Man knowingly transferred HIV to women he met on dating apps
FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — Police say a Maryland man knowingly spread HIV to four women after meeting them on dating sites and apps.
The Frederick News-Post reported Tuesday that 34-year-old Rudolph Jericho Smith has been charged with first-degree assault and reckless endangerment.
He also faces counts of knowingly transferring or attempting to transfer HIV to another person. The charge is a misdemeanor under Maryland’s general health law.
Frederick police Lt. Kirk Henneberry said Smith was charged following a 21-month investigation. The time was needed to build the case.
He said detectives found alleged victims and scoured dating sites. They also filed requests for medical records.
Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith said police and prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person was aware they were HIV-positive before they can be charged
Mom to serve 30 days in jail for running over 9-year-old son in school parking lot
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A woman who pleaded guilty to reckless driving for running over her 9-year-old son while dropping him off at school in Michigan has been ordered to serve 30 days in jail.
Thirty-six-year-old Tiffany Kosakowski said during her Thursday sentencing hearing that she must “live with this for the rest of my life.”
Kent County Circuit Court Judge Curt Benson sentenced her to 6 months in jail, with all but 30 days suspended. He called her actions “simply inexcusable.”
Kosakowski’s son hung from the passenger-side front door for nearly 50 yards (48 meters) in December at Chandler Woods Charter Academy’s parking lot in Belmont before he lost his grip and was run over.
Authorities say he didn’t want to stay at school. The boy survived but suffered traumatic injury to his brain.
Two 14-year-old FL girls drew up plans to kill 9 people, police say
(CNN) — Two 14-year-old girls in Florida have been arrested after a teacher discovered their plans to kill nine people, sheriff’s reports say.
The Highlands County School Board confirmed in a statement to CNN that two Avon Park Middle School students were taken into custody Wednesday for “a possible plan to harm others off campus,” but declined to offer additional details, citing the ongoing investigation.
Avon Park is about 80 miles south of Orlando.
A teacher saw the two girls acting “hysterical” while they searched for a folder in her classroom, according to the girls’ arrest reports from the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office.
The girls were concerned that they could be arrested, the teacher told police, and one of them said, “I’m just going to tell them it’s a prank if they call me or if they find it.”
The teacher found the folder and a letter inside that mentioned “guns,” the arrest reports said.
Inside were eight pieces of paper, the reports said. They contained written plans to obtain guns, kill nine people and remove and dispose of the bodies.
Each girl faces nine counts of conspiracy to commit murder and three counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, according to the sheriff’s office reports.
Andrew Lethbridge, the Highlands County School System Deputy Superintendent, told CNN affiliate WFLA that the threat was being taken very seriously.
“Whether it’s in print or something that we say, it matters, and we are held accountable for those words,” he said.
Argument over use of car leads to Georgia toddler’s death
Police in Georgia said a two-year-old girl is dead because of a fight over a car.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office said the girl’s mom, 19-year-old Jackqueline Ingram, and her boyfriend, 28-year-old Marquie Gunter, were arguing over who could use a car Tuesday night.
Then, Gunter allegedly started firing gunshots outside the home in Augusta.
Police said multiple gunshots hit the car. Ingram ran inside and locked the doors. Gunter then allegedly kicked open the front door of the house and fired the gun again, hitting two-year-old Ja’Ziah Pollard in the head.
Gunter is charged with murder, aggravated assault, second-degree criminal damage to property, possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
According to police, Gunter is not Ja’Ziah’s father, but he does have another child with Ingram.
Bond information was not available.
Man falls asleep next to garage, accidentally shoots himself when homeowner wakes him
LAKE TAPPS, Wash. — A 33-year-old man is in custody after reportedly falling asleep in his truck next to a stranger’s garage in Washington state, then accidentally shooting himself when the resident confronted him.
According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded about 6:40 a.m. Thursday to reports of a man in a truck firing shots at a property in the 2800 block of 170th Avenue East.
When deputies arrived, they found a 33-year-old man in the driveway area of the property in question. He was suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the leg and was taken into custody without incident.
Deputies learned that sometime overnight, the suspect was driving to visit an acquaintance in the South Hill area, but got lost and decided to park his truck alongside a garage at the property on 179th Avenue. The suspect reportedly used methamphetamine and then fell asleep inside his truck.
Thursday morning, the person who lives at the property noticed the unknown vehicle when she was pulling out of her driveway. The woman told deputies that she rolled down the window of her vehicle and verbally confronted the suspect.
The suspect reportedly awoke screaming and began firing a handgun. Multiple rounds went through the windshield and window of the suspect’s truck in the direction of the victim and her vehicle. One round also struck the suspect in the leg.
The woman was not injured.
The man was taken to an area hospital and is under guard while he is receiving medical treatment for his gunshot wound. He’ll be booked for assault in the first-degree when he’s released.
Nashville homeowner arrives at house to find naked man on couch and drinking juice
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Police said a man opened the door of his Tennessee home and found another man sitting on his couch naked and drinking juice Wednesday night, according to WSMV.
The homeowner walked in and found James Wooten sitting on his couch. He tried to get Wooten to leave, but the suspect screamed and wouldn’t go.
Police arrived and arrested Wooten for public indecency.
Police said they found the homeowner’s bedroom window propped open.
via: https://fox2now.com/2019/04/18/nashville-homeowner-arrives-at-house-to-find-naked-man-on-couch/
Man charged after body-slamming woman for unplugging PlayStation
A Nashville man has been charged with domestic assault after someone unplugged his PlayStation, according to police.
Police said Joshua Stone got into an argument with the victim while playing video games, WSMV reports.
He told officers the woman unplugged the PlayStation, so he body-slammed her.
The woman suffered injuries to her head.
Food Stamps Recipients Can Now Order Groceries Online; Amazon, Walmart to Offer Service
Walmart, Amazon and grocery chains like ShopRite hope to tap into a lucrative new market: Food stamp recipients who want to shop for groceries online.
For the first time, the US Department of Agriculture has given the green light for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to use their benefits to buy groceries online and get them delivered to their homes, the agency said Thursday.
The retailers are kicking off a two-year pilot in New York that will enable some of the state’s 2.7 million SNAP recipients to use their benefits for online grocery orders.
ShopRite and Amazon will service the New York City area, while Walmart will cover upstate locations. Additional retailers are slated to join the pilot in coming months, and the test will eventually expand to other parts of New York, as well as Alabama, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. It’s not yet clear which other grocery chains will be involved.
The USDA says it eventually wants the more than 38 million Americans on food stamps nationwide to be able to make online purchases, which will make it easier for some working moms, as well as the elderly and disabled, to buy food. But the move also opens up the market to online retailers.
“People who receive SNAP benefits should have the opportunity to shop for food the same way more and more Americans shop for food — by ordering and paying for groceries online,” said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. “As technology advances, it is important for SNAP to advance too.”
Online shopping makes up a tiny fraction of grocery purchases today, but analysts expect the market to grow. Amazon, Walmart and others are trying to edge out each other as buying meat and produce online becomes more popular among both high and low-income shoppers.
Tapping into the $63 billion food stamp market could give retailers a big boost in that arena.
Food stamp recipients currently buy a lot at big box stores and grocery chains.
Nearly $52 billion, or 82% of all food stamp dollars, were spent at these retailers in 2017, according to the most recent USDA data.
“It was only a matter of time before we saw SNAP benefits start to impact the online grocery world,” said Tory Gundelach, analyst at Kantar.
Key customers
SNAP recipients are already an important customer for Walmart and other grocery stores. Some 4% of Walmart’s sales in the United States come from food stamp purchases, estimated UBS analyst Michael Lasser in a report last year. Walmart declined to confirm that number.
Even small changes to food assistance benefits can impact retailers’ sales. During the government shutdown earlier this year, February benefits were handed out early, which lifted sales at Walmart and Dollar General.
“There is a lot of money that is pumped into the food store system via SNAP, so retailers are going to try and maximize that,” said Elizabeth Racine, professor of public health at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, who studies food assistance policies.
Yet Walmart and big box retailers have lost food stamp market share in recent years to convenience stores, pharmacies and dollar stores, which are rapidly opening new locations and expanding their grocery selections. Dollar General, for example, is adding produce sections to hundreds of stores in rural and urban food deserts.
Walmart, Amazon and others hope that offering food stamp recipients the opportunity to buy online will help them stand out against convenience and dollar stores that don’t offer delivery.
Prep work
The new online shopping program has been in the works for a while. The 2014 Farm Bill called for the USDA to pilot online purchasing.
The USDA is using the pilot announced Thursday to further test technical and security issues before it rolls out the program nationwide. Online purchases using food stamps require a higher level of security to prevent and detect misuse. Food stamp participants can use their benefits to buy eligible items online, but not for delivery or services charges.
Walmart and Amazon also have been getting ready for online ordering to become a bigger part of the food stamp program.
Since 2017, Walmart has been testing a separate pilot at that allows customers to use food stamps to order their groceries online and then pick them up at stores. It’s currently available at 40 stores. But delivery was not an option in its pilot.
In the newly announced New York pilot, Amazon is waiving its Prime membership fee for food stamp customers who want to shop for groceries and household staples through AmazonFresh and Prime Pantry.
“What we’re trying to get out of it is furthering our commitment to making food accessible,” said Kristina Herrmann, who oversees Amazon’s participation in the USDA pilot.
Herrmann did not say how big she expected the market for using food stamps online to become, but Amazon has spent the last two years preparing for the launch of the USDA pilot. It had to build technology to accept food stamp customers’ payments and create new web features for shoppers using the program.
Delivery obstacles
Buying groceries online could appeal to food stamp recipients who live in food deserts in urban and rural areas, said Racine, the University of North Carolina professor. It could also work well for customers who don’t have reliable transportation to get to grocery stores.
However, retailers will have to overcome several obstacles before they enter this market.
Amazon and Walmart will face delivery hurdles shipping fresh produce to low-income areas, according to analysts.
“The online grocery industry already struggles with delivery of perishable goods, so that won’t go away with the acceptance of SNAP,” said Kantar’s Gundelach.
Herrmann, however, said Amazon will be able to use its existing delivery network to reach food stamp recipients in New York City neighborhoods and in rural areas in later stages of the pilot.
There are additional challenges for retailers, including finding secure places to drop off customers’ grocery orders, according to experts. Herrmann said that Amazon will offer food stamp customers several different delivery options.
Lack of internet access in rural and low-income communities could also limit food stamp recipients from ordering groceries online.
“Low income people are less likely to have reliable internet access or computers,” Racine noted. “The online ordering tool has to work well on a cell phone.”
Photo Credit: A sign in a market window advertises the acceptance of food stamps on October 7, 2010 in New York City. (Credit: Spencer Platt/
Florida man impersonating a police officer pulls over undercover detective
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida man is behind bars after pulling over a real police officer while pretending to be one, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Matthew Joseph Erris, 26 was arrested for impersonating a law enforcement officer, according to WFLA.
According to deputies, Erris turned on red and blue lights Tuesday night and pulled over an undercover detective. The detective called 911 to report the bizarre traffic stop, and Erris was arrested a short while later.
WFLA reported deputies found a “realistic looking” airsoft pistol inside Erris’ Chevy Trailblazer.
He was arrested and later released on bond.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/04/18/florida-man-impersonating-police-pulls-over-undercover-detective/
NJ mom charged after toddler found wandering alone outside on street twice
ENGLEWOOD, N.J. — A New Jersey mother is facing child endangerment charges after her toddler was found wandering around the streets of Englewood on two different occasions.
Police say the 3-year-old daughter of Maria Ramirez was found just after 11 p.m. on April 3 wandering into traffic in the area of East Palisade Avenue and Engle Street. Motorists stopped and rescued the child, who was in the process of crossing the street.
The child was taken to police headquarters. She was unable to provide her parents’ names or address — only that she was on a mission to get ice cream.
Officers later discovered an open door on Hillside Avenue nearby and through an investigation determined the child lived there with her parents Maria Ramirez and Norberto Garcia. Neither parent was home, apparently not telling any other occupants of the home that they had left.
The child was apparently left in the care of relatives, who reportedly thought she was in the company of Maria Ramirez. The child was returned to her parents unharmed.
Two days later, around 10 p.m., the same child left the house again and was found wandering around the streets alone. This time, police say the mother was home, but unaware her daughter had left the house.
The child was spotted by a Bennie’s Restaurant employee who stepped outside on her break. The employee was able to grab the toddler, who was getting closer and closer to the roadway.
The child, who was unharmed, was returned to her mother.
Child Protection and Permanency was again contacted and Ramirez was charged with child endangerment. She was released on a summons.