DA declines to prosecute city correction officer accused of raping teen in Bronx
THE BRONX — The Bronx District Attorney declined to prosecute a case against a New York City Department of Correction officer accused of raping a teenage girl, officials said Wednesday.
The 27-year-old man had been charged by police with rape and criminal sex act following his arrest early Tuesday. His name has been removed because the DA is not prosecuting the case.
“We declined prosecution because we do not have sufficient evidence to prove the defendant committed the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt,” a spokeswoman for the office said.
The 19-year-old woman who accused the officer knew him, police said.
A DOC spokeswoman said the officer was being suspended following the accusation. His suspension will be lifted now that the DA has declined to prosecute.
The correction officer was appointed just over two years ago and worked out of the Anna M. Kross Center.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/07/09/city-correction-officer-allegedly-rapes-teen-in-the-bronx/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Angry over car-repair bill, teen accused of killing St. Louis mechanic with mom’s help
ST. LOUIS • The BMW was fixed and ready to go, but the teenager and his mom who owned the car argued with the mechanic when they came to pick it up on June 9.
They tried to leave with the car, but mechanic Kerry Charley wouldn’t let them take it without paying the bill.
The fight, outside the mechanic’s home on Prairie Avenue, turned deadly.
Court documents filed Tuesday in St. Louis Circuit Court describe the moments that led up to the attack one month ago. They say 17-year-old Isaiah Gholson pulled a gun and shot Charley several times in the torso, killing him. Charley was 52.
Gholson’s mother, meanwhile, was pushing and hitting Charley’s girlfriend. As the girlfriend ran off, the teenager shot the 32-year-old girlfriend twice in the back, police say.
The woman survived, but was critically injured. Police say she looked at a photo lineup in the hospital and identified Gholson as the shooter and Gholson’s mother, Ranada Anthony, as the woman who hit her.
Neither the teen nor his mother reported the crime to police. In fact, police say, Gholson and Anthony deny being at Charley’s home, in the 3600 block of Prairie Avenue. But police say Charley kept records of the cars he repaired at his home, and the BMW was registered to Anthony.
Gholson is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action and failure to report a shooting.
Anthony, 39, is charged with third-degree assault, failure to report a shooting and hindering prosecution.
The home on Prairie is near Beaumont High School. A park ranger at Fairground Park called police to the scene after he heard gunshots near Prairie and Palm avenues, just before 4 p.m. June 9. Police went to Prairie and found both victims.PauseCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:00Stream TypeLIVELoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00Fullscreen00:00Mute
Gholson lives in the 3800 block of Enright Avenue. He is being held without bail. Anthony, 39, lives in the 2600 block of Chippewa Avenue. Her bail is set at $25,000, cash only.
Victim’s sister speaks
One of Charley’s six sisters, who identified herself only as Cindy, said Charley was one of nine children who grew up in Brighton in the Metro East.
“He was a very, very generous person,” she said. “He was always willing to help someone in need when it came to their vehicles. He loved working on cars, it was like a passion for him.”
Charley would repair cars at a fraction of what a typical repair shop would charge, his sister said. He would allow customers to make installments so they could have a reliable vehicle.
Charley would work on cars in the street, in the yard, and “he was getting a good name for himself. His goal was to open his own three-car garage repair shop this year.”
Charley was the father of three adult children. He was shot five times in the chest, his sister said. As Charley lay dying in the street, a neighbor held his hand.
“We as a family were comforted to know he didn’t die alone,” Charley’s sister said.
She said her brother was “tough on the outside but very gentle on the inside.”
Hours after his death, Cindy said some members of the family went to the house to retrieve some of Charley’s belongings. They searched for the $3,000 to $4,000 in tools he had purchased with inheritance money after his mother died in December. The tools were already gone, Cindy said. She believes they were swiped by people who showed up after the crime-scene tape was removed and started stealing.
She said she knew her brother lived and worked in a tough neighborhood, but he never complained to her about crime. He lived in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood.
“He was just building a good reputation to help people out,” she said. “People who couldn’t afford a legit repair shop. That was his goal.”
Photo Credit: stltoday.com
‘What are you going to do for me?’; Local woman says utility worker tried to sexually coerce her, threatened her over late bill
OVERLAND, Mo. (KMOV.com) — A young St. Louis-area mother found herself in a nightmare that could happen to anyone.
She says a utility worker told her he was going to shut off her power unless she had sex with him. Then, it got worse from there.
Kourtney Brown was all alone at her Overland home in May when something unimaginable happened.
“I was off of work and I got a knock at my door around 10 a.m. It was an Ameren worker,” Kourtney said.
The man told Kourtney she was behind on her electric bill.
“He let me know that he was there to cut off my services. I asked him if he was sure, because I wasn’t sure my bill was due yet,” she said.
Kourtney was confused, so she called Ameren and a representative confirmed she owed about $160.
“I asked her if I could just run down to Schnucks to pay it and she said it was up to him,” Kourtney said.
“I asked him if he could hold off on turning it off and that’s when he asked me, ‘Well, what are you going to do for me?’ And I am just like, ‘What do you mean?’ Because I am not thinking what he’s about to say, I am not thinking that at all,” Kourtney said.
Essentially, she says the man gave her a choice between two sex acts, insinuating he would not shut off her power if she did it.
Stunned and scared, Kourtney tried to defuse the situation.
“He proceeded to ask me different questions like, if I am single, and then went to say, ‘Well, I know you’re single, because if you had a man, you wouldn’t be in this situation,” she said.
She managed get out of the house and went to the nearest store to wire the money and pay her bill. She then called Ameren and the police to report what happened.
“I just wanted to make them aware of what happened, of what was going on,” Kourtney said.
But, it didn’t end there. The man, identified by police as Christopher Lamont Jiles, called and texted her.
The texts said, “You got me in trouble, they are sending me back to your house.”
In a report obtained by News 4, Overland police said they even talked to Jiles. But recently, Kourtney says he called again from a blocked number.
“He said, ‘Beware, you made me lose my job, and I am going to kill you,’” Kourtney said.
Kourtney is now terrified for her and her children.
“When you are threatening to cut off someone’s power and they have two young children, that’s about as vulnerable as you can be,” said Edwin C. Ernst, IV of Ernst Law Firm.
Ernst, Kourtney’s attorney, says he’s got loads of questions about how this could ever happen and whether it’s happened before.
It’s especially important that there are policies and procedures to make sure the people given this responsibility are vetted and they follow the procedures in place to protect everybody.
Kourtney first thought Jiles worked for Ameren. When he showed up at her doorstep, Jiles was wearing a work vest that had a prominent Ameren label on it. In actuality, he was an employee for an Ameren subcontractor called USIC.
According to their website, they do contract work with a lot of utility companies, including Ameren and Spire in the St. Louis area.
News 4 reached out to Ameren for comment. Ameren would not answer any of our questions, but referred us only to USIC.
USIC also would not answer specific questions or conduct an on-camera interview.
They sent News 4 a statement:
“The safety of USIC employees and the community it serves is always the highest priority. When USIC learned of inappropriate comments being made by one of its employees, it immediately conducted an investigation and terminated the employee’s position in May. USIC remains committed to assist the authorities in any way it can if new information is learned.”
News 4 obtained records showing Jiles has been charged with harassment, regarding the threat to kill Kourtney, but he’s not been arrested since it’s only a municipal infraction.
It’s not his first time in trouble. Court records show in the 1990’s, Jiles was convicted of felony unlawful possession of a weapon. He also has a felony conviction for failing to pay child support.
Again, USIC declined to answer specific questions, when we wanted to know about them hiring a convicted felon.
News 4 went to Jiles’ listed address for his comment for the story, but he later called us.
“I have no comment, this lady is lying and if you are calling for that, that’s on y’all, that lady is lying,” he said.
Jiles denied it all.
“I did not call this lady, the lady is lying. She is completely lying. She is completely lying,” he said.
Though he had no reason for why she would make up the story.
“I don’t know, you’ve got to ask her, she is lying, she is lying,” Jiles said.
Kourtney says she’s afraid to be at home and she wishes the companies would take this very seriously.
“No one has reached out to even see if I am alive, they haven’t even seen if I am okay and I am not okay,” she said.
She wants an apology.
Spire, who also contracts with USIC, told us for the past year, they’ve required USIC to conduct background checks.
News 4 asked the Overland police chief why Jiles was charged only with a municipal infraction. He says it’s their standard practice for the type of offense.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
New Jersey judge who told rape victim to ‘close her legs’ apologizes
A New Jersey judge is sorry for the off-handed comments he made to a rape victim during a 2016 hearing, where he suggested the woman could “close her legs” to avoid forceful sex, according to a report.
The apology came during a Tuesday state Supreme Court disciplinary hearing for Superior Court Judge John Russo Jr., who’s facing a yet-to-be determined suspension for the comments, according to NJ.com.
“He did not intend to imply that a victim of sexual assault should close her legs to avoid” rape, his attorney, Amelia Carolla, told the seven-member Supreme Court.
“He now understands that his intentions do not matter. He understands that what matters only is the impact his words had on others. He is remorseful about the hurt that this may have caused the plaintiff,” Carolla added.
The offensive exchange began when Russo asked the woman, “Do you know how to stop somebody from having intercourse with you?” according to a transcript of the hearing obtained by NJ.com.
The victim offered logical responses, including to flee or physically defend herself.
But Russo Jr. countered, “Block your body parts? Close your legs? Call the police? Do you do any of those things?”
A year after the incident in May 2017, the judge was placed on administrative leave, but returned to work this year, according to the report.
He could now face up to a six-month suspension.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/10/new-jersey-judge-who-told-rape-victim-to-close-her-legs-apologizes/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Mom allegedly put 4-year-old in hot car as punishment, admitted to using drugs
DRAPER, Utah – A woman was booked into jail and faces felony charges after police said she put her 4-year-old boy in a hot car as punishment.
Police also said the child was sitting within reach of a needle the woman had used to inject heroin, according to KSTU.
A statement of probable cause indicates police were called to do a welfare check at Draper City Park on July 2nd around 9 p.m. after someone reported a young boy was being held in “time out” inside of a vehicle.
The officers noted it was 82 degrees outside at the time and said the child’s mother, 28-year-old Jessica Lee Brown, told officers she had put the boy inside with the windows up and the car turned off because he was “acting out.”
One officer felt the boy’s head, which was hot to the touch, and noted he was sweating and had puffy eyes.
Brown told officers she had used methamphetamine and heroin, the document states. Police located a used syringe needle inside of a purse that was inside the car with the boy. Officers located various paraphernalia associated with heroin use during that same search.
The woman was booked into jail and faces charges of child abuse and child endangerment.
The child was given into the care of relatives.
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
Man breaks into home with cat, tries on homeowner’s Christmas onesie
A man, accompanied by his cat, made himself at home after breaking into an Oregon residence on Sunday by trying on a woman’s Christmas onesie, eating a cupcake and making coffee, police said.
The alleged break-in happened around 3:45 p.m. in Gresham, about 15 miles east of Portland.
The homeowners told police they returned home and noticed damage and items that didn’t belong to them. They said they found a cat wearing a shirt in the crawl space beneath the house, Fox 12 reported. When officers arrived, a man wearing the owner’s Christmas onesie emerged from the crawl space, the report said.
Police identified the suspect as 38-year-old Ryan Bishop. His cat is named Spaghetti. Investigators said Bishop and Spaghetti broke into the couple’s home, ate a cupcake, made some coffee, and found the homeowner’s Christmas onesie in the dryer.
Bishop was booked in the Multnomah County Jail on first-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief and third-degree theft, Fox 12 reported.
Animal control was called to the scene after Spaghetti refused to come out of the crawl space. Police said the homeowner declined the return of her onesie after the suspect was arrested.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/09/man-breaks-into-home-with-cat-tries-on-homeowners-christmas-onesie/
Photo Credit: Multnomah County Jail
Florida woman accused of urinating in ice cream machine
She’ll give you something to scream about.
A Florida convenience store worker allegedly ruined an estimated $2,000 worth of ice cream at a rival business in the most disgusting way possible — by urinating, spitting and sticking her snot-covered fingers into its frozen treats, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Jung Soon Wypcha, 66, was arrested Monday after authorities said her stomach-churning multi-day rampage at Lu Lu’s Ice Cream Shop in Indian Shores was caught on video.
Footage from June 17 allegedly showed Wypcha, who runs the Indian Shores Food Mart next door, using the bathroom her business shares with the ice cream shop five times with the door ajar — and not washing her hands afterward.
She then allegedly went to Lu Lu’s organic ice cream freezer and put her hands into the tubs.
Later that day, she was also caught on video picking her nose and putting her hands in the product, and then spitting into containers, according to the arrest affidavit.
Then, on June 22, she was seen on camera urinating in a bucket used to churn ice cream at Lu Lu’s Ice Cream Shop. She then allegedly dumped the pee-filled bucket into a sink where ice cream utensils and bowls are washed.
Paul Chiulli, who owns the ice cream joint, said all the tainted treats had to be destroyed for public safety, and that his store had to close for four to five days.
“I guess she wasn’t liking that we were getting popular,” he told the local paper.
Wypcha was charged with criminal mischief and tampering with consumer products, both felonies. She was released in lieu of bond, set at $55,000, for both charges, records show.
She declined to comment to the Tampa Bay Times on Tuesday.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/09/florida-woman-accused-of-urinating-in-ice-cream-machine/
Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Wire
18-year-old girl attacked by men shouting ‘f–king lesbian’
An 18-year-old girl from the UK was beaten to a pulp during an alleged homophobic attack — in broad daylight, according to reports.
“F–king lesbian!” her attackers shouted, according to HullLive.
“You and your girlfriend are going to get it 10 times worse next time,” they allegedly added.
The victim — Ellie-Mae Mulholland, of Walsall Garth — was punched repeatedly by two male suspects during the Monday afternoon beatdown, which left her “black and blue,” according to her sister.
“Just by looking at her face they have had a really good go at her,” explained Stevie-Leigh Ansell, Ellie-Mae’s older sister. “I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Stevie-Leigh recounted the events leading up to her sister’s attack, saying it all stemmed from a dispute over money.
My younger sister was out and about on her way home from one of her friend’s house. She had seen a couple of her friends, who are usually her friends, and one of them owed her a tenner and Ellie asked about it,” Ansell told HullLive. “The lass said she never had it. Then they both beat her black and blue.”
The 22-year-old said that “because [Ellie-Mae] is gay they called her a ‘f–king lesbian’” and told her that she and her girlfriend “are going to get it 10 times worse next time.”
“She thought they were her friends,” Ansell added. “All this happened while she was on the phone to her mom.”
Ellie-Mae was reportedly recovering at a local medical center on Tuesday after suffering a busted nose, two black eyes and multiple contusions on her head.
I feel I cannot let this happen to my sister because she is gay. I just feel really helpless,” Ansell said. “This is something daft over a tenner and then all the gay stuff came out which I don’t see why it is such a problem. As soon as they have an argument it is straight to her being a lesbian. Because she smokes they won’t take her cigarettes off her because they say they will get lesbian germs.”
Local police are reportedly investigating the alleged hate crime. It comes just one month after a lesbian couple said they were targeted during a homophobic attack in London, which happened on a bus. Four male teenagers were later arrested and charged for the incident.
“We deal with all hate incidents and crimes thoroughly and do not expect the people of our communities to have to suffer from the intolerance of others,” Detective Chief Inspector Ali Sweeting told HullLive. “We are in the early stages of our investigations and will be speaking to [Ellie-Mae] and to other parties involved to establish the full circumstances of the incident. If it is established that there was a homophobic motive we will be treating this appropriately.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/09/18-year-old-girl-attacked-by-men-shouting-f-king-lesbian/
Photo Credit: facebook
Baby dies in fire, 5 other children injured while moms were out clubbing
An 8-month-old girl died and several other children were hospitalized Sunday morning after a fire broke out in a Nashville apartment while their mothers were out at a nightclub.
The Nashville Fire Department responded just after 2 a.m. Sunday to a report of a fire at the Hickory Lake Apartments in Nashville and found heavy smoke and flames coming from one of the units, the city of Nashville said in a news release.
Five children between the ages of 1 and 6 – four of them siblings – were rescued and taken to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, the city said.
The 8-month-old, identified as Jream Jenkins, died at the scene, according to the news release. Her 23-month-old brother is in critical condition. Both children lived at the apartment, the release said.
According to the news release, the children’s mothers, ages 23 and 25, went to a nightclub Saturday night but it is unclear whether they had arranged for a babysitter. Neither woman has been named by authorities.
No babysitter was at the apartment when first responders arrived, the release said.
Two passersby called authorities after the fire broke out and reported seeing a 6-year-old boy run out of the apartment screaming that his siblings were inside, according to the release.
The mothers returned to the apartment complex after first responders were already on scene, the release said.
Investigators from multiple agencies including Nashville Fire Marshal’s Office, the Metro North Police Department’s South Precinct and the Tennessee Department of Children’s Service are working to determine what happened.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Woman admits to killing husband with dagger during foreplay
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia woman has admitted to fatally stabbing her husband in the back with a 14-inch decorative dagger while the two were roughhousing as a part of sexual foreplay.
The Huntington Herald-Dispatch reports 49-year-old Jennifer Lynn Via was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter in the 2017 death of Thomas Via, who was stabbed in the heart. Via’s sentence may be reduced at a hearing next month.
Via was initially charged with first-degree murder after telling authorities a range of inconsistent stories, including one in which her husband slipped on water and fell into the dagger. Defense attorney Kerry Nessel said the couple had watched “Kung Fu movies” and it led to foreplay that involved getting violent and playing with weapons.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/09/woman-admits-to-killing-husband-with-dagger-during-foreplay/
Photo Credit: Getty Images