‘You ugly!!!’ Airport guard fired for slipping mean note to random traveler
It looks like the TSA is hiring the cast of “Mean Girls” now.
A traveler passing through security at Rochester International Airport got an unexpected sick burn from an employee — when she handed him a folded-up note that said, “You ugly!!!”
Neal Strassner, 40, said he was handed the small, folded-up piece of brown paper by a female worker before collecting his things at the checkpoint in June.
He said he initially thought it was a piece of scrap cardboard or some trash.
“I didn’t open it because I didn’t care about it,” he told The Post. “She turned around a few times asking, ‘Are you going to open that?’”
When he finally did, he looked at it and saw the message. He said he just put it in his pocket and got on his plane to Kansas.
The guard can be seen doubling over with laughter as Strassner walks away, according to CCTV footage of the incident that Strassner got though a Freedom of Information Act request.
She then tears another piece of cardboard from a box of latex gloves above the bag scanner and begins writing — presumably a message for her next victim.
“I travel constantly and I’ve never had anything like this happen,” Strassner said.
“I don’t like throwing negativity around,” he said. “What about a note that says, ‘Hey, next time bring me tacos’?” he suggested.
Strassner said he wasn’t going to take any action until he started sharing the story with friends and they became concerned that the guard could pick on a person who might be depressed or in a more vulnerable state and not be able to shake the insult off so easily.
“If you were bullied, that could be a big deal to somebody,” he said. “A smile could bring someone up from the ground and that note could drag them back down.”
Security supervisors at the airport initially thought Strassner was joking when he called them a few weeks later to report what happened — until he produced the note and obtained the CCTV footage.
The woman, an employee of Virginia-based security company VMD Corp., which contracts with the TSA, has since been fired, the agency has confirmed.
“TSA holds contractors to the highest ethical standards and has zero tolerance for this type of behavior,” a statement from the agency read.
Strassner said her employers were equally speechless.
“One of the guys from VMD Corp. called me and he started apologizing and said, ‘I have no words.’ Once he received the tapes, he couldn’t believe it either.”
VMD Corp. did not respond to a request for comment.
Strassner said he still can’t wrap his head around the nasty trick.
“I really have no idea what she was trying to do.”
Photo Credit: nypost.com
CT man with interest in committing a mass shooting is arrested; weapons seized from home
NORWALK, Conn. — Authorities say they’ve arrested a Connecticut man interested in committing a mass shooting and seized weapons and ammunition from his home.
Norwalk and FBI officials say 22-year-old Brandon Wagshol was charged Thursday with illegal possession of large capacity ammunition magazines. Police say they received a tip that Wagshol was trying to buy large-capacity rifle magazines from out of state.
Officials allege Wagshol was attempting to build a rifle with parts bought online. They say a Facebook posting showed his interest in committing a mass shooting.
Authorities say they seized firearms, body armor and other items from Wagshol’s home. They say the firearms are registered to his father.
Wagshol was held on $250,000 bail. It wasn’t immediately clear if he has a lawyer who could respond to the allegations.
Photo Credit: Norwalk PD
Man accused of sexual assault of a 13-year-old has ‘mummified remains’ in Newark home
NEWARK, N.J. — A Newark man accused of the sexual assault of a 13-year-old child also had mummified remains in his home upon search, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Frank Williams, a 53-year-old, was arrested today as the result of an investigation between the county and the Newark Police Department after a report he had sexually assaulted the child over a period of several months, starting in 2018.
Police and the prosecutor’s office’s SVU conducted a search warrant on Thursday. During the search, mummified human remains were found in a bin in his closet. His bedroom also contained an alter to an unknown deity.
Williams is charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault; first-degree endangering the welfare of a child; second-degree sex assault upon a victim between the ages of 13 and 15; second-degree luring; endangering the welfare of a child for engaging in sexual conduct with a child; and desecration of human remains.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Florida woman who pulled gator from yoga pants gets probation
A Florida woman who was arrested for pulling a small alligator out of her yoga pants during a traffic stop pleaded guilty to illegally possessing animals and was sentenced to probation, authorities said.
The woman, 25-year-old Ariel Machan-Le Quire, was arrested in May when she and 22-year-old Michael Clemons were pulled over by Charlotte County cops after Clemons ran a stop sign, according to police.
The pair told the officers they were collecting frogs and snakes underneath an overpass and gave them permission to search the car and bags they had, authorities said.
Cops discovered 41 turtles in a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” backpack, and asked Machan-Le Quire if she had anything else unusual on her.
She then pulled a 1-foot-long gator out of her yoga pants and handed it to the officers, police said.
Machan-Le Quire was sentenced to probation Thursday for possessing the animals. Charges against Clemons were pending.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/08/15/florida-woman-who-pulled-gator-from-yoga-pants-gets-probation/
Photo Credit: Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office
Black man stopped by police after white woman allegedly said he was staring ‘suspiciously’ at her
Royal Oak, MI (WXYZ) — A Royal Oak police internal investigation is underway after a controversial incident Tuesday evening that was recorded live on Facebook.
The department confirmed the investigation to 7 Action News Wednesday afternoon while declining an interview request.
The person behind the cell phone claims a black man was questioned by police for looking “suspiciously” at a white woman as he crossed the street.
“I am in Royal Oak Michigan,” the witness recording video said. “I was going to the CVS over here when this young man was stopped because a Caucasian lady said that he looked at her suspiciously and he has been pulled over walking to go to eat by two police officers for suspicion of being black.”
The woman who shot the video and narrates it claims the white woman called police while watching the man from her car, which was across the street.
A black man who identifies himself to officers as a 20-year-old is shown being questioned by Royal Oak police.
The man who says he was walking into Inn Season Cafe at 4th and Knowles in Royal Oak, even apologized to officers for the inconvenience.
“By the way, I’m sorry for wasting your guys’ time,” the man in the video says.
The man can eventually be heard saying, “They need to make a warning sign for Royal Oak: ‘Don’t stare too long.’”
The narrator follows saying, “No, don’t be black and stare.” The narrator also suggest the man was walking across the street to meet his girlfriend in the restaurant when police were called on him.
Four minutes into the video more officers arrive along with a supervisor. The man was eventually allowed to go.
The restaurant’s general manager witnessed the questioning and can be heard telling the officer in the video, “If that were me walking across the street and walking in, this would not be happening because I was looking at her.”
The restaurant paid for the man’s meal inside according to an employee at the restaurant.
Royal Oak police declined Action News’ request for an interview and declined to provide any information on this other than confirming there is an internal investigation.
Royal Oak Mayor Michael Fournier responded to the incident with the below statement:
The city of Royal Oak takes nothing more seriously than our responsibility to provide public safety with the highest level of integrity and transparency. We are passionate about being a city that lives and acts according to our values and one where all people from all walks of life, from all racial and ethnic backgrounds feel not just safe, but welcome and embraced as members of our community. We absolutely recognize that racial bias exists and we as a community aspire to be among those working every day to combat it. But, this is not just the work of our officers and public officials alone, but all of us, individually and as a community must put in the effort to recognize and come to terms with our own personal prejudices and biases. We are in the process of evaluating what mistakes have been made and we will own them, we will learn from them, and we will continue to strive to be better in everything we do.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
White woman pulls gun on 4 black high school students raising funds for their football team
WYNNE, Ark. — The wife of an Arkansas jail administrator was arrested and charged with assault several days after police say she pulled a gun on four black teenagers who were going door to door to raise money for their high school football team
Police in the eastern Arkansas city of Wynne, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northeast of Little Rock, said the incident happened Aug. 7. Police responding to reports of “suspicious persons” found the four children on the ground, with Jerri Kelly, who is white, standing over them holding a gun, Memphis TV station WMC reported.
The officer let the children stand up, and they told him they had been selling discount cards to raise money for a school athletic program. The Wynne School District said two of the four children were wearing football jerseys.
Kelly, 46, was charged Monday with aggravated assault, false imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a minor.
Cross County Sheriff’s Department Captain Jeff Nichols said a warrant was put out for Kelly’s arrest, and she turned herself in Monday evening. She was released that night on $10,000 bond.
Kelly, who is the wife of Cross County Jail Administrator Joseph Kelly, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Thursday and it wasn’t clear whether she had an attorney who could comment.
Nichols said a mugshot of Kelly wasn’t taken on Monday because she had a “medical emergency” as she was being booked. He said he could not release more information, citing medical privacy laws. He said she came to the jail to have a mugshot taken after her initial court appearance on Thursday morning, in part because of community backlash.
“She was afforded the same booking process and procedures as anyone that’s brought into our facility,” Nichols said. “She received no preferential treatment.”
Bill Winkler, who said he has lived in the neighborhood where the incident took place for four decades, said children are typically out this time of year selling discount cards for the football team.
“Usually it’s right before football season, late summer or early fall,” Winkler said.
Wynne School District Superintendent Carl Easley said the district is considering stopping door-to-door fundraisers.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/08/15/white-woman-pulls-gun-on-4-black-fundraising-teens/
Photo Credit: Cross County Sheriff’s Office
NJ nurse caught on camera stabbing autistic boy with syringes loses her license
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — New Jersey regulators have revoked the nursing license of a woman caught on security cameras stabbing an autistic teenager with syringes when he failed to comply with her instructions, officials said Thursday.
The state attorney general’s Division of Consumer Affairs announced in a news release that the New Jersey Board of Nursing had revoked the registered nursing license of Naomi Derrick because of the 2016 episode at an Atlantic City hospital’s psychiatric unit. Officials said they also plan to begin proceedings to revoke Derrick’s license for respiratory therapy.
A phone call to a listing for Derrick was not immediately returned Thursday.
“Intimidating and terrorizing a developmentally disabled child who is completely dependent on your care is a horror that should not be visited upon anyone,” said Paul R. Rodríguez, acting director of the Division of Consumer Affairs.
The department release said that a co-worker witnessed Derrick threaten the boy with needle-stabbing during her shift in May 2016. It also said several stabbings were captured by security cameras in the teen’s room.
During a hearing over the incident, Derrick said she only showed the boy the needle as a threat. Department officials said she claimed an examination of the boy the next day showed no bruising or bleeding.
Derrick had asked the department to suspend her license instead of revoking it, arguing she had no complaints during her previous eight years as a nurse. The woman said another nurse had instructed her verbally that the threats were the best way to get the teen to comply with her.
Derrick said the boy would call her names, pull her hair, throw sheets at her and leave his room to visit other patients during sleeping hours.
She had been charged in 2017 with aggravated assault, terroristic threats, child endangerment and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Atlantic County prosecutors allowed her to enter a pretrial program in January.
In addition to losing her license, Derrick was also ordered to pay 10% of the cost of the investigation.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
3-year-old boy dies after becoming trapped in washing machine
Orlando, FL (WESH ) — Orlando police said a 3-year-old died after climbing into a washing machine and getting trapped inside.
WESH 2 News spoke with washing machine experts about what a parent can do to keep their child safe around a washing machine.
Police believe the little boy who died inside the machine ultimately died of suffocation.
It happened at a home on Lake Como Circle.
Investigators say the boy was playing with his younger sibling in the laundry room when, on his own, he climbed inside a front loading washing machine.
“At some point in the process, the door closed. Either he pulled it shut himself, or maybe the sibling closed it. That’s something we’re still looking at. And also, when that door closed, did it create an air-tight seal and deprive the child of oxygen?” said Cory Burkarth, of the Orlando Police Department.
Investigators do not believe the washing machine was ever operating with the boy inside and say they are still investigating how long he was trapped. They say at least one parent was home at the time and that the tragedy was a terrible accident.
“It’s awful. With a 16-month-old at home, it just hit particularly close to home,” said Jeff Jaskot, of Aggressive Appliances.
Jaskot is one of the owners of Aggressive Appliances, and is intimately familiar with front loading washers.
He does not know of a front loading washing machine that offers an option to lock the door when it’s not in operation, but he points out that a parent can at least lock the control pad and prevent the machine from operating.
“What that does is, even if the machine is open and a child were, a pet, anything, were to crawl inside, that’s something that will keep any of the other buttons from being activated,” he said.
As for keeping a child from getting inside a washing machine, police say the best advice may be restricting access to the washer.
“If you have your laundry room as its own separate room with a door and handle, put a child-proof handle on it, a child-proof lock,” Burkarth said.
Police are not yet revealing the model of the washing machine involved.
Police said they are aware of three deaths among children ages 5 and younger since 2014, related to washing machines, and at least two of those involved front loaders.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/08/15/3-year-old-boy-dies-after-becoming-trapped-in-washing-machine/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
‘Gigantic’ praying mantis terrorizes 6 train
Delays, service changes and humongous bugs, oh my!
The MTA had one more pest plaguing the subway system on Tuesday when a massive praying mantis joined commuters for a ride.
City Councilman Keith Powers was on the uptown 6 train when another rider warned him he was sitting dangerously close to the long-legged insect.
The lawmaker quickly took cover — but not before tweeting a photo showing the enormous bug clinging to the subway car wall and staring back with its cold black eyes.
“Like most New Yorkers, I’m frightened by the gigantic praying mantis on the subway but also relieved that he didn’t yell ‘It’s showtime!’” Powers tweeted, in apparent reference to the ubiquitous subway performers.
Other New Yorkers responded in horror on social media.
“Holy crap. Can I say that to a Councilman?” tweeted one user.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who has proposed that the city take over the subways, credited New York City Transit boss Andy Byford for the new straphanger.
“Andy Byford continues to improve the subways and up the game,” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson joked on Twitter.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/08/14/gigantic-praying-mantis-terrorizes-6-train/
Photo Credit: Council Member Keith Powers