O.C. District Attorney warns residents after release of 7 ‘high-risk’ sex offenders during coronavirus pandemic
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer on Tuesday issued a warning to residents after seven registered sex offenders who he said were “high-risk” were recently released from custody early, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Spitzer said the convicted men spent “just days” in jail instead of the six months required by law for those registered as sex offenders.
The men apparently had also been charged with cutting off their GPS monitors or tampering with their tracking devices.
They were released beginning on April 7 as a result of rulings by appointed Court Commissioner Joseph Dane, Spitzer said.
The DA called the men “the most dangerous kind of criminal and the most likely to reoffend.”
“These are not the kind of people who should be getting a break,” he said.
Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes announced Tuesday that the jail population in the county has been reduced by nearly 45% since March 7.
After additional steps were taken to make sure inmates were safe during the crisis, Barnes said overcrowding is not an issue, according to Spitzer.
“It is not the court’s responsibility to control the jail population by releasing these dangerous criminals back into our communities,” the DA said. “The residents of Orange County deserve to have the peace of mind that registered sex offenders are being held accountable and not just let out the front door of a jail by a court commissioner who refuses to follow the law.”
Spitzer called the decision to release the inmates “dangerous” and vowed that his office will not appear in front of Dane on parole violations involving registered sex offenders.
Both Spitzer and Barnes have also expressed frustration over a statewide order that bail be reduced to zero for many offenders.
The inmates who were released are:
- Luis Joel Ramirez, 27. Ramirez was last known to have lived in Costa Mesa. According to the DA’s office, his criminal history includes sexual battery, assault with a deadly weapon, resisting a peace officer, burglary and possessing of a leaded cane, a deadly weapon. He was released on April 7 after serving 20 days on a parole violation for cutting off his GPS, then released again on April 24 after serving 16 days on a parole violation for failing to report, the DA’s office said.
- James Franklin Bowling, 50. Bowling last lived in Orange and his criminal history includes lewd conduct in a public place, repeated convictions for failing to register as a sex offender, repeated convictions for sex offender on school grounds and possession of controlled substance and paraphernalia, officials said. Bowling had two parole violations since February and was released on April 9 after serving 14 days on a parole violation for failing to charge his GPS monitoring device. He was ordered to report to parole but “does not report,” the DA’s office said.
- Rudy William Grajeda Magdaleno, 39. Magdaleno last lived in Anaheim. His criminal history includes child molestation, indecent exposure, assault, battery, criminal threats and inflicting injury on an adult, officials said. He has had five parole violations since 2017. He was released on April 13 after serving 142 days on a parole violation for failing to charge his GPS monitoring device. He was ordered to report but he “does not report,” officials said.
- Calvin Curtis Coleman, 52. Coleman last lived in Santa Ana and his criminal history includes lewd conduct in a public place, officials said. He has had three parole violations since 2019 and was released on April 13 after serving 18 days on a parole violation after failing to charge his GPS monitoring device. He was ordered to report to parole.
- Kyle Albert Winton, 40. Winton last lived in Mission Viejo and his criminal history includes annoying or molesting a child, criminal threats to cause great bodily injury or death, resisting a peace officer and DUI and hit and run with property damage, officials said. He has one parole violation and was released in April after serving 10 days on a parole violation for failing to charge his GPS. He was ordered to report to parole, but he “does not report,” officials said.
- Jose Adrian Oregel, 46. Oregel last lived in Santa Ana and his criminal history includes unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, oral copulation of a person under the age of 18 and causing great bodily injury. He was described by the DA’s office as a second striker. He was released on April 22 after serving 18 days for failing to charge his GPS device. He was ordered to report to parole.
- Mario Ernesto Sandoval, 45. Sandoval was last known to live in Stanton and his criminal history includes sexual battery, touching for sexual arousal, indecent exposure, assault on a peace officer and assault, officials said. He has had one parole violation in 2020. Officials said he failed to charge his GPS device and was unaccounted for one-third of the time he was out of custody. He was released on April 22 after serving 16 days on a parole violation for failing to report to charge his GPS device. He was ordered to report to parole.
Photo Credit: ktla.com
Brooklyn man arrested for stealing stimulus checks, credit cards from mail
BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn man has been arrested over accusations he’s been stealing mail, including credit cards and stimulus checks from the US Trasury Department, according to US Attorney Richard P. Donoghue’s office.
Feng Chen was arrested in Brooklyn Tuesday and appeared via videoconference before a judge Wednesday afternoon. In the early morning hours Tuesday, NYPD officers saw Chen looking inside the medical collection bin at a closed medical office and then walking to a nearby residence and examining mail left at the door. He then walked into the gated area of a second residence and left carrying what appeared to be mail.
When he saw the police, Chen tossed the mail on the sidewalk. When officers got out of their vehicle, they observed a bulge in Chen’s jacket pocket. Upon a search, officers found checks, stimulus payments totaling up to $12,000, credit cards, opened envelops and letters.
“For many families, these stimulus checks are a lifeline in these difficult times and anyone who tries to cut that lifeline will face the full weight of the law,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “This Office will vigorously prosecute all those who seek to take advantage of the public health crisis.
“The NYPD recognizes how the COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity for a variety of malicious, criminal scams. In this case, I applaud our alert detectives and federal partners for interrupting an alleged scheme to victimize New Yorkers by stealing important mail and stimulus money meant to aid them during this unprecedented crises,” stated NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea.
If convicted, Chen faces a maximum of five years in prison.
via: https://www.pix11.com/news/local-news/brooklyn/brooklyn-man-arrested-for-stealing-stimulus-checks-from-mail-officials
Photo Credit: pix11.com
News anchor allegedly caught cheating when half naked woman walks into live shot
A Spanish news anchor was accused of cheating on his TV star girlfriend when viewers spotted a semi-naked woman saunter behind him while he was filming a live segment, according to a report.
Alfonso Merlos, 41, was hosting the Estado de Alarma channel news report from his home amid the coronavirus lockdown when the scantily clad gal walked into the background of the shot, according to The Sun.
Eagle-eyed fans pointed out the woman was not his partner Marta López, a former star of the “Big Brother” reality show — sparking a media firestorm earlier this week, according to the outlet.
Merlos remained silent for days despite accusations of two-timing, then apologized to López during an appearance on “The Ana Rosa” news show Monday.
“If you think that my attitude has not been correct or that there are things that I have not done well, I have no problem asking for forgiveness, although my goal was not to harm someone else,” he said.
He claimed he’d broken up with the reality star before the at-home segment was shot — but Lopez insisted they were still together at the time. She called the incident “unpleasant” and “shameful.”
The partially clothed woman was later identified as journalist Alexia Rivas, according to the local new site 20 Minutos. Rivas said she has been dating the newsman for several weeks.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/29/news-anchor-caught-cheating-when-naked-woman-walks-into-shot/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Dozens of dead bodies found in U-Haul trucks outside NYC funeral home
Police found dozens of bodies being stored in unrefrigerated trucks outside a Brooklyn funeral home and lying on the facility’s floor Wednesday, law enforcement sources told The Post.
Between 40 to 60 bodies were discovered either stacked up in U-Haul box trucks outside Andrew Cleckley Funeral Services in Flatlands or on the building’s floor, after neighbors reported a foul odor around the property, sources said.
NYPD detectives were joined by several other city agencies investigating the trucks at the Utica Avenue facility Wednesday evening, with the section of the street closed off to the public.
John DiPietro, who owns a neighboring property, said he had observed cadavers being stored in the trucks for at least several weeks during the coronavirus pandemic.
“You don’t respect the dead that way. That could have been my father, my brother,” said DiPietro.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was on the scene, but could not confirm any details of the storage. Adams said the city needed to ramp up staff for a “bereavement committee” to deal with the surging deaths due to the coronavirus.
“We need to bring in funeral directors, morgues, [medical examiners], clergies … when you find bodies in trucks like this throughout our city, treating them in an undignified manner, that’s unacceptable.”
Calls to the funeral company, went unanswered Wednesday afternoon.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/29/bodies-stored-in-trucks-at-brooklyn-funeral-home-sources/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/Paul Martinka
Mike Pence Bucks Mayo Clinic’s Mandatory Mask Policy During Visit
Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday opted not to wear a face mask during a visit to the Mayo Clinic’s campus in Minnesota, bucking the organization’s mandatory masking policy amid the pandemic.
Video showed Pence, whose face was fully exposed, surrounded by masked staff members and a masked patient while touring the clinic. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the patient was infected with the coronavirus.
The Mayo Clinic informed Pence of the masking policy prior to his visit, the organization tweeted Tuesday. The tweet has since been deleted, but the clinic confirmed to HuffPost that it shared the masking policy with the vice president’s office.
Wall Street Journal reporter Gordon Lubold, who was present for the vice president’s visit, tweeted that the clinic made it clear that everyone should wear a mask.
The clinic’s website states that all patients, visitors and staff are required to wear a mask on campus in an effort to curb the contagion.
“Please bring your own face mask or covering to wear,” the website states.
Neither Pence’s office nor the Mayo Clinic immediately responded to HuffPost’s requests for comment.
Pence defended his choice, however, while speaking to White House pool reporters Tuesday afternoon.
“As vice president of the United States, I’m tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus,” Pence said.
“And since I don’t have the coronavirus, I thought it’d be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers these incredible health care personnel and look them in the eye and say thank you.”
President Donald Trump earlier this month announced guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that recommended people wear cloth face masks in public settings where social distancing may be difficult to maintain.
Trump, however, said that he did not plan to follow the guidance.
“I don’t think I’m going to be doing it,” Trump said during a news briefing at the White House on April 3. “Wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens — I just don’t see it.”
via: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pence-face-mask-mayo-clinic_n_5ea875c7c5b6550571e96927
Photo Credit: huffpost.com
102-year-old woman has survived cancer, sepsis, miscarriages, Spanish flu and now coronavirus
(Meredith) — Angelina Friedman is quite the fighter. The 102-year-old New York woman has survived cancer, sepsis, miscarriages, and two pandemics.
“She has superhuman DNA,” Joanne Merola told WPIX-TV while marveling at her mother’s endurance.
Friedman (née Sciales) was born in 1918 on a passenger ship bringing immigrants from Italy to New York City during the second wave of the Spanish flu pandemic.
“Her mother died giving birth on the ship, and she was taken care of by her two sisters,” said Merola.
According to the World Health Organization, the Spanish flu infected about a third of the world’s population, and roughly 50 million people died from it.
Decades later, Friedman has survived a second pandemic: COVID-19.
She tested positive for the virus on March 21 after she went to a hospital for a minor medical procedure. She left the hospital a week later and returned to the North Westchester Restorative Therapy and Nursing Center in Lake Mohegan.
After quarantining in her nursing home room for weeks, she finally tested negative for the virus on April 20.
“My mother is a survivor,” Merola said. “She’s survived miscarriages, internal bleeding, and cancer.”
Merola hasn’t been able to visit her mother since February. Because Friedman is nearly deaf, they can’t speak on the phone. So, the nurses are keeping Merola updated on her mother’s progress.
“They tell me she’s doing great. She’s up and about as much as possible,” Merola said. “If my mother could see this, I’d tell her, ‘You keep going, Ma. You’re gonna outlive us all.’”
Friedman has outlived her husband and 10 siblings.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Neighbors meet during the coronavirus quarantine, find out they’re related
(CNN) — Kjetil and Zoe Njoten live four houses away from Erik and Jen Strom in the Los Angeles area, but the couples had never talked beyond the occasional “Hi” or a friendly wave.
They bonded — from a safe distance — at an impromptu neighborhood get-together this month over their shared Norwegian heritage.
Kjetil Njoten grew up on Njoten Island in Norway. Both Erik Strom’s and Jen Strom’s families are from the country.
Jen Strom’s family came from a town a couple hours away from where Kjetil Njoten grew up — a coincidence on its own.
Erik Strom told Kjetil Njoten that his family came from a small island that they’d never been able to find, Njoten said.
“They thought it was named Newton, which to us clearly wasn’t a Norwegian name,” Njoten told CNN’s “New Day.”
They joked that maybe the family came from Njoten Island, which can be pronounced like “Newton.” The island is only home to a couple dozen people.
“Wouldn’t it be even crazier if we were actually related, somehow,” Erik Strom said.
Strom said he called his mom to check their family history book, which traces her lineage back to the 1700s.
She texted a picture of his great-great-grandfather. His last name was also Njoten.
They sent that information to Kjetil Njoten’s mom, who was able to confirm the family connection.
It turns out that Kjetil Njoten and Erik Strom have the same great-great grandfather.
And their great-great grandfather lived in same house where Kjetil Njoten grew up 100 years later.
“So a crazy coincidence,” Njoten said.
They’re looking forward to spending more time together once the safer-at-home restrictions are lifted.
“Me and Jen were just squealing and jumping around and all of us were beaming with smiles and desperate to hug but can’t,” Zoe Njoten said.
Jen Strom said they’re planning a “huge family meal, a big party,” adding she’s been practicing making some Norwegian delicacies.
Erik Strom said he’s got lots of relatives looking forward to meeting the Njotens.
“There are people from all over the country who are related to us who are interested in coming out and meeting and just participating in the story,” Erik Strom said.
The Stroms have a 4-year-old daughter, and the Njotens have a 10-year-old son.
“My son is so excited that he’s got a new cousin on the street to play with, eventually,” Zoe Njoten said.
Women are getting abortions from home during coronavirus quarantine
Fifty years ago, women were still fighting for their legal right to an abortion. Now, it can all be arranged online.
A new service called TelAbortion connects women looking to terminate their pregnancies with a doctor who can virtually prescribe miscarriage-inducing pills to take at home, the New York Times reports.
And as the coronavirus lockdown stretches into its third month, women are looking to use the telemedicine option more than ever because of limited access to clinics, especially in conservative states.
Throughout March and April, TelAbortion — which is offered in 13 states — helped twice as many women obtain abortions than in January and February, the report states. As of April 22, the service had confirmed 611 completed abortions.
Ashley Dale, of Hawaii, opted to use the service because of the expenses of traveling to a clinic in Honolulu 200 miles away.
“The alternative would be to wait for a doctor to come to my island in three weeks,” Dale, 35, told a TelAbortion doctor. But by then, she would be past the allowed limit of 10 weeks pregnant to use the pills. “It’s not like it was easy … but at the same time it’s pretty clearly the right choice.”
Another woman used TelAbortion because she didn’t want to face the protesters outside her local Planned Parenthood in Salem, Oregon.
“I just don’t want to deal with that ridicule,” Dawn, 30, tells the Times. One woman made the call from a parking lot while sitting in her car.
Some women are even traveling to one of the 13 states where TelAbortion is offered in order to be eligible for the pills. The trend is picking up even more during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have had patients who cross state lines in order to receive TelAbortions,” Dr. Elizabeth Raymond, senior medical associate at Gynuity Health Projects, which runs the program, tells the Times. Earlier this month, a Texas woman drove 10 hours in the snow to New Mexico and stayed in a motel just to receive the pills.
Once women are approved for the abortion, a package is sent to their homes and is comprised of two pills — mifepristone, which blocks the hormone that causes pregnancy to mature, and misoprostol, which helps the body get rid of fetal tissue. Women often experience cramping and bleeding.
TelAbortion charges about $200 to $375 for consultations and pills, which come in a package with tea bags, peppermints, maxi pads, prescription ibuprofen and nausea medication.
The Food and Drug Administration is allowing the service to operate.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/28/women-are-getting-abortions-from-home-during-quarantine/
Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo
Florida man claims guns found in car belonged to his cousin ‘John Wick’
A Florida man allegedly tried to blame a weapons bust on John Wick, the legendary assassin played by Keanu Reeves in the eponymous movie franchise, according to a new report.
Cops confronted Getro Gelin, 27, at his Port St. Lucie home Sunday after a woman told police he shoved her to the ground and threatened her with a firearm, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Smoking Gun.
The woman told authorities Gelin may have stashed the weapon in his Porsche SUV, according to the report. Cops searched the vehicle and found a Glock 21 pistol, a semi-automatic rifle, and a bulletproof vest, according to the report.
When cops asked Gelin to explain, he explained that the SUV wasn’t even his anymore — he’d sold it “to his cousin John Wick,” according to the affidavit.
He later admitted the John Wick reference was a lie, but “would not reveal his cousin’s name,” authorities said.
Gelin was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and domestic battery, according to the report.
He is being held in the county jail in lieu of $3,500 bond.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/28/florida-man-claims-guns-found-in-car-belonged-to-his-cousin-john-wick/
Photo Credit: Port St. Lucie Sheriff
German doctors pose naked to protest protective equipment shortages
A website apparently featuring photos of German medical workers is calling attention to the working conditions and protective equipment needed by frontline workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The website, “Blanke Bedenken,” shows photos of apparently nude people, some of whom are partially obscured by medical equipment, paperwork and other props, including stethoscopes, anatomical skeletons and even toilet rolls.
“We are your GPs. To be able to treat you safely, we need protective gear. When we run out of the little we have, we look like this,” the organizers say in a statement on their website.
As the coronavirus pandemic spreads around the world, healthcare workers on the frontline of the fight against Covid-19 in countries around the world have warned of shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE).
“We are all vulnerable. Medical practices need more support from politics,” the Blanke Bedenken group added.
CNN was not independently able to confirm the authenticity of the site, or the specific affiliations of any of the people pictured on the site. Representatives of the site have not responded to CNN’s request for an interview, and it is not clear which institution or government agency they view as the party responsible for the equipment they say they are lacking. An inquiry to their website resulted in an automated response about the volume of inquiries.
“Due to worldwide rapid rise of Covid-19 infection numbers the demand for medical supplies, such as gloves, breathing masks, protective clothing and ventilators, increased. This led to worldwide supply shortages,” a spokesman for Germany’s Federal Ministry of Health told CNN in a statement.
“In cooperation with a German logistics provider the Federal Ministry of Health organizes the distribution of the medical supplies to the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and the federal states. By the end of last week the Federal Ministry of Health had distributed round about 133 million protective masks,” the spokesman added.
On Monday, Germany received a shipment of 10 million face masks from China, and two further flights chartered by the German military are expected to deliver another 15 million protective masks as the wearing of masks has become mandatory in many public spaces across the country.
From last week, many of the restrictions on public life that were designed to halt the spread of coronavirus were loosened in the country. Shops no larger than 800 square meters (8,600 sq. ft.) were allowed to reopen, as were car dealers and bicycle stores, regardless of size.
According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, there have been more than 159,000 reported cases of coronavirus in Germany. There have been more than 6,000 deaths.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has cautioned against complacency, telling Germany’s parliament that the country is “still at the beginning” of the coronavirus crisis and will have to live with the virus for a long time. “Nobody likes to hear this but it is the truth. We are not living through the final phase of this crisis,” she said last week.
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/german-doctors-pose-naked-protest-200816610.html
Photo Credit: Blanke Bedenken / Blanke Bedenken