When They See Us | Official Trailer| Netflix
Ava DuVernay cowrote and directed this four part documentary based on the true story of the Central Park Five: five Harlem boys Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise falsely convicted of a brutal rape.
This series begins in the spring of 1989, when the teenagers were first questioned about the incident and will look at the Park Five’s lives over 25 years, focusing on their exoneration in 2002 and the settlement reached with the city of New York in 2014.
Woman avoids $85 overweight baggage fee by wearing 9 pounds of clothing on plane
MANCHESTER, England — How far would you go to avoid paying an overweight baggage fee?
One woman decided to layer up after being told her suitcase was too heavy.
She wore 9 pounds of clothing on a plane instead of forking over the $85 overweight baggage fee at an airport in England, according to The Sun.
We don’t have video of the resourceful passenger, so we are getting creative with a re-enactment.
The woman had booked an all-inclusive vacation and did not bring along enough money.
“I didn’t want to be using the little amount I had just so I could get my bag on the plane,” Natalie Wynn told The Sun. “I literally said, ‘I’m not paying it’, and started putting my clothes on…I was boiling, absolutely boiling.”
She ended up wearing nearly half of the clothes she had packed including seven dresses, a skirt, two pairs of shoes, two pairs of shorts and a cardigan.
Ventura Music Teacher Suspected of Giving Flutes Tainted With Semen to Children Indicted Again
State prosecutors have indicted a music instructor from Ventura accused of distributing flutes contaminated with bodily fluids to Southern California school children, following a federal indictment alleging child molestation last year, officials announced Thursday.
John Edward Zeretzke, 60, was arrested Tuesday and booked into jail in Orange County on Tuesday, county booking records show.
He faces six charges of committing lewd acts on children under 14 years old, the California Attorney General’s Office said in a written statement.
The state charges are separate from a five-count federal indictment filed against Zeretzke in September alleging he coerced a minor to produce child pornography, attempted to entice a minor to send him sexually explicit images, received child pornography online and travelled to the Philippines with intent to engage in sex with minors, U.S. Attorney’s Office Thom Mrozek said at the time.
But allegations that flutes distributed to area students through his organization, “Flutes Across the World,” had been tainted with semen by Zeretke, were not part of the federal case, authorities said. That investigation is being handled by by the California Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
The California Attorney General’s office obtained an indictment last month charging Zeretzke with a half-dozen counts of child molestation.
“Attorney General Becerra’s indictment alleges that between January 1, 2017 and April 30, 2017, Zeretzke targeted five victims under the age of 14,” the California DOJ said in a written statement. “The charges against Zeretzke are not based upon allegations that he personally had physical contact with any child.”
Through his organization, Zeretke worked with school districts including the Los Angeles Unified, Saugus Union, Capistrano Unified, Fountain Valley, Culver City, Newport-Mesa and Fullerton, the L.A. Times reported.
He would make two flutes with students out of PVC pipe. The students would keep one, and the other was to be donated to children in need, according to the organization’s website, which has since been pulled offline. Many of the flutes were sent to the Philippines, where the organization maintained a presence.
Schools dropped the program once allegations began to emerge that some of the student’s flutes had been contaminated with semen.
Zeretzke was released from custody on bond five days after his Sept. 13 arrest in the federal case, federal booking records show.
Bail was set at at $600,000 following his arrest Tuesday in connection with the state-level indictment, according to county records.
“Crimes against children are despicable,” Becerra said in a written statement. “Schools must represent a safe environment for our students. No parent should fear for the safety and security of their child at school. We will work relentlessly to hold people who exploit our children criminally accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Mom left ‘unrecognizable’ by attack as cops hunt ex-boyfriend
A mother in England was left gravely wounded and “unrecognizable” after being beaten in bed – and cops are now on the hunt for her ex-boyfriend, according to reports.
Britney Salim, 23, suffered internal bleeding, a broken jaw, fractures on her face and a collapsed lung from the heinous assault at her home in the South Yorkshire city of Sheffield on April 12, The Sun reported.
Salim remains in critical, but stable condition in the intensive-care unit at a local hospital.
Police believe that Salim’s attacker climbed up the balcony to her home and busted in through French doors before going after the mother-of-one.
Salim was found unconscious in bed by a family member and was rushed to the hospital.
Authorities are now trying to track down Salim’s ex-boyfriend, 31-year-old Shaka Williams, who is reportedly the father of Salim’s 9-month-old daughter, Priya.
“We have got a big family, and we are all distraught,” said a cousin, who did not want to be named, according to The Sun.
“[Salim] was found by our auntie because [Salim] was babysitting her daughter,” the family member saying, adding that the aunt “went to the house to take her daughter back and as she got there she found Britney practically on death’s door.”
“When her auntie went in, [Salim] was unrecognizable. Her face was black and blue,” the cousin said.
According to the cousin, Salim “has seven broken ribs, internal bleeding in her liver, swelling on her brain, a broken jaw, fractures on her face and a collapsed lung, and she has had to have a blood transfusion.”
“Doctors have said at the minute she isn’t getting any worse, but she is still in an out of consciousness and remains in intensive care,” the cousin said.
The family member noted that Salim has woken up several times and “had outbursts of screaming.”
“She is on morphine to deal with the pain. Her mom is just broken,” the cousin said. “Police have not been able to get a full statement from Britney yet because she isn’t able to speak.”
Police have asked locals if they see Williams or know where he is to get in touch with authorities.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/19/mom-left-unrecognizable-by-attack-as-cops-hunt-ex-boyfriend/
Elderly couple kill themselves so they don’t have to live without each other
A devoted elderly couple in Wales decided to take their own lives after learning that the terminally ill husband had only a short time to live, according to a report.
“Neither one of us wishes to live without the other,” Howard Titterton, 80, and his 78-year-old wife Jacqueline wrote in one of several jointly signed letters they left behind for friends, police and their lawyer, North Wales Live reported.
They said they had had “a great life” and agreed to end their lives without putting pressure on each other as they planned their suicides meticulously, an inquest heard in Ruthin.
The Tittertons left a key with their next-door neighbors for the police to enter their home and put labels on items with the names of the people whom they wanted to receive them.
Assistant Coroner David Pojur recorded the conclusions of the double suicide after hearing details about the couple, whose bodies were found in their home in St Asaph on Nov. 13.
Howard, a retired research and development officer with glass manufacturer Pilkington, had been suffering from bowel cancer and was receiving palliative care at home from his wife, a former nurse.
Their neighbor Andrew Thomas said in a statement that Titterton had begun looking frail but appeared “OK” a few days before his death.
His wife Susan Thomas described the elderly couple as “lovely people” and said the tragedy came as a shock – though she had thought it strange that Jacqueline had given her a park-and-ride ticket the previous day, telling her she would not be using it.
On the morning of Nov. 13, Andrew Thomas found an envelope through his door containing money and a note indicating that they had killed themselves and asked the neighbors to call authorities.
“I wondered if I was reading what I was,” he said.
Police found Howard lying in an empty bath covered by a blanket and a dressing gown. His wife was lying on the bed.
Dr. Brian Rodgers, a pathologist, said the couple died of suffocation.
The Tittertons, who had no children, enjoyed traveling and shared the same hobbies of music and photography.
Teacher allegedly took vodka shots during school
Police say a tipsy teacher was arrested in Kentucky for giving a class lesson after taking vodka shots.
Brook West, 32, was charged with public intoxication after she got drunk Monday morning at Royal Spring Middle School in Georgetown, news station WKYT reported.
Deputies were called to the campus that afternoon on reports the substitute teacher was demonstrating “erratic behavior,” the school district said.
Responding officers said West reeked of alcohol and had trouble keeping her balance when they arrived.
She allegedly admitted to taking four vodka shots while filling in at the school as a substitute teacher.
West took a breathalyzer test which revealed she had 0.317% blood alcohol content, authorities said.
Scott County Schools said West was removed from the premises and will no longer be employed there.
“School staff acted immediately upon learning of this behavior,” the district said in a statement. “Scott County Sheriff’s Department escorted the substitute off school grounds later charging her with alcohol intoxication. The individual is no longer employed by Scott County Schools in any capacity.”
She was booked into Scott County Detention Center, where she also faces charges for endangering the welfare of a minor, according to court records
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/18/teacher-allegedly-took-vodka-shots-during-school/
Man who raped teen on FaceTime call busted thanks to screenshots
A brutal rapist who attacked a teenager while she chatted to her boyfriend on FaceTime was caught thanks to him taking screengrabs of the attack.
Samuel Fortes, 27, followed the 19-year-old victim through the England city of Leeds before dragging her under an overpass and raping her during a 15-minute attack.
Although horrified by what he was seeing, the victim’s boyfriend took a screenshot of Fortes stamping on the girl – which was later used by police as evidence.
He called the police and his girlfriend was found a short time after at the scene of the attack, battered and bruised and naked from the waist down.
The victim’s heartbroken dad later said: “It is like you have been growing and protecting a flower for 19 years and all of a sudden somebody just comes and stomps on it.”
The student was returning from a night out with friends when Fortes, who had been lurking in Leeds city centre, spotted her at 3:15 a.m.
He walked alongside the teenager and asked her for her number.
She politely refused and tried to walk off, still chatting to her boyfriend on the mobile phone app.
As she was about to cross a footbridge to walk home, Fortes grabbed her from behind, Leeds Crown Court was told.
Prosecutor David Gordon said: “The victim struggled and told Fortes to get off her.
“He was smirking and she asked him why. His reply was to punch her in the face six times.”
He dragged her from the footbridge to underneath an overpass where she was savagely attacked.
Most of her clothes were ripped off. She suffered a fracture to her face, a broken tooth and extensive swelling to her face and body.
PUNCHED HER SIX TIMES IN THE FACE
The victim feared she was going to die but Fortes was disturbed when three passers-by on the footbridge found her handbag, phone and keys.
They went to look for the victim and found Fortes attacking her. Fortes fled and police were called.
One officer said: “I was also shocked by the injuries to her face. They were some of the worst I have seen in my 11 years of service.”
Fortes spent an hour hiding behind a bush before fleeing back to his home city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
But he was caught after a painstaking forensic examination of the scene revealed a single piece of hair which was linked to his DNA.
CCTV also showed him wandering around Leeds city centre before the attack, following his victim, and catching a train afterwards.
He was arrested – with the teen’s blood still on his sneakers.
Fortes admitted rape and wounding with intent at Leeds Crown Court on Monday and on Thursday was jailed for life with a minimum of eight years to be served.
Judge Rodney Jameson QC described the victim’s statement as “the most remarkable I have ever encountered,” adding: “I salute her extraordinary courage.”
The victim, now 20, said in the statement read to the court: “I was and still am sickened by the thought that one human could do that to another. I thought I was going to die. It is a feeling that no words could ever describe.
The court heard Fortes, who came to the UK from Portugal in 2010, has previous convictions for domestic violence against an ex-partner in 2017.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/19/man-who-raped-teen-on-facetime-call-busted-thanks-to-screenshots/
Michigan woman gets doctors’ names tattooed on her after lifesaving treatment
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A West Michigan woman has made huge strides in recovering after she was nearly decapitated in a car crash.
Lila DeLine was hit by someone going 60 miles per hour while pulling out of her driveway, causing her neck to snap and nearly decapitating her internally.
Doctors said her skull came off her spine and she nearly died.
“I was actually turning into my driveway and my husband heard me coming, and he said that he had gotten about halfway when this woman hit me. he knew enough to secure my neck and my head before moving me,” DeLine said. “He kept me sitting up in a position where I could breath again, and that saved my life that day.”
DeLine beat the odds and avoided paralysis. After several surgeries, she is learning how to talk, walk and swallow again, according to MLive.
The 36-year-old mother of two is back homeschooling her two daughters, making dinner for her family and doing chores.
Doctors said DeLine was taking steps less than a month after the crash.
While she may not be able to do everything she used to, she has finished her regular rehabilitation sessions at Mary Free Bed and continues her recovery at home.
DeLine credits her husband’s quick response and of course the doctors with saving her life, even going as far as to get her doctor’s names tattooed on her.
Ancestry.com apologizes for ad criticized for romanticizing slavery
Genealogical website Ancestry.com has apologized for a video advertisement depicting a white man in the 1800s telling a black woman they can “escape to the north.”
The ad, which aired on television and was posted on YouTube, shows the characters dressed in clothing from the 1800s running through an alley when they stop to talk.
The man holds a ring in his left fingers and tells the woman, named Abigail, that they can escape to the north. She starts to reply but he cuts her off saying they can go across the border where there is a place they can be together.
“Will you leave with me?” the man asks.
Critics said the commercial evoked images of slavery in the United States and a time when black women were subjugated and raped by white slave owners.
“What the hell is this @Ancestry?” Bishop Talbert Swan tweeted. “Why do white people insist on romanticizing my Black female ancestors experiences with white men during slavery? They were raped, abused, treated like animals, beaten, and murdered by white men. Stop with the revisions.”
As the video ends, a “marriage certificate” appears on the screen, saying that the couple portrayed were wed in Canada in 1857.
The ad, titled “Inseparable,” was published April 2 on YouTube, but the video went viral on Twitter Thursday and was later removed from the video-sharing platform.
In a statement sent to the media, the company, also one of the largest DNA-testing sites, said: “Ancestry is committed to telling important stories from history. This ad was intended to represent one of those stories. We very much appreciate the feedback we have received and apologize for any offense that the ad may have caused.”
CNN has reached out to Ancestry to seek more information about the ad, which directed users to ancestry.ca.
via: https://fox2now.com/2019/04/19/ancestry-com-apologizes-for-ad-criticized-for-romanticizing-slavery/
A 5-year-old called 911 asking for McDonald’s, and the responding officer delivered
Sometimes, your fast food cravings just can’t wait. That’s what happened to Iziah, a 5-year-old boy from Wyoming.
Iziah managed to get a hold of a cell phone that his family says was deactivated years ago, but he somehow got it connected to WiFi.
According to WZZM, he called 911 early Sunday morning and asked if they could bring him McDonald’s. His grandma was still asleep.
The 911 call revealed Iziah asking for McDonald’s and the dispatcher telling him no. But dispatch still reached out to police to do a wellness check on Iziah to make sure everything was alright.
Officer Dan Patterson responded to the call. He said while he was on his way to the house, he would be driving past a McDonald’s anyway, so he decided to stop and pick up a meal for Iziah.
“I figured hey, I’m driving past McDonald’s on my way there and I might as well get him something,” Patterson told WZZM.
When Patterson arrived at the house, no one answered the door, so he knocked on Iziah’s window. Patterson said the first thing Iziah said to him was, “My grandma’s going to be so mad. Can you please go away?”
According to WZZM, Iziah’s grandma was not mad. In fact, she was glad that Iziah learned a lesson about what makes a true emergency.