50:00 -0400

A 30-year-old woman and her 2-month-old son barely survived after falling onto the subway tracks moments before a New York City train entered the station on Wednesday morning.

Miraculously, the woman and her son fell into the gulley between the tracks and were small enough to avoid contact with the train altogether, according to nearby MTA workers who witnessed the incident.

The woman, who has not been identified, told authorities that she and her child tripped and accidentally fell onto the tracks. However, one conductor and several witnesses say that it appeared she purposely leaped onto the tracks, ABC 7 NY reported.

The incident occurred at the 149th Street-Grand Concourse in the Melrose section of the Bronx around 9:30 a.m.

The woman and child were sent to the hospital shortly after the incident. Surprisingly, both were uninjured. In addition, the train operator was hospitalized.

“We have someone that says, ‘I stumbled and fell accidentally, so it’s very early,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said, told ABC 7 NY. “My understanding is, thankfully, that the woman and the baby are OK.”

The incident is under investigation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

8 gang-affiliated men charged with murder in fatal stabbing of Bronx teen

Wed, 27 Jun 2018 21:15:00 -0400

All eight men linked to the grisly murder of a 15-year-old who was hacked to death with a machete outside of a New York City deli have been arraigned on charges of murder, manslaughter and gang assault, according to reports.

WCBS reported that the suspects appeared in Bronx criminal court.

Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, who dreamed of becoming a police officer and was a member of the NYPD’s Explorers program, was grabbed forcefully outside the Bronx bodega and assaulted by a group of men who stabbed him repeatedly as he struggled to escape, videos show. He was knifed in the neck, and died while running to St. Barnabas Hospital three blocks away.

“The brutal nature of this crime, we will leave literally no stone unturned until we make sure that we get justice and we make sure that everyone in this incident are brought to justice,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said following Tuesday night’s arrest of the final suspect, Elvin Garcia, 23.

The seven other suspects were seen by a judge in New Jersey earlier on Tuesday, and agreed to be extradited to New York.

They were identified as Jose Muniz, 21, of Paterson, N.J., Joniki Martinez, 24, of Freeport, N.Y., Jose Tavarez, 21, Manuel Rivera, 18, Danel Fernandez, 21, Santiago Rodriguez, 24 and Kevin Alvarez, 19 — all from the Bronx, N.Y.

The suspected members of the Dominican “Trinitarios” gang are believed to have killed Guzman-Feliz because they misinterpreted his identity for another young man who created a sex tape with one of the gang member’s sisters, police sources told the New York Post.

Ever since surveillance of the teen’s death surfaced via social media and has aired on major news outlets, it has sparked widespread community unrest and national attention.

“Gang members who drag a young teen out of a bodega and then hack him to death repeatedly with knives and a machete deserve to rot in prison for the rest of their lives,” City Councilman Ritchie Torres said following the arrests.

More than 1,000 mourners attended a funeral for Guzman-Feliz Wednesday.

“We will be praying for him … as a community to say no to the violence, to the gang life and to all evil that is at the root at the death, the innocent death, of Junior Guzman-Feliz,” Rev. Jonathan Morris said during the service.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said he wants find a way to honor his memory by naming part of the Explorers program after him.

“We want the next generation of young people who want to serve in the police to know about the young man who didn’t’ get a chance to, and be inspired by him,” de Blasio said during “Inside City Hall,” a live broadcast on NY1.

Fox News' Frank Miles and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Police officer slashed, security guard shot during rampage in Japan

Tue, 26 Jun 2018 13:40:00 -0400

An unidentified knife-wielding man slashed an officer to death outside a police station in Japan Tuesday morning before grabbing and using his firearm to gun down a nearby elementary school security guard, officials say.

The chaos in Toyama prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, ended after the suspect was wounded by the gunfire of another policeman and then captured. As of now, the motivation behind his actions is unknown.

The security guard that was shot and killed was 69 years old. For safety measures, teachers were instructed to escort their students to the school’s gymnasium as advised by police, Principal Yoshiaki Iino said.

Multiple Japanese media outlets reported that the suspect is 21 years old.

Tomohiro Yamada, a prefectural police director, apologized on television for the fatal incident.

“We regret that the police officer had his gun stolen,” Yamada said.

Typically, Japan is recognized for its generally low crime rates, but there has been a recent surge in random stabbings.

An attacker on a bullet train stabbed and killed a passenger last month who was trying to save two other passengers from getting injured. In another instance, an 18-year-old man was arrested last week after allegedly slashing a boy walking home from school in Shizuoka.

Shootings though, are rare in Japan, according to the National Police Agency. In 2016, it reported 25 shooting arrests, nine of which were related to cases involving deaths. In comparison, there were 130 knifing cases the same year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Texas veteran, 90, injured after block of asphalt hits him from overpass

Tue, 26 Jun 2018 10:20:00 -0400

A 90-year-old Texas veteran is recovering Tuesday as police are searching for a group of teens who reportedly hurled a chunk of asphalt through the windshield of a car he was traveling in over the weekend.

Raymond Mikeska of Fort Worth suffered a chest injury Sunday evening after the asphalt came raining down from an overpass along Interstate-30.

“It just happened just like that,” he told Fox 4, adding that he heard a loud thud as his great-granddaughter was driving the car. “My eyes, I just didn’t see it.”

Coming down at a rapid pace, the rock hit him directly in the chest as he sat in the passenger’s seat.

The station reported that Fort Worth Police are now trying to track down the kids believed to be responsible for the incident.

Mikeska’s great-granddaughter Cindy Boyd said she immediately pulled over after the rock came into the car.

“My father raised his shirt up to me,” she said. “And he was just covered in glass.”

Boyd said she looked up at the kids who she says threw the asphalt, and they “just walked off” in a nonchalant manner.

“They didn’t run. They weren’t afraid. It did not bother them,” she told Fox 4.

Mikeska, a former Army football player, says he is thankful that he wasn’t hit in a more critical area of the body.

“It could have hit me more in my face, across my eyes or something like that or forced to hit my forehead,” he said. “It could have killed me very easily.”

Florida hit-and-run driver ‘purposely’ mowed down family, killing father, police say

Mon, 25 Jun 2018 12:15:00 -0400

A Florida man who fatally struck a father and injured his two sons in what police are calling a “random” but “purposely done” hit-and-run attack is in custody Monday as investigators are trying to piece together a motive for the disturbing incident.

Police announced that Mikese Morse, a 30-year-old from Tampa, is now facing first-degree and attempted murder charges after striking the family – who were riding bicycles along a trail in the northern part of the city – with his car Sunday afternoon.

“This is definitely random and it was purposely done,” Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said Monday. “We don’t know why. He had no contact with the family.”

The 30-year-old is an American track and field athlete who repeatedly qualified for the United States Olympic Trials, according to the Associated Press.

As an athlete, Mikese specialized in the long jump and attended University of South Florida in Tampa, where he won the Big East Championship for leaping 25 feet, seven-and-a-half inches (7.81 meters). He also attended the University of Miami and was a U.S. Olympic Trials finalist in 2008 and 2016, according to the AP.

Police identified the deceased as 42-year-old Pedro Aguerreberry. They said his youngest son, 3-year-old Bennett, suffered serious injuries, while his older son, 8-year-old Lucas, has non-life threatening injuries. Investigators believe that Morse had no connection to the family.

Witnesses of the crash told police they saw Morse driving his car in one direction before abruptly making a U-turn in the opposite direction, accelerating off the road at high speed and hitting the family as they enjoyed their innocuous bike ride, Dugan said.

In an arrest affidavit viewed by Fox 13, Morse admitted to mowing down the family on purpose. He was arrested Sunday night at his parent’s home and police say a witness found his vehicle, patched up with duct tape to hide damage, two miles from the site of the hit-and-run.

“The suspect accelerated and intentionally ran over the victim,” Dugan said. “He appears to be someone who is disturbed and investigators are still piercing that together.”

Police say they are also looking into “disturbing” content Morse purportedly posted on his social media accounts in the days leading up to the hit and run. Police said Monday that Morse was recently hospitalized against his will for a mental evaluation.

“Yeah devil, this is all your fault, all your fault because you descended to Earth,” he purportedly said in a video posted Sunday morning. “Why am I not in a state of harmony right now? Because of her evil.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Algeria completely turns off Internet to buckle down on exam cheating

Thu, 21 Jun 2018 11:30:00 -0400

Two years ago, Algeria made an unusual move to end cheating on standardized tests by temporarily blocking student access to Facebook and other social media websites.

But now Algerian schools have decided that this method is simply not enough -- and the country is going further by effectively cutting off access to the Internet nationwide.

The country has announced that its Internet service -- through June 25 -- will go down an hour after the start of each of the high school diploma exams, which are expected to be taken by more than 700,000 students, according to the BBC.

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Last year, officials tried to negotiate with internet service providers to diminish social media access, but their efforts failed.

Nouria Benghabrit, Algeria's education minister, told Algerian newspaper Annahar that Facebook also would be blocked across the country through the entire week of exams, the BBC reported.

While not fully comfortable with the decision, Benghabrit believes “we should not passively stand in front of such a possible leak.”

In an effort to keep electronic devices with Internet access out of classrooms, metal detectors also reportedly have been set up at 2,000 exam sites.

Elsewhere, authorities in China have even deployed drone technology to prevent exam cheating.

MMA star McGregor says he feels remorse after Brooklyn brawl that went viral

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 16:45:00 -0400

Mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor expressed regret on Thursday for a backstage melee at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn that was captured by cameras and detailed on social media. In it, he was exposed hurling a hand truck at a bus full of fighters.

He is currently in the process of negotiating a plea deal to resolve criminal charges arising from the April episode.

The brawler, 29, and his friend and co-defendant Cian Cowley, 25, remained free on bail after an initial court appearance on April 6. They were told that each would face up to seven years in prison on a top charge of felony criminal mischief, but a deal would almost certainly reduce or eliminate their time behind bars.

Judge Raymond Rodriguez ordered them to return July 26, The Associated Press reported.

“I regret my actions that led me here today,” McGregor said outside court in New York afterward, a shift in tone from his previous comments since the fracas. “I understand the seriousness of this matter and I’m hopeful to get it resolved soon.”

Assistant District Attorney Janet Gleeson said the case hasn’t been presented to a grand jury for possible indictment because of the plea negotiations.

McGregor was seen on camera attacking the bus in a Barclays Center loading dock after a press event ahead of UFC 223, which featured the sport’s biggest card of the year.

According to the UFC president, Dana White, has described the situation as “20 hoodlums that flew in from Ireland” and crashed the event, allegedly seeking retaliation against main event fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, who previously had an altercation with McGregor’s friend Artem Lobov.

Despite the controversy surrounding McGregor, he and White are expected to meet next week to discuss the fighter's next bout

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Burger King manager put himself in 'significant peril' to foil robbery attempt, police say

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 13:20:00 -0400

Nashville police are on the hunt Thursday for two masked gunmen who fled a Burger King days ago after an attempted robbery gone wrong, resulting in the death of one of their accomplices.

The two suspects – who have not yet been identified – burst into one of the chain’s restaurants Monday night in Nashville with 18-year-old Kenneth Jernigan, police said.

They were met by manager Maurice Farris – who wrestled Jernigan to the ground. Gunshots exchanged during the confrontation left Farris in critical condition with a torso injury, while Jernigan was "fatally wounded" during the struggle, police added.

“Farris’s actions, which put him in significant peril, prevented direct confrontations between the masked robbers and his employees,” Metro Nashville Police Department said.

Officials added that Farris did not have a weapon during the incident and were still investigating the source of the gunshots.

The remaining masked suspects fled the scene in a white SUV.

Police said prior to the alleged robbery attempt, Jernigan was arrested for auto theft on April 23 and was freed on a $3,500 bond.

Burger King told Fox 17 News that it is helping police with the investigation.

“While we’re still looking into the specifics of this matter, we’re saddened to hear about this tragic incident,” the company said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the individual affected by this incident.”

A man who described himself as a childhood best friend of Farris vowed that he will make a recovery.

“I know he’s a fighter, and I’m 100 percent sure he will come back from this but it’s still scary,” Benjamin Boshers told News Channel 5.

Missouri police arrest 18-year old man after mother shot to death in front of her children

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 16:15:00 -0400

An 18-year-old man was arrested Wednesday in the shooting death of a Missouri woman who was gunned down in front of her three children during an attempted carjacking, police say.

The suspect, whom St. Louis County police identified Wednesday as Mark Haywood, left Porsha Owens, 28, dying in the hands of her 8-year-old child Monday morning after shooting her while she was trying to take her kids to day care, her mother said.

“I’m angry, disbelief, I’m hurt,” the mother, Yvette King, told Fox 2 Now. “I’m really having a hard time with this. Like I said, I’m more so in disbelief that my daughter is gone. It’s like a dream and I’m going to wake up. They took my daughter.”

King said Haywood approached Owens outside her home in St. Louis County and demanded that she hand over her car keys and money. After she refused, the suspect opened fire, King added, noting that Owens’ 8-year-old son got help and held onto her until an ambulance arrived. Owens later was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police also said the gunman ran off after having trouble trying to start the vehicle, and Owens’ children, ranging in age from 3 to 8, were unhurt, The Associated Press reported.

Owens, who worked as a school safety officer at Riverview Gardens School District, was a “treasured” member of the staff, the district said.

“We are heartbroken to learn of the tragic loss of District Safety Officer Porsha Owens,” it said in a statement. “Officer Owens was a treasured member of the Riverview Gardens School District family, who worked diligently to build positive relationships with RGSD scholars, teachers, and administrators.”

King is now vowing to raise Owens' children.

“As a mom, I always told her, ‘Mama don’t raise women, I raise soldiers, so even though she did die that way, she still died as a soldier,” she told Fox 2 Now.

Funeral arrangements for Owens will be held Wednesday and a GoFundMe has been set up to raise donations for the surviving children.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Fox 2 Now.

Two children killed, one severely injured in crash at Georgia mud bogging event

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 14:10:00 -0400

An 11-year-old child is battling life-threatening injuries Monday after a truck slammed into a crowd at a Georgia mud bogging event over the weekend, killing two other children.

Baldwin County Coroner John Gonzales told FOX5 the truck from the South Creek Mud Boggin event in Milledgeville killed the children directly on impact.

“Our Mud Boggin’ family is heartbroken. There are no words that can ever be said to even begin to express our sorrow," the event's organizer told FOX5. "We ask that you continue to lift the families up in prayer-and-parents, please hold your children a little tighter tonight than you ever have before."

The Department of Public Safety said a Chevrolet S10 encountered mechanical malfunction, which caused the driver to lose control, sending his vehicle tumbling into the crowd.

The two victims have been identified as brothers Justin Moore, 10, and Ryan, 14. Zach Holloway, 11, was sent to a hospital in Jacksonville with life-threatening injuries, the station reported.

At muddling events, it is common that large, high-powered trucks drive at high speeds in the mud.

Woman wearing only a towel steals car and dog from Georgia family

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 10:40:00 -0400

A Georgia man planning to visit his dad on Father's Day says his car -- and his beloved dog -- were stolen by a mysterious woman who was wearing only a bath towel.

Matt Sanders, of Hall County, said he packed his belongings and his dog, Bear, into the vehicle Sunday morning before going back into his home to grab his phone.

When he came outside, he saw the woman sitting in the driver's seat.

“She’s in a towel, and I’m just like… 'What?'” Sanders told Fox 5 Altanta. Then it hits me that someone is trying to steal my dog and my car.”

Sanders describes the woman as a middle-aged Caucasian with light colored curly hair, wearing nothing but a bath towel. He recalled pleading to the woman to give the dog back, but instead, she sped off.

“That dog goes everywhere with me,” Sanders told the station. "It’s just my child.”

Sanders filed a police report and is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for anyone that can bring the dog home safely.

“That’s a person that I’ve spent my life with, and I want them back,” he told Fox 5 Atlanta. “My life isn’t complete right now. I’m torn up… torn up."

Veteran, 87, completes high school seven decades after his time on active duty

Wed, 20 Jun 2018 10:24:00 -0400

An 87-year-old veteran in Ohio who never got the opportunity to obtain a high school diploma because he was drafted into the armed forces has finally received it, seven decades later.

Robert Quincel was one of 11 children in his household, but was forced to stop going to South High School in South Columbus, Ohio to help provide for his family after his mother was injured.

He was then drafted by the Army to fight in the Korean War, but then spent time in the Navy reserves doing drills after a heart murmur was discovered.

Quincel and his wife, Marjorie, now have three kids and 12 grandchildren. All of them had diplomas, except for Robert.

"I think I earned it from having hard knocks," he told FOX28 after he received his diploma Tuesday, adding: "It really does mean something, especially, when you know, all these years have passed."

US NAVY RESERVE COMMANDER STATIONED IN AFGHANISTAN RETURNS HOME TO SURPRISE SON DURING CLASS

Quincel's daughter then came across legislation that allows veterans to get their diplomas and "just thought I should see if I can get one,” he said.

The family sent in the paperwork for Quincel - and after it got lost, they tried to get through a second time - and it worked.

Quincel and his wife were given a ride to a recent board meeting by the station and he received the honorary degree in front of some of his family members.

“Your heart will never let you down if you keep on trying, education… is the best thing you can get, thank you,” the veteran said during the ceremony.

The 87-year-old hopes his story is a source of inspiration for anyone to keep trying to reach their goals.