FDNY EMT technician still on the job after allegedly ignoring 911 calls, posing as police officer
SHEEPSHEAD BAY, Brooklyn — A FDNY emergency medical technician is being called to resign immediately after he allegedly ignored people’s 911 calls, posed as a police officer and forged his partner’s signature.
Robert Gala—who is the son of high ranking FDNY Chief Michael Gala—is still collecting a paycheck from the city.
On Friday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams called on Robert Gala to resign immediately.
“He was not arrested once. He was not arrested twice. He was arrested three times,” Adams said. “For the same charge—criminally impersonating a police officer.
Gala, 25, was arrested in July 2017 after he was found with police badges, plastic restraints and pellet guns. In 2014, Gala drove an ambulance into a school bus with kids in it, according to reports.
When Mayor Bill de Blasio was asked why Gala still works for the FDNY, he said he wanted to know more about the situation.
“I really care deeply about the rules being followed and everything done appropriately but I need to see what the investigation shows,” de Blasio said.
“It baffles me that the mayor of the city has not looked at how this individual has tarnished the FDNY,” Adams said.
On Friday, the FDNY told PIX11 News that Gala is currently restricted from patient care and is pending further disciplinary action “up to termination.”
Man broke into funeral home to steal mother-in-law’s body
A man busted into a UK funeral home to steal back his mother-in-law’s body — taking matters into his own hands after he had not heard from the undertaker, according to a new report.
Desperate to make sure his mother-in-law was given a proper send-off, the man, who did not want to be identified, removed the body after he couldn’t reach anyone from Butterfly Funeral Services in Rochester, Kent to discuss arrangements, The Telegraph reported.
He brought the body to another undertaker in the back of a hire van — and told his wife nothing of his actions because he didn’t want to upset her, according to the report.
“I had no option…I had to get the body out,” the man told the outlet. “I had taken on all of the organizing and I didn’t want to bother my wife at this time…She still to this day doesn’t know what happened and I won’t be telling her.”
The man said he told local police of his plans and removed the body in broad daylight — returning later to pick up the clothes his mother-in-law wanted to be buried in.
The body-snatching happened a year ago, but was only revealed this week as bailiffs repossessed the funeral home, which had gone bust, according to the report.
Bailiffs found 16 full urns on a shelf — which had not been reunited with their families. Those urns have since been moved to another parlor as efforts are made to reach out to relatives.
Karen Calder, who ran the business, had racked up multiple unpaid bills and was banned from using local crematoriums.
She placed a handwritten note in the shop window apologizing for distress and asking families to email her if they wanted to collect their relatives’ ashes.
Robert Lawrence, manager of Medway Funeral Directors — which eventually handled the burial — said the man made multiple attempts to contact Calder about the arrangements.
It wasn’t clear whether the man was charged with a crime in connection to the body-snatching, but police were aware of his intentions before he took off with the corpse, Lawrence told the outlet.
“He spent a long while in contact with the police and in the end said, ‘I’ve just got to go and get her,’ Lawrence told the outlet. “When he did arrive with the body, we did all we could to help. He was very distressed and his wife still doesn’t know.”
These horror stories shouldn’t happen,” he added. “That parlor was never regulated by anybody, and it’s a terrible thing to have gone through.”
via: https://nypost.com/2018/08/31/man-broke-into-funeral-home-to-steal-mother-in-laws-body/
Wife admits fatally poisoning ‘unfaithful’ hubby with eye drops
A Bible-studying South Carolina woman who once griped online that her hubby was unfaithful was charged with murder — after admitting to poisoning him with eye drops, officials said.
Lana Clayton, 52, was booked Friday after an autopsy uncovered a high amount of tetrahydrozoline in her husband’s body, officials said.
The chemical is found in over-the-counter drops, such as Visine, and reduces redness by restricting blood vessels. But when it’s swallowed, it acts as a neurotoxin and attacks the nervous system.
Lana Clayton admitted to spiking her husband’s water with eye drops over a three day span, between July 19 and 21, the York County Sherriff’s office said.
Steven Clayton, 64, was found dead July 21 in their palatial home, worth over $800,000, in Clover, South Carolina, about 30 miles southwest of Charlotte, N.C. It appeared he had fallen down the stairs.
The home was designed as a copy of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, and Steven Clayton had carefully worked to restore his property, according to The Herald of Rock Hill, S.C.
An accountant, Steven Clayton was the founder of Physical Therapy Resources, a national company with branches throughout the United States. He retired in 1995, according to his obituary in the Herald.
His funeral was held in the home’s back yard on Aug. 4, before the autopsy results revealed the cause of death, according to WSOC-TV in Charlotte.
One neighbor said she knew Lana Clayton from a neighborhood Bible Study group.
A friend told a local newspaper that Lana worked in nursing for the VA hospital in Charlotte. Police have not released a motive for the crime.
She posted a comment on what appears to be her little-used Facebook page in March 2010 that suggested her husband was unfaithful. “My husband is not a drunk he had an affair. However, he is the father of my children and my kids look at my Facebook. Soooo. I do appreciate the support though.”
She had already started legal action concerning the estate, which also included a lot next door to the home worth nearly $400,000, the Herald reported.
Neighbor Ken Sanford told the Rock Hill, S.C., Herald that “seemed like a sweet lady,” and “Steven was very proud of her accomplishments.”
“I am just stunned,” Sanford said.
Lana Clayton was also charged with unlawful malicious tampering of food. Because she is charged with murder, she will not be released on bond. It’s unclear if she has yet named a lawyer.
An Oklahoma native according to her Facebook page, she has no prior criminal record in South Carolina, the Herald reported.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/09/01/wife-admits-fatally-poisoning-hubby-with-eye-drops-cops/
Couple built drive-thru window into mobile home to sell drugs
A Florida couple was arrested last week after they were caught allegedly selling drugs out of a drive-thru window they constructed out of the side of their mobile home.
William Parrish Jr. and McKenzee Dobbs of Ocala, Florida, were arrested on Aug. 23 after investigators raided their mobile home following reports of four drug overdoses in the area, WFTV reported.
Ocala Police said the couple had turned a kitchen window into a drive-thru so customers would not have to constantly enter and exit their home, potentially drawing unwanted attention, WFTV reported. The house had signs directing people where to drive and indicated whether it was open or closed, police said.
“We were seeing some overdose incidents that were happening in this particular area, specifically at this particular location,” said Ocala Police Capt. Steven Cuppy. “There [were] some heroin sales that were going on there. Subsequently, through the investigation, we were able to determine that product was laced with fentanyl.”
Parrish, 32, was charged with driving under the influence, keeping a dwelling used to sell drugs, possession of drugs with intent to sell and resisting arrest without violence, according to Marion County Sheriff’s Office inmate records.
Dobbs, 20, has been charged with keeping a dwelling used to sell drugs, possession of drugs with intent to sell, possession of fentanyl and possession of fentanyl with intent to sell, court records show.
William Parrish Sr. told WFTV his son had been “trying to get himself straightened out” and maintained reports of overdoses were a “lie.”
Ocala is located inland, about 66 miles west of Daytona Beach.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/08/31/couple-built-drive-thru-window-into-mobile-home-to-sell-drugs-cops/
Man walks into police station, says he chopped off girlfriend’s head
A man strolled into a Tribeca police station house this week and said, “I have to make a confession” — then admitted to chopping off his girlfriend’s head four years ago, authorities said Friday.
Ricky Gonzalez, 34, told First Precinct cops Tuesday that he fatally stabbed 58-year-old Maria Quinones inside their Bushwick, Brooklyn, apartment in 2014 in a dispute over money. He said he then dismembered her body and disposed of it in the garbage, according to court documents.
Gonzalez told police he followed Quinones that day into the bathroom of the apartment they shared on Wilson Avenue near Himrod Street and plunged a large knife into her chest while standing behind her, according to the documents.
Gonzalez then dragged her body into the bathtub and grabbed a butcher knife and blade sharpener, he said.
He beheaded Quinones’ corpse, chopped off her hands and feet and cut her torso into two pieces, according to the documents.
He then stuffed her body parts into trash bags and put the sacks out on the curb to be picked up for garbage collection, authorities said.
Gonzalez and Quinones had met in a drug-treatment program, police sources said.
Quinones’ sister reported her missing in September 2014, telling police she had not seen her since March of that year.
Gonzalez, who lives in upstate Beacon, was arrested after his confession and hit with charges of murder and concealment of a corpse.
He was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court and ordered held without bail. His attorney did not return requests for comment.
The suspect’s grisly confession came a day before a couple was charged with beating a 25-year-old woman to death and dismembering her body in the bathtub of their apartment in the Longwood section of The Bronx.
Daquan Wheeler, 31, allegedly beat Lisa Marie Velasquez to death with a hammer Aug. 22 and ordered his girlfriend, Ciara Martinez, to help him dismember her, sources told The Post. The couple then put the body in plastic bags and scattered them in Crotona Park.
Wheeler became enraged after Velasquez called 911 out of fear he would hurt Martinez, police said.
Martinez and Wheeler were charged Thursday with murder, manslaughter, concealment of a human corpse, tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/08/31/man-walks-into-police-station-says-he-chopped-off-girlfriends-head/
Boy, 14, accidentally shoots and kills himself while on FaceTime
Union Township, OH — A 14-year-old is dead after police said his friends saw him accidentally shoot himself.
Union Township police said the incident happened around 11 a.m. Wednesday at the teen’s home in the 4200 block of Beechmont Drive.
Police said the teenager was holding a gun while on a FaceTime call with friends when the gun accidentally went off and hit the teen in the face.
The friends then called 911, and the teen was taken to a hospital.
“I hung up immediately. I was going to go check on him, but then I realized I should probably call the cops before I went to his house,” said the 911 caller.
The teen was home alone and the friend who called 911 said the shooting happened in his bedroom.
Police said it appears the teen didn’t know the gun was loaded.
“He didn’t know that there was a live round in it,” said the 911 caller.
Police have not confirmed how the teen got the gun or who it belonged to.
The teenager was a freshman at West Clermont High School, police said. It is unclear why he wasn’t at school.
The school said grief counselors will be available for students and staff.
via: https://pix11.com/2018/08/30/boy-14-accidentally-shoots-and-kills-himself-while-on-facetime/
Mom Dies in Car Crash After Boyfriend Allegedly Cut Brake Lines to Make Crack Pipe
A Pennsylvania mom of five is dead following a car crash that police say was caused after her boyfriend cut the vehicle’s brake lines for material to make a crack pipe, PEOPLE confirms.
Tammy Fox, 38, of Scranton, died from her injuries after her black Hyundai Sonata “began to accelerate” as she approached then raced through an intersection and “violently struck a tree” on Aug. 22, according to a news release Wednesday from Pennsylvania State Police.
The resulting investigation became a criminal case after a mechanical inspection of the car revealed its brake lines had been severed, police said.
Under questioning, John William Jenkins, 39, who was identified by police as Fox’s boyfriend, “admitted that on the evening prior to the crash he cut the victim’s brake lines while at their residence in an attempt to obtain a metal pipe that could be used to smoke crack cocaine,” according to law enforcement.
Authorities arrested Jenkins on a charge of criminal homicide. He currently is being held in the Luzerne County jail, on a hold for Lackawanna County, with no bond listed, jail records confirm.
It’s unknown whether he has entered a plea, and an attorney who might speak on his behalf was not immediately identified. He is scheduled to be in court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 7, the Lehigh Valley News reports.
According to court documents obtained by the Associated Press, Jenkins claimed to police that Fox was “driving him crazy” because she was looking for a pipe to smoke crack in.
According to the documents, Jenkins said he didn’t want to go to the store so he started “hacking away” underneath Fox’s vehicle.
“Tammy had the ability to bring light to dark times and gave selflessly to those around her,” according to a GoFundMe page titled “Justice for Tammy” seeking financial assistance for her family. “She will be greatly missed, but will be with us in spirit, joining her mother in Heaven.”
The page’s author, Elle Massetti, added: “Although a confession was made, the fight has just begun.”
Fire kills 10 children at slumber party – no adults were home at the time, officials say
CHICAGO – How, how, how? The question weighs on investigators as they work to determine what led to a Chicago house fire that killed 10 apparently unaccompanied children who had gathered for a slumber party at a West Side home.
Illinois authorities are investigating allegations of neglect, officials said Tuesday, but provided little additional detail — adding to a litany of questions about what started the fire and why the children weren’t able to get out.
Eight bodies were discovered Sunday after firefighters put out the fire. Two more victims, both 14, later died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, said Natalia Derevyanny, a Cook County Bureau of Administration spokeswoman.
The fire started on the second floor of a coach house in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, fire officials said. Those same officials said there were no smoke detectors in the home, but Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel told reporters there were no functioning smoke detectors in the home.
Meanwhile, the building owner and his attorney have told local media the home did have smoke detectors.
The first floor of the building was vacant, and the second floor, where the children were found, was a home.
In an editorial lamenting the lack of answers surrounding the blaze, the Chicago Sun-Times quoted a fire official saying that it appears the kids could have escaped had they been alerted to the danger.
“From what we could see, they would have had a clear path out if they had been alerted early enough,” fire department spokesman Larry Langford said.
On Monday, Chicago fire officials passed out smoke detectors and fire safety information in the neighborhood.
As for why so many children were left alone in the home, a family member told CNN affiliate WGN the children were at the house for a sleepover and that his mother had been with the children earlier.
“My mom went to go drop off my little sister to her grandmother’s and by the time she was over there, I guess the house just started on fire,” said Marcos Contreras, who lost several siblings in the blaze.
A neglect investigation was opened after fire officials said there were no adults in the home, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services spokesperson Alissandra Calderon said in an email.
Questions have been raised about the state of the property. The building, a coach house, sits behind the main house, a three-story brownstone. Building records show that code enforcement officials have cited issues with both the main house and coach house since 2007, but there is no indication a code violation led to the fire.
The Chicago Fire Department said in a midday Wednesday tweet that the cause of the fire had yet to be determined.
“Engineering analysis pending on an electrical device unrelated to earlier violations,” the tweet said, adding that the Office of Fire Investigations was still awaiting reports from other agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
More people might have died if not for a woman who smelled the fire and started knocking on doors and ringing doorbells to wake people up, Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago said.
Firefighters forced entry through a locked door into the small two-bedroom apartment, Langford said.
“Kids were just laying about,” he said.
It appears that none of the children tried to escape the blaze and that they likely died of smoke inhalation, he said.
Firefighters initially mistook several children for adults because they were covered in soot, making it difficult to determine their ages, Langford said. Firefighters went by body size, and some children had facial hair and looked older, he said.
The victims were part of at least two families, Langford said.
Officials have released the names of eight victims: 3-month-old Amaya Almaraz; Ariel Garcia, 5; Giovanni Monarrez, 10; Xavier Contreras, 11; Nathan Contreras, 13; Victor Mendoza, 16; Cesar Contreras, 14; and Adrian Hernandez, 14.
Mom charged after drugs in breast milk killed baby, prosecutors say
In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, prosecutors are arguing that 30-year-old Samantha Jones killed her 11-week-old son, R.J., by breastfeeding while using drugs.
According to the criminal complaint, R.J. died from ingesting a “combination of fatal drugs through breast milk” and is being charged with criminal homicide.
Jones’ attorney, Louis Busico, said that Jones “absolutely, unequivocally loved that child” and never intended to harm him.
According to an affidavit, Jones told investigators that about 3 a.m. April 2, she heard R.J. crying.
He had been primarily breastfed, Jones said, but she had recently started using formula because she worried that he wasn’t getting enough milk and wasn’t sleeping. She was too tired to make a bottle of formula, according to the affidavit, so she decided to nurse him. She then dozed on and off for a few more hours.
Before her husband, Vincent McGovern, left for the day, he made R.J. a bottle and left it with Jones. She remembers feeding R.J., putting him back in his bassinet around 6:30 a.m. and going back to sleep.
In the affidavit, Jones said she woke up about an hour later and panicked when she saw that R.J. was pale and had bloody mucus coming out of his nose. Jones and her mother, who also lived in the house, called 911 and began CPR.
R.J. was taken to a hospital by ambulance and pronounced dead by 8:30 a.m.
According to the Bucks County Coroner’s Office, the autopsy revealed traces of methadone, amphetamine and methamphetamine were found in the infant’s blood and contributed to his death.
The affidavit further noted that the examiner who performed the autopsy said “R.J. ingested the combination of fatal drugs through breast milk.”
According to the affidavit, Jones told the investigators that she had been prescribed methadone since pregnancy to help manage her addiction to opioid painkillers, but there is no mention of other drugs.
Investigators say they tested the bottle last used to feed R.J., as well as the can of formula, and found no traces of illicit drugs.
Since her arrest, Busico said, his client is “completely in a state of depression.” He added that the charges and arrest kicked Jones when she was already down, dealing with the death of her child.
When asked about amphetamine or methamphetamine drug use by Jones, Busico would not comment.
At Jones’ preliminary hearing on Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Kristin M. McElroy argued that the child died because Jones had taken methamphetamine and amphetamine, “which had no business being inside that baby,” according to a press release from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office,
“We are not alleging that this was an intentional killing of this baby,” McElroy said, “but it certainly was reckless to know these drugs were in your body and continue to breast feed.”
The criminal homicide charge was upheld and Jones now awaits a formal arraignment on September 28.
Busico said Wednesday he was not surprised by the decision.
“The judge’s ruling today is no surprise given the low burden on the government,” he said. “Samantha is not criminally responsible for her son’s death — this is a fact pattern in search of a crime.”
Through her attorney, Jones declined to speak with CNN.
via: https://pix11.com/2018/08/29/mom-charged-after-drugs-in-breast-milk-killed-baby-prosecutors-say/
Facebook video of young children smoking marijuana leads to arrests
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Two women have been arrested on child abuse charges after a Facebook video showed multiple young children smoking what appeared to be an illegal substance provided to them by the women.
Michaela Pearson and Candice Little are each charged with felony child abuse and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to Winston-Salem police.
The children were 2 and 3 years old and 18 months old, according to arrest warrants.
Officials believe Pearson and Little caused and encouraged the children to smoke marijuana.
The children were taken to a hospital where they are being treated.
Pearson and Little are being held on $150,000 secured bonds.