Milwaukee couple says their smart home was hacked after their camera began talking to them and their thermostat turned up to 90 degrees
The Westmoreland family installed a Nest camera, doorbell, and thermostat in their home in 2018. They had no problems until they heard a voice talking through a camera in their kitchen.
“It’s supposed to make me feel safe, and I didn’t feel safe,” Samantha Westmoreland told WITI.
Their place of comfort turned creepy on September 17th.
“My heart was racing,” Westmoreland said. “I felt so violated at that point.”
Westmoreland returned from work to a blazing hot home. The thermostat had been turned all the way up to 90 degrees. She thought it was a glitch – and set it back to room temperature. She did not realize that was only the beginning of a roller coaster 24 hours.
The thermostat continued to go up – and a voice began speaking from a camera in the kitchen – and then playing vulgar music.
“So I unplugged it and turned it facing the ceiling,” Westmoreland said.
Westmoreland and her husband changed their passwords, but the problems persisted. Eventually, they contacted their internet carrier and changed their network ID. They believe someone hacked into their Wi-Fi and then their Nest.
“If someone hacks into your Wi-Fi, they shouldn’t be able to have access to those Nest devices without some sort of wall they have to get over,” said Lamont Westmoreland.
The Westmorelands said they’re upset their $700 system was a gateway into their home.
“Maybe there’s some steps we should take,” said Lamont Westmorland. “I think Nest should be tightening security.”
They wanted to share their story to make others aware that hackers are outsmarting the smart home.
“People need to be educated and know that this is real, and this is happening, and it is super scary, and you don’t realize it until it’s actually happening to you,” Samantha Westmoreland said.
A Google spokesperson provided this statement: “Nest was not breached. These reports are based on customers using compromised passwords (exposed through breaches on other websites). In nearly all cases, two-factor verification eliminates this type of security risk. Nest users have the option to migrate to a Google Account, giving them access to additional tools and automatic security protections such as Suspicious activity detection, 2-Step Verification and Security Checkup. Millions of users have signed up for two-factor verification.”
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
Man filed for and completed a divorce from his wife without ever telling her
Mark Herman of Harris County Constable Precinct 4 said on Facebook that Paul Nixon committed aggravated perjury when he went through the divorce process without his wife’s consent.
According to Herman, authorities received a call on May 14 from a woman who said her husband had allegedly completed the divorce and that a court already filed the final decree.
Through the investigation, authorities found that Nixon forged documents and submitted false information to the court. He also allegedly submitted a waiver of service with a forged signature from a notary.
Herman said Nixon committed aggravated perjury when he testified during the final hearing on the validity of the documents and information.
Nixon is currently being sought by authorities.
According to Herman, the divorce has been set aside due to the fraudulent filing.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/09/22/man-allegedly-divorced-wife-without-her-knowing/
Photo Credit: Harris County Constable via KTVT
4-year-old boy comes home from school with gashes on wrist, mom says ‘he was too scared’ to say anything
MILWAUKEE (WITI) — A Milwaukee mom says her son came home from school with gashes on his wrist — but not from a playground scuffle. She says it was caused by a teacher’s aide at Manitoba School in Milwaukee.
School had only been in session for a week when Justine Gomez’s son, 4-year-old Steven Widowski, came home in pain.
“I would ask him what happened and he was too scared — like he didn’t want to tell me,” Gomez said.
Gomez said it was not until Sunday the boy finally told her he was scratched by a teacher’s aide in 4-K at Manitoba School.
“She grabbed his wrist. She grabbed it so tight that she put gashes in his wrist with her fingernails,” Gomez said.
Photos show the marks scabbed over on the boy’s wrist. Gomez said the teacher’s aide was trying to move the boy from one line to another.
“Yeah, that is abuse. If a parent did that to a child and the school saw it, the school would be on top of it,” Gomez said.
Milwaukee Public Schools released the following statement on this incident:
“On Sunday, September 15, Manitoba Elementary was contacted by a concerned parent about an injury that occurred to their child on Friday, September 13, during recess.
“MPS takes these matters very seriously and immediately opened an investigation into the situation.
“Because an investigation is ongoing, we cannot comment further.”
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Man with Down syndrome dies after group home worker who drove him takes nap in hot van
Pinellas County (WFTS) — A group home worker in Pinellas County is accused of leaving a 35-year-old man with Down syndrome to die in a hot van.
In May 9, the worker with Crossroads of Pinellas — identified as 26-year-old Joshua Russell — was taking care of the man with Down syndrome and was driving him back to the group home after a hospital visit. On their way back from the hospital, Russell decided to make a stop at his house and left 35-year-old John Lapointe inside the van.
While at his own home, Russell consumed kratom. Russell told deputies he took the substance to feel “more alert.”
After taking the kratom, Russell hopped back inside the van and resumed his drive. During the drive back, Russell started to feel tired and nauseous. He then parked the van in the driveway, turned the vehicle off and took a nap.
Russell later woke up sweating from the van’s heat and noticed Lapointe was not breathing.
Russell tried CPR but could not revive Lapointe, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.
Russell, who was armed, called his mother and told her he was going to kill himself after realizing what he just did. His mother told Russell he should not kill himself.
His mother called 911, and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office responded to their location on 82nd Avenue near Oaskhurst Road in Seminole.
When deputies arrived on scene, paramedics had already pronounced Lapointe dead and Russell left the area on foot and was armed. When deputies located Russell, the 26-year-old told them he was going to kill himself.
Eventually, deputies were able to place Russell in custody. Sheriff Gualtieri said the van’s inside temperature at the time of Lapointe’s death was about 125 degrees.
“You know this poor guy baked in that car, that’s what happened,” said Gualtieri.
Russell is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a disabled adult.
Photo Credit: WFTS
New Jersey troopers approach car with guns drawn, find woman in labor
RIDGEWOOD, Pa. — New Jersey State Police chased a speeding car for several minutes and then approached it at gunpoint once the driver finally pulled over.
Inside they found a woman in labor.
State police got a call for a car speeding northbound on Route 17 just before 11 p.m. Friday. They gave chase, signaling for the vehicle to stop.
Authorities tell NorthJersey.com that troopers drew their guns because they didn’t know if the car’s occupants were armed or dangerous. When they realized what was happening, the troopers escorted the pregnant woman and her driver to The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood.
The woman’s condition wasn’t clear.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/09/22/new-jersey-troopers-approach-car-with-guns-drawn-find-woman-in-labor/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Man allegedly rapes woman in Queens after giving her the option of that, being killed or having sex with her son
QUEENS — Authorities say a man raped a woman in New York after giving her the option of that, being killed or having sex with her son.
The Queens district attorney’s office says 33-year-old Joshua Henderson raped and robbed the victim in her home Monday.
Prosecutors say Henderson dressed as a construction worker to get into the building.
They say he tied the woman and her adult son up and grabbed jewelry and cash. They say he then told her of her choices and raped her.
Henderson was arraigned Thursday and held without bail.
Information on Henderson’s lawyer wasn’t available. The Daily News reports that Henderson’s wife, Joanna Henderson, said DNA evidence would prove her husband’s innocence.
Henderson pled guilty to a pattern of burglaries and was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2009. He was paroled in 2018 after serving nine years.
“We don’t want career criminals that have a propensity for violence that over and over have been given chances and hurt New Yorkers being released before detectives have done the paperwork,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea previously told PIX11. “Let’s have those hard conversations.”
Photo Credit: pix11.com
The world’s first vagina museum will open in London in November
(CNN) — The first museum in the world dedicated solely to the vagina will open in London in November, after a crowdfunding campaign raised almost £50,000 (about $62,000).
The Vagina Museum will educate visitors about vulvas and vaginas while challenging the prevailing stigma surrounding them, development and marketing manager Zoe Williams told CNN.
Founder Florence Schechter developed the concept for the Vagina Museum after discovering a museum dedicated to penises in Iceland, the Icelandic Phallological Museum, but no counterpart for vaginas. Schechter and her team subsequently launched a campaign on Crowdfunder, initially aiming to raise £300,000.
“As this is the world’s first bricks-and-mortar museum dedicated to vaginas, vulvas and the gynaecological anatomy, we didn’t quite know what to expect in terms of interest, and were delighted with the £50,000 we raised,” Williams said.
The museum will open on November 16 in a temporary location in London’s Camden Market, with an exhibition entitled “Muff Busters: Vagina Myths and How to Fight Them.” The exhibition will challenge “pervasive myths” about the vagina and vulva, Williams said, “such as that vaginas and vulva need to be cleaned through the use of bespoke feminine cleaning products; however, the vagina is completely self cleaning.”
Comedy and theater events, craft workshops and educational talks will take place at the museum, she said, which will help to raise funds for a permanent location. The museum’s mission statement asserts that it will also “act as a forum for feminism, women’s rights, the LGBT+ community and the intersex community,” “challenge heteronormative and cisnormative behaviour” and “promote intersectional, feminist and trans-inclusive values.”
“We want to give everyone the confidence to talk about a perfectly normal part of the anatomy,” Williams explained, citing a study from cancer research charity The Eve Appeal that found 65% of young women and girls in the UK struggled to use the words “vagina” or “vulva.”
“There’s nothing shameful or offensive about vulvas and vaginas,” she said. “They’re a part of the body that should be celebrated!”
Photo Credit: vagina museum
Louisiana man drowns after proposing to his girlfriend underwater on vacation
A Louisiana man has drowned after proposing to his girlfriend underwater while the couple was vacationing in Tanzania.
Steven Weber and Kenesha Antoine were staying in Pemba Island, CNN affiliate WBRZ reports, in a wooden cabin with a bedroom submerged beneath the ocean surface off the east coast of Africa.
Weber proposed on Thursday by swimming underwater and holding a handwritten note against the bedroom windows, according to a video Antoine posted Friday on Facebook, before presenting a ring.
The note, which Weber had placed inside a transparent plastic bag, read, “I can’t hold my breath long enough to tell you everything I love about you. BUT…Everything I love about you I love more EVERY DAY!
“Will you please be my WIFE,” the note continued. “Marry me???”
But Weber failed to return to the surface, Antoine said in a subsequent Facebook post. “You never emerged from those depths, so you never got to hear my answer, ‘Yes! Yes! A million times, yes, I will marry you!!’ ” she wrote.
“We never got to embrace and celebrate the beginning of the rest of our lives together, as the best day of our lives turned into the worst, in the cruelest twist of fate imaginable,” Antoine continued.
“I will try to take solace in the fact that we enjoyed the most amazing bucket list experiences these past few days, and that we both were so happy and absolutely giddy with excitement in our final moments together.”
CNN has reached out to Antoine for comment.
The Manta Resort, where the couple was staying, issued a statement on Saturday confirming the death.
Photo Credit: facebook
Florida grandmother outraged after granddaughter, 6, is arrested at school
ORLANDO, Fla. (KMOV.com) – A Florida grandmother is demanding answers after her 6-year was put in handcuffs and thrown in jail.
Meralyn Kirkland says her granddaughter Kaia was arrested after she threw a tantrum like any other child would. Kirkland says she got a call from her granddaughter’s school Thursday saying she kicked someone, and that she was being charged and taken to a juvenile detention center by officers.
“No 6-year-old child should be able to tell somebody that they had handcuffs on them, and they were riding in the back of a police car and taken to a juvenile center to be fingerprinted, have a mug shot taken,” said Kirkland.
The school resource officer who arrested her is now under investigation for the arrest and for a separate arrest of an 8-year-old at the school.
Photo Credit: wfla.com